The tears in his eyes made Yuki Sakamaki tear up as well. It was hard to hold back her emotions when he displayed them so openly like this. Selfishly in Yuki's heart, she wanted him to stay in Japan with her forever but at least for two times in her nineteen years of life she was able to see him in person on this tour. First in Hiroshima on the twenty-ninth when he'd worn that silly, adorable tiger outfit and then again today. Getting two tickets was the most amazing surprise and Yuki thanked her best friend Azuma for the second ticket. The curtains were closed now and Yuki shakily got up from her seat. 'What's This Feeling' was playing in the background as fans all started to file out of the concert hall, their faces were filled with pure awe. "Sugoi ne!" (Awesome) one girl yelled to her friend as they walked past her. "I loved Mars the most!" Said one lady in her mid-sixties beside Yuki. Yuki smiled at her, it always made her happy that people of all ages and genders loved Taemin-san as much as she did. Yuki turned on her phone when she was outside the auditorium. Instantly it began to vibrate with messages from her older sister Kumiko who would have given anything to be there with her but was unfortunately stuck at college abroad in America. Their father owned a specialty candy store with many popular fandom Items from Anime toys to K-pop merchandise. It was getting to be a quite popular store in several cities and Kumiko was going to college in New York for business. Soon she would be running the store there. "I was listening on stream!" I can't believe you are still alive after that! I was blown away as usual by how amazing Taemin-sama sounded!" Yuki laughed at her sister's use of sama (lord) as an honorific for Taemin. Her sister was overjoyed when she heard that Taemin would like to be called sama as an honorific in a recent fansign. "Yuki-chan I am so happy for you. Call me immediately when you get home I want to know how it felt to be in his presence." Yuki looked at the time it was already getting late and because of the crazy rainy weather they had been having lately (no thanks to Taemin's power to make it rain wherever he went) it was already pitch-black outside. She dialed for a cab to take her to her hotel but suddenly remembered what she was missing. "Ah! My lightstick." I must have left it on my seat. Turning back Yuki ran into the concert hall and back to her row, letting out a gasp of relief when she found her pearl aqua diamond lightstick still on the red cushioned seat. She looked around the room. Everyone had left already except for one man in a black bucket hat. Yuki held in a gasp because the man looked like Taemin and he was leaving the hall through the red-lit exit door close to the stage. A rush of adrenaline burst through Yuki's veins and even though she thought she would be crazy to follow him she knew she couldn't have seen it wrong. Yuki opened the door and looked around outside. Everyone was in the front of the building taking pictures with Taemin's SIRIUS white van so it was very quiet back here. Yuki remembered Taemin saying that he liked to take walks right after concerts to burn off his remaining energy and look at his fans happy faces. She wondered if this was such a time and if it was, would she be lucky enough to spot him when no one else had before? Yuki walked closer to the front of the building where she would be able to have a perfect view of fans taking pictures but remain unseen. If Taemin was anywhere it would be here. "I guess just the presence of that doppelganger's charming aura would frazzle even the most sensible of people," a voice said from the shadows. Yuki turned around and her eyes widened when the figure came closer into the light of the full moon above. His hat was gone now. Even though the man wore a black mask concealing the bottom half of his face she knew that his eyes were undeniably Taemin's. He pulled his black hair out of his eyes revealing a pale forehead. Her brain was having a hard time registering how it could be possible to change his hair from blonde on stage to black in so short a time. "Taemin-san, I am so happy to see you," Yuki said with a slight bow as she tried not to act like a stalking lunatic in front of him. "How did you change your hair?" Taemin pulled off his mask revealing his full lips and the small black mole she loved so much on the right side of his nose. Up close like this, she saw that he truly didn't need any makeup to show his mesmerizingly handsome beauty. Yuki pulled herself together if she lost her nerve now she would regret it forever. "Taemin-san, I just wanted to tell you that you are the biggest inspiration in my life. Thank you for pursuing your dreams to the fullest and for always pushing yourself to become even greater. You bring joy to all of us and I want you to know that I love you." Yuki blushed as she said this last part, but she never looked away from his eyes and she was so happy that her voice hadn't wavered either. "I know you can't take a picture with me because of the rules but please sign this," she said taking out her SIRIUS pamphlet and handing it to him with a pen from her SIRIUS bag with all of the little mini Taemin pins she had collected on it. She hoped he found it cute and not embarrassing. Taemin laughed while taking the booklet and pen gently from her hands. It was like a song his laughter. She wished she could pause this moment and never leave his presence. Taemin looked up at her his eyes changed in an instant from warm brown to deep crimson and Yuki covered her mouth in shock. "Be careful what you wish for Yuki Sakamaki," he said in her mind. "I may really decide not to let you go." Yuki felt paralyzed by those beautiful crimson eyes. She didn't move as Taemin brought his hand to her face brushing his thumb across her cheek, the cool metal of his ring making her shiver. He pulled her chin closer to his face. But his aura wasn't the same as the Taemin Yuki had seen on stage. He opened his mouth and two small fangs formed from his perfect set of white glistening teeth. "You're a vampire!" Yuki said in disbelief. "Does that mean you don't want my autograph?" Vampire Taemin said with the most seductive smile she had ever seen. "Are you afraid of me?" he asked, moving his hand to her shoulder. "I should be, but I'm not." Yuki admitted silently since she knew he heard her. "I've always believed you to be otherworldly," She said with a laugh. "I guess I was right." Yuki's heart raced faster as Taemin pressed his lips to her neck, his fangs brushing her skin gently before coming down hard and piercing her. Yuki let out a scream at the sudden pain, but it soon turned into a moan as he began to suck her blood. His hand traveled from her shoulder to the small of her back pulling her closer and she let herself fall into him as if it were a kiss. He removed his fangs licking the droplets of blood left behind with the tip of his tongue. Yuki trembled at the heat he emanated around her and tugged him closer. He came near to her ear and whispered "Don't mistake me for my mortal shadow-self again," his breath on her ear was a feather-light kiss as he said, "we are quite different him and I. If you're smart, you'll forget about both of us." Then he was gone and all that was left behind was Yuki's SIRIUS booklet that he'd placed in her hands with the note: Meet me in Shukkeien Garden if your curiosity gets the best of you. - Francesco.

Yuki had sworn to herself that she would not go to him but two days later she found herself taking a flight to Hiroshima and making her way to Shukkeien Garden. She read and reread Taemin’s Francesco’s note through the entire hour and a half flight and rode a bus the rest of the way. The garden was a paradise of miniature trees and a beautiful pond at its center. Small pink buds clung to a few branches she passed as she made her way through the circular path and caught sight of a tea house ahead. Before she could decide whether to make her way to it alone or stay on the path and wait, Francesco appeared beside her as if he’d apparated there.

“You came,” Francesco’s hair was still ebony black but this time it fell over his forehead and into his luminous blue eyes. His contacts made her wonder again for the millionth time if she had been mistaken over Taemin being a vampire and maybe the red eyes were contacts and she was being played by some very elaborate prank but now that she was here with him again she had the distinct feeling that Francesco really wasn’t Taemin and knowing that made her ever more cautious of his intentions.

“Francesco, I came for answers only you can give me I need to kno…”

Francesco stopped her with a light hand at her shoulder as he began to guide her in the direction of the café. He pulled up his black hoodie but seemed confident enough that he wouldn’t be recognized to order for them both, a cold coffee for himself and some of the shops freshly brewed tea for her. They sat in the bench outside overlooking the pond and for a moment Yuki was content enough to watch as Francesco held the plastic cup from the lid and took long sips from the straw. She remembered how Taemin held his cups in much the same way but she didn’t dare voice the thought. But then was he reading her mind even now? Angry at the power he held over her she turned away from him and sipped her own hot tea, the styrofoam cup warming her fingers.

“You want to know why I look like him down to every freckle don’t you? Why I may have some of his mannerisms and carry his voice?”

Yuki met his eyes and squeezed her cup a bit tighter.

“Remember last time we meet I mentioned my Shadow-self?” She nodded. “Shadow-selves are more often referred to as doppelgängers… He paused looking to the pond before continuing. “Yuki…” The ease with which he said her name made her feel oddly closer to him, as if they had known each other somewhere or rather sometime before. “Many years ago I did something to anger some very influential people and I regret that I wasn’t the only one to suffer from the curse I brought upon us.” The seriousness in his voice made Yuki’s back straighten and she braced herself for the words to come.

“You may not believe this but I meet you during the Asuka period, as a demon my role in life is to reap the souls of the living and even though it was your time, I could not bring myself to take you down with me. This angered the Balance of our world and you became a symbol of everything I strived to become.” Francesco’s laugh was loud and genuine as he said, “I remember when I found you hunting a demon who had killed your family. Do you remember it Yuki?

“I believe you can show me my lost memory,” even as she said it she knew it to be true. Yuki took Francesco’s hands in her own and closed her eyes, the world seemed to swirl and melt into a long forgotten memory:

Yuki knelt in the snow outside of Good Eye tavern under the window that overlooked the back of the room. Her palms were slick with sweat as she grabbed the hilt of her dagger harder and watched the revelry within. She watched Makoto down his fifth cup of sake, his pockets becoming as empty as his addled mind as he continued to gamble the night away.

Just yesterday, she would have been one of those tavern girls who stood behind him now, whispering the opponent’s hand in honeyed tones against his ear. Just yesterday, she would have been the girl serving the sake, would have been the one to receive those unwanted caresses at the knee, and would have been forced to mask her disgust with sweet smiles. But not today. Today she was death incarnate; her blade would run through his body just as he had run through her parents and little sister for nothing more than a few meager gold coins. Tonight, revenge filled her heart. She knew now after weeks of tracking him down and serving at the Good Eye just what hatred felt like.

Hate flourishes not in the deep murky caverns of the mind like she’d thought in her naive days, but in the warm sunrooms where happy guests are seated to tea and their host's thoughts are deviant but filled with patience. Before long, that patience grows thin and that hatred turns to their blades as a vessel. The host’s hands are then soon stained with the blood of their guest.

Yuki lifted the hood of her black cloak over her head to hide her moon-white braided hair beneath it. The tavern owner, Akhil, was about to throw Makato out at any moment and she would be ready. Yuki pulled another throwing knife from her boot cuff and climbed to the roof of the tavern. She’d gauged the exact spot on the roof she would need to wait in to strike the killing shot. Just when she was in place, the tavern’s little golden bell chimed with the arrival of a new customer. Yuki cursed under her breath as Makato was thrown into the snow. The new customer had blocked her shot by standing in front of Makato like a shield while he fought with Akhil and pleaded with him, “Just one drink”.

The angry customer hidden under his gray cloak practically lifted Akhil two feet off the ground. Yuki, transfixed by the spectacle, almost missed Makato who was crawling away in a drunken snake-like slither, leaving a path in the snow. Goddess be damned, she thought as more people came outside to watch the fight unfold. She couldn’t kill him with this crowd. Careful not to make a sound, Yuki lowered herself to the ground again and followed Makato as he crawled into the woods. It was a wonder that Makato didn’t give up and fall against a tree, with how slowly he walked. The bitter cold was the only thing keeping him in check. It tore at his bones, and the foul wind howled at him to keep on living his worthless life. Yuki raised her throwing knives again, this time with Makato right before her, she knew she could not miss.

She was right! The knives hit their mark with perfect accuracy, right between the shoulder blades. Makato howled as the knives pierced him, and soon the pure snow turned crimson around him.

“This is for my family you bastard,” Yuki screamed. She refused to shed a single tear. It was not the first time she’d killed, and it would be far from her last. This was simply the first time she’d known the victims of her victim. The empire had hired her as their assassin on her fifteenth birthday and she’d done the job, not only for its pay, but for the glory of it. Her father had been the general of the emperor and had taught her to fight since she was old enough to walk. She’d bathed in the blood of war and fallen into hell and back for nothing better than what this man in front of her had killed her family for: greed.

But now this greed was fueled by hatred; hatred for what this man had done to her family, hatred for what the empire had made her into, and hatred of herself. Yuki knew she was too valued to the empire, too skilled in the art of murder to ever give it up now. It was a game and she simply played it better than others.

Yuki walked away from Makato but as she did, she could hear the furious roar of an animal. She turned, and there before her what use to be a man was now a massive brown bear in his place. It stood three times her height on its hind legs. Its dagger-like teeth gleamed under the moonlight and his eyes, oh gods, his eyes, were as red as the blood that had just spilled from him.

She pulled two shurikens from her waist holster and aimed between the eyes. The throwing stars embedded themselves into the bear’s skull, but it only seemed to enrage him more. The bear continued toward her on all fours. She threw dagger after dagger at him, but the bear did not waver. She only had one knife left now, and she doubted that it would make much of a difference. The Makato in front of her now was in the form of what she imagined he’d looked like inside. This was what rage and hatred looked like, tough fur and blazing eyes. He just might devour her, but not without a fight.

Just as she let her last knife fly, a whistle of air passed her quick as a breath, and a figure jumped down from the trees above. It was the hooded customer who had been turned away at the tavern. He was the reason she’d confronted Makato in the woods instead of where she’d wanted to take him down. As he stepped between her and Makato, Yuki’s blade, that had been meant for the beast, sunk into the stranger’s back just as his sword ran the bear through in one swift movement. The bear gave one last deranged cry before falling backward onto the snow.

The stranger turned from the fallen beast to Yuki and pulled back his gray hood to reveal a face not much older than her own. The scar across his left eyebrow was the only thing that marred his almost femininely beautiful features. Yuki remembered the way he’d lifted the tavern owner and wondered where all the strength from his small frame came from.

He pulled her blade from his shoulder and wiped it with his hood. “Here. I’m sure you’ll need it again soon,” he said, flipping over the blade, and handing it hilt first toward her. She took it.

“How did you kill him? I’ve thrown six daggers at him already and nothing happened.”

“You can’t kill a demon with blades like yours,” he said while cleaning the blood off his own sword now, “you need blessed metal to kill a higher demon.”

“So that’s what Makato was. I can’t say I’m surprised,” Yuki said. Remembering those crimson eyes made her shiver.

“You would have killed a lesser demon with those knives, but one of his rank is harder to exorcise,” he said placing his sword in its sheath. “Also, you might say ‘thank you’, seeing as I just saved your life. And if I may ask,” he moved one step closer, “why were you tailing my target? Is the empire hiring two assassins per job these days?”

“I would have done just fine without your intervention and I have far more claim on this particular target than you do. I didn’t take him for money this time. I hated that man. He killed my family in cold blood.”

The stranger laughed at that, and she noted a very distinct mole at the corner of his nose as it crinkled, his brown eyes seemed to twinkle as he said, “A piece of advice, Honey, in this line of work let no one drag you down through the mud far enough to hate them. That hatred will turn on you, make you reckless, predictable, and stupid, then no one will be around to save you.”

“Wait,” she said as he pulled his hood back up and began to walk away. “Who really sent you? Was it Takashi?” She wondered if maybe the new general of the empire really did care about his assassins or maybe he just thought of her as invaluable. She’d never missed a target before. “Did Takashi send you because he found out my target was a demon?”

“Only scum work under the man who didn’t care to inform you that almost every target you have killed so far was in fact a demon. I don’t serve under the general, but Her Majesty and Honey,” his smile made her want to punch him, “the monsters from your nightmares are real. They crawl this earth before your eyes. After all, don’t humans act like beasts.”

“Wait,” she called after him again, but he was gone, vanishing amidst the trees and snowflakes. She lifted her head and caught a few on her tongue. Her body stiffened when she gazed behind herself at the fallen beast. She wasn’t going to lose her place in the assassins’ guild just because of one flowery man too quick with a sword. She pulled out her newly cleaned knife and turned toward the demon in the snow.

The entire court gasped as Yuki walked down the throne room holding the severed head of a bear. Blood spilled onto the lush carpet as she walked. The shocked looks and fainting ladies of the court were worth the trouble she’d be in for this stunt. Takashi’s eyes were stern and unamused as she placed the head at his feet.

“I figured you’d like to mount this on your wall,” she whispered to him as sweetly as she had when she’d poured poisoned sake into Makato’s mug. “Whenever you look at it think of me.” Yuki leaned closer to Takashi, palm outstretched to receive her pay: five-hundred gold pieces that she had been promised. Yuki had loosened her long braid before coming into the hall so that now her hair fell past her shoulders. She’d exchanged her leather for a comfortable pair of trousers and a white blouse.

“Yuki, your pay has already been given away. Don’t try to deny that you did not kill that beast,” Takashi said looking down into the open eyes of the head fisted between her palm. “Please leave before Her Majesty sees the mess you’ve made in her hall.”

Just then, Empress Haruko entered with her entourage of court ladies in her wake. Dressed in fine silk kimonos with elaborate designs, they each had fans tied with a small rope at their waists. The Empress was the only one ornamented with jewelry, her headdress made up of golden flower pins. The man who had stolen her victory walked in behind them, his beauty surpassed that of any of the ladies present, including Her Majesty. He’d exchanged his gray cloak and trousers for a light green kimono that, while far simpler than any of the court ladies, only brought more attention to his features and long black hair, which he’d gathered in a topknot and fastened with a single gold clip. He looked more like The King’s cupbearer than a member of the assassins’ guild. Yuki’s eyes met his and he quickly looked away.

“Is this blood staining the sacred stone of my chamber, General Takashi?”

“Your Majesty,” Takaishi said, quick to kneel before her, “It is an offering to you from the gods. This blood and animal’s head represents your good fortune to come. The assassins’ guild is holding a ceremony in Your Grace’s honor.”

This seemed to appease her as she took her place on the throne and Takashi summoned a servant to clean the blood. As Takashi rose from kneeling, he leaned into Yuki’s ear and said, “The empire no longer requires your services, Yuki, you can crawl back into the sewers with the rest of the vermin. I believe Taemin,” he said, resting his gaze on her newfound finely dressed adversary as he leaned down to hear The Queen who whispered something to him, “can take it from here.” Yuki picked Takashi’s coin purse and left the hall. She didn’t look back.

I’ve lost my position to the empresses’ new lapdog; how pathetic can I be? Yuki let out a few choice words and gulped from her flask. Her throat felt raw and her stomach empty, but she didn’t want to move from the piano bench. She always came to the old village concert hall when she felt upset. It was the only place that really felt like home anymore, even if it was half-burned by a fire; a fire she had started. For someone who couldn’t even read notes, she sat here far too often.

Yuki gently rested her fingers on the piano’s singed ivory keys. They were now covered in ashy soot and some flats were chipped, but the piano she found still played a tune; a haunting melody that somehow resonated with her feelings at the exact moment she played them. Yuki had swapped her trousers and blouse for one of the costume dresses she’d found mostly unharmed in a wardrobe. It was white with the long draping sleeves of a goddess’s gown from a painting she’d seen long ago. She supposed it was from one of the many plays that had taken place at this stage. Maybe one she’d seen with her father when she’d been younger. But after her parents had been killed, she’d felt the urge to unleash her wrath on this place of harmony. Why should others laugh and sing in a world so dark? She’d brightened it that night with the flames of her hatred. The fire had flourished till every instrument, except for this piano, were nothing but dust. Yuki’s hands came down on the keys hard and the sound that emanated was chaos; the most familiar kind of melody. She cursed this place, she cursed how she used to be, and her good memories.

“You have quite the sword for a tongue.”

“How did you find me here?” she said, her voice weary.

“Takashi told me you come here often. I’ve been here once or twice myself,” Taemin said. He walked up to the stage and lifted a piece of the floorboard. He pulled out a koto she hadn’t known survived the flames and blew on it to release the dust. It seemed he really must come here often to know it was there.

“I used to play on this stage,” Taemin said. “Terrible what happened to it,” he tried to meet her eyes, but Yuki looked away. In his silk kimono and fastened hair, he looked in costume already, like an emperor’s son who had run away from the throne to become a minstrel. He stood on the stage with her, only the beam of light from the moon coming from the broken rooftop lit the stage, as well as the solitary candle she’d placed on the piano, its wax already filling more than half of its basin.

Taemin sat on the stage and placed his thumb, index finger, and middle finger against the white strings of the koto. Then he closed his eyes and plucked the instrument with elegant strokes, the ends of his kimono sleeves moving with him. The melody stirred something inside her; it made her angry, it made her weep, it made her smile. She raised her fingers to the piano keys before her and this time she followed his tune. As they played, she felt even more hollow, like this had been the joy she’d wiped out of her own life and the lives of so many others. The tears streamed from her face now even when Taemin had stopped playing and walked toward her; she kept on.

“Do you feel this pain? This is how the souls you’ve sent to hell feel in their purgatory,” Taemin said. “This is how the many demons and innocent blood you’ve shed spend their days.” Yuki froze and looked up at Taemin; his face, that had been lovely and peaceful only minutes before while playing, had turned hard, and his gaze pierced her with so many needles that she had to blink.

“You know, Takashi never said anything about this concert hall. I can smell the blood of my people’s murderer for miles.” He placed one pale hand atop her head and stroked her hair as gently as he’d played the koto. “This moon-white hair was a beacon that lead me to you, it can be seen even from the pits of Yomi and most importantly, from my throne.” Taemin’s eyes turned from warm brown to crimson, the same blood-red eyes of the demon bear he had killed in the woods. Yuki knew who this man before her was now. She knew why he’d killed one of his own servants only to corner her now. He was the king of demons, a reaper of souls who had come to collect his pay. So many of his monsters had died by her blade, whether she had known it or not, and he wanted compensation. 

Yuki tried to move, tried to reach her iron short sword hidden in her gown, but his music had done something to her body. She felt paralyzed, and at this point her survival instincts were almost nonexistent. She’d done enough, killed enough to deserve this fate. If the king of the underworld had worked this hard to track her down, enough to disguise himself as an assassin, hypnotize an entire court and the empress herself in order to get to her, then she was ready.  

After all, she was just like him, a demon hiding under human skin, clawing to release the hatred that always followed nipping at her heels letting her have no peace. Like a restless river that she waded deeper and deeper into till she’d surely drown. She could still hear the howls of the beasts she’d killed, all lecherous and iron-toothed. She could remember each of their names. As Taemin’s dagger drew closer to her chest, she smiled, at last she would be home. But before the dagger could pierce her soul he embraced her instead.

“I have never known a woman so fearless of heart and yet a purity shines within your soul. Even damned as you are to the darkness of Yomi you do not belong in the land of the dead. I wish to see your sadness turn to smiles and see those smiles directed at me,” he said taking her face in his.

His gentleness surprised her and so did the sincerity of his words, she saw the truth in his eyes and she wasn’t afraid. She covered his hand at her cheek with her own and said, “Perhaps life is still worth living but I’ve lost the reason for it long ago.”

“Can you remind me what being alive feels like I haven't felt that way in centuries?” Taemin said bringing his forehead to rest against her own.

Yuki brought her lips to his and whether they had known it or not the heavens and the high priests of hell had been watching and grew displeased at the disturbance of balance.

“Yuki! Are you alright?” Taemin had his hands on both of her shoulders as she came out of her lost memories.

Yuki looked at the concern on Taemin’s face and squeezed his hands to reassure him that she was alright.

After she had enough time to catch her breath she said, “I’m not the only Yuki you’ve told this to over the centuries, am I? The curse you said you endured we endure together. There are human duplicates made in your likeness on this earth who reincarnate as I do. And every time we cross paths through every lifetime you must endure seeing me with someone else in your image, am I right Taemin?”

“I only go by Francesco now Yuki. You are right, You live and you love and you die and you do it all without me but somehow someway you always die a terrible death at a young age that breaks both me and my shadow-self to pieces. Do you know what torment I go through seeing you live through that pain again and again,” Francesco said as he leaned his forehead against hers.

“Something strange did happen this time though because while my shadow-selves are usually made in my image it was never this close a resemblance, never this close a connection. I feel his emotions more deeply and find myself connected to this current Idol child more than I have ever before. Usually, I feel nothing shared with my doppelgängers but my love for you as if we are two separate beings but this time, I am not so sure it is that simple. I can hear his thoughts sometimes and I worry if our closeness will affect him as well. Yuki, the only way for you to break this cycle of death is to stay away from us but because of my selfishness I dragged you into this again.”

“I would have come anyway Francesco, you know I’d have followed Taemin to the next concert as soon as I could.”

“Spend the rest of today and tomorrow with me? I’m leaving after and I know the perfect place you’ve been wanting to go” he said.

Yuki knew she couldn’t resist the chance of spending the day with him. Her pull to Francesco and Taemin were far stronger than she wanted to admit but at that moment, she was thankful for it. Here beside her stood someone who truly understood her, loved her, watched her die in a thousand ways and still risked everything to be with her. If the tables had been turned and she had been the one to watch him suffer over and over would she have endured it?

“Then what are we waiting for, let’s go.”

The late-night flight to Okinawa had lasted six hours and Yuki had fallen asleep on Francesco’s shoulder to her humiliation for most of it. He’d told her when she’d awoken that looking into the past can take a strong toll on a mortal’s body. Yuki’s excitement to be in Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium was unparalleled. It was were Taemin had gone on his SIRIUS tour and just the thought of it made Yuki giddy with excitement though she tried to suppress it for Francesco’s sake she knew he felt it. Francesco smiled at Yuki’s enthusiasm to make a beeline for the whale sharks as she passed the pages of the map they were given at the entrance.

It still felt strange separating both Francesco and Taemin as two completely different people entirely. But no matter whom Francesco looked like she knew the experiences of both men were profoundly different. On top of that Taemin was a mortal, an angelic, ethereal mortal but a mortal none the less and he could not find out about Francesco at any cost.

“Yuki I found it! Francesco pointed at the glass with a grin as he motioned to the white spotted whale shark with a small gray fish following at his underbelly. Francesco watched Yuki press her hands to the glass and laughed when she pressed her nose to it as well. “Look over here so we can get a picture with the gentle beast.” Francesco pulled out his phone and caught the perfect shot of the shark just between their heads.

“I guess this means you’ll have to send me your contact information now,” Yuki said snatching his phone from his hands. “Or I guess I’ll be imputing mine,” she said as she added herself as a new contact.

“Yuki you know that’s a bad idea,” Francesco said reaching for the phone as she raised it above her head. He followed after her as she went to see the eels in the next tank and she slipped the phone back to him and took his hand.

“I know we only have a short time and that it's foolish to-”

“Dangerous to-” He corrected.

“I just want to pretend for the rest of the day that we don’t have to say goodbye at the end of it,” she said meeting his eyes. It terrified her that she could see his sadness beneath his smiles.

“Okay,” he squeezed her hand tighter. “You are going to have the day of your life Yuki Sakamaki.”

He wasn’t wrong. The hours to come gave her more joy than she had ever dreamed of and it wasn’t just that Churaumi was one of the largest aquariums in the world but it was the growing feelings she couldn’t shake around him. Yuki had already been in love with Taemin and her past self had already loved Francesco and though she knew it was wrong to compare them she knew the reason she loved them both was really because Taemin was a mortal incarnation of Francesco himself. Seeing Francesco come to life as he animatedly spoke about all of the different fish in the aquarium calling them all by name and telling her of his many swims in the ocean made her heart soar. She knew that Francesco and Taemin were connected far more than he’d like to let on. This shadow-self, unlike the others, held similarities that even he feared. What if it was because the curse was ending and soon enough there would be no more diluted parts of Francesco to give? He already felt and heard the things Taemin did so would the passing of his mortal soul hold an effect on his as well? Yuki worried that this was the plan the heavens had in store for him, ripping out Francesco’s heart wasn’t enough, it was his immortality they longed to steal and place a new king on hell’s throne.

“I can breathe underwater,” he said pulling her out of her disparaging thoughts and back to the food stand they stopped at. “I’ve spent so much time underwater in some of the darkest parts of the sea that go even deeper than the tunnels of the underworld. There are so many bizarre creatures down there that the mortals still have yet to discover, Yuki. Do you remember when one of my shadow-selves was a pirate captain and you were the cheekiest of vixens with hair brighter than the flames of hell.”

Yuki surprised herself by knowing exactly what he meant. In those days her father had wanted her to marry the wealthy son of a clerk and she had run away by moonlight. Bess Gallagher dressed in doe-hide breeches slipped her way into the most cunning, infamous of gangs and pledged her life to piracy. When her ship The Coffin waged battle and seized The Magpie she captured the unfortunate vessel’s captain in more ways than one and once the red knot had been tied and a babe was on the way she died a terrible death at the mercy of the sea and to her watery grave.

“I was quite spirited then wasn’t I.”

“You’ve always been that way Yuki,” Francesco said as he moved her hair behind her ear, his touch lingering and reminding her of the feel of his lips against her neck, his fangs against her skin. “You are still the strongest woman I have ever known you just haven’t realized it completely in this life yet, you don’t quite know quite what you’re capable of” he said as he drew his thumb across the top of her eyebrow and she closed her eyes as his fingers traveled down her cheek. She opened her eyes quickly when her back came in contact with the wall behind her and Francesco’s hand slammed against it.

“Francesco, If you wanted to pull a Kabedon there are much less dramatic ways of-”

“Shhh, honey.” With one hand against her lips he brought the other from the wall and held his hand out to her. She was thankful that it had been there to quite her for if not she would have screamed. There in the palm of his right hand lay a large dead redback spider. Francesco pulled away from her and in one quick swoop, he swallowed the poisonous creature.

“Francesco!”

“Shhh you’ll bring attention to us,” he said as he took her hand and lead her away from the crowd.

“Now I definitely won’t be confusing you with Taemin anymore after that stunt,” Yuki said her heart still pounding widely though she wasn’t sure if it was from the sight of Francesco eating an insect or his proximity from moments before.

“How many times do I have to clarify that Taemin and I are much more different than you think. Also, I’m not afraid of insects.”

“He’s no coward Francesco, mortals have fears and trepidations it makes them human,” Yuki said a bit annoyed now.

“I never said he was Yuki.” Francesco looked up at the darkening sky with a sigh their day was close to an end. “Come, I have one more thing to show you and I’m afraid this time you will surely compare me to him.

 The music shop was large and not many customers were there at this late hour. It was half an hour till closing time but somehow Francesco convinced the man behind the counter to let him use the piano room in the back where they could be alone. Yuki stood by the hood of the grand piano at the center of the room and Francesco placed his hands gently to the ivory keys.  

“The song I’m about to sing is one Taemin will release next year, I’ve heard how it is sung from our connection and I can’t escape from the feeling that it’s about us three. Somewhere in the mortal’s subconscious mind, I believe he knows something as well.”

Before she could say a word, Yuki was transfixed as the hauntingly beautiful melody and Francesco’s voice-Taemin’s voice filled the room.

“Memories of being in love come back You follow me around and pester me every day You’re like a shadow

Your voice that echoed on and on in my ears Won’t leave me Though I run away, I’m still in the same place Oh you’re like a shadow”

 The song was about yearning, heartbreak, loss, and haunting spirits but she understood what Francesco meant when he said it reminded him of their story and of their forgotten memories. Perhaps Taemin was also searching for this shadow-side of himself that he knew was lost to him. Perhaps he felt the yearning that Francesco felt for her in some crazy intuitive way. She didn’t know why the bond between Francesco and Taemin was stronger than any Shadow-self that had come before but she did sense the danger ahead of them.

“Only the splintered memories Sink deeper and deeper into my heart A crack of light comes back And your shadow stabs me again

Though I hide in the dark again and again You chase after me You won’t leave me Though I run away, I’m still in the same place Oh you’re like a shadow”

 When Francesco finished, he looked up at her and met her glazed eyes with a tormented expression of his own. She never felt so blessed and yet drained of life all at once, his voice and those words made her feel things in the way no one else could. He knew that their love would never be enough to stop their fate if they continued to meet she would die and saying goodbye was the only way to keep her alive, at least for now.

Just as Yuki was about to break the silence a large gust of wind swept through the room and there before her in a blanket of mist stood the bronze gates of hell with its many beautifully carved yet intimidating figures and its ever more frightening inscription: Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.

Yuki swallowed as the enormous doors opened and a black snake came slithering into the piano room and onto Francesco’s arm.

“Yuki meet my Familiar Mizuchi, Mizuchi this is-”

“I know who the girl is my lord no need to make a fuss,” The snake said elongating her S’s and looking at Yuki as if she wanted to eat her alive for touching her master.

“Now Mizuchi, be polite,” he said petting her head. “I’m sorry Yuki, she can be quite protective of me-”

“We have no time for this my lord, the high priests are gathered at the Inferno Court to discuss current affairs, you must come back before they notice where you have gone.”

“She’s right Francesco.” Though it took all of her strength to stand before him and say goodbye Yuki refused to cry. However, when he embraced her tightly in his arms and kissed her forehead she felt her resolve weakening as he opened the gates of hell and steeped into the mist, the doors closing firmly behind him with a bang that shook her core. She didn’t know how to end a cycle that had gone on for centuries, but for this moment she wanted to be with him, no matter the cost and she swore to herself she’d find a way.

This was my first try at Tumblr fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it 6v6