And we officially kick off a new chapter to the story, and we now enter the deep blood arc, now this one won't feature a vampire like the prototype, but vampires as well as the magic cabal I came up with will appear later on after this arc and a few others and Aisa will be given more screen time in this story starting with domestic roles as I intend when this is over.
Godzillahero3: glad you liked the chapter. I will go ahead with some of your ideas and I'll iron them out as I go.
Tastiera: I had a ball writing that interaction with Cat, I just had to put some humor to it.
Phantom Dark-Kight: wow I haven't heard from you in a minute. surprised? cause it looks like it, I wanted to do that cameo just to shed light on the status of Tamamo's necklace, which from the looks of things won't be appearing again until New Testament which is a ways away.
Kurt930: I'm glad to hear that the chapters I make can induce certain feelings into someone, I'm trying my best to make sure a reader can not only read but experience the story as they follow Touma's and Tamamo's adventures.
Index/Fate belong to Kamachi and Nasu respectively. Onto the story!
Chapter 9:The Fox and the Deep Blood
Days rolled by in Academy City since the Index incident, it was lunch time as Touma and Tamamo set out to go to a diner to eat while Index stayed back at the dorm gorging on Tamamo's cooked meals, and she made a lot as it seemed Index had a hefty appetite, and despite the fact that she made healthy dishes was worried that eating large amounts would fatten her up, she would be surprised later.
As the two walked and talked happily with one another they were suddenly ambushed by two individuals who called Touma's name.
"Hey Kami, glad we found…you."
It was none other then Motoharu Tsuchimakado and Pierce Aogami, his friends from school and the other two members of the Delta Force, and they had just taken notice of Tamamo who looked at them with confusion.
"It's happened again, Kami disease is taking over the world one girl at a time, and he managed to capture such a goddess like one at that!!" Aogami cried out in despair.
"We will never find our destined partners so long as Kami keeps snatching more girls away from us, we must stop the Kami disease before it causes human extinction!!" Tsuchimakado followed.
"What are you idiots babbling about, Kami disease is not a thing!" Touma snapped.
"It is a thing Kamijou, not a moment goes by where your harem grows ever more." Aogami argues.
"I don't have a harem!!"
Tamamo watched the display with a dumbstruck look as she tried registering what the boys were talking about, but when they did set in her mind she frowned.
"Touma what are these boys talking about?"
"Ignore these guys Tamamo they're idiots who talk nonsense." Touma said.
"You wound us Kami, this lovely lady deserves to know what's going on, basically, Kami here without any effort is collecting girls and forming a massive harem making it difficult for the rest of us guys to get dates." Tsuchimakado stated.
"Oh is that so." Tamamo said narrowing her eyes at Touma.
"Tamamo please don't believe them, I don't have a harem, I don't want one, I will only be loyal to one girl and one girl only." Touma said resolutely.
Tamamo's eyes softened as she saw how genuine he was being, she didn't want to doubt Touma and he would never lie to her.
"Yeah keep saying that when almost every girl in class has it bad for you man, yesterday during school lunch girls kept offering to give you their bentos when you lost your lunch cause of your luck." Tsuchimakado voiced making things worse.
Touma felt a shiver up his spine and turned to face Tamamo who had a dark expression on her face, it then turned into a dejected look as tears threatened to fall, since yesterday Tamamo was the one who fixed Touma his lunch for school.
"Rotten luck! Tamamo I didn't mean to lose the lunch you made me, and I didn't take those other girls lunches cause I know it wouldn't have been fair to you, please just don't cry!!"
"Way to go Kami you made her cry, a girl as sweet looking and hot like her deserves better man." Aogami said with scrutiny.
"You two are the assholes that started this!!"
Touma then faced Tamamo who was wiping stray tears from her face and now he felt like dog shit.
"Tamamo please I'm so sorry, I'm not trying to upset you, look I promise you I'll treat you again tomorrow if you want, anything you want just tell me as long as I can afford it."
Tamamo calmed herself as she gave Touma a smile and nodded her head showing she understood, it was then that Aogami butted in as he was over the moon about Tamamo's beauty.
"Aaahh! I can't take it anymore, I must know how Kamijou came upon a creature such as you!!" He said excitedly as he took her hand and started kissing it like no tomorrow to her disgust.
"Keep your perverted mitts off me you bug!" She snapped as she proceeded to kick him in the dick.
"Wow…nice shot hot stuff." Aogami wheezed.
"Damn Kami she's feisty, but anyway I think since your treating then you should get me and Aogami some burgers and milkshakes." Tsuchimakado said mischievously.
"I said I would treat Tamamo, I'm not going out of my way to treat you guys." Touma denied.
"Is that so, you still owe us for yesterday when you lost a bet man, you should have seen that coming knowing your luck."
Touma was irked by that, so now he didn't have a choice lest things fall sideways, he looked over at Tamamo who raised an eyebrow curious to was going to happen now.
"Well Tamamo, looks like we'll have some extra tag alongs for this one." Touma said.
"*sigh*…Fine but so long as the creep keeps his hands to himself there won't be an issue."
And the group of four made their way to a burger joint, and got a table, Tsuchimakado and Aogami wanted to have Touma join in some Delta Force banter but he denied them to there shock, as Touma said he didn't need to debate trivial things since he didn't want to look stupid in front of Tamamo, and his friends ended starting a brief scuffle to get back at him for choosing a girl over them, meanwhile Tamamo would look on both confused and annoyed, the latter because she wanted to spend as much time alone with Touma as possible.
The four of them reached the burger joint and found a table to sit at and of course Tsuchimakado and Aogami began to have a fetish banter.
"Here's something that would be high level, naked apron but with underwear." Aogami stated.
"Ah I see, definitely a go getter concept." Tsuchimakado said while he had a hand to his chin in contemplation.
Touma could only keep his head down at the table in embarrassment, while avoiding looking at Tamamo who had a confused and slightly perturbed look on her face at how perverse his friends were.
"Come on Kami, what do you think, quite a sense of taste don't you think?" Tsuchimakado said trying to get Touma to join.
"*Sigh*…Ok wouldn't that defeat the purpose of the naked apron, the point is to not wear anything besides that." Touma said exasperated.
"Kami, buddy you have to understand the appeal of it, the underwear offers enough erotica to where what would be seen underneath can be left up to the imagination to run wild!" Tsuchimakado passionately explained.
"Think about it this way Kamijou, what if drop dead sexy over here did the naked apron with underwear?" Aogami nudged.
"You bastards keep Tamamo out of your perverted fantasies!!" Touma snapped, however his mind was already drawing up images despite his protests and his face burned.
Tamamo meanwhile stopped paying attention after what Aogami said as she started to picture herself in such a get up in front of Touma, and a certain 'Cat' took the opportunity to jump in.
'Do it OG, I think he will love it!'
'Don't you normally wear naked apron?' Tamamo asked.
'I do but this is all you, if I can pull it off, you can, and you'll have underwear on, maybe do it as a reward.' Cat said slyly toward the end.
'I don't know Cat, what would it be a reward for?' Tamamo asked nervously.
'If your gonna be hesitant about it then you are a coward.' Vitch chimed in.
'VITCH, NO ONE ASKED YOU!!!' Tamamo and Cat voiced at the same time.
"Tamamo are you ok?" Touma worriedly asked her snapping Tamamo out of it.
"She's probably thinking about doing the naked apron with underwear for you, lucky bastard!! Why does it have to you?!" Aogami snarled.
"I doubt she would think of something like that…are you?" Touma asked turning to her.
Tamamo said nothing as she looked away to try and hide a heavy blush on her face which only drew suspicious attention from all three boys.
Tamamo would be spared from from further questioning when all of them heard a groan from a nearby table, and they all looked over to see a girl in a shrine maiden outfit passed out with a bunch of burger wraps strewn about, they got curious and decided to see if she was ok.
"Hey, excuse us miss but are you alright?" Touma asked in concern.
The girl proceeded to sit upright revealing her face to the four of them, this girl was very attractive by human standards and had lavender eyes with long black hair.
"Hey she's also a hottie." Aogami said.
"Um, what exactly happened here?" Tamamo asked confused.
"Well I was simply here to eat lunch and I ordered a burger, then it turned into two burgers and next thing you know I end up eating more then expected." The girl said in a rather tame manner with the boys gave her a confused look while Tamamo was of a deadpan stare.
"Well it doesn't seem like she's hurt but now my question is, what is a shrine maiden doing in the city of science?" Tamamo asked.
"I'm simply here to help someone that's all, and I must be going now." The girl said as she made her leave.
"Well that was kinda strange." Touma comments.
Later:
Touma, Tamamo and now accompanying them, Index, were walking about when the young nun saw a box up ahead and ran to it,
Inside was a stray calico cat and Index immediately wanted to take the poor thing in, but Touma had other ideas.
"Absolutely not Index, it's hard enough on this poor Kamijou's budget to take care of two others, at least Tamamo contributes to the home, but it's already costly taking care of a pet!"
"But Sphinx needs a home, just look at him." Index whined as she held the cat up.
"Don't just name it like that it's how you get attached, Tamamo can you help out here!" Touma begged.
Tamamo walked to Index and gave the nun a stern look, she was a little fed up with Index's laziness as of recent so an idea popped into her head.
"Look Index, I have a deal for you, if you want to bring Sphinx home then you will play your part in the home, understand, you live under our roof so you have to follow our rules, and a big one is know freeloading, got that.
Index nodded vigorously while Touma looked shocked and dumbfounded, he was dejected Tamamo didn't take his side but on the same coin got Index to be more cooperative for this, oh well, pros and cons.
Suddenly Sphinx jumped out of the box and dashed away from the trio.
"Sphinx come back!! Look what you did Touma, your lack of support for Sphinx made him leave, also I heard there is a Japanese instrument made from cat skins which I imagine scares him!!" Index accused.
"My fault?! And you're gonna go there don't the English chase Foxes.
"Fox hunting is a noble sport dating back…" Index froze when she felt Tamamo's gaze on her as she had a sweet yet dark smile on her face.
"Go on Index, I'm not stopping you."
"Um…" Index was slowly backing up.
Before things escalated both Index and Tamamo felt something off and began to look around.
"What's that? I can feel magic flows coming together nearby." Index deduced.
"So can I, it feels like an earth element." Tamamo added.
"That's right, it's color is green, a runic formula?" Index said as she sped off to the surprise of her charges.
"Index get back here!!" Touma shouted.
"Don't just run off on your own!!" Tamamo followed up.
"Jeez she is like the little sister I never asked for." Touma said.
"Feels like it, but it doesn't that make it all the more interesting?" Tamamo said.
Suddenly Touma began to feel off, he looked around and noticed that everything was rendered quiet where as things should be busy today.
"Tamamo, do you feel that?"
"I do, it feels like a boundary field." Tamamo responded as she unleashed her fox features.
"Well I guess that's one way of describing it, those runes are designed to keep people away." Said a voice.
The duo looked in its direction to see a person clad in a black priest robe, had red hair, a bar code on his right cheek, and had a cigarette in his mouth, he was tall but Tamamo could tell he was using magic to make himself look older.
"Long time know see Imagine Breaker, I see you have your pet fox with you."
Tamamo recognized him as one of the magicians along side that Kanzaki girl that was after Index and attempted to charge him right then and there especially since he called her a pet.
"Easy Tamamo, don't be hasty." Touma said as he held his arm up to stop her and sooth her anger. Touma was confused though as he couldn't remember the guy, but he used his name as if expecting him to have vivid memories of him.
"What, I don't even get a hello." Stiyl asked mockingly.
"As if you get one after everything that happened!!" Tamamo snapped.
"Good I don't want you to think I was your friend or anything." Stiyl responded.
"Where's Index?" Touma asked with a glare.
"Don't worry she went off to investigate that magical force she and the fireball here discovered right, besides I didn't come here to have a pleasant conversation."
Stiyl pulled out a rune card and threw it as it caught fire directly at Touma who was about to block it with his right hand when the attack was intercepted by an ice talisman curtesy of Tamamo.
"Damn yo-!"
Stiyl was cut off when an angry Tamamo ran up and struck him with a flying sidekick to his face sending him sprawling onto his back as she got on top of him and started punching his face.
"Tamamo stop, look this guy may seem like a huge jerk but you don't have to brutalize him!!" Touma pleaded as he desperately tried to keep Tamamo from causing further harm to the magician.
He was doing what he could to hold back her fist but she wasn't calming down so he went in and very gently chews on her right fox ear.
"Mikon! Ah Touma your doing it again!" Tamamo said as she began to blush but she stopped attacking Stiyl.
Tamamo was trying to resist but she fell to the sensation and relaxed enough for Touma to pull her off of the magician.
"Sorry Tamamo but I had to stop you somehow, and you looked possessed, also you said I did it again so this happened before?"
"It's ok Touma, anyway I believe our 'acquaintance' has some explaining to do." Tamamo said sarcastically as she air quotes the acquaintance part.
"Gah!! You fucking bitch, Kanzaki should've finished you off!" Stiyl angrily says as he rubs his sore face, and reached into his robes again this time pulling out an envelope.
"Oh it sounds like you won't be able to do it yourself so you have to call the stripper to do it for you." Tamamo responded.
"I'll make sure to tell her you said that!"
"Guys please, stop arguing and let's get to the important stuff!" Touma cut in trying to stop a fight from happening.
"Finally no more of this stupidity, look as much as I don't want it I was suggested to seek both the Imagine Breaker and the fox for help with a mission." Stiyl explained.
"You keep saying Imagine Breaker, what is that?" Tamamo asked.
"Apparently it's the power within my right hand, at least that's what Heaven Canceler called it." Touma explained.
"All that aside, have either of you heard of Misawa Prep School, it's here in Academy City?" Stiyl asked as he raised a file over his head with several pages flying out to encircle an envelope for the two to see.
"Misawa Prep School is here in district 7, why?" Touma asked.
"There is a girl that is being held captive there, apparently the school has had some changes to it becoming the base of a pseudo religion that centers around the worship of science. We don't know all the details. But what we do know is that the school has been taken over, they are now being led by a bonified sorcerer. To be more precise, an alchemist of the Zurich School of Alchemy."
"An alchemist Huh, how interesting, what does he want?" Tamamo asked with piqued interest.
Stiyl would then explain that alchemist's name is Aurelos Izzard. He apparently disappeared 3 years ago and had been hiding ever since. He came out of hiding recently and is after the girl he mentioned earlier, specifically the power the girl contains known as Deep Blood, which he explained was the ability to kill vampires.
"Vampires? As in Undead Apostle Ancestors?" Tamamo said skeptical, as the memory of when she fought Archetype Earth Arcueid Brunestud on the Moon Cell.
"Undead what? I've never heard that before." Stiyl said confused.
'One tail, you have to remember that this world is vastly different from the one we came from, the Apostle Ancestors may not be a thing here but vampires in general most certainly could be.' Amaterasu voiced.
'When did you become so helpful?' Tamamo responded suspiciously.
'Don't question me and just listen to what the bug has to say.' Amaterasu comments cutting the conversation quickly.
"Random titles aside vampires are a mystery even to sorcerers, we have yet to actually prove they exist." Stiyl continued to explain.
"If you have yet to discover whether vampires exist or not then wouldn't it be strange that a power that is meant to kill them exists in the first place." Tamamo deduced.
"Look I'm not here to detail a bunch of theories and here say, all I want to know is if your willing to help me out on this mission."
"So your just expecting us to just go along with this!" Touma argues.
"Actually yes I do. For now Necessarius is content with leaving Index in your care, they see you as a chain to control her with, it will also allow them to keep tabs on you fox, the church is at a juncture on what to do about the discovery of a genuine fox spirit living in the capital of the science side and want to keep a close eye on you until they can figure something out." Stiyl explained.
"The Anglican Church can suck it for all I care, if they have a problem with me then they can face me directly instead of hiding behind their holy walls as far as I can see it." Tamamo snarled, she and churches do not get along, her time staying at the one in Touma's old hometown left a very ugly impression on her.
"I will put out that if you just let you know that if you refuse then the church could easily reverse their decision and force Index back to Necessarius, surely you don't want that."
"This sounds dicey but I'm not gonna sit back while people are in trouble, so you can count me in to take down this alchemist." Touma said resolutely.
"*sigh*…Well if your going I'm gonna come to support you to make sure you won't get hurt. However I don't trust you sorcerer, how can I know you won't betray us in this little operation?" Tamamo said with a steely gaze.
"Look you can think ill of me all you want I could care less but if it means I get some extra firepower out of it then it would be stupid of me to try and backstab either of you, now if you guys are in agreement then this mission is good to go." Stiyl said as he walked off, the sound of a busy street once more filled the air as Tamamo quickly hid her fox features.
"Well this is going to be hectic, I never expected to be part of some crazy magic rescue mission at all." Touma said as he let out a breath he didn't know he held.
"So long as we stick together we should be fine, so don't worry to much, I'll do all I can to make sure we come out of this just fine, you can count on me Touma!" Tamamo said enthusiastically.
Touma smiled at Tamamo's declaration as he felt grateful for having her support, it eased him away from a lot potential stress that this madness could induce.
"Thanks Tamamo I put my upmost trust in you, now why don't we head home and relax for a bit, we should probably make sure Index didn't wander off to far somewhere first so we all go back together."
"Of course always, by the way I have a quick question." Tamamo replied.
"Ok shoot."
"How much do like my ears?" Tamamo said with a seductive look on her face which made Touma blush and look away making Tamamo laugh.
Kamijou residence:
Later that day Touma and Tamamo along with Index made it back home, and it seemed the nun brought Sphinx along as well, though Tamamo reminded her to keep her end of the deal so she can keep the calico cat.
"Ok Index, Touma and I are going back out to do some stuff together, just the two of us so we need you to stay put ok." Tamamo said.
"Alright, have fun you guys." Index responded.
"Also for good measure." Tamamo plucked some fur from her tail and weaved another fox familiar to watch over Index and interestingly enough it seemed to remember her as it went up and started licking her face immediately to the sister in training's joy, it then noticed Sphinx and went up to the cat as the two looked each other over, pawed and sniffed as well trying to feel one another out, it was an adorable sight.
As the two proceeded to go out the front door, they were surprised by the sight of Stiyl laying out various rune cards in front of the door.
"What are you doing with those?" Touma asked.
"Thought I would provide her with extra protection, Innocentius should do it. I'd rather keep something strong behind to be sure, there's no telling what might happen while we're gone, some other sorcerers could sneak in and kidnap Index while we're occupied, she can be a handful." Stiyl explained.
"Do you have a thing for Index?" Touma asked.
"What! Of all the stupid things to ask!" Stiyl shouted blushing and dropping the cigarette he was smoking.
"I'm just wondering, though it would be strange since there is a huge age difference."
"Look it's not like that, she's someone I look out for that's all, she's my friend of course I care about her, not…like that though. Besides the age gap isn't even that big between us."
"Using magic to make yourself look older, tell me are trying to compensate for something?" Tamamo asked mockingly.
"SHUT UP FOX BITCH!!" Stiyl snapped.
Misawa Prep School grounds:
The unlikely team of Touma and Tamamo with Stiyl stood in front of the building, the plan was simple, infiltrate the school and take down the alchemist behind this operation. Stiyl would then go into detail about how Aurelos's goal was to attain the power to manipulate reality with a thought, and then presented a picture of the girl to them which surprised them as it was the same girl they met when Touma was forced to treat his friends to burgers and milkshakes.
Once the three of them walked inside they eventually came across something up ahead.
"Hey check it out, looks like a robot of some kind, seems broken though." Touma said.
"Touma, that's not a robot." Tamamo said darkly as she eyed the metal thing on the floor.
"It's not?" Touma asked.
"The fox's right boy, it's not a robot, it's a corpse." Stiyl followed up rather forebodingly.
AN: and that does it for this chapter, hope you enjoyed it.
Next chapter: Risky Infiltration
See ya!