Disclaimer: recognizable SaTai characters belong to RED/Kodansha co.'s, 'Pani-chan' is mine, as well as the plot
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The night of the full moon was fast approaching. There had been disturbing reports in the newspapers about a string of attacks in the capital.
Maria sighed, setting down the morning edition. Three bodies had been found in the past two days, all of them male and all yakuza. The newspapers hadn't listed the cause of death except for the first one, five days ago. That one had died from a blade to the heart. Every one since then had been unmarked at death but had also been drained of blood.
"Anyone else?" Kanna casually asked between bites of her breakfast.
"If there have been, they haven't been found yet." Maria frowned, taking a sip of her tea and placing it gently back down. "How are Tsubaki and Kaede holding up?"
"They're not dead."
"That's very helpful, thank you." The Russian said sarcastically, earning a glance from Kanna.
"Are you feeling ok, Maria? It's not like you to be so…snippy." The glare she earned in return was deadly enough to make her choke on the mouthful of rice she had.
"Look. We're all worried about Sakura and whatever schizophrenic episode she seems to be having, but you need to calm down. You look like you're about to go down the warpath." Kanna continued when she saw Maria automatically take another sip of her tea "Against who is what I would like to know."
"Ah, has Kanna-san finally become civilized?" Sumire crowed triumphantly, "I don't believe I've ever heard her use such large words before!"
"Tch," Kanna exhaled sharply "It's too early to be dealing with some cactus woman who's prickly enough to protect herself."
"Kanna, I seem to remember you arguing the loudest to bring her back here." Orihime spoke up. A light blush crossed the Okinawan's cheeks and she grumbled under her breath as she ate another huge mouthful of rice.
"Just lookin' out for my own, 's all."
Sumire fell silent as Maria stood up, tea cup and platter in hand, and stiffly walked to the kitchen. She exited the dining hall moments later, wordlessly and leaving the air feeling colder than it should have been. Orihime followed a short while later after exchanging looks with the two older women.
"You know, Kanna-san, I don't think I've ever seen Maria-san this serious before." Sumire softly commented as she took Maria's vacated seat across from Kanna.
"Wouldn't you be the same if someone important to you was in the same position as Sakura right now? Wouldn't you try to do everything possible to keep them out of danger?" the Okinawan asked as she held the plate a few inches off of the table, chopsticks poised for another scoop of rice.
Sumire paused, contemplating Kanna's sudden serious mood. Was she referring to herself as well?
"I suppose so."
They remained silent as gunshots echoed dimly down the hall. Evidently, the Russian had gone to the shooting range to relieve her frustrations on invisible demons.
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The weight of her Enfield was a welcome one. Every shot helped release the frustration Maria was feeling.
Why am I getting so worked up over this? What happened to my supposed 'cool intellect'?
She set the gun on the counter in front of her and flicked the switch on her right. The target moved forward and she let out a frustrated growl as she noted where the bullets had hit. Of the six, two were in the circle that marked where the heart was, two more were mere centimeters away from the 'heart', one had strayed to the left shoulder while the other marked the solar plexus.
Never before had the Russian been so far off with her marksmanship. Her right hand gripped the counter until her knuckles turned white.
I would be worried if any of my friends were in this situation, but when I know it's Sakura, all rational thought leaves me!
Maria released the counter and moved back until her back met with the cool wall. She allowed her legs to give way and she slowly slid down until she was in a sitting position. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes. The cool solitude of the firing range offered her the chance to sort through the sudden overflow of emotion without interference.
Her easy-to-irritate attitude over the past few days suddenly made a great deal more sense now that her emotion barrier was broken.
That same welcome solitude was eventually broken by a frantic Kanna, who burst through the door suddenly.
"Maria, there's been an…hey, are you ok?"
She was by the Russian in a flash. Maria gave a muffled response without raising her head from its resting position on her knees.
"What?"
"I said I'm fine, Kanna." Crying had a strange effect on the Russian. Her face had gained a reddish hue but her eyes remained as clear as ever. "Now why did you come rushing in?" When it appeared that Kanna had chosen to ignore her question, she tiredly sighed "Interrogate me later."
Kanna was taken back. Maria never offered herself up for her so-called "interrogations."
"O-ok. Something happened at the jailhouse and we've been called out."
"Everybody?"
"No, just us and Reni.
"The jailhouse?"
"Yeah. They'll explain when we get there."
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They arrived at the scene a short while later, dressed in their battle uniforms as per their orders from high command.
"What seems to be the problem, Captain?" Maria asked.
"We've been attacked by the rogue. The one that's been in the newspapers this past week."
He led them inside the building. Once inside, they saw a pair of iron doors, heavy enough that it would normally take to full-grown men to open them. However, one of the doors had been ripped completely off of its hinges.
They advanced further and soon the smell of blood was overwhelming. A nearby cell was open and they peered in. The former inmate was propped against the wall, a trail of blood traveling down the side of his neck. Closer inspection showed no wound. They winced and continued on, meeting similar scenes of death.
"Was anybody left alive?" Kanna asked.
"One, but he's been pretty shaken up by this whole thing."
"But he's somewhere safe, right?"
"Yes."
A nod from Maria showed her appreciation. They continued on, passing more cells in silence. Reni stopped at an empty cell, devoid of the taint of death. Her trained ears had caught someone's soft, wheezing breath from within the seemingly empty cell.
"Who was being held in that one?" the German asked, startling the others as they hadn't noticed that she had fell behind.
The officer walked back, checking the number outside of the slightly opened door.
"Well…this one actually held the one that's still alive, so it shouldn't have anyone inside it right now…Why?"
Kanna had just enough time to pull the officer back from the open door before a blur burst out from the dark room. Reni was not as lucky; the giant blur crashed into her, smashing her into the wall behind her.
The German coughed as someone grabbed her by the throat and lifted her into the air. She managed to crack open an ice-blue eye. She could only see the air in front of her shimmering, although she was painfully aware of the lack of air she was getting.
Maria loosed her Enfield and fired a warning shot at the same disturbance in the air and Reni was dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. Someone cursed softly and another, larger blur exited the open cell quickly, latching on to the first and dragging them out of the prison altogether.
The Russian ran over to her fallen comrade as Kanna barked out orders to the shaken police officer and followed him out.
"Are you ok, Reni?"
Reni winced as she tried to answer, eventually giving up and nodding her head. There was already bruising on her pale skin in the shape of a hand.
Kanna returned quickly and scooped the young German up in her strong arms.
"They aren't here anymore, but keep your gun out…just in case."
"I was already planning to."
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Sakura had woken up that same morning with an unexplainable thirst. She sat up from her position on the dusty floor of the abandoned house she had found on the outskirts of the capital. A pang of hunger caused her to double up in pain.
"Ow." She muttered under her breath.
Her body felt strangely dull although her senses were sharper than ever.
"Sleep well?" a male voice asked. The self-proclaimed 'Pani-chan' slipped out of the shadows.
"Oh god…not so early in the morning!" she groaned, wincing as her stomach cramped again.
"Morning?" A slender black eyebrow rose, "It's nearly 2 in the afternoon…but enough of that. How are you feeling?"
"Why do you even care?"
"Just tell me."
"I feel like everything is pressing in on me..." her stomach interjected, growling loudly, "and I'm really hungry…"
"And the Light one?"
"What?" She groaned as another pang of hunger hit her.
'Pani-chan' knelt before her.
"Can you hear her?"
"Yes…but she's faint."
"Good…you're right on track then."
"For what?"
"Your Awakening."
She somehow managed an incredulous look through the pain her stomach was causing her. "My what?"
"Awakening. The time when a demon's power matures. For our type it happens to be the first full moon after the host's resurrection."
"That makes absolutely no sense!"
"It will be after you see your wings."
"Wings?!" Her eyes widened, "Just what type of demon am I?!"
He motioned for her to quiet down "Not so loud!" he sighed in relief as she had only referred to herself in her question...that meant that she hadn't noticed his little slip-up. "Now, what you are is complicated and will be better understood once you have some food in you.. Since you've already refused me, I cannot let you drink my blood, so wait here and I'll find you something to eat."
She didn't answer him right away, but nodded her head slowly.
"Try to maintain focus on who you are, don't let the bloodlust take you over, I'll be back as soon as possible."
She glared sullenly at him as her stomach rumbled again and silently acquiesced. He nodded and left.
It wasn't long afterward that she could feel something warm moving along the side of the house. She tried to ignore it but her hunger overpowered it and her body moved stealthily towards the wall and the warmth behind it. The stench of alcohol somehow drifted through the wood and it drew her still forward until she realized that there was no warm body on the other side of the wall.
Her hungered mind had created a convincing hallucination of what had become her 'preferred' prey: the drunkard, the Yakuza, the one who would have died soon regardless.
A soft whimper escaped from her throat as she realized how desperately hungry she was once again. The air around her suddenly shifted and she found herself in a dark, musty cell. Its inhabitant woke suddenly at her appearance, his dark brown eyes glaring into her dark red and she saw why he was there. He was a criminal, responsible for the deaths of three girls at his own hands. This one was awaiting his execution…
The next thing she noticed was the warm blood flowing down her throat as she drained his life away. Her overpowering hunger had lessened, not by much, but enough for her to feel more in control of herself. Still…how she longed to stalk over to the next cell, for the next meal, to once more savor the liquid of life…
Each death row inmate she drained made her hunger lessen, but at the same time, the need for blood became more intense. Her estranged mind wondered at one time why no guards were around, but that thought was brushed away as her heightened senses felt the elder demon's youryoku at work, befuddling the minds of guards and inmates alike. That would also explain why no one screamed or fought when she entered their cages, why they all subjected willingly…
The black haired demon was waiting for her outside the last cell, but she paid him no heed as she slipped in to find the last prisoner fast asleep, looking deject as he huddled in the darkest corner. What crime had this one committed, she wondered in her bemused state, to make him seem so helpless? She unraveled the magic that kept him asleep and he slowly opened his dark eyes. She crouched before him and he met her crimson gaze meekly, unsure of who she was or why she was there.
She drew back unwillingly from him. He had no place in this prison, he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lack of evidence had given the court no choice but to sentence him to death row.
Still, the scent of his growing fear was throwing her senses wild and she desperately wanted to feed from this innocent…his blood would be so much more sweeter than the blood of the impure...
"NO!!" She cried in unison with the long-repressed voice of the 'true' Sakura. She stumbled backwards until she hit the wall.
"Get out." She hissed softly. When the man made no move to escape, she glared at him before roaring loudly, "GET OUT!!"
He clambered for the exit, whimpering as he stumbled down the long hallway towards the open door. He shot past the dazed guards standing just outside and doubled back to warn them of the intruder. It didn't take them long to snap back to their senses. They pulled the door shut just as something crashed into it from the other side. The steel door was suddenly pulled off of its hinges and the guards whipped out their pistols and fired haphazardly at the empty space the door had recently occupied.
'Pani-chan' had managed to set up an invisibility spell around himself and his frenzied companion before she had gotten to the door. He managed to pull her back in time so the bullets from the guards missed. He dragged her back to the now empty cell and held her against the wall in order to keep her quiet.
Minutes later, three women came walking down the deserted hallway. He recognized their voices to be the same from the strange mechas he had talked to earlier that week.
"Who was being held in that one?" a softly accented voice asked from right outside the door. Something crashed into the taller demon's knee and he released Sakura in order to sooth the pain shooting throughout his leg.
The swordswoman shot out of the room, smashing into the smaller German. Her frenzied state didn't let her recognize her former comrade as she grabbed her by the throat and lifted her easily into the air. The warning shot from the Russian grazed her arm, causing her to drop Reni onto the stone floor. She managed to glance in Maria's general direction before 'Pani-chan' latched onto her waist and flew swiftly out of the jailhouse.
That was too close. he thought to himself.
Trapped within her own body, the 'Light' Sakura could only dwell on the look the Russian had on her face before she had been whisked away.
A look of pure hatred.
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Wow, this has been a long time coming! It took months to accomplish what I had hoped would only take a few weeks! Ay-yi-yi… Thanks for your patience, everybody!
Read and Review, por fa!