Throughout the city, a similar scene repeated itself again and again.
Six individuals were racing around, eliminating every vampire, ghoul, or Dead they managed to run across.
One of them was a young high school student wearing glasses. With a gloomy expression, he scouted the back alleys and hunted every single nonhuman creature he's found. Tohno Shiki swiped his knife at another member of the Dead and bisected it into several parts.
As the limbs fell onto the ground, he bolted forward and cut down another snarling undead. He has done the same action again and again and again for the past hour. The endless amount of Deads would rush toward him every time he discovered one of them.
"Die." Slashing down, another member of the foul creatures collapsed into the pool of blood he has created. "Die..." Shiki swung the blade around as he was lost in his killing spree. He vented all his frustrations on the bloodsuckers, and was slowly being controlled by his murderous instincts. "Die!"
Far away, on the other side of Misaki Town, was a young blonde girl.
Slash Arcueid put an end to another ghoul and gazed at the sky worriedly. "What's going on, Shiki?" The young boy she's met earlier was unlike the same person she has met the past few days. His depression and self-blame were obvious as he only spoke a few words to her before running away.
They have put in all their efforts in order to eliminate the Dead, but Shiki seemed to not be satisfied even when the majority of them were already gone.
'He's probably holding himself responsible for what happened to his classmate, and something seemed to be plaguing his mind as well... I should talk to him after this... Yes, let's do that.' The last True Ancestor nodded to herself and proceeded to cleaned out the nest she's found before gazing up at the sky once again.
'Please be safe, Shiki...'
Atop a building, close to where Shiki was, stood a pale man.
He looked down and observed the massacre that the black-haired boy was doing. Again, a Dead was disarmed. Again, a Dead was disabled. Again, a Dead was killed. He narrowed his eyes and a mocking grin was formed. "Soon... I will kill you with my own hands..."
"Fake."
A few hours ago.
Pant pant.
"I never knew you were such a meddler..." The pair breathed heavily after yelling at each other for a few minutes.
"That's right, I'm a very stubborn and meddling Senpai!" The sweating Ciel grinned happily. "I'm glad you've returned to your normal self a bit-"
When the young girl was about to finish her sentence, Shiki closed his eyes and leaped to the side, dashing for the doors. However, as if having anticipated that, Ciel moved before him and blocked his exit.
"I guess I can't win..." Shiki sighed and raised his arms in surrender. He scratched his chin and went to pick up the fallen juice box. He then slid down and lied against the rooftop railings. "I know it's absurd, so you don't have to believe me. It's actually better if you get exasperated... Erm, you know about the vampire killings, right?"
"Yes." Ciel inserted the drinking straw into her own juice box and glanced at the sitting boy.
"Senpai, I think I might be the criminal."
"...Is that what you're troubled about? What makes you think you might be the killer?" The young girl leaned against the railings with a half-hug posture. "Hmm. If that's the case, then that means you're a vampire, Tohno-kun. Have you ever been bitten by a vampire before?"
"No. This vampire is one that reincarnates..." Shiki replied gravely. "...and it just takes over your body without warning."
"And that's inside your body, Tohno-kun?" Ciel asked.
"That's the only explanation I can come up with." The young boy looked down and spoke up mockingly. "See, Ciel-senpai? You don't believe me, do you?"
"What is it an explanation for?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, what exactly makes you think you're a vampire?"
"I... see dreams. And those dreams... They are very realistic. In them, I kill people and drink their blood. And then..."
"And did the things in your dream happen in real life too?" All of a sudden, a neutral yet cold tone came from the upperclassman. "I thought so, because you smelled of blood."
"...Senpai?" Shiki rise up and distanced himself from the smiling Ciel. The young girl he always knew seemed incredibly foreign at the moment. It was as if she was a total stranger...
"There's no need to worry. You're not a vampire." Ciel merely laughed at the boy's stunned expression. "Well, I guess you won't believe me. I also thought that you were Roa at first."
"Senpai... did you just say... Roa?" Shiki widened his eyes at the mention of the Dead Apostle's true name. Ciel wasn't supposed to know that, what was-
"Yes. I came here in order to kill Roa. I am the most knowledgeable on Roa in the Church." The inquisitor ignored the shocked boy and asked. "Oh, have you heard of the Church?"
"Wait... Senpai. You're our... upperclassman-" Shiki broke down in a cold sweat.
"It's a lie that I'm your Senpai. I've put a spell on everyone in order to keep a close watch on you. Though the food at the cafeteria was really good so I overstayed a bit." Ciel laughed softly and turned to the young boy. "Please rest assured, you're not Roa.
"Tohno-kun, you have a lot going on, but you're actually just a student. Now that I have told you this much, do you believe me a little more?"
"...I don't know, it's all so confusing." The black-haired boy held his face. 'So it was all a lie...?'
"You're right, I'm sorry." The Church's inquisitor chuckled. "Tohno-kun, here's some advice from a Senpai. Like I said, you're just a normal student, so it's best for you not to get involved." Ciel finished her sentence and hopped on the railings.
"Senpai, be careful!" Shiki yelled and extended his hand seeing the young girl standing on the railings. If she fell off, she will die...!
"There's no more reason for me to stay here. It's true that fun things don't last..." Ciel smiled for one last time and then leaped off. "Farewell, Tohno-kun."
"Senpai?!" Shiki rushed up to the railings and glanced down.
She was gone.
It's ironic how the cold metal he was holding reminded him that how far he has separated from the common world.
First it was Yumizuka.
The always-cheerful classmate who liked him.
She has became a vampire and has to murder innocent people in order to survive.
And now it's Ciel.
The kind, calm, friendly, and peaceful upperclassman who he respected.
She is an inquisitor who came to Misaki Town in order to hunt down the reincarnating Dead Apostle Ancestor.
What has happened to his ordinary life?
Arcueid Brunestud, the last True Ancestor.
Nrvnqsr Chaos, the tenth Dead Apostle Ancestor.
Michael Roa Valdamjong, the numberless Dead Apostle Ancestor.
Yumizuka Satsuki, the transformed young girl.
And Ciel, the Church's Executor.
"Will... will anyone tell me... just what the hell is going on?!" The young boy screamed out... but no one was there to answer him. This has became his fate the moment he decided to be involved with the supernatural.
'Welcome to the moonlit world.' A soft yet satirical whisper sounded out. It came from nowhere, and Shiki wasn't able to hear it. 'Fake.'
"What...?"
It was during nighttime. The sun has finally set as the quiet mountain town descended into darkness. Slowly, and slowly, Misaki Town was brightened up by the lights of its inhabitants.
"What, what happened here...?" Akiha and Kohaku were frozen in horror. The alleyway was a sea of blood. Arms, legs, heads, bones, and pieces of flesh painted the entire place in the color of crimson.
Fighting back the urge to vomit, the young girls steeled their hearts and stepped through the sprawled limbs. They followed the trail of blood and entered the woods. Walking pass the trees and thick bushes, they discovered a stone path which led towards a temple.
At the open area, between the stone path and the temple's stairs, stood a bloodied man. He was surrounded by tens of corpses, and seeing that he was the only one left standing and had a knife in his hand, it could be concluded that he was either the last survivor of the bloodbath or he was the one who had killed everyone here.
Detecting two new presence, the murderer slowly turned his head back. He grinned because he sensed inhuman blood flowing within the young girl with long black hair. He swung his knife, emptying the blood on it, and dashed towards the unsuspecting young girl.
"Nii, Nii-san?!" Akiha screamed seeing her own brother glaring at her with murderous intents. Luckily, the young boy stopped before another head was severed since he saw the face of his dear younger sister when he raised his head.
"I'm, I'm sorry, Akiha..." Shiki muttered and tried his best to smile.
"Nii-san, you..."
"Akiha... I'm sorry I... kept quiet about, sneaking out again..." Leaving those words, Shiki collapsed.
"Nii-san?! Nii-san!" Akiha quickly caught the young boy in her laps. "What... What happened to you?!" She touched the fallen boy's face with concern while Kohaku examined him for any injuries. The maid nodded at her mistress, and received a relieved sigh in response.
It was at that moment, when a figure floated down from the sky and onto the temple's stairs.
"...Akiha, why are you here?" He was a young, pale-skinned man with a loose, blue kimono. His eyes were red and his hair was white. "Why do you bother with a fake like him? Why do you call him your brother?" The man stepped closer and gave her a malicious grin. "Move. I have to pay him back for killing me, after all."
The pale man's true name was Tohno SHIKI, the true son of the Tohno family and the eighteenth reincarnation of Michael Roa Valdamjong. Tohno Shiki, the young boy with glasses, was in truth, Nanaya Shiki.
Shiki is in fact not a real member of the Tohno family. He is not Akiha's biological brother, and he is not Makihisa's son. While the Tohno family is a family with demon blood, Shiki's real surname is Nanaya, a family of powerful demon-slaying assassins.
The Nanaya clan lived in a secluded mansion in the mountains, but was one night destroyed by the Tohno clan and the Crimson Red Vermillion, Kishima Kouma. Shiki was the only survivor of that attack. In a moment of amused irony, Makihisa spared and adopted the boy because his name was similar to the name of Makihisa's eldest son, SHIKI.
Shiki had lived in a small Japanese-style building on the grounds of the Tohno's western-style mansion for a time before the incident which led to the death of Tohno SHIKI, the eldest child of the Tohno family.
Akiha had shared her lifeforce and resurrected the near-death Shiki when he protected her from SHIKI, who had fell to his Inversion Impulse. They were quickly found out by the adults and as with the traditions of the Tohno household, SHIKI was to be killed by his father, Tohno Makihisa, but he managed to revive himself by stealing Shiki Nanaya's life.
He regained a measure of his sanity, so Makihisa was unsure about killing him. While he was officially declared deceased to the rest of the family and officially replaced by Shiki Nanaya, he was kept locked in the Tohno Mansion's cellar.
Makihisa planned to bring him back into the family after he healed, but he remained locked up for around eight years. He eventually broke out after Makihisa's death and now ran rampant as the current reincarnation of the numberless Dead Apostle Ancestor.
"You're wrong. You're the fake." Akiha, who realized the true identity of the pale man, spoke up with denial. She stood up and shielded Shiki and Kohaku from the approaching man. "Step aside, or I'll kill you before you get a chance to kill my Nii-san."
"It's the duty as the head of the Tohno household to kill inverted members like you. And don't act like we are related, I won't forgive you for insulting my Nii-san." Akiha said with a threatening glare and rejected their sibling relationship.
"...Why?" SHIKI responded in a deep and callous tone. "Why are... even you betraying me? You'll protect him even though he had almost killed you? That can't be right?" His mocking grin disappeared, and it was replaced by a face full of hatred. "DON'T let him trick you! I AM the real Tohno Shiki! Get it?! That man is just-"
"Be quiet." Akiha cut the enraged man off. "I won't let you kill my Nii-san again."
"This is the end." SHIKI was hurt. It was as if his heart was ruptured by a thousand spikes. He was hurt by the rejection of his sister, who he truly loved and wished to protect since he first met her. He gritted his teeth and uttered. "Move... Akiha."
"I won't. Because you..." She clenched her fists and cried out. "Because you're not my Nii-san...!"
SHIKI stared at the young girl who he genuinely loved and took a step back. "...I see." He laughed. It was a voice of pure irony and ridicule. 'So in the end, you blame me for the curse of blood?' The sound of his laughter quietened down. He exhaled and calmed himself down. "Then, die."
All of a sudden, a flash of electricity was generated from SHIKI's raised hand and raced towards the three. Akiha quickly put up defenses by creating pressurized heat in front of her. However, she was not fast enough since the electric traveled at the speed which she could not respond to.
Fortunately, before the spell of death can hit the helpless teens, a barrier was erected around them. It deflected the attack away as Akiha and Kohaku broke down in a cold sweat at the amount of force generated from the impact. If the spell were to hit them, they would've been burnt to a crisp and till nothing remained.
Moving her gaze downwards, Akiha discovered something embedded in the ground.
It was a Black Key.
"Akiha-san!"
A blue-haired young girl dropped down from the sky and landed besides the headband girl. "Take Tohno-kun and get out of here, now!" She yelled out an order and pulled out a set of Black Keys. "He's a vampire!" She flung the blades at SHIKI and the ground where the pale man stood exploded.
'A... Vampire...?' Akiha didn't know. She didn't know, that SHIKi was a Dead Apostle. She didn't know, that he was the incarnation of Roa. The young girl merely stood there motionless as she stared at the eldest Tohno incredulously.
"You..." SHIKI jumped onto the temple's roof after getting bombarded by Black Keys. "Hmm?" The vampire noticed the familiar features. He scrutinized the Church's inquisitor in front of him and suddenly laughed out loud. 'This is... Oh!'
"Wonderful!" He held his mouth and tried to suppress his laughter. "Is that it, woman? I can't believe it. It's that body, isn't it?! Amazing... this is the first time this has happened in 800 years... in 17 reincarnations. How did you manage to cheat death that time? To think that that body had enough capacity to resurrect from such a state! I must say, I am extremely interested..."
"Elesia."
Author's Note:
Ah, can't find the motivation to write. *Falls onto bed and rolls around*
I have been contemplating whether to keep using Japanese words or not when some characters refer to another, e.g. Akiha calling Shiki Nii-san, and Illya calling Shirou Onii-chan instead of brother. I mean, won't it be weird if Sakura starts calling Shirou senior instead of Senpai (Sempai)? What do you guys think?
Stratos263: Good~ At least I got someone who's never seen Tsukihime before :D
Guest: Just think of it as a story with multiple characters instead of one main character, with Titus having more appearances~
All reviews are appreciated :D