Her knuckle rapped against the door three times before she stood back and waited, allowing her eyes to wander over to the flowers that decorated the large front yard of the estate, and had to suppress a small groan, instead settling for rolling her eyes at the eccentricies of her contact.
Thankfully her attention was taken away from the brightly-decorated yard as the door was opened softly, revealing a tall woman with pale blonde hair that wore a simple white dress and an apron. The woman stood there a moment, scrutinizing her, before speaking up, "Ah, milady Hakurei, we were wondering when you might show up."
Reimu finally releases the deep groan that had been building in her chest for having to deal with this, and she fought back the urge to simply push past the other woman. Unfortunately being rude to her drastically reduced the chances of Reimu seeing the person she had actually come to talk to, so she bit her lip and offered the lady a half-hearted bow instead, "Lady Ran, always a pleasure," she bit out.
Seemingly not noting, or simply ignoring the girl's rude tone, Ran Yakumo, assistant to the lady of the house, gestured for Reimu to follow, and retreated deeper inside, both aware of exactly what she was here for.
resisting her want to simply kick the door closed behind her, Reimu did as was expected and shut the wooden door gently, before following the blonde through several winding hallways, only years of traversing this place keeping her from losing her way.
As they approached their destination, Reimu thought that she could hear voices echoing through the empty halls, and though questions were beginning to form in the back of her mind she held back, having learned a long time ago not to bother asking questions of Ran. The woman's perchance for offering riddles in response simply made her head hurt, and she couldn't be bothered to play nice with the servant today when her mood was at an all-time low.
Finally the pair arrived at a set of ornate paper sliding doors, and Ran turned to the shorter woman, giving her a once-over that made the black-haired girl roll her eyes, before pushing open the double-doors and announcing their presence, "Milady, I am sorry to interrupt, but Reimu is here to see you, as you said."
The doors opened out into a small garden where a large wooden table sat, and was decorated with many different kinds of plants giving off wonderful smells that instilled peace to the residents, along with a small pond in one corner.
seated at the table were a pair of ladies, both blonde and tall, one wearing a purple dress and holding a cup of tea, the other in a dress of blues and whites who had a thick book in her lap, and had her blue eyes focused intently upon the other occupant, in a way that reminded Reimu of her own encounters with the home owner.
"Ah Ran, excellent timing, as always," The purple-dressed blonde, who Reimu noted was also wearing a mob cap, answered, the lady Yakumo looking ever the rich recluse, "Lady Margatroid and I were just finishing up."
Finally growing sick of all of these niceties, Reimu pushed past the servant, and dug into one of her coat pockets, withdrawing a handful of photographs, and tossing them onto the table in front of Yukari, "I have reports of people being found mutilated throughout the city, with not a drop of blood left at the crime scenes, and I need answers Yukari," The girl hissed out, slamming her hands onto the wooden table, which creaked at the abuse.
Yukari's eyes scanned over the photo's that had been tossed in her face, before she looked up at the younger girl with an easygoing smile, "Ah Reimu, would you care for some tea?" Turning her attention over to her disgruntled servant, who was giving their guest a dirty look, she ordered, "Ran, please go fetch some refreshments for our dear guest."
Annoyance flashed through the woman's eyes at having to cater to this brat, but Ran nodded and offered a curtsey to her employer, "At once, Lady Yakumo." She slid the doors closed behind her obediently, leaving the three ladies to their conversation.
Once she was sure that her employee was far enough away, Yukari smiled at the black-haired girl, looking amused, and began to chastise her, "Now Reimu, I would have thought by now you'd have realized being pushy and impatient only serves to annoy dear Ran, and you know she is not someone you would like to have on your bad side."
Reimu didn't seem phased by the woman's words, and glared up at her, "People are dying out there, and I only got information about it earlier this morning. Start talking Yukari."
Ignoring the other girl's orders, Yukari turned her attention to their other guest, and gestured to her for Reimu's sake, "Reimu, may I take this time to introduce you to Lady Margatroid, the daughter of a dear friend of mine, and a very important business partner of ours."
Snapping from the daze she had been in when she caught sight of the photographs, the lady blinked twice before turning tot he black-haired girl, "It is ah, a pleasure to meet you lady Hakurei."
"Yeah, sure," Reimu replied, waving her hand at the girl dismissively before returning her attention to Yukari, but neither girl were insulted by the gesture. Yukari was used to the other girl's bluntness and dedication to her work, "What can you tell me about these attacks Yukari? I need to know where to start to track down whatever has been doing this."
Sighing in false annoyance at the girl's pushing, Yukari lifted her teacup to her lips and took a sip of the thankfully still somewhat warm drink, before smirking around her cup as she noticed the annoyance on Reimu's face. The girl could be so impatient sometimes, and she hoped it was simply something the teen would grow out of eventually.
Setting the cup back down, Yukari folded her hands in her lap and took another look over the photographs delivered to her by the other girl, "Well I would think that it was fairly obvious what was the cause of these attacks Reimu. How many creatures are we aware of that would suck every drop of blood from a victim and leave their mutilated corpses at the scene of the crime?"
"I didn't ask what it was that was attacking these people, I was asking for a place to start looking for whatever it was that's doing it, you air-headed blonde," Reimu snapped back.
"Very well," Yukari replied, not taking offence to the girl's sharp tone, before lifting the pictures up to her face and beginning to inspect them closely, "From the look of these photographs..." The lady trailed off for a moment, if only to tick off the black-haired girl further.
Ran chose this moment to return with another cup of tea, which she grudgingly set down in front of the teen, before bowing to the three and leaving once more, knowing that Yukari would not need her again until after their guests departed.
"The slums would most likely be the best place for you to start looking," Yukari finally finished, while Reimu took a tentative sip of tea from her cup, and found herself displeased that it was too hot, "All of these corpses are rather poorly dressed, so I would imagine our horrible beastie is trying to keep a low profile for now by only going after those who would not be missed."
"The slums, excellent, I knew there was a reason that you were my prime contact Yukari," Reimu said, finally feeling a break in her stewing anger as she got the information she had been forced to jump through hoops for. Getting back to her feet, Reimu prepared to leave, "Thanks for the info Yukari, I have to go get my supplies ready for tonight if I'm going to be going up against a..."
"Lady Hakurei, a moment please?" Lady Margatroid spoke up, the first thing she'd said since her impromptu introduction, gaining the attention of the red-eyed girl.
"Yeah, what is it lady Margatroid?" Reimu asked, some of her respect returning now that she had received the information she'd been searching for.
"I would like to remind you that there is more to your life than simply hunting monsters and keeping the streets of Gensokyo safe," Alice pointed out, and both noticed the way Reimu shifted uncomfortably at the mention of her profession.
"She is right Reimu, I know that you've been doing this ever since," Yukari tried to continued, but a pointed glare from the girl caused her to rethink her words, "You need to remember that this city needs the Hakurei line, and as much as I have tried to keep things going in your stead, everyone will only accept someone truly of the Hakurei lineage. You need to stop running from your past and face this."
Feeling a headache beginning to form, Reimu turned her back to the pair, and stormed out of the room, "This city has done just fine without the Hakurei family so far, and you're doing a good enough job as a proxy lady Yakumo, so why don't you just keep at whatever it is you've been doing so far."
"Good day my ladies."
Yukari sighed as she slumped back into her seat, her eyes catching the still mostly full and steaming cup of tea that her servant had brought for the Shrine maiden with sad eyes. Reimu still had too much anger simmering inside of her to listen to reason, and Yukari sincerely hoped that some day that would change.
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Reimu's second stop was thankfully less stressful than going to see Yukari, and it was much less likely for her to receive a guilt trip there.
As she approached the homely store of her supplier, Reimu's mind began to try and wander back to her conversation with Yukari earlier, but she forcefully stamped out those thoughts and fought to clear her mind. She didn't need this kind of distraction when she had a job to do tonight.
The sign above the entrance read Kourindou all-purpose store, though it looked like some of the letters were worn off of the sign, most likely by the rain, making Reimu chuckle darkly.
She was about to let herself in, when she noticed the unmistakable sound of conversation inside, causing her to pause for a moment. Regaining her footing, Reimu pushed open the door, and the sound of the bell echoing through the room cut off the chatter from within.
wandering down the main aisle to the back of the shop, where she knew her supplier would be sitting at his desk, Reimu thought she heard shuffling, but brushed it off. It wasn't her problem what Kourin did in his spare time, only that he continued to give her what she needed to take out anything that threatened the people.
escaping from the rows of packed shelves, Reimu found herself facing the front desk, where a tall man in a blue and white kimono sat, a book open in his hand that he was lazily skimming through, though she had to wonder if that was an act he was putting up.
Looking up from his book when she cleared her throat loudly, the silver-haired man, set down his novel and crossed his arms, offering her a bemused smile, "Ah, So Reimu appears at my store once again. What is it this time? A werewolf? a Chupacabra? Kappa?"
"Nothing so exciting I'm afraid," Reimu replied back, before beginning to peruse the shelves while making small talk, "I thought that I heard someone else's voice on my way in?"
"Ah yes, an old friend had just shown up today out of the blue, and we were getting caught up," Rinnosuke explained, "I'm afraid that she had somewhere to be, so she slipped out the back."
"How very convenient it was when the bell sounded at my arrival," Reimu pointed out as she scooped up several bottles of holy water, before turning to the shopkeeper, "Freshly anointed?"
"Of course," Rinnosuke sounded hurt at the accusation, "I wouldn't want word to get out that I was offering shoddy supplies to monster hunters, especially my best customer."
"Oh that would be such a shame," Reimu mused, "poor old Rinnosuke, his name dragged through the mud because of one bad product."
"Hey, you know that I could bump up the prices on those things and break you," the man threatened, though there was no heat behind his words.
"Oh you wouldn't do that Kourin," Reimu teased as she grabbed a silver cross necklace, before returning to the counter.
"And why would you say that?" The shopkeeper asked, his back going straight as the girl set down her things in front of him.
The smile Reimu offered the man made him shiver a little, but he was used to the girl's oddities by now, "Because I'm your best customer, like you said," She pointed out, "Now, what do you have for blessed ammo?"
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The girl's final stop for the day had to be the most simple and least stressful, thankfully, as Reimu approached a small chain of stores, with a particularly nondescript shop in the middle, that only used a set of curtains to protect the inside from the elements.
Looking around quickly, Reimu slipped through the curtains, and into a world of paper and dust, as the dark expanse of the Suzunaan bookstore opened before her, the girl's knowledge base on all of the nasties of the world.
stepping further into the dark room, only lit by a single light bulb that swung from the ceiling, Reimu took a quick look around, waiting for someone to appear to help her out.
She was thankful when a young girl slipped out from behind a shelf of books, wielding a feather duster with a cry of "Reimu!"
Reimu gave the girl a small smile as she greeted her, "Hey Kosuzu, how has business been?"
"As boring as ever, no one wants any information about supposedly mythological creatures these days," The girl whined, "I swear, the only interesting things that happen these days are when you come for information on your latest hunts."
"So what is it today?" The girl asked, as she resumed her dusting, "What horrible monster can Kosuzu Motoori help you learn about this time?"
Reimu crossed her arms as she sighed, allowing her red eyes to scan the room, "well, I have it on good authority that tonight I'll be hunting a vampire that's decided to prey on the homeless in the slums."
The black-haired girl was amused when she saw her juniors eyes light up at the information, and she chuckled when Kosuzu began to dart around the room, slipping books from shelves to check their titles, while she took a seat at one end of the large table set up in the middle of the room for just this reason.
Kosuzu joined her shortly, and set down four rather thick books between them, before opening each in turn and flipping to the index. Looking up at her client, she finally asked, "What do you want to know?"
"I'm thinking just a general summary of skills to watch out for, and notable attributes for most vampire species, a refresher if you will," Reimu explained, folding her arms and leaning back in her chair.
She never got tired of the way the girl's eyes lit up as she began to rapidly flip through pages of each book, getting barely a peek of the information on the page before moving on to the next, until finally she stopped at one point in each book that had the information they sought.
"Vampires are known as the creatures of the night, and were made famous in the public eye by the story of Vlad the impaler," The girl explained, "Their primary, and most well-known ability is to suck the blood from their victims, which is used to sustain their own life. Some vampires are known to drink all of the blood from their victims, while some will only take a few litres from each victim, and instead attack more humans for the same amount overall.
"Another important vampire ability is to turn into a bat at night, as a way of evading hunters, and easy travel, though this leaves the vampire almost completely defenceless."
"Some vampires are known to have the ability to turn their victims into ghouls, mindless servants of the vampires that are much like regular zombies, and are a very minimal threat. Others are known to be able to move at great speeds, known as "flitting", and all vampires have increased strength compared to a regular human."
"Weaknesses?" Reimu piped up, simply wanting to cover all of her bases.
"Vampires greatest weakness is direct sunlight, though in very rare cases vampires are known to be able to stand the direct light of the sun for a short amount of time, it is incredibly uncomfortable for them, and they will still burn if exposed for too long."
"Anointed and holy items are very powerful tools for defeating vampires, and things such as holy water and crosses are known to be able to ward off vampire attacks. it is said that creating a circle of holy water can create a ward that keeps vampires away."
"It is thought that regular water can ward off vampires temporarily, but if it is not anointed they may wise up and attack. some believe that vampires cannot travel in the rain, but cases where this is untrue exist."
"The most simple way of disposing of a vampire, if none of the other objects are available, is a sharpened wooden stake punched directly through the vampires heart. No one is sure why this is so effective, but it will immediately turn the vampire to dust, and is the origin of the popular phrase "dusting a vamp."
Reimu sighed as she filed all of the information away in her mind. Lifting herself back to her feet, the girl reached over and ran her fingers through Kosuzu's hair affectionately, "Thanks Kosuzu."
The girl seemed to preen at the attention, but became melancholy as she looked up at the older girl, "Reimu, do you really have to keep going out to hunt monsters like this? Can't you retire someday and just be a regular big sister?"
Wincing at the question, Reimu let out a soft laugh to mask her feelings as she turned to leave, "Don't worry so much kiddo, I'm not going to get beaten by some monster."
"Besides that," Reimu added, turning back to the younger girl from the doorway, "I still owe you a day out on the town after all of your help with that Yuki-Onna case last winter."
The grin that Kosuzu gave her warmed the girl's otherwise cold heart slightly, "I'm holding you to that big sis Reimu."
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Sighing as she got ready to go, Reimu once again went over her things as she stood in the small three-room apartment she lived in.
Wearing a large brown coat with many pockets, and underneath a black tank top and black cargo pants, with a belt around her waist that had several small pouches attached to it for additional equipment, the girl dug her hands into each pocket to make sure she had everything.
In one of her pouches were the vials of holy water she had bought from Kourin, safely tucked away and wrapped in cloth to avoid shattering while she moved. In another was a flashlight, which she planned to use to hopefully blind her target in case something happened.
There was a sanded-down wooden stake in one of her jacket pockets just in case she had to get in close, and she had a handgun attached to the back of her belt and stocked with blessed bullets, which she hoped would be the only thing she truly needed for tonight. Vampires could be notoriously difficult to deal with, and she understood Kosuzu's concern about her.
Her other pockets had a few additional magazines, she had a second stake in one of her pants pockets, as well as a backup vial of holy water, and around her neck was the silver cross, which would hopefully ward off the vamp from sucking her blood.
She had forgone bringing along garlic, because, in addition to her disliking the smell, cases where the vampires could actually be warded off and killed by the stuff were mixed at best, and she would rather not take her chances on something that only worked half the time.
Patting herself down as a final check, Reimu nodded twice and grabbed her keys from the counter as she left, and quickly locked up the place.
Walking down the quiet hallway of her apartment building, hope rose in Reimu's chest as she thought herself home free, before she heard a door open behind her. Groaning in annoyance, Reimu prepared for the onslaught of...
Her overly caring neighbour, Kochiya Sanae, and her incessant mothering, "Oh Reimu, where are you off to so late at night?" The green-haired girl asked innocently.
"I just have some things to take care of tonight Sanae, it's honestly nothing to worry about," Reimu tried to reason with the girl, hoping that maybe she would accept the excuse and leave her alone.
Unfortunately she was met with no chance, as Sanae noticed her outfit, "Seriously Reimu, more monster hunting?" The girl complained, "Why can't you be just a regular girl and come to school with me?"
"Because I need to be out there, protecting the city from everything that wants us all dead Sanae!" Reimu shouted back, the anger that had been slowly building up all day finally peaking at the girl's push.
"Reimu, you've been going out hunting monsters since you moved into this building, don't you think it's time to live life like a normal girl?" The green-haired girl asked.
"No, not until I'm sure everyone is going to be safe," Reimu replied honestly, before bouncing back and offering the girl a cocky grin, "Don't worry so much Sanae, I'll be fine," She tried to assure the other girl.
"Well, okay," thankfully Sanae relented on this matter, "But I'd like to remind you the offer is still out there for you to join me and my aunts some time for dinner, we'd be more than happy to have you over."
Reimu winced at the thought and turned away, "Yeah, maybe some other time."
"Okay, have a good night Reimu," Sanae offered in a slightly more happy tone, before slipping back into her apartment.
For some reason Reimu lingered outside of her neighbours apartment for a few moments after the green-haired girl departed, and felt her heart clench when she heard the girl laugh at something one of her aunts probably told her.
Grunting and shoving those thoughts away, Reimu continued to the elevator, wanting to get out there and find this creature, so she could get her mind off of what she saw as poisonous thoughts implanted by her contacts.
She couldn't call them friends.
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This turned out way longer than I had thought it'd be on paper, and after I hit about 8 pages I realized that I just couldn't work on this in one sitting, when my mind was already wandering away to other things, so I figured I should cut it and split the full story into maybe 2 or three parts, depending on how long the next chapter ends up being.
So yeah another new universe. In this one, Reimu is a monster hunter, kind of like one of my previous works (Which I am working on a continuation for, I just haven't had the urge to continue writing for now) with a spotty background that Yukari, one of her contacts, seems to know about, and is trying to get her to come to terms with unsuccessfully.
I've had this story planned out for a while now, but since I was just not feeling up to writing anything for the last few months it's been sitting in limbo among my other ideas and concepts, getting the odd revision here and there.
Hopefully part two will be written in a timely fashion, and will be released in a few weeks. Until then, Ja Ne!