Don't Fear The Reaper

Part 5

The heart skips a beat and drops somewhere in the pit of the stomach. Eyes flashed, Tsukki jumps on the feet, making the plate fall down and break. Now everyone's eyes on them.

He doesn't care. He needs to get away as soon as possible.

He already feels his body preparing for the fight he's not ready. The fight he surely will lose. He feels the end drumming in his ears.

"I'm sorry, Tsukki," Kentaro says with the same voice, filled with regret.

"For what? That you'll have to kill me?" Tsukki hisses and turns away, his mind bustling with the options to get out, eyes rushing from one corners of the restaurant to another. Well, now there's no point to use kitchen, he's gonna be distracted by blood. And the toilet is located behind it. It's not that Tsukki can't control himself at all, but in situations like this  the body might decide the additional blood is a need for survival.

As for the main entrance... Kentaro surely got someone ready at the first notice. It's the usual practice for the hunters. If they go somewhere fishy, they ask the others to keep an eye.

Why didn't Tsukki ask Ran to do the same? Well, his sire isn't who gonna risk his life when the outcome is shaky. Ran likes the good fight, but he picks up only those he can win.

He should try to get away. He's faster than most of them. Maybe not Kentaro though. But he got to try.

Just before all his muscles tense, ready to fly, he feels a warm palm on the shoulder.

"Tsukki, please," he hears the pleading tone.

'Deceiving maneuver', he thinks and rips the hand away. The next second he's out of the restaurant, without looking back, rushing down the street, hearing the heart pounding in chest and ears. He mistakes it for the footsteps, but when he finally glances back, there's no one behind, no one's after him.

That scares him even more. If he's not being followed, that means Kentaro knows where he lives. He will head there for sure.

His home isn't safe anymore. Ran's place? He doesn't want to endanger him right now in case he had to lay down for a bit later.

If there's any "later" for him at all.

Fuck the moment Kentaro set his eyes on him! Fuck Ran and his stupid plan! Fuck his own naive hope the date with Kentaro won't have such consequences.

The phone vibrates in his pocket. He doesn't stop. It must be Ran. He told he's gonna check every half an hour or so.

Half an hour.

It took a bit more than half an hour for Tsukki to turn his life upside down. He might blame the accident, but even if it won't happen, Kentaro would...

Suddenly the look on Kentaro's face pops up in his eyes. He wasn't surprised like Tsukki's identity was the whole new discovery for him. It looked like he had suspicions and proved them right. Is it possible the whole scene with the accident was staged to check out Tsukki?

Fear filles his veins. All the horrific stories Ran told him come up his mind. The video with Kentaro killing a bunch of vampires pops up and Tsukki thinks he can feel the blade parting his guts. Every nook and corner is hiding a hunter behind. The whole world narrows down to the single thought: run away, stay alive.

But he has to think rationally, Tsukki suddenly halts himself.

If he will go on with panicking, he'll be an easy target. He needs to calm down. He has to find some place to think everything over. Somewhere crowded. Somewhere he won't be spotted in a second.