Welcome to another edition of Knightverse!

OC profiles:

Full Name: Katsurō Shirakawa
Birthdate: Jun 2, 1980 (29)
Fangire Type: Beast Class - Tiger Fangire
Family: Katsu Shirakawa (father), Yayoi Shirakawa (mother, deceased), Haruna Shirakawa (step-mother), Caitlin Shirakawa (wife), and Flynn Shirakawa (son)
Dreamcast: Hiroaki Iwanaga

Birth Name: Caitlin Isabella Fabbri
Birthdate: Aug 7, 1980 (29)
Family: Katsurō Shirakawa (husband) and Flynn Shirakawa (son)
Dreamcast: Caterina Scorsone

Full Name: Flynn Victor Shirakawa
Birthdate: Nov 3, 2004 (4 and 3/4)
Family: Katsurō Shirakawa (father) and Caitlin Shirakawa (mother)
Dreamcast: Hikaru Yamaaki (child) and Masaya Kikawada (adult)

You'll notice as I add more dreamcast actors that most of the Japanese actors are from Kamen Rider or Super Sentai. This is because I'm not familiar with a lot of Japanese actors outside those franchises.

Also: thanks to Ice Wolf Fang for beta-ing this!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kamen Rider Kiva

WORD COUNT: 3260

Saturday, July 11th, 2009

A lone figure pushed his way through the crowd of people in between him and the baggage claim. He was in his late twenties, a bit over average height, and well-built, with black hair just starting to grow out of a buzz cut. He was talking on a small cell phone in English.

"Yeah, I just landed. I'm getting my bags now. ... I'll call you again when I'm settled in my hotel. ... No, it really wouldn't be a good idea. Not only do I still have to find them, if they're still alive, that is, I seriously doubt I'll get a warm welcome. ... He's still awake? ... Okay, put him on. ... Hey, buddy!"

His voice quickly took on a lighter tone, the serious tension from earlier appearing to vanish. "Yes, I just got off the airplane. ... No, it's past your bedtime. Mommy only let you stay up this late to talk to me. ... I promise I'll call you tomorrow before you go to daycare."

He finally found his bag on the luggage turnstile and snatched it up easily. "I love you, too. Good night. Put Mommy back on. ... Hey. ... I don't know, at least a week. These people won't be easy to find. … Yes, I swear I'll be careful. Look, I've got to go. ... 'Bye. I love you."

A person listening closely to his conversation would have noticed how he stressed the 'I love you's, like it might be the last time he'd ever get to say it.

He took a deep, shaky breath as he put the cell phone away, and began to walk out of the airport, a single duffle bag slung over his shoulder.

Katsurō flopped onto his hotel bed, staring at the ceiling and wondering if he'd just lied to his wife. Caitlin had picked up on his tension through the phone, and had asked him about it when he'd gotten to the hotel and called her back. He'd said that it was fine, that at worst he'd be shunned and ignored by the people he was trying to locate. He promised her that he'd be back with her and Flynn soon enough.

He'd never told her that his beliefs could put him on the receiving end of a brutal assault. Or that his marriage to her was well against the laws of his kind, and could easily sign his death warrant. His son's existence... no, they mustn't know about Flynn, not if the rumours were false and things were just as bad as when he'd fled to America with his father and then-future stepmother.

The rumours were what had brought him over here in the first place. If they were anywhere close to the truth, then he might have a job to do over here, one he might even be proud to do.

Friday, August 7th, 2009

After nearly a month of exploring his old home city, Katsurō finally got an unexpected lead. He was just wandering down a random street, wondering if he'd be able to mail home the sweets he saw on sale for Flynn, when he heard the screams. Eleven years of military training had him running towards them, not totally prepared for what he saw happening in a park a block away.

A Fangire (from the looks of it, a Squid Fangire) was doing battle in the middle of the space with a person in blue and white armour. A second man in a black denim jacket was alternating between shooting at the Fangire when he had an opening and ushering panicked civilians away.

Katsurō immediately began assisting him with the latter. The soldier in him wanted to join the fight, but he had no weapons on him and wasn't even one hundred percent certain who the good guys were. Keeping innocent people out of harm's way was the best he could do, for now.

The Fangire knocked the armoured man down and began charging at a group of kids who had taken shelter behind a tree, shrugging off the other man's barrage of shots. Katsurō was closer; he dashed over and managed to dive in between the kids and the Fangire just as the latter swung one of its tentacles at them like a whip. It struck him across his upper left arm, drawing blood. Katsurō gritted his teeth and clapped his other hand over the relatively shallow wound. He growled, giving the Fangire a death glare. How dare he go after children?! Most of them were the same age as his own son.

Before he could strike back, the armoured man had recovered and attacked the Fangire from behind. He kicked and punched them a few times, knocking them into a clear, open area. Then he detached a small piece from the grip of his strange gun and inserted it into his large belt buckle. Energy suddenly began to visibly flow from the centre of his breastplate and the crest of his helmet to the gun. Yelling, he pulled the trigger. A huge torrent of golden energy hit the Fangire, and they stiffened up and crystallised, ready to shatter with one touch. The armoured man did so, throwing a strong punch to the centre of the Fangire's chest.

Katsurō turned his head away from the explosion, noting that the children had since run away from the danger zone. He looked back at the armoured man just as the armour disappeared. Standing in his place was a young man wearing a white shirt, grey vest, loose black tie, jeans, and boots.

The other man jogged over to Katsurō. "Are you alright?" he asked, "It looked like he got you pretty... what the hell?"

Katsurō winced. One of the things that had been a bitch to hide during his military service was his blue Fangire blood. Some of which was now dribbling between his fingers.

"Fangire," the man previously wearing the armour growled, "What are you up to?" He held up a bulky, hand-held device that looked like the belt buckle he'd been wearing earlier.

"Nago-san, wait!" his companion insisted, "He was helping us!" He turned back to Katsurō. "Right?"

Katsurō nodded. "If I were to stand by and let those children get hurt, I couldn't call myself a man. You two are Fangire Hunters, I'm guessing?" They nodded, still wary. "Good. Just so you know, I have no intentions of hurting any humans. I'm no threat to you."

The one called Nago still seemed suspicious, but not quite as ready to attack as he'd been a moment ago. His friend looked more willing to listen. "You've never drained a human?"

"I never said that, but it's mostly true. The bestard was about to let loose on my team with an AK-47." At their confused looks, he sighed and explained further. "I grew up in New York and spent eleven years in the US Army. We'd been separated from the rest of our unit, lost most of our weapons; it was the only thing I could think of in the moment."

They both seemed stunned. It kind of figured. Most of the Fangires a Hunter would come across were the most overt killers of their kind. A Fangire could, in fact, go a couple decades without feeding on human Life Energy, if given the right motivation and if they kept themselves fed with normal food. The ones that liked a certain 'type' and fed more than once a month weren't examples of the entire race, but they were a lot more common over in Japan, according to his father.

And then there were Fangires like himself who abstained as much as possible. That terrorist last year had been sort of an accident, though Katsurō couldn't quite bring himself to truly regret it. Had he had a gun in his hands, he'd have simply made the kill with that, instead.

The Fangire Hunter who hadn't been named yet sighed heavily. "So if you live in New York, why are you here in Tokyo?" he asked.

Katsurō bit his lip. "There've been... rumours... about things changing over here. Some say the Fangire King is starting to help humans, some say that a replacement for Life Energy's been found... And some say he's adopted a human as a younger sibling, or something. I have no idea what's really going on, so I came to find out for myself."

The two of them exchanged glances, and Nago pulled the other away to have a short, quiet discussion. Katsurō sat and waited, hoping they'd believe him and help him. Finally, Nago took out his cell phone and started dialling, while the other came back over. "All right, we're calling someone now so we can all discuss this elsewhere. By the way, what's your name?"

"Shirakawa Katsurō."

"I'm Eritate Kengo, and that's Nago Keisuke over there."

After a minute or two, in which Eritate helped Katsurō wrap up his arm, using a small first-aid kit he was required to carry around everywhere, Nago came back over. "Nobori wants us to meet at D&P. There'll be a conference room set up by the time we get there." He fixed Katsurō with a stern glare. "You had better be telling us the truth about yourself."

D&P turned out to be a funding company called 'Development and Pioneer'. The premises looked like any ordinary office building, and Katsurō wondered what the company's connection to the Fangire Hunters was.

He, Nago, and Eritate didn't have to wait long. Eritate was watching the parking lot from the third-floor conference room window and announced that someone had arrived. Katsurō peeked out and saw two men getting off a pair of motorcyles, but couldn't see much more. The men entered the room a few minutes later, and Katsurō silently took stock of them.

They were both in their early twenties, relatively fit, and definitely fighters. The auburn-haired one stuck closely to the dark-haired one in a subtly protective manner. The latter stared Katsurō down upon entry. "Is this him?" he asked.

"Yes," Nago replied, "He showed up when we were taking on a Fangire that was attacking random people at a nearby park. I was more focused on that problem, but Kengo saw this one helping to evacuate civilians, and even taking a hit for a bunch of children." He indicated towards Katsurō's bandaged left arm.

The second new arrival nodded to this information and sat down, his companion remaining standing behind him. "Nago said you came here from America because of certain rumours. What have you heard, and what is your opinion on the matter? I want an honest answer."

Katsurō couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by the younger, smaller man. There was a certain... something about him that made him seem... powerful. "I've heard many versions of what is going on over there. The most significant one, the one that has everyone talking, is that the Fangire King is beginning to work with humans, or something. A couple people have said that he's even adopted a human as a younger sibling, and one Fangire I've talked to swears the King has created something to replace Life Energy." He was quiet for a bit, but the man gave him a small nod, telling him to continue. "Personally, I'd consider all those things to be good news. My father married a human woman when I was three years old, and I was raised alongside normal human children. Most of my friends are humans. And if there's an alternative to feeding off humans, I'm all for it. I've only drained one human my entire life, and that was an emergency situation."

The man raised one eyebrow and exchanged a look with his 'bodyguard'. They seemed almost... amused. "And if those rumours were true, what would be your course of action?"

Katsurō hesitated, then blurted it out. "I'd want to help. There's no way that every last Fangire would be okay with these changes, and they'd start causing serious trouble in protest. Innocent people would be getting hurt and killed. I spent eleven years as an Army Ranger, a good chunk of them in Kandahar, and I don't ever want to hear of that many civilian casualties again. I'd want to protect them." After another moment of hesitation, he pulled out what would be either his trump card or his death warrant. "This is my wife, Caitlin. She's human. We have a four-and-a-half year old son named Flynn." He slid the photograph over the table to the man who still hadn't given his name.

There was a tense silence throughout the room. Katsurō had laid all but one of his cards on the table (the last to be reserved for when he was sure they weren't going to try and kill him), now it all came down to their response.

"I believe him," the auburn-haired man stated quietly, breaking the silence and speaking for the first time since entering.

The other man smiled. "As do I. You answered all our questions even better than I anticipated. As it happens, we are looking for more help in reducing human casualties." He started to remove the black leather glove covering his left hand. "You have my apologies for not introducing myself, but I wanted to get an honest response from you. I am Nobori Taiga, King of the Fangire Race." Sure enough, when the glove came off, the Mark of the King stood out proudly on the back of his hand. Katsurō's jaw dropped. "For the record, those rumours aren't that far off. I do intend to create peace between the humans and the Fangires, and creating an alternate energy source is an essential part of that plan, but sadly, it's nowhere near completion. As for my little brother, we are brothers by blood, and he's actually half-Fangire." He jerked his thumb back at his 'bodyguard'.

Katsurō was utterly speechless with relief. He gave an exhausted laugh, leaning back in his seat. This was far better than he'd imagined this conversation going when he'd landed in Japan. "There's actually one last thing I haven't told you about myself," he admitted. He pulled the brown leather glove off his right hand. Holding his hand up, he displayed the Rook Mark for all to see.

Gasps and dropped jaws met his revelation all around.

Several hours later, Katsurō was back in his hotel room, talking to his wife via webcam. It was only early morning in New York, so she was still in her bathrobe. "Hey, Baby, how was your day?"

Katsurō grinned. "Excellent. I found the Hunters and even spoke to the King himself."

Caitlin leaned forward in interest. "And how did that go?"

"Much better than I would have expected if I'd known who he was when the conversation started. It turns out that the rumours are pretty close to truth. The King was raised by a human foster father, and recently discovered that he had a half-human half-brother. He's started to have his people searching for an alternative to human Life Energy, and has been working with the Fangire Hunters to deal with any rebel Fangires. Of course, he can't take out every Fangire who feeds on a human, since he's supposed to be protecting his people, but anyone who feeds too often according to a new limit he's set is fair game. It's a fine line for him to tread; Fangires do still need to feed, and who knows how long it'll take to find the alternative energy source and make it widely available?"

"I thought you guys only had to feed every couple decades or so."

"We don't have to, but things are different over here. Most of the Fangires in and around North America are more pro-human, because they or their parents or ancestors had to flee over there to avoid persecution for those beliefs. Here, there are many Fangires who actually enjoy hunting humans repeatedly." He paused, and added softly: "My predecessor as Rook was apparently known for making a game out of it, just to pass the time once the army dissolved."

Caitlin had a dawning look of horror on her face. "Katsurō... why didn't you tell me it was that bad before you went over there?"

"I didn't want to worry you."

"Well, be straight with me now."

"If I'd run into the wrong Fangire, I could have wound up dead."

"What?! So, what, you were just going to walk into a potential death-trap?! Let Flynn and I get a call out of the blue?! Or no call at all?!"

He lowered his head in guilt. "I know, Cate. I'm so, so sorry."

His wife huffed. "I know, I know. So what happens now?"

"Well, the King's going to need numbers, Fangires who support his new plans. He's only got a tiny handful of staff that's still considered trustworthy, but he doesn't think they're eager to make peace with humans. Some are probably just hoping to profit off the energy source. I'm going to call some of my Fangire friends, see if I can dredge up allies and recruits. And we're planning on re-forming the Fangire Army. The last King decided he didn't really need one after their genocide of the Wolfen, Merman, and Franken Races. But if any organised resistance rises up, which is very likely, we'll need fighters, and most of the old soldiers are either dead or untrustworthy. I wouldn't be surprised to see a number of them among the rebels. So we'll need new people, and as the Rook, my official duty is to lead that army."

"That's a pretty big responsibility. But if anyone can do it, I think it's you."

Katsurō laughed. "You flatter me, Babe."

"So have you given any thought to what I suggested weeks ago?"

"Yes, and my answer is still no. You have to understand, what my father did is considered a heinous crime of nature by the hardliners, which the rest of his family definitely is. Trying to reach out to them would be dangerous, not just for myself but for him. And you and Flynn, for that matter."

Caitlin was quiet at that. She knew that Katsurō's father, Shirakawa Katsu, had fallen for a human woman while he was still married, and had planned to run away with her. His wife Yayoi, Katsurō's mother, had attempted to kill the human when she'd found out, but had been stopped and killed by a nearby Fangire Hunter when Katsurō had been only three. His father had, not long after, proposed to the woman, Jinnai Haruna, and had taken her and Katsurō to live in America.

Katsurō paused, then initiated a new topic of discussion. "So, Cate... How do you feel about a change of scenery?"

THE END

If any of you found Katsurō to be at all familiar, then you've probably read my Transformers fic 'Recruitment'. He IS, fact, the Shirakawa mentioned throughout the fic. Keep in mind, in the mainstream 'Ties that Bind' universe, he is just another human soldier, and won't even have a prominent role. It's in Knightverse and the potential 'AU of two AUs' crossover(s) where he'll be a NEST soldier and a Fangire.

Just a note: The World Wide Wing Association (3WA) from the movie exists in Knightverse, but Takato Shiramine/Kamen Rider Rey does not. They will come into play later.

This is my take on how often Fangires need to feed. They actually can go over a decade without it, even longer if they sustain themselves with human food. However, just as many of us humans eat much more than the minimum required to survive, depending on availability, the Fangires dealt with in the show feed much more often because they enjoy it. These ones are the dangerous ones. There are a lot less Fangire like these in other countries, to be elaborated upon in 'Bishop'.

So here's a preview for Queen Chapter 3!:

At first, Chōko wondered if she was just imagining it. But the odd sensation in her abdomen was felt again, and she heavily sat back down, pressing both hands over the bump. Something on the inside pushed against the heel of her right palm.

Her baby was kicking. It was inside her, alive, and moving. The reality of it all hit home, and she couldn't help the tear that escaped her eye, or the excitement that seemed to bubble up inside her. Her child was already right there with her.