Family curse
One of the most powerful families in the city, the Uchiha, hides a giant secret that is revealed quite by accident.
Varning - blood
You lived in a town ruled by two families. Senju and Uchiha. The two families were very powerful and were always fighting over who was more powerful.
The most interesting and distinctive feature of the Uchiha was their blood red eyes. The strangest thing was that they were all born with black eyes that only turned red later in life.
You were an ordinary middle-class person who managed to catch the attention of the Uchiha just mentioned. You've always been of the opinion that all these rich people were snobs with their noses up. You wanted nothing to do with them.
You took the fact that you ran into each other as pure coincidence. You regularly bumped into him at a little stand that sold the best dango in town. At least that's what he said. You two always clashed at most.
The first time you spoke to him was when you wanted to buy dango but you left your wallet at home. The worst part was, you didn't find out until you got out of line.
You were just about to leave with your shoulders slumped when he paid for it. When he handed you the goodie, he smiled at you so sweetly it disarmed you. He said he didn't want anything in return, but your inner voice urged you to return the favor.
So you waited almost every day at the stall at the regular time for opurtunity to pay for his dango. When you handed it to him, he looked at you as if you were a revelation before he accepted it and smiled.
Since then, you've been meeting there regularly, eating together and talking. He first introduced himself to you as Itachi. For a long time, you had no idea he was the Itachi Uchiha. Your meetings slowly moved elsewhere. Restaurants, museums, cafes, etc.
Gradually you became closer and without realizing it, you started dating. You never met his family, but you never changed your mind about them. Itachi reinforced some things for you.
You'd been dating for over two years, and you just found out he was perfect at everything. He was good at everything and never forgot anything. The only problem was when Itachi got sick. His perfection was also his weakness as he tried to hide his illness as much as possible.
First you got over it, since it can happen to anyone. Unfortunately, it started to repeat and escalate, where he was sick to his stomach from everything, even after dango which he never felt anything after, you started to worry.
It all got worse when he started coughing up blood. At first it was a harmless cough, but it escalated into fits so strong he would grab his stomach and tears would come into his eyes. The final straw was a fit of bloody coughing accompanied by bloody tears. You were determined to get him to a doctor or call an ambulance.
But Itachi told you it was nothing. It was supposedly a hereditary disease for which there was no cure. You were devastated for him. It should have been your job to comfort him, but in the end, he had to comfort you. He reassured you that it would eventually go away and everything would be okay, but you still had your doubts.
A few days later, Itachi got worse, but he still wanted to take you on a date. You immediately knew something was wrong when he sent you a text an hour before the date saying he had to cancel because he wasn't feeling well. That was a bad sign. He's never been sick enough to cancel anything. This must have been really bad, it flashed through your mind.
If he was this sick, you didn't have to decide twice. You're definitely gonna be there for him and help him. Later in the hour, you went to the store and put the broth on to boil.
He sounded tired when you called him. You felt sorry for him. Despite all that, he didn't forget to promise to make it up to you. You didn't care. You just wanted him to get better.
You had to go to work the next day, but you wanted to go see him right after. You finished the soup, poured it into a sealing bowl and went to see him.
A taxi brought you to the front of his building and an elevator took you to the top floor. Itachi had the biggest apartment with the best view in town. You pulled your keys out of your pocket and unlocked the door. You were glad he trusted you with it.
"Itachi, I'm here!" you called from the doorway to let him know you were there. When you walked in, you noticed how dark it was. All the windows were rolled up and he didn't even have the lights on.
"Itachi?!" You called out when you turned on the light. You were left with no answer. You were getting tired of this. You put the bowl on the counter and looked around the apartment. There were bloody handkerchiefs everywhere.
You started to clean up when you noticed something move faintly in front of the couch. You dropped everything and went to check it out. Your boyfriend was lying on the floor. He had ugly circles under his eyes and had red spots on his face as he kept wiping blood from his mouth and eyes. He was pale as death, his forehead glistened with sweat and he was holding his stomach.
"Itachi," you addressed him and knelt down beside him. "How are you?" you asked, brushing his wet hair out of his eyes.
"Y/N," he said weakly, looking up at you before grabbing his stomach again and contorting his face in pain.
"Why are you lying on the floor? I'll help you to the couch," you said, propping him up. He was weak, but he still tried to lean on you as little as possible.
"Shouldn't I call a doctor or an ambulance? I'm sure they would come and help," you offered. you were worried about him. This didn't strike you as something he could just sleep off.
"It's okay. I feel better now," he replied weakly, taking your hand. "Why are you here?" he asked.
"Because I'm worried about you," you replied without thinking.
"You should go home," he said before he coughed again.
"When you feel like this? Forget it," you said with determination. You could be pretty stubborn when you wanted to be.
"Thank you," he finally said, lying down and resting his head in your lap.
"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" You asked in a voice full of concern, tucking his wet hair behind his ear.
"I'll get..." he was about to say he'd get over it, he'd get over it, but the cough caught up with him again. He grabbed his stomach with one hand and covered his mouth with the other. You stroked his back until he stopped and then you went to get a wet rag. You wiped his bloody mouth and coughed blood from his hands.
"You're like a block of ice," you said in shock as you touched his forehead. You checked your temperature just to be sure, but Itachi was like ice compared to you. You went to go get a blanket to keep him warm, but he grabbed your hand.
"I'm hot," he said, pulling you close. You took his hands, which were just as icy, and looked at him with furrowed brows. You didn't like it at all. As if to confirm your fears, another much more intense coughing fit accompanied by pain seized him. He writhed and jerked in pain until he fell to the floor. You immediately sat down next to him.
After a moment when you thought he was going to cough up a lung, he finally stopped. He stopped shaking and leaned on his hands. He felt like he was finally relieved. When he looked at you, you shuddered. His eyes were bloodshot and his cheeks were smeared with bloody tears.
"I think it's passed. I'm better..." he was about to say something else when blood started coming out of his mouth. He tried to catch the dark liquid in his hands, but it leaked through his fingers like nothing.
"Itachi," it caught you off guard and made your heart ache. "I'll call an ambulance," you said determinedly, standing up to go get the phone you'd left on the kitchen counter.
The Uchiha reached for you in a futile attempt to stop you. You picked up the phone and typed in the number for the ambulance, already about to dial it when someone grabbed your arm.
"I'm taking your food here, but I see you've already prepared yourself," the stranger uttered in a cold voice. His grip was steely and his touch was as icy as death itself.
"Y/N is not food," Itachi replied with difficulty. You didn't understand what they were talking about but you didn't like it at all. You tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but to no avail. Everything about his figure screamed danger at you. He had red eyes, short black hair, and half his face was marred by ugly scars.
"If you don't want her, I'll offer," he said coldly, and at his words you saw fangs in his mouth. I don't think any normal person had teeth like that. He leaned towards you and you got the impression he was going to bite you.
"That's enough. Let go of her," Itachi growled at him, and within moments he was standing next to you. He held the stranger's arm with one hand and supported you with the other. After all, just a moment ago, he'd been rolling around on the floor next to the couch, on the edge of his seat. And now he was growling like a wild animal.
"I see I'm not needed here. Just make sure she keeps her mouth shut or I'll have her for snack," the stranger said before letting go. He tossed a paper bag on the line and disappeared as quickly as he'd appeared.
You turned to look at Itachi, who had a murderous look piercing the place where the stranger had been standing just a moment ago. Even in this darkness, you noticed how his eyes had changed. They were no longer onyx black, but ruby red. Now he looked like a true Uchiha. His gaze then traveled down to you, regret written in his eyes.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten you involved. You should go. You shouldn't be dating someone like me. A monster... Just please forget about this," and he lowered his head.
" Forget about it right now. My heart nearly broke worrying about you and now you want to send me away? You'll have to try harder for that!" You snapped back at him. After all that, would he send you away?
"I don't want to put you in danger," he tried to convince you.
"I'll be the judge of that," you said determinedly, taking his cold hands. "Or do you really want me to leave?" You asked him weakly. You didn't want it to end like this. To break up. You cared about him.
"No," he finally breathed, pulling you closer. You wrapped your arms around him and for a moment you regretted it. He was covered in blood, and now so were you.
"I'm glad you're finally okay," you said, relieved. When you pulled away, Itachi put the water on to boil for tea and you set about cleaning up the bloody handkerchiefs.
Once the tea was ready, you sat down in the chairs opposite each other. You had a cup of tea in your hands and he had a cup of blood that he had poured in from a packet his friend had brought him.
"I still find it strange," you finally said when Itachi explained that his entire family was made up of vampires.
That it was actually a hereditary disease that was blood-borne. All the children were born human and at a certain age the disease would break out in them and they would subsequently change. You caught him at the worst part of the transformation.
"But I think I'll absorb it somehow," you said, taking a sip of your tea.
"You don't have to," he said, and you could see him planning his next words.
"But I want to. I love you, and despite all this..." and you pointed to him and his apartment. "But if you want to break up..." and your voice dropped.
"No, I'm sorry..." he apologized and lowered his gaze. You set your tea down on the coffee table, walked over to him and took his hand.
"Don't apologize. It's a lot. I get it," and you smiled encouragingly at him.
"Thank you," he finally said softly before he smiled weakly and pulled you closer, wrapping his arms around you and resting his head on your shoulder.
"That's why I'm here," and you stroked his back.
It was after three in the morning and you were starting to feel the fatigue on you. Even the vampire looked like he could use the rest.
You put him to bed and went to make sure it was locked and the windows were closed. When you returned, Itachi was lying on his side, watching the door. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"You didn't think I'd leave you alone after today," you said, lying down in bed with him.
Itachi pulled you closer to him and wrapped his arms around your waist. You rested your head against his chest and closed your eyes. You were a little startled when you couldn't hear his heartbeat. After three long minutes, you finally heard the sound. After one boom, there was silence again.
"I love you," he broke the silence and kissed you on the forehead.
"I love you too," you lifted yourself from his arms and kissed him on the lips. They may have been icy compared to yours, but you didn't mind.
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