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Black. Pitch black.
Darkness was everything Goro could see.
He could also hear voices. Many people were surrounding him. Talking. But he couldn't make sense of their words.
Goro knew he had to.
He had to stand, open his eyes and confront his enemies. But instead he layed there, motionless, defenseless. Vulnerable.
He couldn't.
He felt so weak.
And so fucking cold. Like he had never felt before.
Every part of his body hurted and he couldn't for the life of him place it's origin nor remember why. The killing headache wasn't helping at all, just making everything worse.
He was hungry too.
So hungry... It was as if he had never-
A sudden wave of pain chrashed against him, engulfing him and making him curl in on himself.
"He's moving!"
"He woke up!"
A chorus of worried voices sounded, hurrying around him but he payed them no mind.
He was in incredible pain and unlike before this time he could pinpoint the exact place where it was coming from.
"Goro!," a voice raised above the others, closer, lightly shaking his shoulders. "Goro! Wake up!"
"L-leave me alone," he groaned throught gritted teeth before another wave of pain engulfed him making him scream.
The pain was coming from his neck.
"Oh god!"
"It's starting"
"He's gonna die!"
"Quick," the same voice as before, still at his side, resounded. "Bring it!"
He hadn't stop screaming but now a pair of strong hands were grabbing his legs and arms, firmly holding him down and forcing him to stop the flailing he didn't realize he had been doing.
Another pair of hands came and stilled his head while another set (or the same?) placed something in front of his lips, forcing a warm and thick liquid down his throat through his screams.
It tasted metallic.
It was blood.
It was blood and it was gross but god, he couldn't stop. He wouldn't.
He needed it.
He was drinking blood.
Unwilling tears prickled at the corners of his eyes.
Goro wasn't dumb. He was a hunter. He knew the meaning of this.
He was being fed. He had been turned.
He was a vampire now.
He gave up.
He gave up the moment the realization struck him.
He stopped his struggling.
He let both the blood and the tears fall.
He let himself be fed. He let himself die.
The more blood he drank, the more tears fell, the more the pain receded.
Once the pain completely subsided and Goro calmed down, he allowed himself to open his eyes.
As he came to expect he was laying on a bed in the middle of a dirty attic.
Both Ryuji and Yusuke were still on their respective places at the end of the bed, ready to hold his legs and arms whenever it was necessary while Haru silently let go of his head, looking away once she realized his eyes were open.
And in front of him, holding the almost empty bag of blood....
A pair of gray eyes he had come to recognize so well.
Akira's face was as stoic as ever. The purple bruises, cuts and swollen lip doing nothing to diminish the severity of his gaze. Yet, meeting Goro's own eyes was the only thing needed to soften those eyes.
Akira was there and all things considered (both Akira's injuries and Goro's... new condition) Goro couldn't help but feel a surge of relief among all this mess.
His sacrifice hadn't been on vain.
Him betraying Shido and his organization of hunters had been worth it.
Akira was there, safe and sound, instead of strapped to a metallic table subjected to the sickest of Shido's men tortures, studies as they called them, or locked in a room never to see the light of day again.
Akiras was here and Goro had paid the price.
"You came back for me...?," Goro said quietly, his voice full of disbelief. "Why?"
"We all did," Akira said giving Goro one of his small smiles and suddenly Goro was hyperaware of the presence of the other thieves in the attic and the dried path of tears on his cheeks.
"It wouldn't have been honorable of us to abandon you there," Yusuke stated from the chair he had occupied now that he wasn't needed at Goro's feet like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah dude!" Ryuji piped next to him with his usual radiant smile. "Not a single thief is left behind!"
"A thief?" Goro said hesitantly, unable to stop himself from thinking back to all the harm he caused them and how they helped him nonetheless. It made him bark out a dry laugh. He really couldn't understand them.
"Oi! Stop laughing!" Futaba yelped clearly annoyed. "You better be thankful! You have no idea how difficult is to hack into your father's system and-"
"It would be better if we leave this conversation for later," Makoto, the ever voice of reason, spoke up. "It has been a long day for all of us and Akechi probably needs so me time to adjust to his new...err, state."
State?
So that was the word they were going to use?
Pfffft, Goro would have laughed again but instead he kept silence watching the thieves, following Makoto's orders, file out the attic one by one.
All the thieves except for Akira, of course.
"See you later Akechi! If you need anything just call us!" Ann happily called with a wavedof her hand before disappearing down the stairs.
If he needed... what?
How could he possibly even dare to call-
"I'm sure he will be fine Ann," a sweet voice said behind him. "Akira will be here taking care of him after all."
It was Haru Okumura.
The last surviving member of the Okumura bloodline thanks to none other than Goro.
And this time when he looked at her she held his gaze allowing Goro to sea each one of the unreadable emotions crossing her eyes.
"I... you might not believe me, but I sincerely hope you get better Akechi-kun," she said at last when nothing came from their staring contest.
"Thank you," was everything he could reply before she ducked her head and made her way out the attic biding her goodbye to Akira before leaving.
Then again ... What else could he say?
Soon enough all the thieves had left and now Akira and Goro were alone in the room.
"You know?" Akira finally said breaking the tense silence hanging over them while handing him a piece of cloth Goro had no idea where he got from. "She actually means it."
Goro accepted it and sighed.
"If that's the case then I'm even more surprised," he said wiping the dried blood from his face trying to not think too hard about it.
"Why?" Akira asked. "She even demanded to be in the frontlines during your rescue."
And there it was. The elephant in the room.
His rescue.
"Why did you do that?!" Goro demanded angrily. He didn't even know who he referred by 'you'. The thieves as a whole or just Akira.
Akira shrugged non chanlantly.
"Ryuji said it," Akira said slowly, fixing his eyes on Goro. "We weren't going to leave you there."
Goro almost killed him in the spot for how casually he said it. Like it wasn't a big deal.
"I did leave you there," Goro felt the need to remind him.
"Yeah...but you came back, " Akira replied and god how insufferable was the cheeky grin he sent in Goro's way while saying it.
Goro really wanted to murder him.
"And I almost didn't!" he snapped, pointing a furious finger in Akira's direction. "Akira, you need to understand! Shido and his men have been eager to get their hands on an alpha vampire for years. Decades even! Getting you out there was near impposible the first time..."
Goro's voice went quiet when he said that last part and Akira made a move trying to get close but no, Goro shaked his head. He wasn't done and he wasn't going to stop now.
"What if they captured you again?! What if they captured you again and this time I wasn't there? What if-"
A pair of cold hands (everything felt cold now) grabbed him by his arms, stopping him mid track.
"I couldn't afford to lose you."
An the way he said it, so earnest, was enough to disarm Goro's rant.
"Besides... the others didn't let me participate at all," Akira complained signaling to the bruise on his left cheek. "Apparently I was too wrecked to take part in the infiltration."
Goro knew Akira was trying to pull a joke but he didn't find it funny at all. He could only stare at the bruise.
"Aren't vampires, specially alpha vampires, supposed to heal fast?" Goro asked coldly even though he already knew the answer.
"Yeah about that..." Akira dragged on not wanting to speak about the subject.
"Akira"
Akira sighed giving up.
"Shido's research is more advanced than we thought," Akira admitted at last pointing to his own injuries again. "These won't leave a permanent mark but they will take their sweet time to heal...."
"Great," Goro said and he couldn't bite back the bitterness on his voice.
He had helped Shido with his research afterall and while at some point this would have make him feel proud of himself now all he felt was dread.
The crushing realization that all of this was his fault was dangling over him and as always Akira noticed it, reading him perfectly.
"Goro, " Akira said concern lacing his voice. "Don't even start. This isn't your fault-"
"It is."
"-And even if it was," Akira continued unperturbed by the interruption. "You already payed for it," he finished leaving no room to argue.
And he was right.
Goro stared at his hands, contemplating them. Now that he was...fed...he didn't feel any different.
He didn't feel pain anymore. Or cold. Or hunger.
But he also didn't remeber anything.
"If you didn't take part of the infiltration then who found me?" he asked curious.
The last thing he could remember was Shido's men bursting in his office just after he had helped Akira escape.
He didn't even know how they have found out so fast.
He only knew one moment he was awake and human and then everything turned black and now he was...
"Makoto and Haru did, " Akira answered as if he had been expecting the question. "You were unconcious in a light chamber."
"A light chamber?" Goro repeated increduously before letting out a short laugh. "Of course that bastard would have wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible."
Light chambers. The fancy name of simple wells digged in the ground with the sole purpose of filling with light once the sun hit its highest point, burning any stupid vampire who had the disgrace of being there. Of being put inside.
Besides decapitation, sunlight was the only known sure way to kill a vampire. And it only worked with turned vampires. Alphan vampires were inmune to sunlight
Which meant Goro had already been turned by then.
It was then that Goro remembered it. The pain coming from his neck.
"A shot of alpha vampire blood injected directly into your bloodstream through your neck," Akira said reading Goro's mind. "Best way to make sure someone turns."
When Goro didn't spoke Akira continued.
"You said it yourself..." Akira said dryly, suddenly turning away unable to meet Goro's eyes. "They couldn't wait to see what they could do with an alpha vampire in their hands..."
He was speechless.
Oh, the sweet irony. Goro thought bitterly
It was too much. Every answer to his questions was too loaded and Goro couldn't come up with anything else to say except...
"I swear if you say anything about how this means we are bonded forever I'm going to kill you myself," he threatened.
"I actually wasn't going to do it!" Akira laughed raising his hands in surrender before shrugging. "But to be honest... I had never turned someone before....so you being my first must count for something, right?"
Goro didn't laughed and just rolled his eyes.
This was going to be a hell of a eternity.