Disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing, Kouta Hirano does.
Okay, another Hellsing Ultimate-based story... Only this time, as mentioned in my Author's Note at the bottom, it's basically a "What If" kind of universe, set on today's time. In all honesty, I'm not even sure myself where this is set - I didn't really think too much when I started typing - but I'm going to say, for the sake of those that like to know that kind of thing, that's set somewhere in America. Just... Don't quote me on that, okay? 'Cause like I said, I really don't even know myself. For once, not dedicated to anyone, but inspired by the fact that there was a Hellsing panel at AnimeVegas 2011, I was cosplaying Heinkel, and the fact that my imagination is ADHD. Other than that...
WARNINGS FOR THE FICTION AS A WHOLE: Swearing, mentions of eating disorders/cutting, occasional racial/religious/sexual orientation slurs/hate, blood/gore/badly-written fight scenes/yuri/mentioned rape in later chapters, use of other languages besides English, hardly-understandable accents, and ideas that should have really remained inside my head.
WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Slight cussing, slight hate of other cultures/languages, and a LOT of spoken German. 9I've explained the gist of what is said, since providing translations just clutters things up, but if anyone doesn't get what's being said, shoot me a PM and I'll clarify.)
If ANY of this doesn't sit well with you, please don't read this just to flame; I deal with enough idiots like that in my daily life, so I don't need you online as well.
We all on the same page now? Okay, good. On with the story.
"Heinkel, steh auf, oder du bist zu spät!"
A groan came from the pile of blankets, as a skinny, pale hand twitched out from under all three blankets. The digits of the hand were long and thin, almost boney; the skin was pale enough so that the veins could be seen through it, and the nails looked almost purplish-blue. The hand gripped the clock on the nightstand, and all but yanked it out of the wall as it was pulled back under the blankets almost completely. Another groan was issued; this happened every morning. It was, in truth, according to the red LED numbers on the clock, only 7:00AM. As the 7:30 – 8:00 first period was all but non-existent, school didn't start until 8:00AM.
Be that as it would, sleep was just a faint memory by this time. The shout of the mother was repeated, as the clock was placed back onto the nightstand. Moments later, the blankets – a throw blanket on the bottom, a comforter in the middle, and a tie blanket on top – were thrown off of the person in question. This revealed a shorts–and–t-shirt–clad personage, of what appeared to be seventeen years of age. One of the same boney hands was run through short-cropped sandy-blonde hair, as the sapphire-eyed teen uncurled themselves and sat up. Letting pale legs, which were thin, and yet wiry, hang over the side of the bed, the blonde stood and stretched.
A shiver passed through the tall, lanky frame, as the teen made their way to the door of the bedroom. A turn of the handle and a tug opened the door, and allowed light to pierce the gloom of the bedroom. Sapphire eyes snapped shut, as a soft hiss escaped the blonde. Eyes still clamped defiantly closed, the tall teen headed for the bathroom. If the way the pajamas worn smelled was any indication, a shower was needed. Small feet made equally small padding noises, upon the wood floor, and then upon the tile, as the tall blue-eyed teen entered the bathroom. The light had been left on, and a glimpse of what appeared to be a leather cord around the blonde's neck was offered, before the light was shut off once more.
Shutting the door, the teen stood in darkness for a moment. When the moment had elapsed, memory dictated where the nightlight on the wall was located, and so it was switched on. Sapphire eyes opened slowly then, and blinked a few times to get used to the dim, slightly orange-tinted light now filling the room with its soft glow and shadow. Reaching behind, the door was locked, before the blonde proceeded to remove their pajamas. The shorts were removed fist; strong, yet skinny legs were exposed to the light, along with what might be called bony hips. The t-shirt followed suit. Small, easily concealed breasts were revealed to the world, along with a slim, yet curve-less waist. The shadow of ribs showed almost eerily in the dim light. Wiry arms scooped the clothes from the floor, and tossed them into the hamper.
Broad, yet slightly bony shoulders traced a line above slightly stark collar bones. A neck of lean muscle but little flesh was encircled by what appeared to be a leather cord. Rather, it was a necklace. At the end of the cord, hung a slightly large, silver cross. Laying just between her small breasts – for this was rather obviously a woman – it glinted almost ominously in the glow of the nightlight. Not leaving more time for the examining of her body, as she was neither vain nor truly cared much about her appearance, she gave a quick once over to her face, before moving to turn on the shower.
Slightly thin, but still of a strong jaw and good character, her face was and had often been described as plain. Her mouth was small, and rarely did her lips see a smile, though were often enough quirked in a smirk of amusement or a sneer of some other, more negative emotion. The nose perched above it was small and straight, completely unassuming and hardly anything to make an impression or stick in one's memory. Slightly almond-shaped, her sapphire blue eyes were deep, but still slightly clouded by sleep. These eyes were hardly seen, as her extremely light-sensitive vision demanded that she wear dark, prescription glasses almost all the time. He cheek bones were high, and slightly pronounced, but not in any sort of haughty way. Her cheeks very rarely held any sort of color to them, save when it was cold and the distance between her classes necessitated her running from one to the other to make the bell. In all, it was as previously stated, a very plain, unassuming face. It was not, at first glance, feminine or masculine in any way, and so left no impression in the minds of any but those few whom she worked to befriend.
Scrutiny finished, the blonde turned away from the mirror, already disgusted with looking at herself long enough to conclude all of this. She was not a narcissistic person; she used the looking glass only to make sure her hair wasn't flying everywhere, and to ensure that she didn't look half dead. Otherwise, she avoided the reflective surface on principle. Moving to the shower, she pulled open the door and turned the knobs. Once she was sure both hot and cold were correctly rotated, she simply waited for the water to heat to the right temperature. As soon as the correct degree was achieved, she stepped in, and pulled the metal-framed-glass door shut behind her.
Once in, he shower didn't take too long, as he hair was short enough that it didn't need to be washed very thoroughly to get it clean. Scrubbing her body, she mentally went over the homework she had done the night before. Yes, her Algebra II homework was finished, as was the English report on the Scarlett Letter she had needed to revise and turn in this morning. Her history essay was finished, and she hadn't really bothered to type it up, since that wasn't needed. The German homework had been very easy, though some of the grammar still stuck her in a few places, and thus took a bit longer to figure out, but it was finished. Satisfied that both her homework was in good order and the grime of the past few days had been washed from her body, the pale teen turned off the shower and stepped out.
Taking a few moments to marginally dry her hair – short as it was, it dried quickly on its own – she then grabbed a second, slightly larger towel from the rack. Quickly drying herself off, she re-hung both towels so that they could dry correctly, and then moved to the door. Flicking off the nightlight out of pure habit, something her siblings seemed not to share, she unlocked the door and opened it. This time out of defense rather than habit, another motion was put into practice: her eyes quickly shut, and she moved down the hall to her room out of memory rather than sight. Had she opened her eyes, she would have been assaulted by both blinding light and excruciating pain – along with colored dots and blotches that wouldn't leave her eyes for hours afterward. Wanting to avoid all three, she kept her eyes closed. Once back in her room, with the door shut behind herself, she opened her eyes once more.
Moving swiftly over to her dresser, a quickly cast glance at her clock registered that it was now 7:30, the blonde opened the top drawer and pulled out a pair of boxers and a sports bra. Attired in her undergarments, and made to look all but completely flat due to the tightness of the sports bra, she headed for her closet. Opening the door, she pulled out a white button down dress shirt, which she quickly put on. Knee-high trouser socks, black dress pants, and black dress shoes followed suit. Stepping into the modestly-sized closet, she snatched up the maroon tie from the small shelf set into the back wall, along with a leather belt. Threading the belt through the loops on the trousers, she buckled it, and then did up her tie on autopilot, her fingers working nimbly and quickly, but methodically as well.
Exiting her closet, she shut the door behind herself. A glance in the mirror over her dresser confirmed that nothing was out of place, such as perhaps her cross wasn't under her shirt as it was supposed to be, before she moved to her desk. Taking hold of the strap of her messenger bag, the six-foot blonde slung it over her shoulder, and then pushed the chair back in. Before leaving her room to head downstairs for breakfast, she stopped off at her nightstand once more. As her hand grasped her folded glasses, her gaze slipped to the clock. 7:40; she had twenty minutes to get to school on time. Taking up her glasses, she moved towards the door of her room, unfolding them as she went.
Simultaneously, she opened the door and slipped the frames onto her face, settling them at the bridge of her nose just as the first true light of day greeted her sight. Stepping out of her room, she headed down the hall, though this time passing by the bathroom and continuing towards the stairs. Descending them, she could hear the sounds of her youngest sister, Maria's, early-morning cartoons. Rolling her eyes slightly, the blonde bit back the comment which was burning the back of her throat as she passed the doorway to the living room. The middle sister, Renee, she noted upon entering the kitchen, was already seated at the table and finishing her breakfast.
"Guten Morgen, Mutter, Renee." Speaking for the first time to bid her mother and sister a good morning, the tall girl's voice was a slightly feminine alto, and seemed to hold but little emotion. Her sister said nothing, but her mother returned the greeting, before leaving to attend to the youngest of the sisters, as the sapphire-eyed seventeen-year-old fixed herself breakfast. A piece of toast, and a cup of black coffee with two teaspoons of sugar, as usual, and also as usual, Renee wrinkled her nose at the plain, almost meager fair. The elder of the two sisters merely raised her brows over the rim of her coffee cup at the younger, waiting for the expected words.
"How can you eat that, and so little?" In English, as she refused to speak German, Renee questioned her sister's ability to take in what she did.
"Du weißt, ich bin nicht sehr hungrig in den Morgen, und außerdem isst nicht jeder so viel wie du, kleine schwester." Her remark was placid, as this was the usual song and dance for the two of them. As always, she mentioned how she was never very hungry in the mornings, and how not everyone ate as much as Renee – with her full, already almost voluptuous figure at thirteen – did. Calling her little sister was just a soft jab, as was normal for the two, though the truly heated insults would come later, should they get into an argument after school.
"Whatever, Heinkel – at least I don't have some dumb German name, and I'm not always dressing like a dyke!" Though it was obvious she could understand it perfectly, the younger simply refused, point blank, to speak even one syllable of German.
The blonde was taken aback by her sister's vehemence. She was never this bad tempered in the morning; usually it was the older of the two that had a hard time with mornings. Not only that, but Renee had never before been to outright condemning of her older sister before. Yes, she had made gently barbed comments here and there about Heinkel's dressing style, but usually there was no bite behind them. Often, she would even apologize for harsh words she may have used when they fought. Searching her younger sister's brown eyes, the older found nothing even remotely akin to regret for her words in Renee's gaze.
Still, the sapphire-eyed of the two resolved to not get angry this time; it was far too early to be wasting energy on a fight, after all. A few moments elapsed in silence, with the brunette of the sisters all but glaring, and Heinkel simply finishing her toast and coffee. Getting up from the table when she had finished, the taller sister moved to the sink and rinsed out her cup, before placing it in the dishwasher. Their mother, who was now keeping Maria occupied for a bit, would run a full load of dishes later. Coming back to the table, the blue-eyed sister took her uniform blazer from the back of her chair, and put it on. She made no comment, yet, to Renee.
Slipping into the downstairs bathroom, which was located off of the kitchen, Heinkel ran a brush through her hair to tame it, and then brushed her teeth. This done, she exited the bathroom and retrieved her school bag from where she had set it on the floor beside her chair. Grabbing her car keys from the counter, she paused before leaving the kitchen, finally responding to her sister's words.
"Du bist was du bist, und ich bin was ich bin. Achten Sie darauf, was du sagst und zu wem, kleine Schwester, denn wenn man die Samen der Bitterkeit zu säen, werden Sie nur Bitterkeit im Gegenzug zu ernten. Beachten Sie, dass." She didn't meant to be cruel, in telling her sister to be careful with what she said, but it was the truth; if one were to sow the seeds of bitterness, they would only receive bitterness in return. As to Renee's being was what she was, and Heinkel's being as she was… It was just meant as, 'let it go, and look to your own affairs before looking to mine.' The blonde knew it really wasn't her place to chastise – and this was heightened by her sister's retort of, "You're not my mother, you can't tell me what to do!" – but she had felt that it must be said.
A glance at the hall clock, however, had all thoughts of her sister flung from her mind. As it was 7:50, she only had fifteen minutes to get to school before the bell for class rang. (She had fifteen only because of the five-minute passing periods between classes; otherwise, she had only ten.) Calling a good-bye to her mother on the way out, the tall teen rushed out the door and to her car. Quickly getting in and starting the silver BMW convertible (she had the top up, as it was supposed to be cold today), Heinkel buckled herself in and drove off. As it was early, few people were on the streets en-route to the city's most prestigious private high school, which shortened the time it took to arrive at school.
And still, the blonde only dropped into her seat in her second-hour, second-floor Junior English Literature class with moments to spare before the bell rang.
A/N: Yes, yes, I know what you're all thinking – "She's starting another story? What, is she crazy? She still hasn't finished the others!" Rest assured, I WILL get around to the others… Once Evelyn and I come up with a plot for Reincarnation Troubles, she sends me Part IV of A Fine Line, and my muse comes back for Most Powerful Emotion. As to this little monstrosity, I couldn't help wondering about a certain Iscariot cross-dressed nun's past, and how she came to be what she is. I know there is a picture of little Heinkel, Enrico, and Yumiko standing in front of Anderson, but… I wondered, if that picture hadn't taken place, nor whatever events led up to it, what would Heinkel's life have been like before Iscariot? And so, setting things in present-day, this was born.
Now, to cease my ramblings, review, please? As I've said before, however, this plea only applies if I still have readers…
Until next time,
~Haruka.