[Blood Brothers]

His children were at school, school, and their mother was the principal. Those precious to him had to be awake during the day, Nero especially, so that meant his sleeping schedule was off for what he was supposed to be. Seishin was at work and everyone else was either missing or working, as well.

The dark-haired vampire was finally, and truly, alone for a good portion of his day. Unfortunately, Kamikuro was still missing and something was definitely off. When he thought of the darkness element, the shadows did not show Yugure, but when he asked for Yugure, they confirmed that he still existed in Neo-Tokyo.

So, against all wisdom, Kokoro went back to that place, that town of darkness. The feeling was still there. Yugure was there, in that tower, but he was no longer an Elemental Force as he once was.

Confused and concerned, he wandered closer.

[S-O-Y]

Yugure stood in the sterling silver kitchen within the Dark Horse hotel. Straining a teabag of its herbal remedy, he relaxed his face as the burning from the steam floated upon his hand. Setting the bag to side, he lifted the delicate china cup from its plate and took a long sip. The liquid splashed down his throat warming the walls of his throat. He relaxed as his eyelids closed.

Nothing like hot tea...., he cooed inside his mind's ear.

He turned to walk out the kitchen making his way through the swinging double doors, entering the dining area that rested neatly on the bottom floor. He honestly was going to miss this place. Leaving the dining room and leading his own way through the skinny dark halls, he managed to reach the front desk of the reception parlor. Yuketsu had abandoned ship is seemed, and Smitigo had fled into the city like normal. Those two always seemed to be "on the loose"...A soft chuckle escaped his lips. Leaning against the marble counter top, he looked over the desk and noticed there were a few rooms not vacant. New guests it seemed. Nothing new for he did live in a hotel. It was just odd how someone would want to live in this retried building. If a demolishing could be brought, he would surely sign the property away.

[Blood Brothers]

"Hey, are you Kokoro?" Someone asked, standing at the entrance to what seemed to be some sort of drinking establishment. Slowly, the dark-haired vampire turned to face the older man, obviously a vampire but turned when he was older and not as strong as Kokoro himself.

"May I ask who calls my name?" The man laughed softly, smiling warmly despite how cool the stronger vampire greeted him.

"Yeah, name's Sean, but that's beside the point. I was speaking to the strangest guy the other day and he asked if I needed a bartender. Since we're short a couple people, I confirmed that we did and he suggested you, said you'd be venturing into the city in a few days and needed something to do with your newly freed time," Sean explained easily, relaxing now that he knew that he was addressing the right guy. "So, was Mister Kamikuro right that you'd be interested in becoming a bartender?"

Honestly, the long-haired vampire couldn't figure out why he was surprised even the slightest that it was Kamikuro behind this. Would it be a problem, though? No, if he had good hours then it wouldn't be an issue at all.

"Perhaps," he hedged, taking a few steps closer to indicate his interest. The other vampire seemed to pick up on that, thankfully.

"You'd be working when the honest folk are at work, but we're open then 'cause the odder ones are wanting to come in during the day. You might have to deal with Hunters, but Kamikuro assured me you were not being Hunted or anything. Is that alright?" Truly, Kokoro had no idea, but he could always try it out and see if he could manage it.

"I suppose. I've never worked before," he responded honestly, unsurprised by his future employer's surprise. The other vampire spluttered a bit before shrugging it away.

"I'll help out, then. I knew you probably would be a bit odd, but I was not suspecting that." Shrugging, he scratched the back of his head and ushered Kokoro inside. The stronger vampire didn't even catch what the bar was named, though, he supposed it didn't really matter or he'd pick it up soon enough.

Kamikuro had better have a good reason for this.

[S-O-Y]

Turning away from the receptionists desk, Yugure sighed and sipped his tea, standing in front of the double doors showing the entrance and exit from the hotel. Resting the warm china in his now cupped hand, he turned to look out the windows that were heavily draped. Darkness...its seemed his life was covered by it fully. The thought of erasing his past brought upon a flashback of the ritual.

Screams, bone crushing agony, and heart throbbing thrashing. It was a night of horror, suspense and new awakening. It was magic.

Another sigh escaped his lips. He had seemed to catch that habit from Munashii. The thought of that man brought a weak smile to his lips. He sipped his tea again.

What to do, what to do..., he thought as he ventured down the first floor hallway passing by door upon door of the hotel rooms.

He hated all the numbers. They drove him mad. Completely mad. Everything was a number in his life almost. People around him, levels of emotion, percentages of pain and sorrow, and absence of anything in multiples of distraught. All of it drove him bonkers.

I should walk the city. Haven't done that in a while...

Stepping slowly, his body began to evaporate in streams of black hazing smoke, and soon his body was gone. Within the city, an area around central, he walked out from an alley way and shivered from the climate change. Air conditioned rooms to wind stripped city was never a nice goose bump killer. Noticing he had brought the tea cup with him, he shook his head and crushed the cup, it turning into black ash and flying away from him gently. He always had a habit of being scattered brain. Looking around the street, he noticed a few people were out and about. It was a few hours after dusk so he was in good timing to see new faces...hopefully.

[Blood Brothers]

His new employer was less phased by his lack of knowledge about alcohol and what it took to fix the drinks. There was a very detailed recipe book under the bar and Kokoro drew some of Seishin's knowledge about cooking in when he started doing it himself. A lot of the customers just wanted straight shots of whichever was their preferred liquor, anyway, so that part was easy as it was just learning how much one should pour into a shot glass.

His sensitivity to emotions helped him to choose which customer to serve, when, and decide how much any certain being should stop drinking. Some of them disagreed, but he remained firm and received Sean's approval after explaining that he was, in short, an empath.

The other vampire seemed absolutely ecstatic as he asked Kokoro to hold down the fort while he worked on some paperwork upstairs so that the long-haired vampire would be legally working for him. Kokoro nodded tentatively and Sean assured him that all Kokoro would need to do was call for Sean to come help.

With a bit of a sigh, Kokoro shrugged after his new employer had left. This was quite an unexpected turn of events, but it didn't seem too bad.

[Nihilistic Nightmare]

His vacation, so far, had been the epitome of boring. The food was decent and the sights were mildly appealing, but the company was unimpressive at the best of times and violently vexing otherwise. Moving on to a different city hadn't proved to be much of a help, either, though the hotel he was staying at did seem rather interesting. Unfortunately, what he had seen of the owners was subpar.

The entire city had as of yet unrealized potential but it seemed that the only one who could see that was him and he had no interest in putting that much effort into this place. He had people to find and experiments to complete.

This was the last day he planned to remain here and visiting a business set up to allow its customers to temporarily retard themselves by consuming too much alcohol was not his top choice, but then he noticed the bartender. Like a sucker punch to the gut, the vampire's presence took his breath away, his looks enticing and power a siren's call to any and all. He was what drew the doctor into this place.

An old vampire, older than Michael had ever encountered, who was quite sensitive to others - emotions, in particular, it seemed as he looked up from his duties to lock gazes. The doctor could already feel his mouth watering, fingers itching to get into the body and see what it could do.

[S-O-Y]

Taking his walk through city, he passed a few people here and there, some tourists and others soon to be stumbling drunks. He had reached central. Neon lights that shown upon the concrete walkways throughout the city shown like lighthouses here and there, giving multiple colors other than grays and blacks around the landscape. A smile twitched at his lip's corner. He was no longer the true element of Darkness, but the crystal was still within him. His mind was clearer now though. His true self was back, the element leaving his soul, and now he was at peace. Well so it seemed.

Now was a time of meditation though. He needed another dark place other than his home, hotel more or less. Clubs were to bright and had to many "happy" people, even though it was merely drugs or something of that nature that brought that emotion their membranes. He had thought about the mind altering substances but from what he had read about them he new he would truly become a quick made addict. Shaking his head at thought, he turned at the next left turn and walked upon what he was looking for. The Blacklight Bar. Placing his hand upon the door, he suddenly was taken over by a rush of emotion, some feelings bubbling back to the surface from his past. Ones he hadn't felt in quite a while...

Wanting to take his hand back, he stood his ground and pulled it open, the smell of cigarettes and liquor meshing into his nostrils.

[Blood Brothers]

How long had he been working? An hour and a half? Two?

Perhaps this 'job' business was not as bad as it seemed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until he felt a wave of lust wash over him. Obviously, it was not his own and in lifting his gaze to the door he locked eyes with the one who was the source. Never before had he felt someone so focused on him, but then those emotions were yanked away and shoved in a very tiny place where they could hardly be felt.

"Sir?" Kokoro mumbled, rather disoriented, before he lifted a hand to his head. This was the closest to nauseated that he had ever felt in years.

[S-O-Y]

The voice of the bartender pierced him. I know that voice..., he said to himself as he walked closer to the bar. Long black hair, death pale skin, and most of all...eyes of blackness like no other. The deepest shade he had tried to mimic for a long time now. The shadows could never imagine such shade, their tendrils of greed not long enough to capture their prey. It was sad indeed. And those feelings were back suddenly. A frown sunk into his lips quickly, his only visible eye drooping in grief. His heart ached for the one he called love. His actions could not describe how he wanted him...they just couldnt.

Slowly pulling his gaze upward, he locked eyes with the one who had called out the title. His hair stood on end, his mouth widening in a silent, excited scream almost. Were the shadows playing tricks on him again. It couldn't be true...

"Ko...Kokoro?", his voice whispered in a scared tone.

[Nihilistic Nightmare]

"Yes, sorry, you really a sign on the door to warn customers about the exceptionally attractive bartender, though," Michael purred, ignoring said bartender's divided attention. The vampire was working, after all. Sauntering up to a free stool, he took a seat and watched hungrily as the delicious man snapped out of whatever daze he had slipped into and got to serving another who had called his attention.

It couldn't have been later than eleven in the morning and the bar was about a third full. Then again, this was a strange city that was having a surprising rush of newcomers. Something about the absolute darkness lifting brought new blood into the city. Supposedly, there had a been a rash of murders that left many of the riffraff dead and then stopped suddenly without any authorities finding the perpetrator.

Dr. Aldric would have loved to meet whomever was responsible if not to determine whether they were interesting to have bits and pieces of different types of people helped in some of his experiments.

[Blood Brothers]

Kokoro just blinked at the man who was obviously complimenting him and practically drooling over him. One of the other customers called for another drink and he had to respond, scooting down the bar and away from the gray-haired man, the one still watching him.

Then someone breathed his name, emotions nearly exploding from the person, and Kokoro was hard pressed not to stumble as he glanced up and locked eyes with none other than Yugure.

From what he could feel from the darkness element, Yugure was far from dismissing him for a mere shadow. His heart pulsed quickly twice before falling still. Even so, things could not go back to how they were and not just because of his actions but others.

Both of his children would do most anything to have his ex-lover's head on a spike.

[Ayaka]

Neko took in a breath, she couldn't really go to a bar near Nekoden, let alone go to a bear in Hopeless Ayaka would skin her. If she tried to go and drink something in white city she was bound to come across 'others' she could care less about. No, the last choice was Neo Tokyo then again she had always been to that bar, it was the only bar with strong enough liquor to make a God faint.

She began to think, what form should she take. Walking up to the bar's doors she took in a breath letting the aura of a Goddess spread across her her hair switched to a silver light, in it however it seemed like the waves of the ocean. Her eyes turned a bight blue and her skin a fair tone lips luscious red.

She opened the door and by the light outside it made her look a little dark before the figure that actually walked in was a cat. A little back cat that jumped up to one of the bar stoles.

"mew..."

[S-O-Y]

Yugure watched as Kokoro recognized him within a second glance. It was that moment again that had happened for many a months over and over again. The feelings rushed through him and finally...he was at complete peace. His lips straightened, his brow relaxed. Another rush of air brought forth a black cat soon to sit upon a bar stool. Awkward it was but unusual it wasn't. A man of gray hair sat at the long bar as well, one looking fairly new to the city. He hadn't seen many in "professional" gear, the button up shirt and glasses that was. Not many had that problem, at least normal ones in the city. It was always trying to run from a ghost or escaping a curse brought on by ones own actions. Not, wearing glasses cause one could not see. It was an odd thing to observe, but Yugure took notice in it, bringing him closer to the bar. Pulling out a bar stool, he looked at Kokoro and blinked a few times.

"Is it really you Kokoro...?", he asked almost in a daze.

Squinting his eyes, he tried to see if it would make things more clear to him but unfortunately it did nothing for him. It must be him, he thought. This night was beginning to turn twisted second by second. There was no telling what was going to happen next. All he wanted was to be alone with Kokoro, to talk about what he had needed to talk about for a long time now. To speak his feelings and let them be heard. So that if anything did occur...closure would be one of them. He just needed to voice what he needed to be understood. Words were useless at time but this time was different. He just knew it. Everything happened for a reason and will continue that way. That was his form of thinking and lately...it was in agreement with everything else. For no though, he would start with a drink.

[Blood Brothers]

"Yes, it's me," Kokoro confirmed softly, looking over the other black-haired male. Idly, he retrieved a saucer, filled it with cream, and set it down before the cat while still watching Yugure carefully. Now, more than ever, he was grateful that he had taken this job and that his children were trapped in school.

There was something about the cat, however, that niggled at the back of his mind. It was a black cat with striking green eyes.

Neko.

Glancing between the two carefully, the vampire was sure that neither had noticed one another or at least Neko was ignoring Yugure and the man didn't realized that the person who (probably) wanted to kill him the most was sitting innocently beside him.

What was Kamikuro thinking, luring him into this job where his element would be in danger? Then again, Kamikuro had no way of knowing that Neko would show up here, right? That stupid god had gone and put Yugure directly in the line of fire. Was he even trying to keep Yugure safe?!

[S-O-Y]

Yugure watched as Kokoro served the black cat a couple of chairs down from him. It was very peculiar to see a cat around this hour and let alone in a bar from cream. He raised his only visible brow at the sight and then turned to look back at Kokoro. He looked the same as he always pictured him. How long had it been exactly? The days had meshed within the darkness shrouding his mind completely, hours becoming years and seconds becoming days. He hated how it did that to him, that being one of the reasons he sought out the ritual that helped him. At least tried to that was...

Blinking a few times, he settled himself upon the bar stool and placed his arms on the counter, his purple long sleeve shirt rustling against the bandages across his hips. He had gotten used to the feel of the wrappings, soon thinking of them as merely band-aids hiding an ugly wound. Oraku had taken upon his own demon of beauty and stealth, but oddly he had ended up with a disfiguring effect. How odd that the happening ended up doing this to him. He blinked once more.

"Well so it is. Its good to see you again you know...", he managed to get out before taking in a quick breath.

He was out of breath...just like old times...

[Nihilistic Nightmare]

There was definitely something interesting between those two, even he could see, but watching the interactions between others was incredibly boring to him unless it revealed well-kept secrets about their truly interesting aspects. After further study, Dr. Aldric concluded that this bartender, Kokoro, was somehow related to the two vampires he had gotten a hold of a little while ago.

The sexy thief despised him and would undoubtedly recognize him instantly, but the little candy maker would not. As long as the two were not together, he could, should he be so inclined, perform more experiments on the redhead. From what he had heard, the little one was named Sato and lived in Hopeless, his next stop.

Oh, yes, he couldn't wait. From the photos on the pamphlet he had found, the young vampire had grown exponentially and had something posing as the young him running around the shop. How that was possible niggled at him, but that was another reason why he was headed to Hopeless.

Now that the redhead was awake and away from his protective, older brother the doctor could find out all about the interesting, little creature.

With that in mind, Dr. Aldric decided that a bar was not the place to get the drink he wanted. What he wanted now was a cup of coffee and a bus ticket to Hopeless.

He left with none the wiser.

[Ayaka]

Neko blinked, looking at the cream leaning forward she licked it then slowly pushed it aside with her paw opening her mouth she spoke.

"I need a strong drink bar tend"

She lay her head on the bar table glancing at the other male, this was to be interesting their reunion after so long. If however he so less harm the mail she was sure to unleashed the powers of the gods upon him regardless of what Kokoro wished.

[Blood Brothers]

Yes, that most definitely was Neko and, as long as she wasn't attempting to murder Yugure, then he supposed that he could give her alcohol.

"As you wish," Kokoro murmured, corner of his lips twitching in amusement as he pulled out the vanilla vodka and poured a shot into the cream. "I must insist that you finish this one first unless it makes you sick." There was one last thing that he desired to add, something odd in one of the cabinets that his new boss had failed to mention during his introduction to his job. Pulling it out, the vampire added it to the drink near the edge so that it wouldn't fall over into the drink while still looking tasteful.

It was a sprig of catnip.

Turning to Yugure after having taken care of Neko, Kokoro couldn't help the smile that curled his lips. The bandages put him off and the heavy breathing worried him. Then again, most breathing sounded pretty heavy since he had stopped quite a while ago.

"It's good to see you again as well, after all that has happened. I'd thought you had it well enough, though, what with the shadow and Kamikuro," Kokoro stated carefully, truly wanting to know what had become of the two since trouble seemed to follow at Kamikuro's heels like a disobedient (and rather rabid) dog.

[S-O-Y]

A cat, A bar, A lost lover. That was all that he could think at this moment as Kokoro tended to the black cats needs. It seemed that the cat had a mind and tongue of its own, its voice emitting like an elder of some kind. Odd how it sounded, it almost familiar. Letting that thought float away in the same mannerism that Kokoro skimmed over to him, he looked up into the dark black eyes of his once lover. How he had tried to recreate them many of times, his attempts not even making a black beetle glossy enough. There was no match to his other half it had seemed. Not even the other half of Kokoro himself, that awfully bright vampire, could compare to his essence of immortality.

"Well enough? Far from it. I have been struck by emotions over and over again of horrid kinds. Well enough is nothing close to how things have been...", he trailed off looking at the liquor bottles behind Kokoro, "Would you happen to have something smooth and sweet in your collection behind you??", he lifted his right hand up and pointed over to the shelving behind Kokoro.

[Ayaka]

Neko licked the liquid, her pupils began to widen. Her cat whiskers fliked before aloud purr  meow escaped her lips. She moved around the bar table yes she liked it she liked it a lot. Her paws flexed gleefully as she hopped from one end of the sit to the next rubbing herself against the male that was sitting there. As long as no one pushed her of her high she could be like so for hours.

":3 mew"

[Blood Brothers]

Kokoro nearly spluttered when he heard Yugure talking about how bad it was - nearly, very nearly as it would be horribly embarrassing for him. The desire to pull Yugure over the bar and into his arms was another he had to force down and out of his mind. Yes, he had definitely been spending far too much time with Seishin.

The request for alcohol distracted him and he immediately turned to the shelves stacked full of the different liquors. Wracking his brain for something that meant the criteria, the vampire missed seeing the cat flop over onto his ex-lover, though he would soon notice the loud purring. Something another patron had ordered seemed to fit, so he selected the amaretto liquor and poured a shot for Yugure.

Turning, he set it down, placing the bottle down beside it. He was about to offer the drink to the other dark-haired man but was sidetracked by the image of his child's mother practically in his ex-lover's lap.

His life didn't seem to be headed anywhere near the direction of normal, though it seemed that Neko really did enjoy her catnip.

[S-O-Y]

A movement was taking place in his lap and it was not coming from him, that was for sure. Shifting back a little to look down from the bar's edge into his lap, he saw the black cat that was served cream now purring in his lap and clawing here and there for attention. Obviously the cat was preoccupied by another substance, but honestly it was not a bother. The only that struck him off guard was the fact that he felt an aura of higher power originating from the cat's soul. Whoever or whatever this cat was, it was definitely not your average talking one. Looking up at the sound of the bottle hitting the bar next to its glass now filled with its delicacy, Yugure wrapped his fingers around the glass. Looking at Kokoro and back to the cat, he brought the glass close to his lips.

"Here is to coincidence...", he spoke out deeply his taste buds anticipating the liquor to splash upon them. He slung the shot back gently, and set the glass in its recent spot only soon to let out a slow breath. The shot had hit the spot. A meek smile spread across his lips.

"So is this your day-time job now?", he asked with a little more back bone. The liquor had begun to strengthen his attitude.

[Ayaka]

The cat filed in her nose with the sent of liquor coming from the cup the male had set down at his lips. Neko even if she could consider herself human now was in a deep for of enchantment she as a cat thought mainly as one. Her paw stretched and hit the side of the glass before it quickly jumped up on the bar table land paws on the males shoulders leaned forward licking  his lips, yup the liquor was a good one but not that strong the cat had a bit of a blush if that was even possible to see. The alcohol and catnip had made the cat more then tipsy.

"nya?"

Setting her paws back down with a bit of difficulty he turned slowly tail hitting the under jaw of the male. Her lips pared to speak again.

"Give me another one."

[Blood Brothers]

"Another?" Kokoro asked curiously, plucking another sprig of catnip from his side of the bar and twirling it in front of the tipsy cat. "You'll have to be a tad more specific, Miss Cat. Would you like more cream, more alcohol, or more catnip? Would you like a different kind of drink?"

His silly ex-mistress kept butting in when he was about to respond to Yugure, but that was alright. Surely, Yugure would understand that they were both patrons and he needed to attend to their needs before chatting.

Speaking of, someone called for another drink down the bar and he had to answer their call. It didn't take long before he was back in front of Yugure and ready to answer his questions.

"My children are in school, so I had nothing to do," he finally responded, wondering whether or not to mention Kamikuro's involvement. The Dark God definitely had means of getting things done.

[S-O-Y]

It was like little waves of static energy. The swishes of the cat's tail and pouncing feeling from its paws. He couldn't help but just sit there and take it. He did not want to mess with a talking cat asking for more alcohol at the moment. He had better things to tend to. Looking over the cat to watch Kokoro do his job for a few minutes, he couldn't help but smile softly. He had never really seen Kokoro this active with other people. This was definitely something new. And had he mentioned the fact that not only did he have a kid, but Kids. It was suddenly an information overload at the moment, and he was having trouble soaking all of it in. He rather just marinate.

As Kokoro made his way back over to them, he noticed him and that cat were pretty relaxed with each other. Possibly they had to know each other.

"Kids eh? When did these sprout up?", he asked with a soft chuckle. It was odd to think of him being a father of a child without him. Honestly it kinda hurt to hear that now that he thought about it.

His smile slowly began to fade to a thin line.