[YokoTsuta]: 250.As the Night Goes On.Rose Blood

"I said to be ready in an hour."

Hana nearly jumped out of her skin. She had not a second before taken a step out of the bathroom when she heard Riku. He lay stretched out in an oversized chair, one leg hanging over the arm. He held his head in his hand, looking at her expectantly.

"I-I was l-looking around in the hallway," she stuttered. 

Riku remained silent, gazing at her without seeing, absorbed in his thoughts. He got up and stood in front of Hana.

"I believe you have some questions you would like to ask," Riku said, his hands behind his back.

"Ye-"

"But now's not quite the time for that," Riku cut her off as a grandfather clock chimed through the house.

He grabbed her hand and dragged her along as he opened the door on the left and ran down a short, dark passageway that led outside. Riku hesitated, looking left and then right.

A man appeared around the corner to the right. He looked at Riku and signaled. Seconds later, four other men appeared behind him. One, obviously the leader, walked toward Hana and Riku. Riku took off in the other direction, dragging Hana by the hand. The men yelled behind them and picked up speed, hastening to catch them.

Riku raced down a busy street, Hana doing all she could to keep up. Tourists packed the narrow street and merchants called their wares to the eager money spenders as rain continued to drizzle. They weaved their way through, Riku occasionally shoving a person to the side. The men following them had hit the wall of people and were forcing their way through. Angry shouts came from the unfortunate travelers as they were mercilessly knocked into merchant stands and fellow tourists.

Riku paused for a few seconds, looking at the surrounding buildings. He spotted something and swiftly rushed towards it. Hana quickly glanced up before being pulled inside. The sign above the door showed a large mug of beer holding a rose dripping with blood. Dark letters that looked surprisingly like real blood spelled out "Rose Blood".

Late night drinkers were crammed into every part of the bar, most of them already drunk and the few sober ones were well on their way to joining the drunken lot. Rain drops dotted the dusty panes of the bar's windows.

Hana glanced around nervously. A group of drunkards were gathered in a corner on the other side of the bar. They cheered as someone struck up a fast-paced drinking song and everyone joined in. Riku had quietly moved behind her, also watching the merry drinkers in the corner.

He nodded towards two of the group, sitting slightly away from the others. They were both males and had not joined in the singing but were instead conversing in low voices with each other. One had his back to Hana and Riku, keeping his eyes focused on the bunch of heartily singing drunks, the other faced towards the duo, occasionally scanning the room. He looked around unti his eyes settled on Hana. Their eyes locked, each staring at the other. His eyes were a cold yellow, the pupil rimmed with red, spreading out like a star's rays into the yellow.

His friend nudged him when he noticed the other wasn't paying attention. He broke off the stare with Hana and shook his head, resuming the conversation. Hana looked around and noticed that many others had the same bright yellow eyes as that one.

Their eyes flashed in the dark slightly as their eyes passed over as the small groups glared at the other gatherings of drunks, each having a small number of the yellow-eyed people, who were all keeping watch over the clueless men crammed into the bar. Waitresses with tight bodices and colorful skirts deftly moved around the room, carrying trays fulls of large platters of steak, turkey legs, and frothing mugs of beer. Most of the young women wore high collars or bandanas around their necks, a few even having expensive broaches glittering from the akward collars.

Two waitresses brought another platter of food to the joyous group in the back corner. The drunkards pounced on the food, grabbing whatever they touched and quickly shoving it into their mouths. A few missed and and most kept singing with food spraying out of their mouths.

Hana looked at the two strange. The two waitresses were each sitting with one of the men. The man who had stared at Hana had drawn very close to the woman, who had removed her high collar. Hana stared as the man appeared to kiss the woman's neck. A thin trickle of blood ran down the woman's neck, her skin paling in the dim light. The girl grimaced, gripping his arm tightly. The man drew back and saw Hana watching him. He gazed calmly at Hana, yellow eyes shining softly. Hana quickly turned away in horror. She bit her lip, musing for a second, and hesitantly looked back at the man. Blood stained his lips, dribbling grotesquely down his chin. The girl's neck showed no holes, only a pair of fresh red scars standing out. The man smirked, wiping the blood away from his chin with the back of his hand. The woman quickly dabbed her skirt to her neck, then fastened her collar back on.

Riku tapped her gently on the shoulder. Hana looked over her shoulder at him, shivering slightly.

"I found a table. Come on," he took her hand and lead the way to as small table in another, less rowdy, section of the bar. Riku sat facing the other room, glaring at the door. Menus were written straight into the rough table, having been cut out of the thick, dark wood.

Riku sighed and looked at her.

"I must speak with someone right now. Please order me a glass of wine," he said, standing back up. He quietly slipped into the crowd and reappeared in the other room. Hana watched as Riku greeted a small group, huddled together in order to hear each other of the gay, untempo song. They greeted him gravely, quickly shuffling aside to make room for him in their small circle.

Hana felt a hand gently slide up her neck, causing her to shudder. The touch, soft and caressing, had a death-like bitter coldness. It casually pulled her hair off her neck. She turned and looked at this mysterious person. It was the young man from the back corner. He smiled charmingly at her, his face glowing with new warmth. He leant against the counter, his arms crossed on the countertop. His dark hair fell around his face as he bent forward, looking her over in the flickering light of the single candle on the table.

"You are more radiant than I had expected, Miss Hana." He whispered as he took her hand in his and kissed it.

Hana quirked an eyebrow and frowned uncertainly. His smile broadened and he squatted down next to her. She shifted closer to the wall in the small booth, trying to avoiding his touch.

"Who are you?" Hana asked. He stared at her fora second and suddenly smacked himself in the head. He lept to his feet and made a low, sweeping bow.

"Forgive me for not introducing myself, my lady. I am Rath." He straightened and crossed his arms, smiling warmly.

"How do you know me...Rath?" Her eyes narrowed, staring coldly.

"Everyone does, m'lady." He frowned, tilting his head, puzzled.

"How? How could they possibly know who I am?" Hana muttered, more to herself than Rath.

He sighed slightly exasperated, feeling like a parent with a little inquisitive child on his hands. He pulled a chair out from under nearby table and sat down with it turned backwards. He crossed his arms on the back of the chair, a smirking spreading across his face.

"If no one has been willing to tell then it would be a violation of the rules for a middle-classman such as I to say." He said casually.

"You? Middle-class?" Hana eyed his richly embroidered overcoat. Faint ivy vines decorated the sleeves from the cuffs, up the arms, and around the chest in a fine silver thread against a, slightly faded, blue-black cloth.

"The jacket is an heirloom, but the pants are like to what I usually wear." He lifted one side of the coat up, revealing black pants that were almost entirely made up of small, multicolored patches. He sighed glumly and covered his pants with his coat again.

"But your friend...Riku, I believe his name was...he's rather special...in the top ranks..." He trailed off.

Hana glanced toward the corner Riku had joined. She focused back on Rath.

"What do you mean?" She questioned nervously. She was being plagued with too many new things that her mind would not, could not accept.

"Have you never looked striaght into those eyes of his, Miss Hana?" He lazily played with the tiny flame of the candle on the table while he spoke.

"No..." Hana frowned at the odd question, one that held no meaning to her. She bit her lip nervously and habitually toyed with a piece of her hair.

A waitress finally appeared at the table. She coughed loudly to get their attention. Neither had heard her and whirled around to stare questioningly at her.

"May I start you off with drinks, loves?" She looked from Hana to Rath. Rath just looked at Hana, waiting for her to answer.

"Riku wanted a glass of wine," Hana replied, staring blankly down at the menu engraved into the wood of the table.

"And what do you want, hon?" The waitress asked, scribbling down the order on a small, worn notepad.

"Er..." Hana searched the menu but only saw strange, cryptic writing that almost seemed to move as she tried to focus on it. She looked pleadingly at Rath. He smirked, chuckling softly.

"She'll take something light, Rose." He said to the waitress without a glance at her. She sighed with relief and leant back in her seat after the waitress bustled off, lookin up at the blackened ceiling. She rubbed her eyes groggily and turned back to Rath.

Rath suddenly perked up, lifting his head off his arms. He closely scanned the room, his eyes narrowing and his mouth forming a straight line. His whole body was tense as he stared into the throng of people in the main room. Rath's friend came stalking up behind him and cautiously tapped him on the shoulder. Rath stiffly snapped a look at his friend but relaxed when he recognized him.

"What is going on, Kaesu?" Rath asked in a low voice as his friend squatted down next to him, bouncing anxiously on his feet.

"They've come for Lady Hana. You must hurry and get her to Master Riku at once." He replied, nervously glancing into the crowd. He got up, looking to the entrance. Both stiffened as the small bells on the door jingled, door opening.

Rath slowly rose from his seat, offering a hand to Hana.

"Time to go."