The Death of Bloodlust

[RanmaBushiko]

Ooh! A plot point! Bwahaha.

Chapter 13

It's been 3 days since Akiha and the others got their things, and flew off in that helicopter.

Something about how she was glaring at the Millenium Castle worries me, though...

Still, I've been having fun. I've finally gotten down the language enough to understand the basics of what's being said in these books. And even if it's not meant for a direct to japanese translation... I can get the gist of it pretty well. And the basics of it? The Shinso were absolutely ingenious with their developments.

They developed their stoves nearly 1000 years before most people stopped using firepits with metal pans over the tops, and put them into chimneys with metal bars or bricks to bake easier.

Not only that, they worked with hundreds of spirits and the like, that are now only known in myths and legends. Dragons, Kitsune, Kappa even... and the lists go on forever.

It seems like they were also rather interested in humans, and why humans were so tasty... and were trying to develop methods to keep Shinso from needing blood. Apparently, though, the method's only test subject was Arcueid... it noted several ideas for working with it to stop the degredation of Dead Apostles, but it seems like the research was stopped for some reason.

And Arcueid looks sad, like something horribly weighs on her when she read that.

"Arcueid... what happened?"

"Do you remember that Roa fed me blood?"

I can only nod, and wince, before replying. I remember that, all too well.

"Yeah... I do..."

"It worked until I actually had a taste of blood. After that, it stopped working alltogether. Perhaps it would've been able to help the Dead Apostles, but most want to make it into a game to try and hunt me down to kill me."

I can only wince more. Yeesh, and I thought it would be easy...

And then a small subsection catches my eye.

"Did you know they were working on a method to make humans into Shinso?"

She froze, blinking, then turned as well.

"Really, Shiki?!"

"Yeah, but it notes a rather... large problem rate. I'd say it's 75% chance of death, if not 85% if it's tried."

"What's the problem rate?"

"They needed a Shinso like... Crimson Moon Brunestud... or something closer to you if you didn't ever have bloodlust."

"And...? It can't be that easy, can it?"

"Ah... heh. The target has to be dying already, or nearly dead. It looks like the ones with things like heart problems survived, but... everyone else just bled out after the process was tried. Apparently you can't have any injuries, or else..."

She just went a bit pale.

"Oh. I had... hoped..."

"Well, maybe we can figure out how to get it to work better?"

"Eh?"

"They'd only been studying it for a month. Maybe some of the subjects are still in the labs?"

"Labs?"

"Like the ones we found earlier, Arcueid."

...She just went silent, and turned away.

"No. If it was in those, there won't be any subjects... I..."

Damn. There's something she's not saying, but... I can guess.

"I killed everyone here, Shiki. I went insane after Roa made me drink his blood, and I..."

I hug her tight.

"It's ok, Arcueid. It's ok. I'm here. Just relax, ok? I'm not going to leave you. You have me for as long as I live, I promise. And we might be able to still figure it out, right? So don't worry."

She's crying, and hugging me tight. I can only hold her as she cries into my shoulder, and rock her gently.

She's so sweet, I just want to love her and kiss her... and hold her in my arms for the rest of my life.

Hm?


...


...


...


What's...


That...


Whistling...


Sound...?


And the explosion following it sends us into a pile on the floor.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

"BWAHAHAHAHA! NOW, YOU THIEVING VAMPIRE, I SHALL STEAL MY NII-SAN BACK FROM YOU! WITH THIS STATE OF THE ART TOHNO MILITARY HELICOPTER, ARMED WITH THE BEST OF ALL MODERN WEAPONS, YOU SHALL SUFFER FOR SENDING ME INTO THAT LAKE!"

Oh, Kami, no. Akiha brought an ASSAULT HELICOPTER?! WHAT THE HELL IS SHE THINKING?!

Another explosion rocks us.

"What do you mean they're not getting through the shielding, Ciel?! FIRE FASTER, KOHAKU! KILL THAT THIEVING WOMAN!"

Oh god. The shield's holding. Then the shockwaves in the air...?

"Don't worry, Shiki. They can't get through to us."

"But they're using ammunition that blows up on impact. We can't send all the ammunition back at them without killing them!"

"Don't worry, Shiki. Not even nukes will get through into this place!"

"Erm... and what if they use more than one?"

"Well, it's not like they can break it. This castle's defenses are linked to the moon itself. I don't think they can stop the power behind a planet, you know."

Eh?

"Really, then we're safe, Arcueid?"

"Yup!"

She's nodding, and giggling.

"Thank god."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE'RE OUT OF AMMUNITION! CIEL, WE SHOULD HAVE PLENTY MORE!"

"Oh. We can't use those without killing Nii-san? Well... SHOOT IT ANYWAYS! MAYBE IT'LL BREAK THIS SHIELD!"

"Aheh... Arcueid? Can it stop poisons?"

"Ah? Not for a while... oh, hell."

And we run as they shoot gas bombs at the shields, to try and gas us out.

-Fade Out-

The basement is cold.

And the toxic green gas chasing us looks so horrible, I'm glad it's cold.

Better than breathing in what smelled suspiciously like ground up toxic lasagna made by Hisui.

Turning that girl's meals into biological weapons... how the hell did Akiha manage that?!

Still, Arcueid's close, and we're safe... But we still need to keep moving downwards.

And now we're trapped. We took a wrong turn, and there's no way out except for a wall of green gas... that's slowly inching closer.

Oh, Kami, I don't want to die!

And... there's a doorway in a corner? That's really hard to spot... the hell?

Well, better the doorway than nothing, right?

"Arcueid, this way!"

I grab her and run for it.

Pushing her and Ren inside, I pull myself in, then shut the door...

There's no green gas going through, but I can hear the door sizzling on the other side.

"It'll take a while before we can get out. How long will it be before we can leave again, Arcueid?"

"Ah... 30 minutes, before the shield learns how to get rid of poisons in the air, Shiki. But..."

I turn around, to kiss her, then freeze at the labratory full of corpses. And a couple of red eyed people glaring at us from the cages...?

Aheh. I guess we found that lab... and the test subjects are none to pleased to being stuck in here for several hundred years.

Fuck.

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

Oh, crap . . .

And yet somehow I can't stop giggling.

[RanmaBushiko]

That's the reaction I've been aiming for since I first wrote this story, once we got past the drama moments. And I couldn't help but grin the entire time I wrote the attack helicopter scene.
You just KNOW that Kohaku, with her Mecha-Hisui that I've read about in Melty Blood, would do something like that. Weaponize Hisui's food, and build combat helicopters for fun.

[RanmaBushiko]

I am having SO much fun writing chapters like these, it isn't even funny. And with how long the forum was shut down, I wrote up another chapter, coming up next.

Chapter 14

Arcueid's been arguing with them for the last half hour. I can't hear the door sizzling anymore, but they're still arguing pretty hard.

I can see what looks like a peep hole in the door, though.

And when I look through.. I can see the acidic gas outside, melting the floors.

Oh, yes, we aren't going back out that way. That's for sure.

They're guesturing at me, a lot. And glaring at her.

I... oh. They want me for food, don't they?

Crap...

Now they're all encased in chains, and she's making strangling guestures at them.

And I just heard something about "cravings"... though I couldn't figure out what else they're saying. It's too rapidfire for me to make out most of the words.

I hope this doesn't go as bad as I think it might.

"Ah... Arcueid?"

I look back through the spyglass. Hell, that's not a good sign. The end is melting, and this shit ISN'T glass.

"The poison's not gone yet, out there. And it's melting through whatever the hell this door is made out of."

They all just froze. And started twitching. So they do know japanese, for the two in the cages. That's good, at least.

"And it's starting to melt through the spyglass, which definitely ISN'T glass. Could you maybe either speed things up, or get an idea for another exit?"

"Human, why haven't we been fed in a thousand years? And why are we stuck in these cages?"

"Um... Arcueid killed the scientists after someone tricked her into drinking blood. And... ah... she was the only one left? I just got here a month ago, and if it hadn't been my pissed off sister trying to kidnap me... and filling the castle with Hisui's cooking somehow weaponized... I don't think we would've found here."

They're blinking.

I can only point at the spyglass, which is sizzling.

Wait...SIZZLING?!

I grab Ren and run towards Arcueid.

And she's smirking again.

"I'll tell you two what. You know of any other labs besides this one, that can be accessed through here?"

They're nodding.

"Either you help us get to those labs, and you all live. OR... I'll find it, and get me and Shiki through, while leaving you both to die in here. That's what you get for wanting to eat MY Shiki, after all."

I just noticed something.

The door's not sizzling anymore... meaning... it's trying to go through the wall?!

IS this stuff HOMING?!

"Arcueid... can you see it? The stuff's following us!"

"Eh?!"

"See? It's not at the door anymore... meaning it's SENTIENT!"

She just went a bit white.

"Who are you, to command us, anyways, girl?"

She's blinking in surprise.

"You don't know? I'm Arcueid Brunestud."

They just went white.

"The... WHITE PRINCESS?! WE WERE ARGUING WITH YOU ABOUT FOOD?!"

Ah... her reputation precedes her.

"Please forgive us, Arcueid! PLEASE DON'T KILL US, WE DIDN'T KNOW!"

"Then you're not going to go after my Shiki?"

"No, we won't!"

"Good. It means I can let you go. But if you even think about making him or Ren into food..."

"Ren?"

"My Cat. She's a succubus familiar."

I blink at that. And they just did too.

"Yours?"

"No... but that's a long story."

The wall's starting to sizzle a bit.

"LET US DOWN!"

She's thinking about it.

"Arcueid, they might be able to tell us about that formula from that book!"

She's snapping her fingers. And just shattered the cages with ease.

"Where's the damned door?"

They're pointing at a wall.

And we go running again.

And right as we get through, and look back...

The wall melts, showing a giant green slime with what looks like a lasagna in the middle. It looks like one of the Slimes from Dragon Quest, actually... As well as another behind it, glaring at it. And as I watch, the slime splits into two of itself.

"There's more than one! AND IT'S multiplying! THEY'RE FUCKING MULTIPLYING!"

We shut the door, and bar it.

-Fade Out-

[RanmaBushiko]

Chucked this reference in because I had to. It was too good to pass up. Period. Don't fault me for having to chuck the joke in, ok? Too good to pass up.

Also, this is the last chapter I'll do until I'm home. Might be in the evening for tomorrow, the 8th, or the day after... I don't know. Thus... this post.

Chapter 15

I'm officially scared of being in this castle now.

There's far too many of those slimes, right now. And they're all chasing us.

We've gone through 3 labs so far, and they've been slowing down every time they go through the doors, though. Thankfully.

Still... we don't have many more labs to go through. 15 total, if what those two were right.

With how scared they are of going forwards, though... maybe something worse is at the end?

Hopefully Arcueid can deal with it.

-Later-

It's been 5 rooms now. And they're muttering about "bunnies of doom".

"What the hell are you two talking about?!"

"Don't you know? Crimson Moon Brunestud had a rare species of rabbit imported from England."

A rare WHAT?!

"And...?"

"It's the scariest thing we've ever seen! It ate a tengu alive!"

Oh. CRAP...

"What else can you tell us?"

"Ah... you saw all the corpses in the labs?"

I only nod.

"That's not from Arcueid killing everyone else in the castle. It's from those damned bunnies getting loose!"

Oh.

"And their nest is in the last room!"

Fuck.

"They've got razor sharp teeth, and they're so evil tempered that they'll kill you if you look at one wrong!"

Me.

"They're able to slice a throat from a single jump!"

"Ah...is that one ahead in that room there? The one with all the weird shattered stuff?"

They just shat themselves. I have no clue how, or why... but they just did that.

Crap.

"We're screwed! WE'RE SCREWED!"

Wait...

Don't I have eyes that can kill everything?

I take off my glasses, and pull out my knife.

"Arcueid, get behind me."

She's blinking, and doing so.

"Shiki?"

"I can't kill the poison behind us, but you might be able to hurt it if you strike hard enough. BUT I can kill these rabbits, right? Just like killing Nero."

"Oh! That's right! Be careful, though..."

I nod, and go forwards.

15 feet.

"Why can he kill it?"

10 feet.

"He was able to kill me with his eyes."

5 feet. And I'm noticing something...

"WHAT? HOW?!"

And I'm at it. It's a skeleton. A goddamned skeleton... but then I freeze. And roll back.

"His eyes can see the lines and points of death in all it's forms. And he was able to kill 666 familiars at the same time. At once. Not only that..."

A bunny attacks me. And I slice it in half with ease, only to twist and attack another aiming at my throat. Yet another falls as I continue attacking, then jump back again to take my bearings.

"But he was even able to kill my bloodlust."

I run forwards at the massive herd of bunnies approaching out of the darkness, and grin.

"Dear Kami..."

-Fade Out-

The bunnies in the room are dead.

And I'm covered in bunny blood.

"Arcueid, you don't want to get close to this blood. It's not quite... right for the color. I think there might be..."

"Shiki? What's wrong? Why did you freeze like that?"

I can only point at a huge bunny footprint in front of me.

"Oh. There's a big one?"

I can only nod silently.

"That... must be the original."

She's glancing behind us. I can hear the sizzling sound again, which means... we can only go forwards.

There's a note on the wall, in blood... with an old skeleton nearby it.

"The dread Beast of Caerbannog lives here... beware..."

It looks like someone tried to write it, and couldn't finish...

And I'm hearing a thumping up ahead.

And a...

bouncing...

sizzling...

behind?

And as I turn back, I can see the lasagna slimes merging into a massive giant slime, with a crown on it's head... that I can't see lines for. It hurts to look at the thing. Like it shouldn't exist in the first place.

Now it's bouncing forwards, through the walls like they're nothing. I utterly fear Hisui's cooking now. Dear Kami, I utterly fear her cooking now.

And when I turn back forwards, a giant rabbit, as tall as the Tohno mansion, appears in front of us. Thank god this thing has lines... still, it'll be hard to kill.

The Slime's eyeballing the rabbit.

The Rabbit's eyeballing us.

And we're eyeballing both.

"A Killer Kaiju Rabbit and a Giant Slime Monster... worse than a Rock and a Hard Place by FAR!"

-Fade Out-



















-Just Kidding-

Wait... the Slime Monster seems to want to hurt the Rabbit First...

We jump into a side corridor, as the Slime bounces overhead... and the Bunny Rabbit Charges.

Only to collide in midair.

The Rabbit's screaming. I never knew Rabbits could scream like that.

And it's attacking the slime.

Oh dear Kami. Are they going to kill each other?

And... the rabbit's eating the giant slime.

Thank god.

It'll die from food poisoning.

Wait...maybe the slime was going after the bunny the whole time?

No. It's just occupied from the biggest threat.

More slimes just went in to help the giant one...

And the Rabbit's eaten the Giant Slime.

-Thump-

It's bouncing backwards. Towards a giant pit in the floor.

-Thump-

And...turning green? Now it's jumping... and it's belly is growing?!

-Squelch-

The Giant Slime just ate the bunny in mid hop... and is falling into that giant hole.

And the smaller slimes are following it.

-Crash-

And it went through the floor...

-Crash-

And another...

-Crash-

Yet another floor...

-Crash-

Was that rock it just went through?!

-Faint Crash-

What the hell did it just fall through...?

-Sploosh-

It just fell into an underwater river.

Thank god.

There's a tiny pink slime bouncing towards us.

What the hell?

"Er... Shiki? What is that thing?"

It's garbling something, and cooing...?

And now it's sitting on my head... snuggling with my hair.

WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

*twitch* I had a sudden flashback to Pet Shop of Horror.

[RanmaBushiko]

Buggy Shinso Formulas... are buggy. Still, hope you all enjoy. And considering they're trying to figure out how a couple dozen Shinso pulled off something, through trial and error... poor, poor Shiki.

Chapter 16

I have a pet slime now.

Apparently Hisui tried cooking a chocolate heart for a valentine's day, and it made the pink slime.

If she made it for me... maybe that's the reason why she got so pissed? A secret crush?

I can only wonder.

And Arcueid's been talking with those Shinso. We're still trying to decide what to name them, since it's in a language I've never heard of before.

Also, I think they're scared of me after I dealt with all those killer bunnies.

It's kind of nice, actually. Scary, in some ways, but nice.

They've been talking with her about the methods used to make them Shinso. And it's rather long, drawn out, and painful sounding.

Or they're making jokes to scare me.

Square needles 13 inches long? Yeah... that... scares me.

On the plus side, Akiha hasn't bombed us again... yet. Or shown up since then.

I kinda have to worry about that.

"Oh, Shiki?"

I turn to her. She has 13 needles with glasses that are... square? Oh, that's what they meant. Thank god.

"Yeah, Arcueid?"

"We want to do some tests on you. Would you mind?"

Eh?

"Tests? What sort?"

"Oh, they're tests to see if you're genetically compatable with Shinso DNA..."

I'm blinking.

Hm. Genetically compatable...

"Meaning..."

"We'll see if your body can't handle some aspects of it."

I'm blinking at her cheery smile. Is it... a bit menacing?

I hope not...

"Ok! Let's go! I want to see how this'll work, anyways!"

"Ok, Shiki!"

-Fade Out-

We're in that lab again, where the bunnies were at. And I'm rather cold.

And I'm strapped to a table, now. A very cold, hard table. The metal hasn't had anything warm touch it for years, and it shows.

Did I mention I'm cold yet?

Because I am.

"Arcueid. I'm kinda cold."

"Hang on, Shiki! This'll just take a moment..."

She's pulling out a giant hypodermic needle... that's square?!

Oh, GOD NO!

I can only try to get away, right before I feel the needle go into my arm.

That hurts! That really fucking hurts!

And as I fade out, I can see Arcueid's looking at me with concern.

-Fade Out-

When I wake up, I feel different.

It's something noticable, but I can't quite put words to it. It's much like when you're young, you wake up and notice that one of your teeth wiggle now.

I can see blonde hair close to me. Arcueid must be close, and watching over me. Maybe I was out longer than expected?

And then I notice it.

I have breasts.

Breasts. I have them.

How?

...The blonde hair is mine. And I have breasts...

Oh god, they screwed it up!

I'm going to be a girl forever!

"Oops, you weren't supposed to wake up yet, Shiki!"

"Ar...cueid..."

"That's only a picture of what you'll look like if we screw things up, Shiki. Unfortunately, it screwed up earlier. But I'll have it fixed in no time. Ok?"

I can only weakly nod, and muster a faint "Ok." before everything fades out again.

When I wake up, everything's weird.

I'm back in my old school again... I'm facing both what looks like Ciel, and a... catgirl version of Arcueid?

"Good MORNING, Tohno-Kun! I'm Ciel-sensei! And welcome to this bad ending!"

Eh?!

"And I'm Neco-Arc!"

"And WE'RE HERE to help you with ideas on how to never have this happen again!"

"Yes, Nya!"

What the hell is this?! Why can't I talk?!

"Now, Tohno-kun. You should have married me! Then this never would have happened... and we would have had curry for the rest of our lives at the Messian!"

"What?! NO, NYA!"

And someone's shaking me while that... Neco Arcueid is shaking Ciel, trying to strangle her to death for stealing her man...

"Shiiiiki!"

"God damn it, you mean I don't get to try and get into his pants? Stupid goddamned psychic connection for when he's nearly dead never works!"

Eh? That WAS Ciel, then? The hell?

"Wake UUUUP Shiki! We fixed you!"

Eh?

Oh, this is a dream of some sort, isn't it?

"God damn you, Tohno-Kun! Get back here in this dream so I can have my way with you allready!"

...Ciel scares the crap out of me now.

And I wake up to Arcueid smiling at me.

"Hi."

"SHIKI!"

She glomped me.

I'm male again... thank god.

"Ah... Arcueid? Have you ever had a dream where you're a catgirl of all things...?"

"Eh?"

She's blinking. Like she never thought about that before.

"No, not at all."

Phew.

"Ok. That was just a weird dream, then."

"Oh, Shiki! You looked just like me, except you had such pretty blue eyes... but we fixed you right up!"

Aheh. That wasn't part of the dream, then. Crap.

"I was so tempted to put you into a dress, and everything... but then I realized you'd rather be male for me."

I nod rapidly.

"Still, if this happens again, can I play dress up with you...?"

Fuck me...

"Aheh... I guess, Arcueid. Um..."

She's giggling. So worth it, even though I just probably damned myself with my mouth there.

"Yes?"

"What happened, anyways?"

She's blinking now. And putting a finger to her lips.

"Oh. Ah... your dna reacted weird with mine. That's all."

I can only blink. Eh?

"Er... how many more times do we have to go through with this...?"

"Oh... 15 dozen times or so. And since you just said I could dress you up whenever you look like me..."

She's giggling. And I'm doomed.

DOOMED!

"Ah... how exactly do you want to go about that?"

"Oh? Um... hm... probably I'll give you a makeover, and see what dresses you'd fit in... probably my own favorite clothing, though!"

I can only faint.

-Later-

I'm waking up slowly.

My eyes are shut, but... I can hear Arcueid humming.

"I had the weirdest dream..."

"Oh? You're awake, Shiki? I'm glad of that. You had a nasty rejection to the last injection there, earlier. We've been injecting you with tiny bits of my blood at a time, mixed with several catalysts to soften the blow on you."

"Oh? Ok..."

"What was the dream about, Shiki?"

"I dreamed that the injection turned me into a girl. It made me look just like you, and then I fell asleep, and had this weird dream involving you as a catgirl and Ciel dressed up like a teacher, talking to me about a bad ending..."

"Really? Weird. Go on."

"And then you woke me up, and I was male again, but you wanted to play dress up with me whenever I turn into a girl again..."

"Hm. Well, I'm glad you're awake Shiki... I was really worried."

She just kissed me. And as I open my eyes... I notice I'm female again.

"It wasn't a dream, was it?"

"Nope! And you told me I could dress you up whenever you're female... so we'll be going through a makeover later! Oh, but we did finally figure out what's turning you female, so we can fix that later."

Shit. Well, at least they figured out the first problem of it.

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

I have this terrible suspicion that your next scene will involve a fashion montage . . .

[RanmaBushiko]

This was mainly a thought process of...
"What's the worst thing that could possibly go wrong for Shiki?"
Drawn out to it's worst conclusion.
And maybe. Still deciding how much I want to play this out or go ahead with the plot I've got an idea for.
Still, the route to him possibly becoming a Shinso is frought with peril.
Grave, horrible peril.
Still, did you enjoy the Ciel-Sensei scene there? Got the idea of it from Fate/Stay Night, specifically the fake Tiger Dojo.

[Kieran]

*chuckle* It was funny hearing her gripe about not being able to snag him even in a dream.

[RanmaBushiko]

Sorry about taking a while to post this. Was trying to decide on how to exactly go through this plot point. Even still, I hope I wrote this well enough.

So, read and review!

Chapter 17

"Shiiiiikiiii!"

I'm hearing Arcueid again.

"Wake UP, Shiki!"

And she's trying to get me up. But the air's so cold, and the blankets feel so good...

"Well, if you don't want to get up, maybe I'll force you?"

No chance in hell of that happening after keeping me up 18 hours with testing to see if there's an easy way to make me into a Shinso. Nuh-uh. Nope. No way in hell.

"Hm. Oh, well. I'll just lock you in this dress for a week, then!"

Wait, "WHAT?!"

"There we go! Welcome back to the land of the living, Shiki!"

"Arcueid. I'm cold, and the bed is warm... don't you want to sleep with me?"

"Eh? Shiki... it's the middle of the day."

"What's the time?"

"2 in the afternoon."

I blink, and slowly open my eyes. She looks gorgeous as ever, and she has something that looks like an elaborate white and blue gown...

"Considering I got to bed at 6..., that's only 8 hours of sleep, Arcueid."

She's blinking now.

"No, it's been over a day since you've started sleeping, silly! You've slept for 32 hours!"

Eh?

She's serious.

I slept for over 32 hours.

"Has anyone fed Ren or you?"

"We've been eating leftovers. I was rather worried about you, and thought the threat of locking you in a dress would wake you up! Since it worked, I'll remember this for next time!"

Hell.

"Arcueid... help me up?"

She's smiling, and doing so.

It's been 7... no 9 days now since we first experimented with bits of Shinso DNA. Unfortunately, though they know how to FIX the problem, they haven't had much luck in doing so yet. The reason being is there's only one sample of male Shinso dna, and if they use that now... they won't have it later to use on me then. So I'm stuck turning into a lookalike of Arcueid whenever we try to fix the samples of her dna for my body.

It's weird whenever I'm female. My sense of balance is totally off, I have huge lumps on my chest that make me want to fall forwards all the time, and Arcueid wants to try putting me in high heels if I ever get used to this, so I can "feel what it's like."

That honestly scares me a little bit.

Back to my train of thought, though... women's clothing feels a lot softer than all my normal clothing. It's smooth, and I never noticed how rough my clothing felt before, until I tried some of Arcueid's out.

And, surprisingly, she's been rather supportive of me whenever I'm like this. I know it's an accident whenever it happens, but... she seems genuinely happy whenever... I'm like this...

*Thump Thump Thump*

Is someone knocking on the door?

Noone's outside...

"Oh, hell."

Arcueid just went white.

"What's wrong, Arcueid...?"

I can hear faint yelling. Faint loud yelling, like through a megaphone...?

"Arcueid Brunestud, this is Aoko Aozaki, here to talk to you about Shiki Tohno!"

"Blue's come to visit, Shiki..."

And I'm still a girl. God no. To have Sensei see me like this...

"If you don't let me in, Brunestud, I'll blow my way in!"

"Is there a way for me to get shifted back normal faster?"

"It takes 4 hours to reverse, remember Shiki? And I have to be there with you the entire time..."

Fuck me... this is going to go so terribly, horribly wrong... but...

"Let's go see Sensei, then."

Arcueid's still white faced, but nodding, and taking me with.

-Later-

Sensei's staring at me, in mute shock. I'm just grateful that none of the others can see me like this.

"Two Arcueid's? Can you asexually reproduce or something, Brunestud?"

"No, Blue. This actually was an accident."

"Eh? Really?"

"We learned that there were successful examples of normal humans being turned into Shinso, so me and Shiki have been... experimenting with the process. Due to the other two being scared of us both, though... we haven't had too much success in altering the formula."

She's staring at Arcueid, like she's grown two heads.

"Us?"

This is the point where I have to step in, isn't it? Well, here goes nothing...

"Ah... hi Sensei..."

Sensei just did a spit-take, then fainted.

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

Aoko . . . Oh, dear God . . .

[ringlhach]

Well, that's either going to end hilariously or very, very badly... and I'm not sure which I'd prefer.

[RanmaBushiko]

New Chapter. And with this... the real reason why Arcueid tried to leave Shiki. And yeah, Dream-Ciel wasn't exactly a dream after all.

Chapter 18

"I had a dream, where I came here due to Akiha Tohno, only to find him a girl."

Sensei's eyes are shut, and she's talking out loud.

"Am I right to assume it wasn't a nightmare, but somehow reality?"

"Yes, Sensei."

"And the reason you've left all your lovers back there is...?"

"WHAT?!"

"Shiki, your sister told me that all those women there were your lovers!"

Arcueid's twitching. I never thought I'd see that, but... it scares the hell out of me.

"No, Sensei! NO! I didn't want to be their lover, and they've chased me here after I chose Arcueid!"

"Eh?!"

There. Arcueid's smiling again. Still...

"That Executioner from the Church mentioned she bought one of my sister's devices, to comfort you with dreams whenever you're nearly dead, too..."

...

"That... scares me."

Arcueid's nodding in unison with me.

"Agreed, Shiki. Now, Blue... I brought him here because they were getting ready to hurt him horribly."

"How exactly would they have hurt him horribly?"

"Um..."

And there's an adorable sheepish look on Arcueid's face now. So I kiss her. Weird, it's different to kiss when I'm a girl. I can't let myself get distracted, though.

"I'll explain it, Sensei. They've all been falling for me during the incident with Roa... who's current body was Tohno SHIKI. I didn't realize it, but, because I'm adopted, and the fact that I was used as a stand in for SHIKI, means that even Akiha's fallen for me..."

Sensei's looking at the ceiling with a frown. And now she's studying me more in depth.

"Hey, Shiki? Have you been getting weaker when you're not a girl?"

...

Have I been getting weaker? Some days, I'm fine. Others, it feels almost like I can barely move from Anemia.

"My Anemia's gotten worse again. Not to the point of how it was before the accident, but..."

"Still pretty bad?"

I can only nod.

"It's why I'm going to stay with Arcueid as long as I can, and enjoy each day as it comes, Sensei."

She's smiling, and nodding.

"So that Akiha hired me under false pretenses... I'm glad to know that."

I can only nod silently.

And then we're interrupted by all our stomaches growling.

"Ah... Shiki? Could you make food for us if I help you to the kitchen? I ran out of leftovers for Len's lunch... and I'm sure Aoko would enjoy some food here with us."

I can only nod. And smile. The thought of cooking for Arcueid, and Sensei? It'll be fun, at least.

"You can't change him back easily?"

"It takes 4 hours. And we're hungry now. We can shift him back later, right?"

"Ahh... good point."

-Later-

Arcueid went out of the kitchen with Sensei.

I've been cooking, not only a large lunch, of 3 huge sandwiches, but another cake. Ren will enjoy that, after all.

"Arcueid..."

I can hear Sensei still? Huh?

"Yes, Blue?"

"Can he hear us from in there?"

"No, Blue. It took me years before I could train my hearing, and with the fires going in there, he won't hear us at all."

A pause. I can't stop working on this, but I should hear this, I think.

"Not like Shiki doesn't deserve to know this, though... but I'm hiding it as long as I can."

"So you've noticed too, then, hm Brunestud?"

Another pause.

"Yeah. I've been keeping him from the side effects."

"So you brought him here..."

"Because he'd have died in a month or three if I hadn't."

...What?!

"He can't be dying that quick... can he?"

"Blue... it's... not so simple as that."

"I'm listening."

"To kill first Nero Chaos, then Roa...

He overused his eyes. I started getting worried at first, and my suspicions only deepened. Every time he uses his eyes to understand the death of something, he shaves months off his life."

"But that doesn't explain..."

"I'd planned on saying goodbye to him. You know? Give him one last goodbye... and then he used his eyes. Overused them horribly... and killed off my body's innate craving for blood."

"What...?"

"And with that, he went blind for a week. No... more than that... he nearly died. His brain nearly stopped working completely, and for the first two days, he could barely say a thing. On top of that, he could barely move, or think. He enjoyed me being close, and knew it was me... but... with that, he went from having years left to having maybe 3 months at the most, Blue."

I... nearly died there? I nearly... completely died, saving her... but for her sake, it's worth it, isn't it?

"That doesn't explain why he's here, you know."

"I... nearly left him behind. To die with friends and family. No, that's what I should have done."

...That's why...?

"I told him that I'd have to leave him to protect him from my sister, but... that was a lie. A lie to keep him smiling, and think I'd return. To keep him from realizing that I didn't want to see him die on me. To see him fade away."

Crap, I nearly burned the cake. But Arcueid's words are haunting my mind now.

"And...?"

"He grabbed onto me as I left. His eyesight had returned. And he told me he'd rather be dead. I still don't know if he was faking it, or not... but when I told him no, time after time, he told me he'd rather die then than not... not live without me..."

Arcueid's crying now. I...

"...I tried to push him away. I tried time after time to stop him from being a fool, as well. And when I finally got him, to try and wipe his memories of me... he somehow used his knife to see the point of death of the mind wipe I was trying to use on him... and killed it."

"And with how badly his eyes are, right now..."

"If he overuses them much more, than... he will die even quicker. As it is Blue... he's got maybe 3 years to live. At best. With the rituals I've been doing while he's asleep, he has maybe that long."

"Then all this is... to find a way to keep him alive with you?"

"Yeah. But... though I've told him it's working well... it isn't at all."

I just saved the food from burning. And the cake's still cooking, thankfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Blue... it'll take 8 years for his soul to acclimate to the nature of a Shinso that it would be safe to make him one. And the two test subjects we found while running from Akiha's last attempt to smoke us out... with poison bombs... are both female like me. Meaning we only have a single sample of Shinso dna that's male, and it's... old."

"And so you're stuck trying to figure out how to have his soul take the shift in the time you have left..."

"Rather than the 8 years the process needs. Exactly."

"So the reason why he's female..."

"We're desperate for results. Would you help us save him?"

"..."

I... don't have much longer, do I? But I... oh fuck, the cake'll burn if I don't get it out!

"Yeah. I'll help you. Maybe I can get my sister into this, too..."

Eh?

"Eh?"

Arcueid just said the same thing I thought.

And as I bring out the food for them to all enjoy... I realize that, no matter what happens, I'll still have a happy time with Arcueid. So that's all that matters, right...?

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

Shiki always brings out the Aozaki reconciliations - in one universe, or another.

[RanmaBushiko]

Yeah. Well, I'm surprised my muse acted up, considering today's my birthday. Still, hopefully this resolves a lot of issues some earlier readers had with what I wrote. I was planning on this as a plot twist for quite a while.
And yeah, that Ciel-sensei segment was Ciel her using a device bought from Touko to invade Shiki's dreams. Thought it would be more likely than her using a legendary artifact from the Church, after all.

[RanmaBushiko]

And one more chapter on my birthday. What a roll.

Chapter 19

We're all eating right now.

It would be nicer if they talked more, but... considering what I overheard... heh. I don't know what to say.

It explains why Arcueid's been so forceful about trying to have me stay as a girl so much now, though.

All too well...

"What are you thinking about, Shiki? You've been lost in thought all afternoon."

I blink.

"I've just noticed my Anemia doesn't affect me too much when I'm in this form. It's like...this body's a lot stronger than my normal one, so it's impossible for me to have it while like this."

A blink from both, while they both... sip their tea, then spray it out of their mouths in shock.

All over me.

I'm soaking wet. And I can only twitch in the realization that this means I'll probably have to get dressed... AGAIN.

-Later, after much apologizing, and scrubbing-

We've been quiet again. It's hard to think of what to say that doesn't involve what I overheard.

"Shiki, what did you mean by what you said earlier? Did you mean that?"

I think about how to say it best.

"It's like... while I'm in this form, I'm healthier. No, more than that... like I'm stronger alltogether."

They both nod.

"More than that... it's like... my very life is stronger. Whenever I'm not wearing my glasses, it feels like I'm drained horribly just by looking around."

No...

More like I'm on the verge of dying if I look around too much... but I can't say that.

"And what else, Shiki?"

Sensei's studying me close, now.

"When I'm like this... I can still see the lines, but it's like I used to be, when I was young. I don't feel drained anymore. Not rejuvenated, but... it's not like a massive headache or feelings of exhaustion, or anything like that. Does that make sense, Sensei?"

They both nod again.

Both Arcueid and Sensei are nodding in unison, and haven't even noticed. Weird.

Safer if I don't point that out though.

"Shiki, you know... you look nearly the same as Arcueid if you take your glasses off..."

Oh, my glasses!

"Oh? And speaking of which..."

She's blinking, and blinking more when I hand her my glasses.

"Sensei, they've been having problems sealing my sight away, as of late. I can see the lines on everything if I'm not here..."

She just froze, and Arcueid went white.

"Really? I'd better get these to my sister then. Hopefully she won't kill me for stealing them in the first place..."

...I recall Sensei saying something like that, now...

Arcueid's giggling.

"So the mighty Blue turns out to be a thief?"

And now I can't help but grin at the look of indignation on Sensei's face.

"Awww, don't worry. We can help you out, Sensei. We just need to get you a pirate outfit, so your sister doesn't recognize you first."

And now Sensei's twitching.

"Or maybe a Ninja outfit?"

More twitching.

"Shiiiiikiiiii!"

Oh hell, she's pissed.

Fuck me...where to hide, where to hide... Arcueid works!

But when I look for Arcueid, I notice she's hiding behind me.

Crap.

"Don't hurt me, sensei?"

...

She's twitching. And smirking.

"Well, if you want to be irritating, I can always have you pay for one of my shopping trips..."

Aheh...

"And maybe do something about your wardrobe..."

Fuck me...

"And maybe a makeover, and a spa trip, too!"

Kami, no.

"Unless you don't want to irritate me more by insinuating I'm a thief... then I'll forget to have you pay for all those things."

"Ah...I know what shopping is, but... what's a makeover, and a spa, Blue?"

...The worst has come to pass. Arcueid getting taught what all that is... I'm screwed, aren't I?

And so would my wallet be if I had any money.

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

No - Arcueid must never go to a spa! She's stunning enough as it is - the male population of the planet cannot survive the sight of her beauty after its rejuvenating treatments! For the survival of all species, this must not happen!

[RanmaBushiko]

Another Chapter.

And the plot... thickens. Poor Shiki... still, I may as well point out something that a lot of people haven't realized yet. In this story, it's only realistically AU in 2 ways. Shiki killed Arcueid's bloodlust... and Shiki never got the "Life" back he lost to Roa.

The rest of my past plot points, including Akiha, et. all, all wanting to get into his pants, are hinted there, at least technically, in canon. Kohaku's jealous of Shiki, and hates him, but he's always been nice to her, so there's attraction there. Then there's Akiha, who wishes she could marry him, if she could. Hisui likes to watch him sleep, so there's hints there... and Ciel... besides being just a littttttle bit fucked up in the head, wanted to accept his offer when Arcueid ran off to stop Roa.

Thus them all getting nosebleeds in an earlier chapter.

And they will show up later, considering Akiha hired Aoko to drag Shiki home kicking and screaming. With that plan a failure, she'll be going to plans B, C, or D, shortly. And if plan D fails, there's E, F, or G, all the way to plan M.

Now, where was I? Oh, yes. The chapter.

Hopefully this is well written, and hits over all the main plot points I've had out.

Do read and review, please. I like to know what people think of what I write.

Chapter 20

Sensei's gone.

She left after the food was done, while mentioning that she was going to go off and talk with Touko... bringing along a hell of a lot of Arcueid's money with her.

Apparently she owes her sister a lot more money than she's let on.

Kind of scary, learning exactly how broke Sensei can get, so quickly. And I hope she doesn't blow all of Arcueid's money.

Seriously, that was a lot of cash.

Hopefully Sensei will also get all the food she promised to buy for us.

Arcueid's been enjoying the neckrub I've been giving her.

"Blue was... rather interesting, wasn't she, Shiki?"

...

"Yeah, she was."

A pause.

"You overheard everything, right?"

I can only freeze, then nod silently.

"Yeah... I did."

A longer pause, now.

"Do you hate me for not wanting to watch you die, Shiki?"

...No. Never.

"No. I don't. I understand why, now... and I'm glad you're not letting me go so easily."

Another pause.

"Shiki... have you realized it? If you don't have these treatments, you may die. You may still die with them, but..."

I wait.

"But it might not leave you male, if we can't find male Shinso dna."

...So I could live, but be a girl...?

Oh, fuck me...

"I... could you live like that, Shiki?"

...Living as a woman for eternity and holding Arcueid, being with her, if we succeed... or dying as a man...

Yeah. If it came down to that, to be with her...

"If... anyone else asked me that. I would tell them no. But because it's you... yeah. Yes I could, Arcueid. To be able to share my life with you... yes. I could."

How we'd have sex, though... hell if I know.

I mean, you need a penis, right?

She's hugging me right now, and rubbing my back.

"There's only one... other problem, with it, Shiki. We're using my genes, that you removed my bloodlust from. If we use another person's..."

I freeze a bit.

"Then you'll be stuck with the bloodlust you killed in me."

Fuck me.

"Meaning that..."

"You'd have the lifespan I used to. Unless we found, and did the same thing to them as... me..."

"But then..."

"You'd have to deal with the side effects. To kill my bloodlust... nearly killed you before."

"Doing it again would do it for sure... right?"

"Yeah. It would."

So... immortality as a woman, with Arcueid... or... only half of one unless I could somehow see the points again afterwards...

"And my eyes don't work as well when I'm in this form. I can barely see the dots and lines like this..."

She blinked.

"Eh? Really?"

"It might just be for here, in this form, but... it's harder for me. And if I took that, then... What if I couldn't kill the bloodlust afterwards, in myself?"

"And in your normal form..."

"It feels like whenever I'm using the lines, I'm one step closer to dying."

She just froze, and went white, in my arms.

"Shiki, you..."

"It's why I agreed to the experiments. When I'm like this, I'm feeling relief. It's not... a constant feeling like Death's one step behind me, watching me."

She's crying into my arms, now.

And I can't help but cry too.

"I can't... survive much longer if I'm normal, can I? And we don't know how... long I can last like this before it gives us problems. Right...? That's why I'm still like this, in this form."

"Shiki... the record was 36 hours."

"And it's nearly 36 right now..., but... I'm not hurting from this..."

A blink from her.

"It's not supposed to hurt, Shiki. It's... the closer your mind comes to understanding nature innately, the closer you are to being a Shinso.

But... most minds can't handle the strain of it. Humans aren't... wired, for lack of a better term, to understand how Nature is. And Shinso naturally do."

I can only blink, while holding her.

"Then, what's the symptoms?"

"You can't comprehend what you're seeing anymore. You can't hear, or comprehend what you're hearing, if you do hear."

...

"Nothing's happened to me like that yet, Arcueid."

She's blinking.

"Maybe... it's because of my eyes? Because I've had to comprehend the death of all things... I understand nature better than most humans do?"

A slow, hesitant nod from her.

"Maybe it's because I can comprehend the death of all things... I can understand Nature itself... no, Reality itself, like you can? Or much closer... How exactly did those Shinso become Shinso permanently, anyways?"

...She's frozen again. And pale.

"Their limits were 5 days, when the Shinso forced them to stay Shinso for 3 months. At the end, they were just about dead, because of the strain... and then the scientists in the labs somehow stopped their hearts, and flooded their Magic Circuits with several Shinso's power simultaniously."

..."We should find out what my limit is, then, Arcueid."

"Eh? Shiki?"

"If I can go for longer then a day and a half, maybe I can handle 3 days? I don't feel any strain on my mind at all yet."

She's blinking.

"Maybe... I don't know, Shiki."

"We can't stop until we've tried, right, Arcueid? Whatever happens, let's face it together, in the future!"

-Fade Out-

[Kieran]

Yay! A shot at hope . . . And a sudden realisation that you're suggesting Arcueid twincest *dies of brain hemorrhage*