Ryutaro put his hand on Oburi’s shoulder and wiped his lips on the soft skin of her cheek. Oburi shoved him away.

“Eh, nande?” he asked.

Oburi looked at him angrily. “You are asking me why?!” she exclaimed. “I could smell your damn fragrant delicious blood. That is why!” she answered angrily.

“You hungry?” he asked smiling down at her.

Oburi gritted her teeth on him. “By the way, how could you not know it? You are the one who called Yuri on his dreams, to save you, right?” she asked.

Ryutaro straightened his back on the back rest of the huge couch. He shrugged. “I never really thought that he would be able to hear me.”

Oburi looked at him and pouted which Ryutaro kissed away.

“Nande?!” Oburi exclaimed.

“You are asking me why?!” Ryutaro snapped back at her. “I wanted to kiss you, that is why!”

Oburi glared at him. “Ryuu, what do you think will Yuya do to Yuri?” she asked.

Ryuu sighed. “I wish I know. But the ritual is a secret. It was said to be a myth. Well, the guardian thing is a myth as well. It is just too good to be true.” He shook his head in confusion.

Oburi leaned to him and nuzzled her face in his chest. “I hope he will be fine.”

“Hey love birds!” Daiki called.

The couple looked at the cute penguin prince in front of them.

“I just couldn’t believe that Ryuu-kun here had been angry with Oburi-chan before, looking at how sweet the two of you are.” Daiki commented at them. “By the way, Ryuu-kun, you need to leave some blood for Oburi. Kota’s orders.”

Ryutaro looked back at the older guy. “So, we will really be leaving, huh? For how long?” he asked and hugged Oburi tightly to him who snuggled closer.

Daiki sighed. He could also feel the older one’s sadness. “We don’t know.”

~~~

Shizuka sighed as she saw Keito resting under the mulberry tree. He was holding a silver knife which he was polishing without really paying attention to.

Shizuka came to him. “Excuse me.” She started.

Keito looked up.

She held something to him which looked like a bunch of colored blankets. He took it from her. He stared at her in confusion as she nodded.

Keito opened the blanket. Inside was a newly polished silver kogatana. It was small which can fit in the back of his military boot. The handle was slim, and ornamented with small well defined rubies, the color of deep purplish red which was the same as the color of a vampire’s pupil whenever they drop their fangs.

Keito pulled the knife and held it in the light of the moon. The polished silver was very shiny and the edges were very sharp.

Keito looked back to Shizuka in confusion.

She stared at the silver dagger in his hand. There was sadness in her intelligent eyes. “That is the knife which killed my parents.” She said biting away her tears.

“Gomenasai,” Keito commented looking down at the petite vampire in front of him.

Shizuka shyly smiled and nodded her head. “I have a feeling that you will be needing it, someday.”

Keito nodded and said a small thanks before she nodded and walked away.

Keito stared at the back of the retreating girl and pouted at the knife in his hand. He held it near the knife he was polishing and smirked at the glow it was giving out.

~~~~~

Yuri stared at the niche in front of him. The marble stone shone brightly on the cold light sent by the glowing candelabra on all the sides of the seiden.

Yuya put his hand on the younger’s shoulder. Yuri stared at the man beside him. Yuya was also staring at the coffin in front of them. He was too serious for Yuri’s taste. He was not used to seeing the guy who spoils him the most acted like this.

Yuya sighed heavily before turning his head and smiling at the young boy beside him. “Be tough, Chii. I have a huge fate in you, you can do this.”

Yuri stared at Yuya’s eyes to seek for the honesty of the elder’s words but all that he could see was fear and tension. Yuri put a hand on Yuya’s cheek and smiled at him.

“You’re more nervous than I am nii-tan.” Yuri commented.

Yuya chuckled at that and pulled away from Yuri and shoved his left hand in his pocket. “I almost forgot that you are already a grown-up and not the Yuri who I gave piggy-back ride before.”

Yuri laughed at the sudden flashes of memory, way back when they were still Hey! Say! 7 until the earlier era of Hey! Say! Jump!, the times before Ryutaro got to a messed up scandal, before he decided to quit Johnny’s, before he met the vampires and crossed their lives.

Yuri gulped hard. He would give everything just to come to his quiet life, in which all that he cared about was getting more that 5 A’s in school, hiding from swarming paparazzi and dodging fan girl attacks. Those were the times that he still couldn’t care less for saving the world, a world which was not yet threatened by the unknown.

He looked at Yuya who was fussing on his key and something on the marble coffin. Before, when Yuya was still the careless, car-addicted and gaming fanatic Yuya. He thought.

Yuya was still fussing over the coffin. He was currently pushing his hand under the coffin’s intricately designed rear when he exclaimed, “I got it!”

There was a soft pop and the coffin’s marble top seemed to loosen up. Yuya was smiling while pushed the top and let it topple a little on the side making a small opening that was enough for a body to get into.

Yuya looked inside the coffin. “Let’s go.” He told Yuri as he pulled one candlelabra from the wall to lighten the interior of the coffin.

“Eh?” Yuri stared at Yuya in confusion.

Yuya giggled like a teen-age girl, “Don’t worry, there was no cadaver inside. This is actually a passage.”

Yuri went beside him and looked down. Through the small light, he could see a stair leading down a darker hallway.

Yuya climbed down still holding the candelabra and Yuri followed. Yuya was the first one to connect on the floor with a thud and he helped Yuri down. As soon as Yuri’s feet touched the floor, dust sprung up and he coughed while Yuya fanned away the dust away from their faces.

“When was the last time anyone came here?” Yuri asked as he was still fanning the dust away.

“I don’t know.” Yuya just shrugged and shone his light on the right wall while letting one hand roam on the rough stones. When he seemed to find what he was looking for, he pushed a stone. There was a whirring sound and then the marble top of the coffin slowly closed on them blocking the rest of the light from the main corridor.

It left a small amount of dust and a loud thump, echoing in the secret crevice as it finally closed. Yuri looked at Yuya whose face was shadowed due to small amount of light coming from the candelabra.

“Remember this stone, Yuri because it is also your way out.” Yuya told Yuri who stared at the stone, not really knowing if he would ever identify it from the rest of the other stones on the wall.

Yuya tapped a cold hand on Yuri which made the younger one flinch. Yuya nodded to him, there was sadness in his eyes now which made Yuri more curious and nervous at the same time. Yuya wouldn’t really tell him what they will do.

Yuya walked on the darken corridor while Yuri follow. The dampness made Yuri clinched. He could feel the cold emanated from the walls, probably because they were some meters below the ground level so it was cold and yet he felt himself sweat a cold sweat.

He couldn’t even find in himself the reason why. His heart was beating wildly in his chest. There was anticipation in there, fear and anxiousness even and Yuya wasn’t helping as Yuri could feel Yuya become colder towards him as they went farther towards the dark corridor.

Yuri was alone in his thoughts when he felt Yuya stopped. Infront of them, Yuri saw a golden adored by silver intricate design that Yuri couldn’t figure out. Yuya took out the golden key and pushed it to the small opening on the wall beside the huge door. There was a small pop and then locks whirring. Yuya carefully pushed the huge door making sure not to touch the designs. The door creaked in front of them. They stepped inside.

Yuri was greeted by a wider corridor. Lights flared inside as they entered, though they were brighter than those above.

Lying in front of them was another casket. It was made of rough stones this time and not polished marble. Silver chains arranged as ornamental designs adorned the casket. Unlike the door, the walls inside are rough stones. More silver chains gilded them.

“Silver everywhere?” Yuri asked Yuya who didn’t seem surprise to see the interior of the seiden.

“Yes, to protect the  place from intruding vampires.” Yuya explained putting the candelabra on the wall.  He stared at the casket infront of them. “That casket is the real one. Lying inside is the cadaver of Sir Vermelli. That same casket holds the secrets of the Secret Mission.”

Yuya came before Yuri. He put his hands on Yuri’s shoulder. Yuya was shaking now but he was not called anymore. Yuri wondered why. The older Jump sighed again. “Whatever happen, promise me that you will wake up, Yuri.” There was fear and pain in Yuya’s eyes.

“Huh?” Yuri asked.

Yuya gulped hard and looked away from the younger’s eyes. His eyes roamed the end of the room.

Yuri looked at his back where Yuya was looking. In front of him were skeletons placed neatly on small crevices on the wall. There were at least a hundred small crevices on that wall. Each crevice contained a single skeleton. Only a few didn’t have skeletons. There were small nameplates under each.  

Yuri couldn’t make out the age of those bones but he was sure that they were from different races, different eras, males and females, young and old. Yuya’s grip tightened on his shoulder as Yuri gulped in realization.

“Yes, fallen dreamers, we call them.” Yuya said in a small pained voice which made Yuri look at him. Yuya had his head down and Yuri could feel his trembling hands.

“Nii-tan…”

Yuya stared at Yuri’s eyes, he blinked his tears. “I don’t want you to be there with them! You have to stay with us. No matter what happened, promise me that you will wake up!” he commanded.

“Nii-tan, what really happened to them?”

Yuya let Yuri go and stared at nothingness. “They went back to time, merged with Sir Vermelli’s memory but they never woke up. Their soul left their body for the past.”

“Did anybody survived?” Yuri asked.

Yuya nodded. “One.” He answered.

“What happened to him?” Yuri asked.

“He became the leader of a vampire clan. He became one with them and leaked out Sir Vermelli’s memory.”

Yuri’s felt cold enveloped his whole system. He remembered Jhenie’s words… “Every time a dreamer got entangled with us, our race faced a difficult situation. You are the eyes of danger and now that you are here, I have a feeling that, that same danger is almost near. I am very afraid that after this,we will not be able to survive anymore.”

“Is he the same dreamer that predicted chaos?” Yuri asked.

Yuya sadly nodded.

Yuri felt silent. He was bothered. When he looked up, he voiced out what was bothering him. “But if he saw Sir Vermelli’s memory then, how can we compete against him?”

“It seemed he haven’t finished the whole ritual. It felt like Sir Vermelli actually threw him away. I couldn’t understand. It’s weird. The guardians had been so secretive and the last dreamer, he killed his guardian before he could reveal what happened.” He faced Yuri again. “But I have fate in you, Yuri. I know you won’t leave us.”

Yuri stared at the casket before him. “How can you be so sure?” he asked walking towards it. He touched the stone. It was warm against his cold palm. He smirked as he unwillingly expecting it.

“Because you are our Chinen Yuri.”

Yuri smiled at his nii-tan’s words. He found himself climbing up the casket. It was as if he know what he was supposed to do.

Yuya grabbed Yuri’s wrist. “Do you still want to do this? You know the risk.”

Yuri smiled at Yuya. “You believe me, ne nii-tan?”

Yuya nodded staring at the younger one. “But I never wanted to sacrifice you like this.”

“Shinja, nii-tan, that is why I’ll do this, for you and for everybody else.”

Yuya let go of his wrist. Yuri laid on the warm stone and closed his eyes. There were flashes everywhere. He saw a man. He smiled. Sir Vermelli was there with him. He would help him.

“Yuri, are you okay?”It was Yuya’s voice.

He seemed to be so far away but Yuri knew otherwise. He smiled despite wanting to drift into his sleep. “Hai, oyasumi, nii-tan. Jaa ne!”

“Jaa.”

Yuri was seeing him now, clearly. He was a fine young man with a sweet smile and bright eyes. He reminded him of the guy that he knew was watching over him right now. He man was wearing white with a red cross. He was the templar Yuri was looking for.