Alien Lover

Chapter One

     "Mizuki!" Koujaku screamed, skidding to a halt in the near complete darkness. Mink, the vampire hunter that had been nothing but a pain in Koujaku's ass for the last decade, held the limp body of his brother and coven mate. 
    "What the fuck did you do to him, you son of a bitch!" Koujaku demanded, leveling his sword at the hunter's head. Mink gave him a twisted grin.
    "Just doin' my job, one overgrown leech at a time," he replied as he unceremoniously flopped Mizuki's body into the back of a rusted gray van. Koujaku slammed the slightly taller man against the van, leaving a dent. Mink groaned.
     "Listen here, you murderous bastard, I'll make you pay for what you've done!" Koujaku yelled. 
     "Is that so? You and what army?" Mink raised an eyebrow.
     "I don't need one," Koujaku replied, lifting him and pile driving him into the loose gravel of the Dry Juice Hotel's driveway. While Mink was down, Koujaku took the opportunity to kick the hunter sharply in the ribs. Koujaku smiled as he realized the other man was starting to bleed. His fangs brushed his bottom lip.
     "You're shit outta luck, cuz I'm starving," he hissed, straddling Mink's waist. Koujaku bent Mink's head away from him to better get at his wounds. Big mistake. 
     "You really think I'd let myself be taken down by glorified tick, did ya?" Mink wheezed as he drove his knees into Koujaku's stomach. The undead samurai let out a cartoonish "oof" as he fell backwards. 
      "Get up," Mink ordered. Was this guy for real?
      "Excuse me?" Koujaku looked up at his opponent incredulously.
      "I said get up. I'm not going to fight you if you're just gonna lay on the ground like that. That's a waste of my talents," Mink grouched.
      "Fine," Koujaku muttered, standing up and dusting himself off. He flew at the hunter, a loud cry ripping from his throat. He came to a halt as Mink's fists clutched the front of his kimono. 
     "Cute," Mink grumbled. Koujaku snarled. Full of blind rage, he kicked out at the hunter, who dropped him. He pummeled his face until Koujaku's hands were stained red. 
      "Done?" Koujaku taunted.
      "Nope," Mink replied, pulling something small and silver out of his jacket pocket. Fuck. Koujaku tried to stumble back, but it was too late. The blade slashed him from his right hip across his chest to his left shoulder. Normally, this would be a minor inconvenience for Koujaku, but that was a silver blade. He'd bleed out if he didn't get help soon. There was only one person he could go to right now, his human inventor friend, Noiz. 
  "Gah, you son of a bitch! This isn't over!" Koujaku yelled as he sped off, a blur in the deepening night. Pain struck lightning bolts from his wound, each step slowed by the holy poison that was coursing through his veins. Thankfully, Koujaku had done the route from the Dry Juice to Noiz's place so many times, he didn't have to think much about it. The path was mostly wooded, along well known hiking paths. Tonight, lightning bugs flickered in the cool air, something Koujaku knew he didn't have the time to stop and appreciate. 
     Before long, he arrived at Noiz's house. It was a really nice place. Two stories of metal and fancy glass. Noiz's blue Prius sat in the driveway. Then, off to the side of the house was a shed. This is where Noiz typically was when Koujaku came to visit, always tinkering with something. And sure enough, Koujaku could hear the telltale signs of screeching metal emanating from the shed. He ran there, ignoring the world going slightly black at the edges.
    He opened the door of the shed a little more forcefully than he would've liked. The bang scared the human so badly he almost dropped the saw he was holding onto his foot.
   "Do you mind not-" Noiz began, but stopped once he saw the oozing vampire wobble a few steps closer. Noiz got a stool under Koujaku just in time. 
   "Clear, get over here, I'm going to need your help with this one!" Noiz called. There was a beep of acknowledgment before the cool voice of Noiz's automaton answered,
    "Of course, sir." 
A moment later, the handsome white haired automaton stepped into the light. He took in the sight of the vampire samurai dripping with sweat and blood. 
     "Ah, this should be no problem at all," Clear said, a smile lighting up his face, "you came to the right place, Koujaku."
    "Mmm," was all Koujaku could say before Clear swept him into his arms bridal style as Noiz cleared the table for them. 
   "Clear, you get bandages, please. I'll work on stopping the bleeding," Noiz ordered.
   "On it," Clear said.
   "Now," Noiz said, turning back to Koujaku, "what the hell happened?"
   "Fucking...hunter...silver blade," Koujaku stammered. Noiz just nodded. 
    "Ah. This is going to hurt like a bitch, but I got just the thing that should flush the silver from your system," he said, walking over to the wall where a little white box sat. A first aid kit. Noiz opened it and took out a small brown bottle.
   "Here," Noiz said, stuffing his hat into Koujaku's mouth," something to bite onto." Without much warning, Noiz doused the wound with the peroxide. The wound bubbled and sizzled. Koujaku grunted. 
   "I'm also going to have to stitch you up," Noiz muttered. Koujaku just nodded in resignation and braced himself. How Noiz knew half the stuff he knew was beyond Koujaku, but in this moment he didn't care enough to ask. After a couple of moments of rummaging around in drawers, Noize came back with a needle and some sturdy thread. 
   "Good luck," Noiz said as he began working. Koujaku screamed. He must've passed out at some point because before Koujaku could process what was going on, he was awoken by Noiz and Clear standing over him with a sandwich and a beer. Koujaku was already bandaged when he looked down. Carefully and painfully he sat up. 
    "Thanks, man. I owe you," Koujaku mumbled. Noiz just nodded.
     "Here," he said, "you're going to need this. It won't be as filling as blood, but I'm not really in the habit of keeping that in stock." 
    "Beggars can't be choosers," Koujaku shrugged. He took the sandwich. It was ham and one Kraft single on rye. 
   "So, how exactly did you get into a fight with a hunter?" Noiz asked.
   "Long story. I was coming out of the Dry Juice because I heard a scream. And there's that bastard Mink with Mizuki's body slung over his shoulder like a limp piece of lettuce. So naturally, I tried to kill him," Koujaku replied. 
   "Wait, Mizuki is dead?" Clear asked, concern drawing his brows together. Koujaku nodded solemnly. Noiz put a hand on Koujaku's shoulder.
   "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," he whispered. 
    "Thanks," Koujaku replied. Standing up, Noiz went to the tiny fridge under his desk and pulled out another beer.
     "For Mizuki," Noiz said as he poured it onto the floor. The three men hung their heads in a moment of silence for the sweet, charming green eyed vamp. 
    Like a lightning bolt on a sunny day, the silence was shattered by a sudden burst of blue followed by a thunderous tearing of the earth. 
    "What the hell?" Noiz muttered.
    "Great, just what we need, more weird shit happening," Koujaku griped.
     "If you want, I'll go investigate," Clear offered, standing up and heading towards the door.
    "You're not going alone, I'm coming with you," Noiz said, sounding rather like a protective dad. 
     "Well, I don't want to just sit here alone," Koujaku said.
     "You're hurt," Noiz raised a single ornamented eyebrow. 
     "Since you got the silver out, I can heal much faster. I'm okay to walk around now," Koujaku replied.
     "Fine, let's go," Noiz put his hat back on and followed Clear out the door. Koujaku grabbed one more beer then caught up with them. A fog had settled over the woods. It was surprisingly warm and thick...more like smoke. It smelled of rust and sulfur and ozone. Off in the middle distance, the three men could see an oblong shape sticking awkwardly out of the ground. Its lights were sputtering and in that uncertain light, they could see a humanoid shape inside.
     "Great, aliens. Because that's just the night we're having apparently," Koujaku said, not unamused. 
    "Let's go say hi!" Clear said, smile lighting up his well-crafted face. 
    "Stop, what if its dangerous?" Noiz pointed out. Koujaku shrugged.
    "Its three against one, I think we'll be okay. Besides, it's not every day you get to be the welcoming committee for Earth," he chuckled. Noiz rolled his eyes but didn't argue further. 
    The men approached the ship slowly like it was an angry, cornered tiger. Then, once they were about three feet from the crashed craft, the bit holding the humanoid figure hissed and popped open. Sitting there was a beautiful boy- well at least this alien looked male- with long blue hair and glowing yellow eyes. He smiled up at them like you'd smile at a stranger walking down the street. 
     "Uh, sorry about my rude entrance," the blue haired alien said, "I'm Aoba and I just need to hide out here for a while." 
     "Uhm...well welcome. I'm Koujaku, this is Clear, and this is Noiz. And by 'here', you mean…" Koujaku trailed off.
     "Here, on Earth. Nowhere else in the galaxy is safe for me now," Aoba replied, fully emerging from the ship to stand in front of the three Earthlings. 
    "Should we be concerned? What's happening?" Noiz asked. Aoba fixed his unearthly stare towards the pierced man.
   "Well, you see, I was made in a lab on a planet on the other side of the galaxy. I am a mix of all the races that make up my home empire. Except I escaped because I was tired of being treated like a circus animal. Now the most dangerous bounty hunters in the galaxy are looking for me. Luckily, your pretty little blue pebble is out in the middle of nowhere so that will at least buy us some time," Aoba explained in a nervous rush.
    "Well in that case," Noiz said, grabbing the beer out of Koujaku's hands, "you're gonna need this."