"Aoi, I need more ammo!" I shouted.
"Roger!" My blue-haired right-hand-woman rushed to my side, her messy side-ponytail bouncing as she ran, and deposited another magazine of bullets into my hand. I loaded my gun in no time flat, quickly firing off two shots directly towards the heart of our target. After what had been an exhausting and fruitless battle, the target finally began to stagger.
"Sakura, you're up!" Our youngest member, a polite girl from a traditional-theatre-running family, Sakura Kitaoji. Given her nature, it surprised no one when she chose a katana as her primary weapon. She was kind and delicate outside of battle, but in a fight, she was downright fierce. She moved with lightning speed, dashing towards the target brandishing her trademark sword.
Oh, before I get any further, I should probably tell you who I am, and what the ever-living fuck is happening. I'm Ran Shibuki, head of Starlight 3, a vampire-hunting squadron. No, I'm dead serious. I became the field leader after our mentor, Mizuki Kanzaki, got gravely injured and quit the business. Now I'm in charge of the small band of girls, seven of us in total. We've been lucky to all survive this long, the oldest of us being 16.
Among our ranks are Ichigo Hoshimiya, a slightly ditzy but well-meaning girl, and a close friend of mine; Aoi Kiriya, our supplies manager and my second-in-command; Otome Arisugawa, an energetic personality but surprisingly competent fighter; Kaede Ichinose, an American hunter with some interesting tricks up her sleeves, and Sakura Kitaoji, the girl I mentioned earlier. Together, we live, work, and fight together to rid the streets of Japan of the undead, blood-sucking, vampiric fitlh that have claimed so many of our loved ones' lives.
For as long as I can remember, I've lived at Starlight, the bunker that contains our base of operations, with only Orihime ever constantly there. She was the closest thing I can remember having to a mother. Both of my parents died in battle as part of this very organization, and I had taken it upon myself to finish what they'd started, wiping every last vampire off the face of the Earth. I swore on their graves I would, and I don't intend to give up on that. For as long as I can remember, I've watched people come and go, some leave for battle and never come back, the lucky ones returning with minor injuries at the least. For as long as I can remember, I'd asked when I would be able to fight, the answer always being "You're not ready yet." But when I turned 13, I was finally done my training, and was able to become a vampire hunter. For as long as I can remember, I've been virtually alone. Until, one by one, the girls I was so close to today came to us, slowly climbing the ranks and improving alongside me. We never gave up, always giving it our all, no matter what life threw at us. We all had our own goals, but the means were the same. That's what led us all here, to be where we are now.
I was shocked out of my daze just as the finishing blow was dealt, shattering the reciever's body into nothing more than a pile of shining dust. Anyone else would have been mesmirized, but I had seen it too many times to care anymore.
"Good job, girls! That was a tough one, but we all stuck it out. I'm proud of you! Everyone okay?" my team-mates each gave a silent thumbs-up, breathing heavily. It had been hard for all of us.
"Ara~, I see you've killed my favourite pet. Now, that wasn't very nice, was it? Do you really want Yurika-sama to suck your blood that badly!? I won't hesitate, human scum!" a smooth yet condesending voice, unfamiliar to all of us, called from the platform behind us.
I turned quickly to see the speaker, a surprising sight, to say the least. She appeared to be about our age, a dainty girl with platinum-blonde hair tied into a set of short drills draped over either shoulder She wore gothic clothes and carried a black lace parasol over her shoulder.
"Who the hell are you?" I shouted back to her.
"Didn't I just tell you, little girl~? I'm Yurika Toudou, princess of this vampire colony. You've killed my favourite plaything. A pity, too. I have no choice but to kill you now. And all your little friends as well~." she giggled.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." I scoffed. I had the upper hand. Morning was almost upon us.
Her smirk broke, and she stared at the horizon worriedly. She gulped, cleared her throat, and collected herself again.
"You've gotten lucky, lowly mortal child. I assure you, this won't be the last time we meet. I shall make a dignified retreat, but the next time we meet, only one of us will walk away, agreed?"
"Of course."
As she strolled away, opening her parasol and propping it up on her shoulder, I turned back to the girls, shoving my two pistols into their holsters.
"You all ready to head back?"