The tall slim youth was standing shyly to the side of the stage as the magician instructed him on what he was to do. The boy shyly nodded and took his position at the center of the stage while the taller magician did a dance around him, threw his cape into the air and snapped it down over the boy’s head.

The crowd stood and broke into a huge fit of applause, as, in a puff of smoke, the youth was gone.

Mana sat in the corner of the room, his face the perfect mask as it always was. He slowly nodded his approval. The magician looked over to him, and was incredibly relieved to see that the reclusive Mana was pleased. Still feeling the eyes of the devil on his, the magician quickly moved off of the stage, jumping into the smoky interior of the bar.

Mana stood, his faithful Yu~ki stood beside him as soon as Mana rose to his feet. The medallion headed poker he held in his hand had before served its purpose of protecting Mana against the drunks who were too sedated to realize who they were messing with.

He was close at Mana’s side as he sashayed past the guard to the backstage. The two hundred and fifty pound guard cowered in fear as the slim, womanish man passed.

The youth stood in the backstage, waiting for someone to tell him which door in this maze of rooms would take him back to the audience. Frigid, soft fingers ran over the back of Shinya’s neck. He gasped and pulled away from the touch. He turned towards the hand that had caressed him. Shinya gasped again, louder, and fell back and stared at him. Mana! The most powerful man in probably all of France, perhaps more than the king.

Mana was smiling at him. The hard brown eyes looked him up and down and he licked his lips lazily. He nodded to Shinya. "You looked very scared up on the stage." Mana commented. Shinya nodded frantically. He felt scared onstage, but now he felt as if he were going to faint.

As Mana came towards him he almost shrank away, but the poker that Yu~ki held reached out and prodded him in the back, forcing him forward. Shinya’s lips fell open and trembled. Mana raised his hand up to Yu~ki and waved it shortly. Yu~ki bowed deeply and disappeared out the back door of the building into the alley. Mana grinned and placed a hand on Shinya’s shoulder, sliding it upward seductively until it rested against the top of Shinya’s neck. "Let’s go for a walk."

Yu~ki followed behind them at about ten meters, twirling his poker and staring at the back of Shinya’s head in anger.

The forest trail behind the theatre was thin. Mana wrapped his arm around Shinya’s as they walked. Shinya was only a bit taller than Mana. He played with Shinya’s blonde lock of hair through a silken glove. He felt Shinya stiffen.

"Am I really that scary?" Mana faked a pout.

"Oh, no no." Shinya shook his head; he didn’t want to upset the beautiful creature beside him.

Mana smiled, this was working perfectly.

Shinya couldn’t believe this. He was walking with Mana, the most powerful, and scariest man he had ever heard of in his life. Never in a million years would he think he would meet him. He was a recluse, hardly ever seen out of his castle, and never seen during the day.

Shinya was told as a child that he never aged. His grandmother had told him that as a child she had seen him once. Then, perhaps fifteen or twenty years later she had seen him again, and he hadn’t aged at all. He was twelve at the time, and of course dismissed the story of an ‘old-wives tale’ and had always figured that this Mana must simply be a descendant that simply looked like the Mana before him.

"You are a quiet one, ne?" Mana twirled a stand of Shinya’s hair around his finger. "There is no reason to be afraid of me." He smiled predatorily. Shinya detected a slight gleam on the elongated teeth on either side of Mana’s mouth. "I am not so scary, Shin-kun."

Shinya gasped as Mana shoved him back against a tree and gripped his mouth with his lips. Shinya tried to push him away to discover Mana had a grip of death on his shoulders, locking him against the tree. "Don’t be afraid of me, stop fighting me."

Shinya glanced to Yu~ki, who was gripping his poker as if he wanted to hit Shinya with it. Obediently, Shinya became still.

Mana felt something wet slide against his cheek and looked up to see Shinya crying silently. He smiled innocently. "What’s wrong?"

Shinya didn’t answer, but closed his eyes and turned his head away as if not wanting Mana to see him cry. Mana held his breath as he saw the white expanse of Shinya’s soft neck. The thick vein that ran up Shinya’s neck pulsed from the sobbing.

A gasp shook Shinya’s entire body as he felt Mana’s tongue run from the base of his neck and curved all the way up to his ear. He still kept still, wishing he were home in bed, wishing he had never left his house that night. Mana’s hands were freezing, from more than just the cold of the night, as one gripped the back of Shinya’s head and the other held the back of his neck. Mana’s teeth scraped over Shinya’s skin making Shinya suppress a moan.

"Don’t be afraid little Shin-Chan." Then he plunged his teeth into Shinya’s delicate neck, sucking violently. Shinya screamed and tried to shove Mana away, to remember it was impossible.

Mana paused. He couldn’t believe the taste. The hot coppery taste was like nothing he had ever tasted before. It was exquisite. Mana started sucking again, but then stopped. He wanted to taste this blood again. He passed the unconscious Mana off to Yu~ki who took his and tied a scarf around Shinya’s neck to stop the bleeding. He flung him up over his shoulder.

Mana stroked the back of Shinya’s head. He licked the rest of the sweet blood off of his lips, leaving some on the tip of his tongue. He smiled slyly at the steaming Yu~ki, who’s face was drawn in jealousy. Mana pushed his tongue into Yu~ki’s mouth, pushing the blood onto Yu~ki’s tongue.

Yu~ki smiled happily and leaned forward for more. "No." Mana placed his hand on Yu~ki’s chest. "We must get back, we must heal this delicious creature. He ran his hand over Shinya’s thigh that was closest to him. He could tell that Yu~ki wished he could drop the new youth.