If Your Dear Heart is Wounded
By
DrummondType2
Chapter 1.
"Good work tonight, Pup," Nao clapped Natsuki on the back.
Natsuki said nothing, just flashed Nao a small smile, but a genuine one. She nodded, then gathered up her gear and walked out.
"Why do you call her 'Pup'?" a new recruit, the name tag read Munekata, asked, "Isn't she one of the Fangs?"
"Hey, newbie," Nao called, and Shiho Munekata turned to find a blade whiz past her cheek, leaving her with just the thinnest of stinging cuts, as the blade buried itself up to the hilt in the opposite wall, "If you want to live longer, I wouldn't ever say something like that ever again. Got it?"
As if to prove her point, Nao was fingering another knife in her hands.
Shiho nodded uncomfortably, and Nao grinned, walking past her, retrieving her first knife with a violent tug at the wall.
"What'd I say that pissed her off?" Shiho blinked.
"I'll talk with her," Mai Tokiha sighed, "But seriously, don't ever call Kuga a Fang again. She and Nao joined the agency at the same time. Both of them lost their families to Fangs. A year ago, Kuga and Yuuki found themselves in a trap. Kuga got Yuuki out safe, but she was left facing two dozen Fangs on her own. She never talks about what happened, but she was found with bite marks from a dozen different vampires."
"And she's still on the job? We still trust her?"
"She takes werewolf serum to stave off the bloodlust, and she's more dedicated to hunting vampires than ever," Mai spoke sharply, "She saved Nao Yuuki's life that night, and Nao won't have any other partner but her. Call her a Fang in Nao's presence, and her killing you is the least that you'll have to worry about."
Natsuki had mounted her Ducati, and was on her way back to her apartment, when she was disturbed by the rumbling of her stomach. She sighed, but didn't complain. The fact that she still had an appetite for food was proof enough that the werewolf serum was keeping her relatively human.
There was a small 24 hour diner just outside her apartment complex. She stopped in and grabbed her usual, a bacon cheeseburger, heavy on the mayo, and then carried it up to her room.
She paused a moment, looking at the door across the hall from her own, sighing heavily.
"Shizuru," Natsuki sighed. She felt her eyes water. She had lost count of how often she'd cursed the vampires who'd ambushed her and Nao that night a year ago, but her friendship with Shizuru had been another casualty of this nightmare.
After the attack, the cover story, mostly true, was that Natsuki was badly injured on the job, and had spent two months in the hospital. In fact, most of those two months had been spent with her own co-workers watching carefully to see if she needed to be put down like all the other Viral-class vampires. Not that Natsuki blamed them. Having seen all the things that she'd seen, death would be preferable to being in the grips of bloodlust like so many of the Viral-classes.
When they had determined that Natsuki was still in control of her faculties, they'd allowed her to return to her home. Shizuru had thrown her a welcome-home party that night.
During the party, Natsuki had learned about the horrifying aspects of her new vampiric identity. Her heightened senses had been able to detect the distinct aromas of Shizuru's emotions. And that was when she sensed numerous things at once from her best friend. Lust. Attraction. Affection. Shame. And she'd remembered what she'd been told about vampires during training.
"A vampire can secrete pheromones that will lull their target, entice them. A person targeted by a vampire often feels a strange attraction to them, and this allows the vampire to get close to their prey," their instructor had informed them.
~I caused Shizuru to feel like she was attracted to me, which, in turn, caused her to feel shame~ Natsuki sighed, ~I hurt her without meaning to.~
And it had been worse than that. She had caught Shizuru's furtive glances, longing looks, and could detect the scent of her yearning, and that, in turn, sparked something in Natsuki's new vampirc nature. She could smell Shizuru's sweet blood, and she felt her fangs begin to grow and a gnawing hunger growing in herself. She'd quickly made an excuse about not feeling well, assuring Shizuru that all she'd needed was rest, and ushered her out the door.
"And I haven't spoken more than two words to her in six months," Natsuki sighed, wiping at her eyes.
She shook her head. She couldn't risk Shizuru's safety pining for the way things used to be. She opened the door to her apartment…and stepped into a nightmare.
She didn't know how they'd masked their scent, but there were six vampires in her apartment, and one human.
"We've been waiting for you, Miss Kuga," Tomoe Marguerite spoke in a pleasant voice, "You kept this lovely creature here waiting for you."
Marguerite was a Drac-class vampire. No viral infection created her. She was spawned by sharing an unholy curse. But unlike many Drac-class vampires, she maintained a pack of Viral-class vampires. It was Marguerite who had laid the ambush a year ago, though her target at the time had actually been Nao.
"You kept that dog safe from us," Tomoe sighed, "And in their frustration I'm afraid that my boys were a bit…rough with you, weren't they. I have to say, though, I was impressed. You took out half of them before they took you down. And then, you actually survived the blood loss of a dozen of my boys feeding."
"What do you want, Marguerite?" Natsuki was already calculating various strategies to get Shizuru away from them to safety. Fortunately, the Kyoto girl was unconscious.
"So many things," Tomoe smirked, "I came to make you an offer, though."
"You want to talk, let's talk. And leave Shizuru out of it."
Tomoe lifted a lock of Shizuru's tawny chestnut hair, twirling it in her fingers, "I don't know. I kind of like this one. She's beautiful. And I heard her voice, earlier. It's just breathtaking."
"If you're going to ask me to betray my team…" Natsuki hissed.
"Nothing so blasé. You're the painfully dull sort. You'd find some way to warn them, and then I'd just have to kill your friend here," Tomoe said, "Actually, I came to tell you that there may be a cure for your condition. For a price."
"There's a blatant hook in that bait, and you expect me to swallow it," Natsuki shook her head.
"See, I figured that would be your attitude. Takeda, wake Miss Fujino, if you please."
One of the Viral-class vampires struck Shizuru's cheek roughly, "Hey, lady, no time for napping!"
"Bastard!" Natsuki growled at him. Takeda was definitely one of the one's who'd bitten her that night. Which was he, again? The throat, yes?
"Ara…" Shizuru stirred, "What's going on?"
"Good Morning, Miss Fujino," Tomoe grinned at her, baring her fangs, "You are very privileged. I'm going to make you an object lesson on what happens to people who don't cooperate with me."
Shizuru looked around her, taking in the situation, "Natsuki?"
"I'll get you out of this, Shizuru," Natsuki said, "Trust me."
"She says that, but what's about to happen is entirely her fault for turning down my offer," Tomoe turned to her compatriots, "Drain her."
"WAIT!" Natsuki fell to her knees, "No! You win, damnit! Just let Shizuru go!"
Tomoe held up her hand, stopping her subordinates, "If you try to back out, renege, or trick me, I'll bleed her out myself. To be honest, she does look quite tasty."
"I get it, okay. What do you want?"
"I want you to find and kill Midori Suguira."
"Alright. But leave Shizuru alone. She's nothing to do with this."
"I'm keeping her until you've done what I asked."
Natsuki grinned and nodded, "You're so predictable, Tomoe. But really, if you wanted this plan to work, you really should have taken Shizuru hostage in her apartment, not mine."
In rapid succession, the heads of the Viral-class vampires burst like water-balloons, save Takeda, who was spared by a pillar absorbing the show that was aimed at the back of his head from the window. It was only after the vampires were down that the reports of the high-powered rifle sounded. Tomoe took a round in the chest, knocking her back. Unfortunately, she was not killed by the gunshot.
"Garlic filled slugs?" Tomoe hissed.
"The only reason I'm allowed out of the facility," Natsuki said evenly, "Is because I am under constant surveillance. My apartment is monitored by headquarters. So, when I got home, it told them that I had unwanted company. That just meant I had to stall long enough for an agent to get in position and take down your thugs, Tomoe."
"You're not strong enough to take me on, yourself, Kuga," Tomoe hissed, baring her fangs, "Takeda, we're leaving!"
Tomoe lobbed a sofa at the window, shattering it. With inhuman speed, she and Takeda were leaping out the window and were gone.
"Natsuki?" Shizuru ran to her, "Are you alright?"
"I'm…Shizuru, your neck!"
8888888
"So," Shizuru sighed from the seat of the black sedan she was in with Natsuki, "I take it that the events which transpired this evening are a large part of why you have been scarce these past few months?"
Natsuki looked utterly broken, "Yeah. I'm sorry, Shizuru. I was…"
"Natsuki was trying to protect me from horrible things," Shizuru smiled warmly, "It makes me happy. But," here her expression fell, "Knowing that Natsuki was facing these horrible things alone causes me such distress. Mou."
"Shizuru, be serious. You were bitten. We have to have you examined."
"So…vampires are real, then?"
"Vampires, werewolves, various other things," Natsuki sighed.
"And, since I've been bitten, I will become a vampire?" Shizuru looked at her quizzically.
"Depends on who bit you. There are a variety of vampires in this world. First, you have two main divisions. Supernatural vampires, who we call Drac-class. Short for Dracula. These vampires were typically created by curses, demonic deals, or things like that. They're the ones who can shapeshift, turn into bats, mist, and tend to have an aversion to religious symbols, holy water, the like. They grow stronger with age, but they're more reasonable than the other kind. Usually.
"That woman, Tomoe, she's a Drac-class vampire.
"Then we have Viral-class vampires. There's a retrovirus that causes people to become vampires. There are six known variants of that virus. They all get super speed and super strength. Some get enhanced healing. Some gain an allergy to garlic. Some become adversely affected by sunlight. They're all driven by a need to propagate the virus, and seek out victims to infect. But most people they attack don't convert, because if you die during the attack, you won't turn. And Virals don't tend to have much self-control."
"Natsuki, that woman was saying something about you…"
Natsuki sighed, "The incident last year. I stumbled into a trap. It was twenty-four against one. I took out half of them before they finally got me."
"Natsuki, were you…that is to say…you weren't…."
Natsuki drew a deep breath, and let it out through her nostrils, "If you're asking, was I sexually assaulted, no. Viral-class vampires suffer a constant breakdown of their blood supply. It makes them physically impotent."
"But you say that twelve vampires fed on you, at once," Shizuru looked horrified, "How is that any better?"
Natsuki shook her head, and half-laughed and half-cried, "It's not."
"Oh, Natsuki!" Shizuru embraced her.
"I do weekly counseling sessions. But mostly, what helps is throwing myself back into my work. Which is, essentially, hunting down and killing vampires. Mostly the Viral-classes."
"And…if I am infected? Will I be…?" Shizuru made a slashing motion across her throat.
Natsuki shook her head, "If we can get you on werewolf serum before you give in to bloodlust, we can keep it under control. Then it's just a matter of rearranging your life based on the type of infection you have. For example, if you have Type 1, 3, or 6, you'll have to avoid sunlight."
"What about you? What sort of infection do you have?"
Natsuki sighed, "I don't know. They've run tests. But it's not showing up. I have the fangs, and I've got the speed and the strength. Sunlight makes me tired, but doesn't seem to harm me. And garlic makes me a bit queasy, but it doesn't burn me the way it does the others. The best I can come up with is that having several strains running through my system at once has made me something new."
"Maybe you're a cursed vampire, a supernatural one," Shizuru suggested.
"I'd considered that, too. But it doesn't make sense. Because the gang that attacked me belonged to Tomoe Marguerite. If she'd bestowed me with the powers from her curse, then I would be inherently subservient to her. She wouldn't need to do things like take you hostage to make me do what she wants," Natsuki sobbed again, "Shizuru, I'm so sorry…"
"I haven't been handed a death sentence, yet, Natsuki," Shizuru smiled, "Let's just wait and see what happens."
A/N: Bonus points to anyone who understands the significance of the title.