Ryu – I really should update my other fiction, but I had a burst of inspiration to write this chapter.

Junoan – Yeah, I tried really hard to stay true to their character. I'm glad it payed off. As for their ages, yes, I did intend for them to be their canonical ages. This will come up later either in story or as an extra. The extra below much touch upon the topic, but won't address it directly. I didn't want to dump too much information into the chapter, but yes, there is a reason for him speaking like that. Now onto the final question, it sort of is a pun in vague terms. If I say "virgin in heat" or "an aroused virgin", would that be enough to be understandable? I'm actually surprised you're not a native English speaker, you wrote your words well. Finally, as for the difficulty of the game, I can say it's hard, but I don't know if it's the easiest or not, because the only other games I have played are Persona 3 &4, and they're slightly different genres.

Winter Cocoa – Yup, I aim to please. XD And Otome knows everyone's "preference".

Kanrei – Aw, you're too kind. This actually isn't the fastest I've ever updated, but glad I could get it to you all quick enough. As for the blood types and stuff, I may expand more on that because I want vampire society to have a sort of sophistication to it.

Fate Level 1

Hibiki gave a huff, and then sent a volley of fire at the ghouls before him in a majestic sort of dance, all the while trying not to think about how the ghouls used to be a human.

Ghouls, the failed result of a lesser vampire trying to turn a human. They were also the root of all the vampire legends, or at least most of them.

Nevertheless, their immense numbers were a pain to deal with, but fortunately they are weak to various things, fire and light to name a few. That's where the aversion to sunlight came from, and Hibiki was glad that fact was true. Had ghouls been able to come out at day, there would have been many more problems.

Hibiki took one last look at the ghouls, now piles of ash. They hadn't been pretty to look at, with their black sunken eyes, chipped black nails, and sickly green skin. The tattered clothes just made them look more like zombies.

A noise behind Hibiki made him turn, only to get a nudged in the face by a white snout covered in…

"Ugh, Byakko!" Hibiki said with a smile as he playfully batted the tiger away. "Don't do that, you're covered in ghoul…ick." Hibiki said while flicking the bits off his face, and once that was done, Hibiki looked behind Byakko to see that it had done its part. "Good job." Hibiki said, and then summoned flames to dispose of them.

They were located in a wooded area at the far edge of the city, the ashes would end up nourishing the area and wouldn't be discovered by then.

"I wonder if we should head ba-" Hibiki said, only to hear Yamato in his head.

"Kuze"

"Ack!" -"Uh, yeah?" Hibiki thought back after getting over his shock.

"Good, we're telepathically connected now. What's the status on your end?" Yamato said telepathically.

"All clear. The ghouls have been dealt with." Hibiki thought back, all the while preventing Byakko from trying to nuzzle his face.

"Good, you may head back now." Yamato said, ending the "conversation."

Hibiki gave a deep sigh. "Not another thing to get used to."

"You have adapted well enough. This should be no problem for you."

Hibiki's eye twitched, he didn't bother responding. Truthfully, he was getting used to everything fairly quickly, even the use of Agi skills was becoming second nature to him. Although it did startle him immensely when he had first used it.

Originally he was supposed to be paired up with someone since he was a "pup", but the first ghoul eradication mission he had with Yamato (this was so Yamato could determine who would be the right partner), Hibiki had reflexively thrown out his hand at a lunging ghoul, and fire had appeared, engulfing the ghoul.

Hibiki didn't know what to say, and when he turned to look at Yamato, he received a look of approval and praise. From then on, Yamato declared that Hibiki would do all the ghoul missions by himself. Of course there were some protests, namely Otome and Makoto, but those died down after a few missions where Hibiki came back relatively unscathed.

With a shake of his head, Hibiki dismissed Byakko and shifted to his bat form. He had managed to shave off a few seconds to shift, but he was nowhere as fast as Yamato. His bat form had also grown slightly larger, but was still relatively smaller than Yamato's.

In any case, as Hibiki flew above the clouds, the crescent moonlight glinting off his fur, he enjoyed the relative peace of the flight, even though he was getting somewhat tired. Just two weeks had passed since his life had changed so much, and Hibiki was just dreading the end of the school year. While initially he would have been overjoyed, it just meant the deadline to tell his friends or not was drawing closer.

They were still none the wiser to his separation from his "parents", and his vampire heritage still remained secret. Still, he was just dreading the time when he would have to tell his friends. He didn't know whether they would still accept him or not. At least he didn't have to worry about practice exams and college anymore, Yamato had practically ripped that away from him, saying that his future was with the clan, and he wouldn't have to worry about finding a job and other human things.

The break from practice exams did give him more time to relax, and it let him hang out with his friends, although the latter make it even more painful to choose.

Finally, after a few minutes of flying, the Diet Building came into sight, and after a few times of flying into non-hollow trees, Hibiki found the correct tree and flew down, glad for the night to be almost over.

Soon, the expansive room came into sight, and Hibiki was just about to fly to the floor where his room was located on, when he was snatched up by two hands.

When the disorientation of suddenly being grabbed had passed, Hibiki saw that it was an Asian girl in some interesting clothes, with the JPs uniform draped over her shoulders.

"Hm, an albino bat. How rare." She said in a monotone.

Hibiki figured she must be a part of the government branch if the clan. It would explain why he never saw her before.

"After I do a few tests, I will mount you on my wall." She said as if she were talking about the weather.

And suddenly "mad scientist" flew into Hibiki's mind as he let loose a weak Zio, making the girl loosen her grip, allowing Hibiki to fly out and shift. All the while, the girl let out a hum of interest.

Before any of them could say anything, a voice cut in. "Oh Fumi, you're back." Otome said as he walked from out a corridor. Fumi didn't respond, still looking at Hibiki, who was getting increasingly nervous.

"A white bat, yet black hair, and dressed in a strange white hoodie. Almost the opposite of the chief for the most part." Fumi said as she took some steps closer.

Hibiki twitched at the hoodie part (this was his favorite hoodie), and almost took some steps back, but luckily Otome spoke before anything else happened.

"The chief would like to hear your report first hand."

Fumi gave a pause, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Okay." She said, and then shifted to a black bat, with lighter streaks of fur lining her back. Then she flew down a few floors, and disappeared into a hallway.

Hibiki gave a sigh of relief, causing Otome to chuckle. "Don't worry about her, she's just very interested in learning about new and unknown things."

"Is she always like that?" Hibiki said.

"Mhm. Pretty much. Although she is a nice person once you get to know her. Now, any major injuries I need to know of?" Otome said as he walked closer to Hibiki, hand glowing slightly.

Hibiki shook his head. "No, and what did you mean that 'she's back'?" Hibiki said as the familiar tickle of the "scan" washed over him.

Otome gave a slight nod of her head in approval. "Fumi was sent out to investigate reports of new kinds of ghouls."

"New kinds of ghouls?" Hibiki said as he and Otome began walking toward the living quarters.

"Yes. According to the reports, there are ghouls appearing that are different from the ones we've been encountering so far." Otome said as they stopped in front of Hibiki's room.

"I'll be sure to keep a look out." Hibiki said as he opened the door.

"I'm sure it won't come to that. Well, good night." Otome said, and then turned to head down the corridor.

For some reason, as Hibiki closed the door and collapsed on his bed, he had a bad feeling that maybe he would encounter them. With a sigh, Hibiki got up and prepared to go to sleep.

The morning passed in the blink of any eye, and nothing truly eventful happened, although he did have to refill his flask. He forgot to do it the night prior, and he didn't want to get chewed out for not eating again. In his defense, he did eat, just not what the vampires called proper food.

At present, he was currently waiting for the train with Daichi and Io, having spent the afternoon hanging out with them. They were having a conversation about what happened that day, when all of a sudden, the lights went out.

"W-what? A black out?" Daichi said.

"We should be care-" Io started out, but was interrupted when people began exclaiming that there was someone on the tracks.

"Look, there's someone there."

"Maybe he's a maintenance worker."

"Wow, that was fast timing."

And as the chatter rose to a certain volume, Hibiki's eyes widened. For while everyone else's sight wasn't good in the sudden darkness, he could see perfectly fine, and what he saw wasn't a person, but a ghoul. Except, this ghoul was… different.

It was green like any other ghoul, but it was also pink, or rather the globs growing off it were pink. Before Hibiki could think any more about it, the ghoul grabbed one of the globs from its shoulder, and threw it onto the platform.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the object.

"Ew, what is that?"

"Some kind of gunk?"

"But why is it growing."

And it was growing, and everyone began to draw closer to it, causing Hibiki to internally shout. Now he knew why Yamato referred to humans as dimwitted most of the time, although now wasn't the time to be thinking that, as Hibiki called up a weak Zan that was strong enough to blow people away, but weak enough not to cause any damage.

He did so just in time as the pink glob exploded, causing significant damage to the platform, and making bits of the ceiling fall down. At once, everyone began to panic, and run for the exit, which was good, except his friends, who tried to get him to follow.

"Hibiki, we need to go!" Io shouted as she waved her arms in front of her in order to find him.

"Yeah, it's not safe!" Daichi shouted as he looked around.

Hibiki stepped back, fist clenched. He couldn't go with them now, he had to deal with the ghoul. So without a second thought, he used another Zan to blow them toward the exit, and all they could do was follow the crowd as the flow forced them back.

Once everyone was safely out of the way, Hibiki contacted Yamato.

"Yamato!"

It took a moment, but Yamato responded. "Yes, what is it?" He sounded slightly irritated. Hibiki probably interrupted him as he was signing papers or something, but now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"I think I encountered one of those… new…ghouls…" Hibiki responded, his words trailing off as he turned and saw not one, but several ghouls, all getting ready to lob those bomb globs at him.

Immediately Hibiki began running as the start of a deadly game of dodge-bomb began, as the globs began to explode seconds after landing, with one landing near his feet and exploding right after, causing him to be thrown to the ground. At least they weren't instantly lethal (to him anyway).

"Kuze, I'm sending back up your way. How many are there?" Yamato said, tone urgent.

"Can't really count them right now, trying to avoid bomb thingies!" Hibiki answered back, and then yelped when one of the globs landed in front of him, making him jump out of the way to avoid the blast.

Yamato didn't respond back, which was okay with Hibiki since he had to concentrate on the ghouls. So with the wave of a hand, Hibiki summoned Byakko to his side, then he flicked his wrist, sending fire at the ghouls.

At once, the once dark station lit up as fire appeared and engulfed all the ghouls. Hibiki knew right away that something was wrong, and was proved true when the fire died down, showing that they had hardly been affected by the fire.

'Resistant against fire?' Hibiki thought. That wasn't good, the strongest skill he had was Fire Dance. Now all he was left with was Zan, Zio, and- "Byakko!" Hibiki shouted, and without needing further command, Byakko charged and slashed at the ghouls, sending them flying away and then crashing into various parts of the station.

There was a tense moment, and Hibiki thought that did it, when all the ghouls began to get up, having only sustained scratches.

'Resistant against physical attacks too?' Hibiki thought, frowning even more. "Fine then, I'll just have to use my other skills." Hibiki said as he fired off a Zio, and was immediately pleased to find that it was really effective. "Finally, something good." Hibiki said as he fired off more Zios.

Soon, the air was filled with crackles of energy, and occasional thuds every time Byakko knocked away ghouls from Hibiki. Although some ghouls were defeated, there were still many more, and Hibiki was getting tired by the minute.

"I really wish I hadn't forgotten to refill my flask." Hibiki panted out as he fired off another Zio, sweat forming on his forehead.

Byakko wasn't doing much better, having expended much more energy than usual to push back the ghouls. Although, despite the fact that its life was not in direct danger, so long as Hibiki lived, it too would live, but if Hibiki did die, then it would also follow. Despite that, Byakko genuinely cared about Hibiki, and would ensure the other got out alive, even if their lives were not connected.

So, with a roar, Byakko mustered up all its energy, and suddenly felt something. It instinctually grabbed onto that feeling, and suddenly blinding light struck the ghouls, followed by a loud boom that made Hibiki's ears ring.

When the light faded, and the ringing stopped, Hibiki saw that all the ghouls had been vaporized by what apparently had been a strong Zio (he would need to learn the name later). He turned to look at Byakko, who was suddenly less ferocious looking with its wide and innocent eyes.

"Wow Byakko! I didn't know you could do that!" Hibiki exclaimed as he stumbled over to the tiger and gave it a hug.

Byakko blinked, the feral gaze returning to its eyes. Then it moved its shoulders in a mock shrug, as if to say "me either."

So with a smile, Hibiki decided to contact Yamato again "Hey Yamato, I took care of the-" Hibiki thought before plopping noises interrupted him. Byakko and Hibiki whipped their heads at the sound, and saw multiple pink globs expanding in size. While the ghouls themselves had been vaporized, the explosive globs were not. Hibiki also noticed that most of the ceiling had caved in, blocking any escape

"This is gonna suck." Hibiki thought as he braced himself, and Byakko curled defensively around him.

"What-" Was all he heard before the globs exploded and everything went black.

Hibiki was sure that the bombs wouldn't have killed him, probably. Not with Byakko protecting him, and a last ditch effort to use a Dia skill.

It still hurt.

A lot.

And thus Hibiki woke up to a world of pain. It hurt to move any part of his body, and his lungs felt like they were burning, although the cool air flowing from the mask on his face seemed to be soothing it a little.

With a groan, Hibiki opened his eyes to see a while ceiling. The groan also interrupted the silent conversation going on next to him.

"Hibiki, how are you doing?" Otomo said telepathically to him as she walked to his bedside.

"Do you really need to ask?" Hibiki said.

"Sorry, force of habit. Oh, and just to be sure, are you in any pain?"

"Yes"

"I thought so. By now you should have realized human painkillers won't work on you, but I can't heal you right now since it would be strange for you to have suddenly healed. So the least I can do now is help numb the pain." Otome said with an apologetic expression, and then waved a glowing hand over Hibiki.

Immediately, Hibiki found it easier to breathe, although there was a twinge of pain every now and then. Still, it was tolerable, and better than before.

"You do not have to worry about remaining in this hospital for long. We will be transferring you to our medical facilities." Yamato said as he came into view.

"Makoto is filling out the paperwork as we speak, but you'll have to stay here for the night until then." Otome said.

"In the meantime, I am here to tell you several things. The first is that the situation has been labeled a terrorist attack. So if anyone comes in here to question you, simply substitute anything supernatural with natural." Yamato said as he looked at Hibiki, who nodded.

"Second, I wish to congratulate you. You are the first person to survive an encounter with not one, but 15 Dubhe ghouls. Achieving such a feat is not easy, as they are of the Septentriones class." Yamato said, that look of approval once again on his face.

"We can celebrate later, and you can tell everyone what happened. Right now were not exactly supposed to be here. So we'll see you tomorrow." Otome said as she headed for the open window, and shifted into a light brown bat, slightly smaller than Yamato, who decided to latch onto the drip pole and say one last message.

"Remember, it was terrorists you saw….and good night." With that say, Yamato let go and flew out the window, leaving the room in silence, except for the occasional beep of the heart monitor, and the whoosh of the oxygen mask.

'At least this day can't get any worse.' Hibiki thought as his eyes began to droop, but a noise outside his door caused them to open.

Before Hibiki could wonder who it was, the door opened to reveal a slightly tan man in a purple jacket.

"Oh good, you're awake." The man said as he closed the door and walked to Hibiki's side. "I am detective Ronaldo Kuriki." Ronaldo said as he opened up a flap on his jacket to reveal a badge. "I'm here to ask you a few questions. It won't take long." Ronaldo said as he pulled a chair from the wall and sat down.

Hibiki attempted to speak, but what came out was a hoarse whisper, which ended up making him cough.

"Whoa, easy there. No need to force yourself. You can just nod or shake your head. Is that alright?" Ronaldo said after Hibiki stopped coughing.

Hibiki nodded.

"Okay. You don't need to feel pressured to answer all my questions, just the ones you're comfortable with." Hibiki nodded again, and Ronaldo smiled as he took out a pen and notebook from his jacket.

"Okay, first question." Ronaldo said as he clicked his pen and looked Hibiki directly in the eyes.

"Do you believe vampires exist?"

"…" !?

Fate Level has now become 2

You can now gain access to stronger skills with the help of another

Ryu – Whew, finally got it all out of my system. I found the OST for Devil Survivor 2: The Animation, and I was like "I have to write to these songs!" So this is the result of all of that. Well, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

Now for the extra. Not really much of an extra, but rather a different point of view. This bit will show what Yamato was thinking when he first met Hibiki.

Extra

Never before in his life had he seen a white bat, well, a real white bat. That other one was just an imitation.

He shifted, and flew up to the pup (because that's what it was, small and young looking) to get a better look. The scent of blood reached his nose, but he refrained. It was tempting, but he wasn't as weak to allow himself to give in.

Upon closer inspection, the pup was indeed young, but there seemed to be some age in those eyes. Yes, those eyes, they held so much yet told so little, but most of all, they were a shocking blue. They stood out from its white coat, which seemed to shine thanks to the moonlight seeping through the leaves.

He decided to speak.

"Who are you?" He said telepathically, because all bats understood a vampire's thoughts.

There was no response. Merely a tilt of the head, and a curious gaze.

So it was another vampire then. He was instantly on guard, because this vampire was unknown to him, but he didn't want to kill the other in case it was an asset.

So, a test was in order. A fall from this height could determine whether the pup would live or die.

And so a swat of his wing, and the other was sent tumbling, but they shifted, and then seemed to move their body unconsciously to make the fall less damaging.

Hm, this one had potential. Still, questions were in order.

And then he dropped to confront the other.

Ryu – Well, that's it for now, and due note that I'm uploading this as soon as I finish typing it. So pardon any grammatical errors and such.