"Another fun filled day at school..." Karin mumbled as she followed a crowd of classmates out the building. "Now to have another fun filled day at work." She stood at the gate, waiting for her good friend, Maki, and her boyfriend, Kenta. "Whats taking them so long?" She tapped her foot impatiently and looked at the small wrist watch her sister had gotten her for her birthday. "Whats taking them so long?" she asked herself looking back at the closed gates of the school.
A small grayish bat flew over Karin's head she barely had time to duck and glared as the small creature flew in a short loop. Even though her younger sister, Anju, had awoken as a full vampire not long ago she still watched over Karin during the day.
"Foolish, Anju" Karin shook her head as the bat flew by again. "You should be sleeping not watching over me." She flailed her arms above her head to shoo the bat away. "Don't worry, I'll be fine now that I have Kenta-Kun. He'll always protect me so you don't have to." The bat stopped and looked at her for a short second, then flew away.
Scott yawned a bit as he walked down the road. He'd pulled an all-night last night and had spent half his evening chasing down a bounty. The rest of his night was dedicated to searching for Vampires and/or signs of them even being in the city. It wasn't that he didn't trust the Sinclairs, it was just that he didn't trust a Sinclair. "What if they missed a Vampire. I mean its not like you could miss them."
He stopped walking when he saw a bat fly over head. "Ha, I knew if I looked around there would be proof." He ran after it, but had trouble keeping the bat in sight. "Ahh...damn sun," he muttered as the bat got ahead of him.
Five minutes after losing sight of the bat he stopped. "I thought I had it." He snapped his fingers angrily. "I'll just have to keep my eyes open tonight," he said aloud, ignoring the stares of people around him. He started forward again. Eyes locked with the ground straight ahead. He wore a look of confidence on his face. "Tonight...I catch a vampire" he thoughts purely on catching a vampire and not on where he was headed.
It had been fifteen minutes since she had sent Anju's bat away and still no Maki or Kenta. She looked at the watch on her wrist and pushed away from the wall. "I'm going to late if I wait any longer." She started walking to work wondering where Kenta and Maki were.
A cold breeze blew her hair back and she wrapped her arms around her self. "Maybe I shouldn't have sent Anju's bat away." It was getting dark now which freaked her out a little. Which was surprising since most things didn't freak her out in the dark.
Scott continued his walk down the darkening street. He stepped to the left so that he avoided a large busted girl walking the other way and yawned again. "Geez...time really goes slow here. I wonder how Sinclair managed to kill any Vampires. I don't even believe that night time is ever gonna to come." He rambled to himself as he yawned again.
Karin stopped and slowly turned her head to look at the man who had just passed her. Her eyes wided as she tried to guess if she had head him correctly. "Did he just say vampires? Sinclair?" Her heart beat increased pounding loudly in her ears. At that moment she wished, yet again, that she hadn't sent Anju's bat away, and then wished that she had waited for her friends.
Feeling someone's gaze on his back, Scott stopped and turned toward the girl who was staring at him. "Can I help you miss?" He asked raising an eyebrow. For some reason her staring freaked him out, something that didn't happen often. "Why the hell is she staring at me?"
She jumped and slowly backed away from him "Oh...um...no...um sorry." Her face turned beat red as she turned and ran. Karin wasn't sure if she should go home and warn her family or go to work and wait for Kenta. "Who was that man? Does he work for Victor? I have to talk to Winner, if I want to know what Victor is up to."
In the end she went to work deciding to forget until she had a moment to talk to Winner. "I must have heard him wrong" she muttered to herself as she walked into the employee workroom to get changed. She walked out and greeted a customer with a warm smile. After showing the women her seat she turned and jumped.
"Karin, have you seen Kenta? You two didn't walk to work together like you normally do." The manger said with a grim look on his round face.
"Kenta-Kun should be here soon, Manger." Karin smiled at him, but then turned her attention to the family that had just walked in. "Hello welcome to Julian's, how many?"
The manger turned away, "If Kenta doesn't show up soon...Karin your going to have to..." he turned to see that she was already gone and seating the family. He sighed, bowed his head, and waited into his small office.
His stomach growled loudly as he pasted a small family restaurant "Julian, huh. Maybe I can get something to eat while I wait...plus I'm starving." As he walked in he noticed the girl from earlier. Just looking at her freaked him out. "Just stay calm Scott, she's just a girl. Nothing to be scared of."
As she walked back to the cash register after seating a couple she couldn't help but worry about Kenta. "He must have gotten sick and gone home" She turned to greet the next customer and froze in mid turn. The man she had seen on the street, the one who was talking about vampires and the Sinclair family, was standing in front of her."Does he know I'm a vampire? Has he come to kill me?" "Um..." Karin took a step back, not sure what to do.
"Table for one, please" he said politely, noting that the girl was acting strange. This among other things also freaked him out.
"Yes," she said picking up a menu and walking him quickly to a small booth. She handed him the menu, but couldn't help but feel the aura of unhappiness that clung to him. She took a small step back and swallowed the large lump forming in the back of her throat. "Can I get you anything to drink, Sir?" Her voice going up a pitch to high. She breathed deeply trying to calm herself.
He smiled up at her, but the smile was wrong. His smile held fear, he didn't understand why he should fear her, but he did. "Yes, could I get a soft drink?" He picked up his menu then and ignored her. She found it rude but walked away anyway.
Now that Victor no longer ruled over his life,Winner had nothing to do. Ever. So he spent most of his nights in Julian's. His main reason being Karin. Although she was dating his recent friend and long time love rival he couldn't help but hope she might one day change her mind. He often had fantasy's about her falling into his arms.
He was having one of those fantasy's when he walked into the restaurant. The grin on his face was lopsided and silly, but it was cute on his baby like face. As Winner is prone to do he burst into the small diner and loudly announced his presence. "Hello everyone!" he called to all the patrons. Some regular customers and employees waved back, but others stared at him and his unusual outfit.
Even though he was no longer a vampire hunter he still liked to wear the outfit every once in a while. Quickly he sat at his normal booth in Karin's section of the restaurant and waited patiently for her to come over. His dorky grin had turned into a small cute smile.
Karin was glad that Winner was there. She was dying to go over and talk to him but her break wasn't for another half hour. The man who had walked in, the one Karin feared was a vampire slayer, looked like he was ready to order and since he had been there first she had no choice but to go over and take his order.
Karin reluctantly walked over to the man. As she walked she tried to force a smile. "Are you ready to order, Sir?" she said all this in a rushed tone wanting to get away and talk to Winner.
"I'll just take the special today, can't really decide what to order." he said, one hand went up to ruffle his hair. His eyes glanced over the menu one last time to make sure there wasn't something that caught his eye. "And I'm still waiting for my drink," he said, handing her his menu as a dismissal.
"I'll bring it right away." She mumbled almost tripping in her rush to get away.
She move briskly to the kitchen. There she filled a quarter of a cup with ice then the rest of the way with brown soft drink. Just as quickly as she had gone to the kitchen she was back at his table. She set it down on the table without a word. Just being near him, made her blood feel like it was rising. He looked up at her from under his lashes and with a shy smile she turned and walked away.
She almost ran over to Winner's usual table. "Hey Winner, what can I get you today." Her breathing was labored but he didn't seem to notice anything off about her.
"Ah!" Winner exclaimed excitedly as Karin stood over to his table. "Good afternoon, Karin-san! I hope you're doing well today! When are you on your break? I'm thirsty, but not very hungry. I guess I'll have a drink, though...oh! But first!" He took a necklace from his pocket and showed it to Karin. It was a silver chain with a emerald pendant in the shape of a vampire fang. "Isn't it beautiful? I got it in the mail, but I just could bring myself to take it back! It's so pretty! Uh, Karin-san? Isn't it pretty?"
"Winner-kun...it's very pretty. I get my break in," she looked at her watch then back at him. "Twenty minutes." Karin lowed her voice a little and leaned in towards him. "Hey, um...Winner-kun...have you ever met that guy over there?" She nodded towards the man believed to be a vampire slayer.
Winner looked over to the man Karin was talking about. He blinked a couple times as he looked at him. "He looks cool, but I've never seen him before," he said, tilting his head to the side considering. "Want me to go over there and talk to him?"
She pulled back and looked towards the kitchen. "I don't think you need to do that. Thank you, I will bring your drink out in a minute." She smiled at Winner once more before turning to leave.
"Maybe I have nothing to worry about. For all I know he wasn't even talking about vampires..." A quick glance out the window reveled a bat hanging from the gutter. "Anju..." She rolled her eyes and walked towards the kitchen. She filled a glass with Winners favorite drink and headed out to give it to him.
She placed the cup down in front of Winner without saying a word, then went back to the kitchen to get the man's food. She slowly walked to his table feeling her blood increase with each step. "Here you are, Sir. One special. Will you be needing anything else?" She didn't have that sense of danger anymore. If Winner didn't know him then he couldn't be a vampire slayer. But she believed she had to be cautious.
"Ah, just one more thing," he said looking at his food longingly. "Would you happen to know where I could find the man by the name Victor Sinclair? I have some business with him in the city." He watched as the expression on her face went from forced friendly to shock little.
Winner picked up his glass and brought it to his lips. Listening closely to what Karin was saying to the man she had asked him about. With the name being said aloud Winner gasped and almost dropped his glass. "V-Victor Sinclair?" he asked looking straight at the man. "What does he want with my grandfather?"
Karin's eyes opened wider and she took a step back. "Um..." she covered her face with the tray she holding. Her pulse was loudly thumping in her ears again as her blood began to rise. "Who? I don't...k-know anyone by that name." She looked at Winner for a brief moment before turning back to the man. "I have to um...go!" She turned and ran to kitchen, taking deep breaths. "What does he want with Victor Sinclair...maybe he is a vampire slayer after all," She whispered to her self. She sighed as she slumped to the floor.
His eyes followed Karin to the kitchen then fell on the boy who had spoken. "Yes, do you know where I can find him?" he asked looking up at the boy. His eyes widened then rapidly blinked twice. He recognized the regular Sinclair uniform the boy wore.
Anju's bat that was hanging from the ceiling and glared silently at the stranger.
"Victor Sinclair, hmm," muttered Anju as she sat in her bedroom waiting for the sun to go down further. "This man could possibly be a vampire slayer." She looked over at her favorite doll a sad expression on her face. Anju hadn't moved Boogie-Kun from the chair in the corner since she awoke as a full vampire. She closed her eyes and imagined what he would have said at this little mishap. "With her luck Karin will reveal her secret and her panties to him by days end!" He laughed, Anju put her hand over his mouth.
She smiled to herself, she missed Boogie, and liked to imagine what it would be like if he could still talk, and he wasn't just a useless doll.
Thinking of Karin again she pulled out her cell phone. "I had better call her," she was about to punch in Karin's number when she paused. She looked at the clock that hung from the wall. In another half hour it would be dark enough for her to go out. She could wait till then. She shut her phone and pulled the covers over herself.
Karin walked out of the kitchen looking for the manger. He was talking to a small family seated in a booth in the far corner. She waited for him to stop talking and turn, it was his turn to jump.
"Manger?" Karin spoke softly. He looked at her with a large smile on his face, with soon disappeared when he saw the look of despair she wore.
"Maaka, what's wrong?"
"I think I'm starting to get sick. So I was wondering if I could have the rest of the day off?" She tried to look sick, making her face look red.
He rose his eyebrows. "I'm not sure if we can find someone to replace you so late into your shift." She remembered how much trouble he had trying to find a replacement for Kenta. "Plus you look fine to me." He said smile returning. "Just go on an early break, take a little time off you feet."
"Okay..." She said nodding her head slowly. She turned her head towards the direction of Winner's table, only to find that he and the man were still talking.
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water. Walked into the employee room where she put her bag and grabbed her homework. Then went back into the main part of building, trying to sit as far away from Winner and the man as possible. Not wanting to overhear what they were talking about. She opened her math book and worked on her homework.
Just as Karin's pencil hit the paper the doors of the restaurant opened and Kenta ran in. He quickly dashed past some startled customers and straight to the manager, he quickly apologized for being late before dashing into the men's locker room and changed into his work cloths. Unfortunately at the moment the restaurant was quite empty, so after manning the cash register for a few minutes he quickly plopped down into a chair next to Karin practically radiating unhappiness.
"I'm not sure where he is at the moment, but if you give me your name I can tell him you're looking for him." Winner said, he didn't have to yell anymore, since he moved into the booth the man was sitting in.
The man finished off the last of his meal and drink and stood up. "No, that's fine. Thanks for your help kid." He picked up the check that had been placed in front by the waitress replacing Karin and walked to the register. It was darker outside now, but not truly dark enough. He noticed the girl who had first served him sitting with a young man. She looked like she was going to be sick, but he didn't think anything of it. He payed his bill and left, he sighed and started walking in the same direction that he came from.