. . . Sidekick . . .
Now that it was all over, some things were... very different. We still hated the Vatican, the leeches, but some of the Vatican didn't hate us. In fact, some of the Vatican seemingly loved us. In an alliance sort of way.
We had embraced the traitors.
I was never too keen on the idea, as I recall, one of them put a bloody blade through my neck, and the other had shot at me... but I didn't have anything against the last one. She was alright in my book.
She understood what it was like to be overlooked.
I always separated the two of them; despite sharing the same body, neither of them was alike at all. The way they moved, wore their hair... I could see them as horribly twisted sisters, but not the same person.
Yumie is someone I fight with, a comrade at arms. Yumiko is my friend.
We are scouring the ruins today, looking for ghouls. Yes, we were Integral's ghoul bitches: find, eliminate, clean up the mess. I don't mind it so much, it gives me something to do while I waited for Alucard to drop me hints as to how I should increase my power. I felt like such a pet sometimes. My own fault, I know, but did he have to make it so... obvious?
"Seras, I think I see some," Yumiko speaks, pointing to a particularly moldy once saloon. It's funny how they always seemed to pop up in those types of places. I'm sure Pip would have had a grand time with that idea. Too bad that I don't get to talk with him anymore.
Being one soul meant... he was more an essence. There were no funny jokes, no perverted gestures... just his most intense feelings. His strength. I had been galvanized in him... but he, the original metal was no longer the element he had once been. Instead, he was... well, me. But different.
I was never very good at figuring out these sorts of things. I wish I were more clear cut like Yumiko. You can see the difference. In a striking way. I wondered if she ever got to talk to Yumie? Must be some pretty whacked conversation, if it ever happened.
"Are you paying attention?" Yumiko. Hands on hips. Slight annoyance. A funny picture.
It was then that I wondered why the Sir paired us up together. I always thought that she and Heinkel (no matter how much that woman is so stiff and frightening) did a bang up job together. Eh, probably some mingling amongst the new and old or something. Leadership was her department.
She was waving her hand in front of my face. Bloody hell, I was just thinking. Sheesh.
"Right, I'm here," I reply, grinning, "What have you figured out so far?" She had lost some of her tentative edge since joining with Hellsing, though I figured she had problems dealing with the church and all. She was a nun, for God's sake.
The battle began before she could answer. I had to swipe her glasses before the poor girl got herself hurt again. I hesitated once, and she nearly lost an arm... not good for a swordfighter.
Especially a damn good swordfighter.
Yumie came out, and I couldn't help but be disappointed for a moment. Sure, she'd make quick word of the ghouls, but I liked jabbing at Yumiko. Peeking under the habit and seeing an unsure and stuttering girl... it felt good seeing that I wasn't the only one. It felt good looking for humanity... she still had some.
I was feeling charged, thanks again Captain. I'll never forget you; I hope the shadow life is more fun than it sounds.
Aim. Fire. Reload. Shadow limb, damn bugger almost clipped off my arm. Yumie no where in sight, won't worry unless I get too many friendlies...
Which doesn't happen. She probably killed them all before they had a chance. The battle dies down before I get a chance to experience... the heady first few moments are always Pip, so Pip that it hurts when I come out of it. It's almost vulgar; I can't help but think it.
And Yumie is running back towards me, bloodlust in her eyes. I can't help but raise my gun at her, but she's used to it by now. Yumie and I have a tense dislike for each other's weapons; she because mine is crude and big, me because hers moves so fast and is a little too pointy for my liking.
I hate sharp objects.
"I had to fight some cops." Cool. Crisp. Precise. I'm ashamed that my heart doesn't lurch at the statement.
"Oh, that's lovely," I reply in the tone I always use with her, "You didn't happen to kill any of them, did you?" There's a semblance of an old order amongst the ruins. Thin little line between working with them and destroying them... but my only allegiance is to Hellsing now.
"Nah, I don't think so, but they know they've been in a fight, that's for sure." She sounds so happy when she says such things, and I know that we'll be skipping out on cleanup... this looks like a time we'll leave the battle remnants as fuel for the legends about vampires. Propaganda; a word that Integral used when she was in a good mood. She was always in a good mood these days. Heinkel muttered something about a "Maxwell kabob" in regards to that.
Probably the only joke I'd ever seen that woman crack.
Time to put the glasses on and I hand them over to Yumie. Part of the respect game we play... if I give her the choice to sleep, she usually does. If she refuses, I bitchslap her, or something like that.
"Oh my," are the first words out of Yumiko's mouth as she puts that habit back on and surveys the scene. We are legends, can't you see?
God, I'm starting to sound like Alucard when he's monologuing. Never a good thing.
"C'mon, we'll go and get ourselves cleaned up," she's so frail, so human. I had a dream once that I made her a vampire, just so I wouldn't be so lonely, but I knew better. Yumiko was only herself so long as she remained human... I suspected that Yumie would become dominant should she be turned. Pity.
I have a bit of an attachment to the girl. She looks to me as the leader. And I like it.
We always walk in silence after a mission. Well, mostly. Yumiko's usually got that gaudy rosary clutched in her hands, muttering prayers under her breath. She's gotten so good at it that it's like a private conversation with God... and if you hear, you're eavesdropping.
In the manor, we step into the "decontamination room" as Walter likes to call it. I call it rest.
But we are not alone. I can hear the faint murmur of voices just beyond the edge of the showers. Laughter. A man's voice, too kind to be Alucard... Walter, maybe? And... a woman?
Yumiko has gone pale. Then she clenches her jaw.
"You should come and take a look at my collection some time... the Magnums in particular. Classy for American-made weapons..."
"You are confusing, Mister Butler. Are you vooing me?"
I know that accent. Even the odd nickname for the vampiric groundskeeper. Flirting? Now this boggles my mind. And Yumiko looks like she's going to cry, looks so fragile...
"Now that would be stupid, to woo a nun? But you look more like a priest with that getup, so I'll knock two heresies in one fell swoop..."
I'm curious to see what happens, to see her fall, to see if Walter is rejected, but I am instead grabbing my Yumiko as she storms over to the showers. What's gotten her so worked up? Surely she doesn't have a crush on Walter or anything...
"Kiss me." She has her hands on her hips, no annoyance this time, but is she ever demanding. I don't like women, not like that, is she kidding? She's a nun, for God's sake!
"What?" Surely she was joking. I was a damned soul already, but kissing a nun? Weren't there laws against that?
She makes an annoyed sound, and averts her eyes to the floor. So the Catholic shame has—
I didn't know that she could move that fast. Her lips are on mine, clumsy, grasping, and just so warm and human. And I'm just so lonely sometimes... have I always wanted you, Yumiko? I don't like women, but I've always liked you... have you always had this pull on me?
I've never wanted women, but in this moment, I want Yumiko. I press for more, pulling her into one of the shower stalls with me. I'm not experienced, but I've been forged together with Pip, and I know for a fact that he is...
I'm washing myself clean with her; chaste, forgotten Yumiko...
"I s-shouldn't be doing this..." she whispers in a moment where I let her breathe. She smells like angels ought to smell. Covered in blood and want. I don't care if it's for me. Oh Captain, you just had to leave me with just enough of you, didn't you...
I silence her with another kiss. I'm ravenous. She's just too human for me to let be. I won't drink her, because she has to be this way, trembling and human under me. I'm defiling something, and I can understand Alucard now, and I almost hate him for the insight.
"You and I," I exhale, tracing my tongue along her jaw, "We're sidekicks. Promise me you won't ever change..." Her hands aren't fighting me now; instead they caress, and then claw and pinch.
Maybe, if we ever get the chance again, I'll braid her hair. Maybe I'll be wearing a cross, and a collar... her sighs betray the reasons for her contract with God. I'm such a monster for enjoying this, she's a nun, and I'm a...
The reasons don't matter right now. She's half fallen, I can't deny that. Maybe it was meant to happen this way.
I can promise you one thing, Yumiko. You won't be forgotten.
AN: For Raykat's lj Sin City Quotes Challenge. My quotes were:
Marv: I had to fight some cops.
Lucille: Oh, that's lovely. You didn't happen to kill any of them, did you?
Marv: Nah, I don't think so, but they know they been in a fight, that's for sure.
Marv: She smells like angels ought to smell.
And I've wanted try a Yumiko/Seras for a while. They fascinate me.