I know that last chapter was rather short, and I may be going overboard with how effective the pepper spray would be, but I have my reasons. Now, I have to do a pain scene, soooooooo, here goes nothing. Cheers.

Hikari saw the men aim black and red cans at Takahashi sensei, and she knew it was pepper spray. She knew they meant to do harm and she wasn't about to just stand by and let it happen. Her sensei was always protecting her and making her feel better. He had been a shoulder to cry on, and a kind voice to talk to. She could at least try to return the favor, even if she didn't exactly know what she was going to do to stop them. But then again, she needed no plan. She hadn't realized it, but her body has started moving on its own while she was thinking about helping her sensei and now, she was already charging toward the men at the table, and she would stop for nothing. Not for Himari trying to catch her yelling at her to come back, not for Takahashi looking her way with horror written on his face, and not for the ADH turning their sights from Takahashi and training their cans on her. Only when the full blast of the pepper spray met her face, was she finally brought to a halt.

She fell to the ground, her hands shooting up to cover her face in a vain attempt to wipe away the chemicals. She curled into the fetal position, and squeezed her eyes shut as hard as she could, but the damage had already been done and there would be no stopping it. She didn't know it, but she needed medical attention, and she needed it fast. As her world went dark, her other senses started to pick up the slack. She could hear the panicked screams and footsteps of the fleeing crowd, could hear the distinct sound of someone getting tased, the gurgled sound of electricity coursing through a body. She assumed it was one of the ADH that had sprayed her.

"Serves him right." She thought.

She heard people calling her name. They were close, and she made out the voices of her sister and sensei. Then she felt them at her side, pulling and prodding at her. Despite their reassuring presence, nothing could be done to elate the burning pain that was building on her face. Her nose was starting to bleed. Her eyes felt like they had been stabbed out and thrown into fire. Beyond the terrible burning in her mouth, she could also feel her own scream. It was a deafening one, so loud and blood-curdling that it threatened to tear her throat apart, but, then it grew. It grew louder and more vicious, and she could hear herself starting to do something she had no control over. She was hissing, like a wounded animal. She had hissed when she attacked Himari, she didn't want to do it again. She couldn't stop herself, though. She was in so much pain. Such terrible pain.

"We're here, sis, we got you!" Himari said, trying to comfort her.

"HEY! WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!" Takahashi shouted with all his might, trying to muster any help he could. He didn't need to be a biology teacher to know that his student needed medical help, and he needed to get it to her. However, he also knew that it was already too late to help her completely. Hikari, being a vampire and having all the keen senses that came with it, was about to endure hell, and he wasn't going to be able to stop it from happening. He assumed that Himari also understood just how bad this was going to be for her sister. He knew how much Himari knew and cared about Hikari and reasoned that she would have already figured out what happens when a vampire's incredibly heightened senses are met with pepper spray. He acted quickly and got Himari's attention.

"Hey! You okay, kid?" He said in a rush, though with genuine concern.

"I think so." She replied, reeling back from her flailing sister. "I only got a little bit of it on me."

"Good! I'm gonna go find help. You need to stay here and keep her from making it worse, okay?!" He shouted over the roar of the panic. Himari did not respond immediately. "OKAY?!" He shouted again, louder this time.

"Okay!" She confirmed.

"That means keeping her hands away from her face and pinning her to the ground! We won't be able to get her to walk anywhere when she's like this! Our only options are to let it run its course or flush it out of her system ourselves. So, we're gonna try and get both going. Now do it!" He barked his orders.

Himari quickly did as commanded, grappling for her sister's forearms. Once Takahashi was sure she was doing what she needed to do, he up and bolted for the school, yelling for the security guards to follow him. In the very short time they had spent talking, Hikari had started to hiss. Himari could see her fangs on full display now, as Hikari started gnashing them, as though she was trying to bite at some intangible threat in the air. The hissing grew louder, ever louder, but Himari managed to secure her sister's arms. She moved fast, applying immense pressure to Hikari's thighs with her shins, pressing all 132 LBs of her weight downward. Hikari was stronger than her, yes, and the flailing made it difficult to hold on. Himari felt like she was riding a mechanical bull. However, because Himari could still think clearly, not blinded by pain like her sister, she was able to focus her strength at four key points, whereas Hikari's was spread all over. It gave her just enough of an advantage to subdue her writhing sister and keep her pinned. But, in that moment, once she had succeeded and it was just the two of them, the crowd now fully dispersed and the school security guards having been rallied by Takahashi to go find help, she looked down. What she saw, nearly broke her heart.

Her sister lay there, still writhing in pain. Her eyes were just red, puffy masses of flesh, long since having been swollen shut by the effects of the spray. A continuous trickle of blood ran down her cheek, originating at her nose which was just as red and swollen. The blood was starting to run into her mouth, which was still agape as Hikari hissed, screamed, and gnashed her fangs. Mortified by the idea of her sister choking to death on her own blood, Himari rushed to wipe the blood away, blocking the upper lip as best she could without getting bit. Those fangs were strong, and they were moving pretty damn fast. Hikari's screaming did not subside, and Himari didn't imagine it would anytime soon. As she kept her sister contained, leaving her red, splotchy face open to the elements, so as to follow sensei's orders about letting the chemicals run their course, she had a sickening thought. Only one day later, despite her ongoing promise not to be afraid of her sister, Himari found herself thinking once again that Hikari looked like…a feral animal.

"No!" She thought to herself, shaking her head swiftly. How could she be thinking such a terrible thing at a time like this. This was her sister for fuck's sake. She was in absolute agony, and it was Himari's job to protect her and help her feel better. But here she was, thinking that her sister wasn't even a human being. "What is wrong with me?!" She said aloud, scolding herself.

"You're gonna be okay, Hikari!" Himari cried, starting to shed tears. "I'm here! I've got you!" Her words of comfort did nothing to physically affect Hikari's state of pain, but Himari liked to think that, at the very least, her sister could still hear her.

Hikari could indeed hear her sister. Beyond the flurry of emotions that she was feeling, the absolute pounding that her senses had taken, her sense of touch and hearing had remained…relatively unaffected. She could hear her sister. She could feel Himari on top of her, pinning her and trying to keep her still. She was so very, very happy that Himari was with her. She didn't know what would happen to her if she had to go through this alone. She was so scared. She hurt so much. But, knowing that her sister was with her, literally holding her hands through all of this, made her feel better. Mentally and emotionally, anyhow. Physically, things were still getting worse.

Himari could see the damage getting worse. She had seen videos before of rioters getting blasted with the stuff, but it always looked like the damage was minimal, they just needed a lot of water and then there would be no lasting effects. However, her sister wasn't a rioter, nor was she a normal person. She was a vampire, and from Himari's best estimates, it looked like the damage was going to be magnified about tenfold. Her suspicions were confirmed when Hikari's screams began to die down. At first, Himari was relieved.

"Maybe sensei was right." She thought optimistically, a thin smile spreading across her lips. "Maybe it ran its course." But it hadn't, and sensei wasn't right. As the screams went away, gagging noises replaced them. Hikari stopped writhing and started thrashing.

"SHE CAN'T BREATHE!" Himari realized in great alarm. She had no idea what to do now. She didn't know how to help. She started panicking. "She's going to die, and it'll be my fucking fault!" She started crying relentlessly. Her sister was right there, in her arms, and she was still gonna lose her. Then, she shook her head violently.

"Get a grip on yourself!" She screamed aloud. "You need to help her!" And like that, she was re-focused and committed to keeping her sister alive. The only first aid training she had ever gotten was CPR, but she didn't know if that was the right thing to do here. It didn't matter to her, though, she had to do something! So, she started chest compressions on Hikari to the beat of the song she had been taught. She hadn't done them for five seconds when she realized that, in the heat of the moment, she forgot about the stream of blood coming from the nose that her hand had been blocking! Now, it had been flowing freely into Hikari's mouth for a few whole seconds. She was already having trouble breathing, and now she started to choke and so did Himari. This was far too much for her and she lost her cool entirely.

"HIKARI! OH SHIT, OH SHIT, OH SH-" She was cut off by a new arrival.

"CRAP! MOVE, KID!" Takahashi shouted. He was here. He had gotten help. Himari had been alone for only two minutes, but it had felt like an hour. Himari started bawling. Maybe her sister would be okay. Maybe they had made it in time. Once Takahashi got there, he took over on Hikari. They were going to need to act fast if they wanted to save her! Luckily, his retinue was prepared to do just that. Takahashi had gotten the school nurse, Sakki, the high school's first aid club, as well as the health teacher, who was the sponsor of said club.

"She's choking, get her on her side!" The nurse yelled. Takahashi rolled Hikari onto her side and made way for the nurse and health personnel, who went to work. From what Takahashi saw when he rolled his favorite student over, Hikari had large, painful-looking blisters popping up on her face, around her features. They were the latest and, hopefully, final side effect of the spray. All in all, Hikari was a terrifying mess when people began to work on her. Her face was a red, puffy, bloody mess. It looked like she had gotten brutally beaten and she still couldn't breathe.

"Holy shit!" Takahashi thought. "You would think she got hit by mustard gas!"

"We need paramedics here, now! We're losing her!" The nurse shouted. "I don't have the materials or training to stop asphyxiation!"

"I called them as I was leaving to get help, they should be here in just a minute!" He shouted back. He was better at hiding it, as all adults were, but they were all just as scared as Himari was. There was a little girl dying in front of them, and they were damn near powerless to stop it.

"She might be dead in just a minute!" The nurse shouted, before going back to her work and sending the first aid club off to fetch more items.

"Takahashi sensei," Himari blubbered, "what are they talking about? She's gonna be okay, right?" She was so scared.

"Yeah, kid, she's gonna make it. I dialed 119*, I called your parents, and both are speeding towards us as we speak. Everyone who can help is already helping, and more are coming. We're doing everything we can, and she'll be fine." It was a dog-faced lie, and he knew it, but it would do no good to tell her that he wasn't expecting Hikari to hang on long enough for proper help to get there.

"You did good, kid, but you need to go and let us do our jobs. Sakki is gonna take you a little ways down the road to meet your parents when they get here. They'll wanna talk to you. Now go!" He sounded rushed, panicked, scared. But, through it all, he sounded first and foremost like he was in control of himself and the situation. It made Himari feel better. Then, he turned to Sakki.

"You're on Himari duty, Sakki, like we talked about. You keep her away from all of this, okay?!" He held her tightly as he spoke.

"Okay!" Came her hurried reply.

"If…if it happens, we can't let her see. We just can't. It 'll destroy her." Takahashi said.

"I understand." Sakki said, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. She knew what he was talking about. It didn't have to be said in words. "I'll keep her back."

"Good." He said, running back to help with Hikari as Sakki turned to carry Himari down the road.

When Takahashi got back to Hikari's side, he learned that he was right. The first responders really had been just around the corner. First, they heard the sirens, signaling the imminent arrival of salvation. The, over the rise of the large hill leading up to the school's staircase, came the flashing lights. Takahashi would always think to himself, for the rest of his life, that it was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. He wasn't alone in his excitement. The faces of all present lit up like bulbs on a on a Christmas tree, and some of the remaining students went to flag down the incoming medics.

"We did it." Takahashi said. "She's still alive. They made it in time. We…we did it!" He almost cried. He hadn't felt this happy in a long, long time.

The paramedics pulled up quickly and unloaded their gurney even quicker, rushing it over to where Hikari lay. The school personnel stood back to let the professionals take over. Himari had done her part to keep her sister alive, and now they had too. Hikari had been looked after by many people over the last few minutes, all in one big group effort to make sure that she pulled through. If he Hikari had enough coherent thought left to process just how many people cared for her, and were trying to help, she would have smiled.

"Easy now." One of the medics said, helping to lower her down. "Alright, let's get her on board."

The medics loaded the gurney onto the ambulance and off into the distance it sped, racing for the nearest hospital, sirens blaring and lights flashing. The medics may have been Hikari's best chance, but she wasn't out of it yet. The ambulance was still racing against the clock. As Takahashi took several deep breaths, he heard his name being called from afar.

"Takahashi sensei!"

It was Himari. He looked over in her direction and found her running his way, her parents in tow.

"Oh boy, here we go." He said to himself. These parents were scared and upset. This was gonna be a tough one.

*When someone "chokes", it means that they start panicking and messing up. They stop performing as well as they had been before.

*Japanese 911