Note: I have nothing to do with Here is Greenwood and its characters except to be a fan who enjoys the OVAs a lot. This story is my extrapolation of the storylines as seen in the OVAs. I apologize if this story doesn't quite fit in with the manga.

Although his day was just as uneventful as the one before, Kazuya found himself less restless and bored. He did manage to finish all his homework before lunchtime, though, which meant that, unless he found something else to do, he would have nothing at all to occupy the rest of his vacation.

During the afternoon Kazuya distracted himself by lying on his bed and thinking about Haru and the relationship that had developed between them.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of it. Haru was using him, to be sure. Haru needed him in order to survive, needed his blood to sustain himself. And yet, Kazuya knew that Haru didn't want to depend on him. He knew that the other boy under normal circumstances would have taken just a slight sip of blood and vanished into the night, and no one would have been the wiser. These weren't normal circumstances, however, and Haru's drive to survive had overridden his own conscience and self-imposed restrictions.

So maybe Haru wasn't using him after all. Kazuya found the thought very reassuring. Not that he had actually accepted that Haru was so cold and evil, but it felt good to be argued out of it with a legitimate explanation.

Certainly Haru wasn't the sort of cruel, evil, bloodthirsty monster that movies from America portrayed vampires as. If anything, he was the exact opposite. Well, except for that bloodthirsty part, but in Haru's case it had a more benign interpretation.

Haru was, to Kazuya's mind, a good person who had not asked for his lot in existence. He had made the best of it, and had struggled to remain as human and as humane as he'd been as a living person. He'd incorporated his new state as best he could into his old being, and had done all he could to resist becoming the kind of vampire that moviemakers were so fond of.

After all, Haru had plainly fought against his inclinations and drank only sparingly from his throat, and Kazuya was hardly the worse for wear. And he was so gentle about it all. Well, except for the night before, but those were unusual circumstances. And it had all worked out for the best. Haru had been the one to snap him out of the cold terror that had possessed him when he'd heard about the...something.

Kazuya frowned, then shrugged. He'd had a fit about...whatever it was...and Haru had helped him recover from it. That was the important part.

Haru was considerate also, and seemed to be genuinely concerned about him. He had served as his hands for the past two nights, even cleaning up the dishes while Kazuya slept. And, while his concerns about the...whatever--why couldn't he remember what it was...might be self-serving since the...thing...probably held the secret to his release from Shun's summoning spell, Kazuya believed that Haru, if he had the choice, would still have fought the succubus that first night when she had shown up. That was just the kind of person Haru was.

So how did he really feel about Haru?

Kazuya liked him. That was easy enough to understand. He seriously doubted he'd let someone he didn't like so readily drink his blood. Of course, if it were the kind of person he didn't like, and he didn't like the person because he or she was a vampire of the movie kind, then he might not have a choice in the matter. With Haru, though, he did have some say in it all, like the simple fact that he wasn't about to let Haru berate himself for doing what had to be done.

So he liked Haru. Was there more to it? Kazuya thought about that for a while. He felt a strong connection to the other boy, no less strong than the ones he felt with Mitsuru and Shinobu-sempai. And he loved his two aniki. So did he also love Haru?

Yes. He did. Kazuya understood exactly how he felt as soon as he thought about it. He loved Haru, at least as much as he loved his two aniki. He wasn't sure if he loved Haru more than he loved Mitsuru or Shinobu-sempai, but he did love the other boy.

Then he smiled to himself. Why should he love one boy more than the other two? He had special bonds with all of them.

Mitsuru was the one most like a true older brother to him. He'd teased and picked on him almost all of Kazuya's first year, and he still did. He'd watched out for him in some cases and let him suffer the consequences in others. More than that, though, Mitsuru had confided in him and actually asked him about the relationships between brothers and between two who had been raised as brothers. That lowering of Mitsuru's cheerful defenses, along with everything else that had happened between them, linked them as closely as if they had been real brothers. It actually made their relationship stronger than the relationship between true siblings. At least, their relationship was better than the one Kazuya had with his real brother.

With Shinobu-sempai, though, the connection was different. Kazuya knew that if he was afraid or troubled he could always turn to his friends, and the one he knew he could count on most was Shinobu-sempai. The other boy was like a strong unwavering wall behind which he could hide when he was scared, or like a fountain of calm strength and support when he was uncertain or confused. And they had shared moments more intimate than he'd ever shared with any of his other friends. Not only had they done two movies together--with the second one requiring far more intimacy and trust than the first--Shinobu-sempai had also rescued him and taken care of him after he'd fallen into the hands of the older boy's sadistic, psychotic sister. He knew he could trust Shinobu-sempai with his life.

His bond with Haru was different again. The other boy treated him with dignity and respect. He was open and honest with him, hiding no secrets from him. Well, except for whatever thing he thought might help Kazuya recover, but other than that, nothing. He was gentle when he could be rough, he was remorseful when he could be compassionless. Kazuya felt like Haru treated him as an equal, even though Haru could probably tear him apart if he wanted to.

So he loved Haru, in much the same way he loved Mitsuru and Shinobu-sempai.

He suppressed a smile. How would Haru react if he called him "aniki"?

* * *

Haru slipped soundlessly into Kazuya's room, coalescing out of his mist form.

To his surprise, Kazuya was lying on his bed, sound asleep. A manga whose title he didn't recognize lay near his outstretched hand. Apparently the other boy had been reading it before he drifted off.

As he drew closer to the bed, Haru noted with concern how pale Kazuya was. It shocked him to see it. He'd seen Kazuya asleep before, but always in the dark and always after he'd taken some of his blood. He'd expected to see the other boy looking paler after a visit since he had of course drawn off some of his blood. Now, though, Kazuya's light was on, and it revealed the extent to which his visits and affected the other boy.

He sighed and sat down on the bed beside the boy. If he'd known, he would have exerted greater control over himself, or made an earlier attempt to obtain Kazuya's cooperation. Then, maybe, Kazuya's pallor wouldn't be so pronounced, and maybe the spell confining him to the dormitory would have been broken already, and maybe he would be free to make his unobtrusive way through the nightlife of Tokyo.

And maybe retrospective speculation was worth dwelling on.

Haru sighed again. For better or for worse, he had not tried to talk to Kazuya directly sooner, and now they had to face the consequences of his decision.

Kazuya stirred, then opened his eyes.

Haru gazed down at the boy, his lips curving in a smile. "Good evening," he said, drawing it out the way American movie vampires did it.

Kazuya blinked, then grinned. "Hey," he said softly. Then his eyes widened. "I didn't mean to fall asleep!"

"It's all right," Haru assured him. "You need to rest to heal, and I've been keeping you up late the past two nights. Not to mention the way I've been interrupting your sleep for the past week and a half."

"Maybe," Kazuya said dubiously, "but it was still rude of me."

"You realize, of course," Haru said, "that it may be because you haven't been getting enough sleep that your leg's taking so long to heal, right?"

"Probably," Kazuya said. "But you needed my help, and we couldn't exactly go downstairs while my brother and Sumire are awake, right?"

"True," Haru said. "Well, maybe we can start fixing that tonight."

Kazuya sat up. "You mean--"

Haru held up a hand. "There's a way I can help speed up your recovery, but it's risky, and there's always the chance that you'll find it too disgusting to go along with."

Kazuya's nose wrinkled, but he shook his head. "Just tell me about it. I'd do anything to get out of this heavy cast!"

Haru shook his head. "Not yet," he said. "There's something I have to do first." He gently touched Kazuya's forehead and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind to Kazuya's and, with a quick thought, shattered the obstruction he'd laid across the other boy's consciousness.

"Hey!" Kazuya said, blinking. "What did you do?"

"I removed the block I placed there," Haru said. "I didn't want you to have any fits about the book today, so I kept your mind from latching onto anything about the book. Every time you started to think about it, your memories would go all cloudy and vague, and you'd just go on to the next thought. You'd know that there was something you couldn't remember, but you'd believe that you didn't need to precisely remember it."

"No wonder I couldn't call the book to mind today!" Kazuya said.

"I hope it didn't cause any problems," Haru said.

Kazuya shook his head. "It was probably a good idea. I think I would have forced myself into a fit if I'd been able to remember it."

"And now?"

"I'm fine," Kazuya said, smiling. "You're here now."

Haru grinned. Then his smile faded. "Kazuya, I removed the block now because I need to you to be fully in command of your senses and sensibilities."

Kazuya fidgeted. "You make it sound like I'm about to decide the fate of the world."

"Not so vast," Haru said, "but the decision I'm going to ask you to make may affect your own life."

Kazuya swallowed. "I'm not sure--"

"It's about how I can help speed up your recovery."

Kazuya's mouth snapped shut. "Tell me," he ordered.

Haru nodded. "Okay, watch this first." Taking a deep breath, he drew one of his nails across his bare wrist. The nail wasn't sharp and he wasn't pressing very hard, but the skin parted in a clean slice slightly wider than a basic paper cut. A line of blood seeped up through the skin.

"Haru!" Kazuya gasped.

"It's all right," Haru told him. "Just watch."

He watched too as the gap in his skin slowly sealed itself. He wiped away the blood that remained on the surface to show Kazuya that the skin was once more smooth and unbroken.

"But why--"

"I'm a vampire, Kazuya," Haru said, "but I can get hurt just like a regular human. But unlike a human, I heal much more quickly. Almost instantaneously, really. All I have to do is will it." He drew his nail across his wrist again. Once more the blood welled up. This time, though, the skin didn't heal itself. "Or not." After a few seconds, the cut drew itself back together and Haru wiped off the new blood.

"The reason I'm showing you this," Haru continued, "is because the only way I can help you to recover is by making you into a vampire for a little while."

Kazuya pulled back sharply. "You what?"

Haru held up his hand. "I'm not going to kill you!" he said quickly. "But in order for me to help you, you need to drink some of my blood. You see, once my blood is flowing in your veins, it will sort of jump start your body's healing mechanisms."

Kazuya relaxed, but he still seemed wary. "So what did you mean by making me a vampire?"

Haru sighed. "I shouldn't have put it that way," he said ruefully. "But you'll have some of my blood in you, so you will be part vampire. And you'll have to drink the blood from my veins in about the same way I drink your blood, so you'll be like a vampire that way, too."

Kazuya frowned. "I don't think I could do it," he said. "I've tasted blood before--like when I went to the dentist and he accidentally cut my gums with the dental floss--and I don't really care for it."

"Vampire blood tastes slightly different," Haru said. "But before you even think about it, you need to understand the risks."

"Risks?"

Haru nodded. "The speed of your healing will depend on how much of my blood you drink. A lot of blood all at once will have you completely healed up within a day or two, but a little bit each time over a course of, say, a week or two will have the same effect. Either way you'd still heal faster than normal."

"That sounds all right to me," Kazuya said.

"I know it does," Haru said, "but here's where the problem is. I've taken a lot of blood from you--a little at a time, of course, but still a lot. If I let you drink a lot tonight, the chances are very good that you will become a vampire like me by the time the sun sets tomorrow night."

Kazuya paled. "You mean I'm going to die?"

Haru shook his head. "There are two types of vampires. One is the type that dies from being drained completely by a vampire. They tend to be ravenous and mindless, more like zombies than anything else. The other type is the kind that doesn't die but changes because he's exchanged blood with a vampire." He pointed to himself. "That's the kind I am. I never truly died, though the girl who changed me made me fake my own death." He paused. "I did sort of die, actually, if you can call fainting at just before sunset and awakening just after it with a pair of fangs and a need to drink blood 'dying.' But the police did find a body in my car that was burned beyond recognition that they assumed was me."

Kazuya inhaled sharply. "You didn't kill--"

"I didn't," Haru said grimly, "but my mother--the girl who changed me--did. She was more like the movie vampires. I don't know how it happened, but she was a big fan of Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff, and she really got into the stereotype." He shook his head. "I tried to stop her, but she was stronger than I was."

Haru started when he felt Kazuya's hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right," the other boy said, "it wasn't your fault. At least you tried to stop her."

Haru sighed. "It still bothers me, though." He sighed again, then shook himself. "But we're straying. Look, if I let you take too much blood, you'll become a vampire like me. But I give you too little, it will have no effect on you at all."

"Is there any way to tell how much I'd have to drink?" Kazuya asked.

Haru shook his head. "If you were stronger, and if I hadn't taken so much blood from you, I could give you quite a bit and you wouldn't change or suffer from any side effects. But right now, even a little bit will affect you. You won't change from it, but you'll definitely suffer the side effects."

"What sort of side effects are we talking about here?" Kazuya asked.

Haru held up his hand and started counting off. "First," he said, curling his index finger, "you'll be very tired. You'll find it very hard to get up and out of bed. And even if you do get up, you'll feel so exhausted that you'll always be dozing off on your feet."

Kazuya laughed. "That's not much different from my situation now, Haru," he said. "It's hard to get out of bed, and just getting up or down the stairs makes me tired."

Haru shook his head, but he smiled. Then he curled in his next finger. "Sunlight of any sort will become painful, at least for a while. Just a few steps out in the sun and you'll feel as though you're on fire, and you'll feel sort of scratchy on your hands and face, wherever the sunlight touches you."

Kazuya shook his head. "I don't think you have to worry about that for a while," he said. "I'm of less use outside the house than I am inside, so I doubt I'll be going anywhere really soon."

Haru conceded the likelihood of that. "Then," he said, curling down his ring finger, "you'll feel cold and chilly, even when the temperature is fairly warm."

"Haru," Kazuya said gently, "it's winter. I'm always feeling cold, even inside the house."

Haru curled in his last finger. "It's also possible that the exchange of blood will bring us closer together than before. We may be able to read each other's thoughts, or sense each other's moods. You're more likely to be affected than me, so it's possible that you'll be very thirsty tomorrow evening when I wake up and no amount of water will satisfy you."

"Would it be so bad to be that close?" Kazuya asked quietly. "And aren't we nearly that close already? I mean, you did put that block in my mind because you were concerned about me, didn't you? You'll know how I'm feeling and can head off any fits I might have because of that book."

Haru shook his head. "All right," he said. "I guess we wouldn't even notice the side effects right now, would we?"

"I doubt it," Kazuya agreed.

"Okay," Haru said, "then the last question in the whole matter is this. Do you want to drink some of my blood?" He gazed steadily at his friend. "You have to be sure about this."

Kazuya was silent for a long moment. "All right," he said finally. "Let's do it."

"You're sure?"

"I am."

Haru nodded. He stood up, then turned to help Kazuya stand. Then he pinned Kazuya against the wall. It would give him the support he needed while Haru took his blood, and it would also provide him with a brace when Kazuya began his drinking.

Kazuya looked a little startled at their positioning.

"Do you trust me?" Haru asked.

Kazuya swallowed, then nodded. "I trust you...aniki."

Haru, who had already tilted his head towards Kazuya's neck, froze. He felt tears welling up in his eyes. "Thank you, Kazuya," he whispered. Then he bit.

Kazuya stiffened briefly, then relaxed, his swiftly indrawn breath slowly exhaling as whatever pain he'd felt faded away.

Haru savored the blood he was drinking, noting the metallic tang to it and--to his taste buds--its undiluted sweetness. As delicious as it was, though, he stopped after only a few seconds. He then pulled back, and lifted his head to gaze directly into his friend's eyes.

Without breaking eye contact, he reached up and, as he had done with his wrist, now sliced a small gash into the skin of his throat.

"Drink it," he whispered. "Drink until I tell you to stop."

Kazuya nodded and slowly lowered his head.

Haru closed his eyes as he felt Kazuya's lips on his throat. Kazuya didn't have fangs to draw the blood up into his mouth, so he had to let it flow into his mouth and lap it up with his tongue or do his best to draw it out the way a person did a soft drink with a straw. Kazuya did it both ways, and Haru found the sensations of both unnerving yet strangely relaxing.

He blinked then, fighting off the drowsiness that was coming dangerously close to conquering him. He suddenly realized that, in his own weakened condition, he was having trouble maintaining his own control. With a great effort, he pulled away from Kazuya, commanding the cut in his neck to heal.

Kazuya stood before him, his eyes slowly closing. Haru managed to catch his friend before he collapsed to the ground. Struggling against his own dizziness, he managed to get Kazuya settled again in his bed. Then, after quickly cleaning Kazuya's face with a tissue, he went downstairs to the kitchen.

He had been thirsty before this, but now all he felt was sleepy. Still, he needed to get something into his body before he went back up to the attic. With Kazuya upstairs, though, he couldn't risk making any noise preparing anything like instant ramen. He had to settle for some dry snacks that were still of much better quality than the things Kazuya had kept back at the dormitory.

Back up in the attic, he thought about everything that had happened that night. He'd shared his blood with Kazuya...he'd possibly endangered Kazuya more than he'd already done...he'd been called "aniki" by Kazuya.

Haru smiled to himself. Kazuya wasn't in any danger tonight, that much at least he knew. He wasn't sure how he knew, except he did. Maybe it was because of the blood exchange, as he'd warned Kazuya about. It didn't really matter, though.

Kazuya was going to be fine, and he had called him "aniki."

Haru liked the sound of it.

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