Helloooo!

Yush, I am alive .

I deeply apologise for the long wait (I cannot believe that already 8 months passed since I last updated! *bows repeatedly*), but just so many things happened during this time x_x

I will not be able to release weekly as I had originally planned, but I will try and upload definitely more frequently than every 8 months ^^"

That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter! \(^w^)/

"Arigatou gozaimasu." Yukimura bowed his head lightly. "The more we are, the better it is."

"You have nothing to thank us." The megane in front of him shook his head lightly. "It's time someone stops him. Hyoutei's crimes have gone unpunished for too long now."

"They have attacked some of them too." Tachibana Kippei, the third person in the room, pointed out. "It even happened after that group led by Shishido attacked some of my guys as they were training. Which reminds me", he turned to the megane, "I still haven't thanked you for the other day, Tezuka."

Said person adjusted his glasses a moment. "No problem."

"What happened?" the leader of Rikkai asked interested, placing his chin on his entwined fingers.

"Atobe and his bodyguard, that Kabaji, attacked some lower clan in the streets last week." Tachibana explained."My imouto tried to intervene to their help, and it would have ended badly if Momoshiro and our Kamio hadn't been nearby."

"Ah, yes." The Vampire nodded. "Hirari did mention something about it."

"I shall tell my people about our alliance, then." Tezuka stood up. "It's quite late; I suggest we meet up again on another day."

The other two agreed and greeted the others before leaving. Out of courtesy for the two Humans, Yukimura did not teleport, but walked out of the assembly room with them.

Not too much time later, the leader of Rikkai was nearing the small gate to the apartment building that he shared with Hirari. As he walked up the stairs, he wondered whether the girl would allow him to feed a bit; after all that had happened on that day, he felt like he really needed it. Then he thought that she was probably asleep by now, and with a shake of his head he decided that he would not disrupt her sleep for his own selfish reasons.
He took out the keys and opened the door as quietly as he could. He was a bit surprised upon entering, to find that the window of the living room was open: Hirari always closed everything before going to sleep.
Did that mean that she was still awake?

"Hirari…?" he asked quietly, uncertain.

Yet no answer came.
He shrugged and locked the door; maybe for once she had simply forgotten it. He was about to walk past the living room, heading to his room, when a soft breeze brought two scents.

He froze on the spot, and all colour drained from his face. He knew those scents. Very well.

"No…" he murmured, nearing the couch after a moment of shock. And indeed, he saw the source of one of them.
On the cream-coloured couch, a few red drops were standing out. Blood. Her blood.

"No!"

He moved quickly, and noticed another one by the carpet, between the couch and the window. And indeed, Atobe's so familiar scent mixed with his girl's at that point, both heading to the window. And then disappearing just before it.

He clenched his fists, rage and guilt building up inside him. If only I had arrived earlier…

But of all things he could have expected, that bastard daring to enter their own house was one he'd have never thought possible. So daring…

And yet he succeeded. Even though Yukimura had placed a bodyguard with her each time she left the apartment, even though he had had Yagyuu place a strong barrier around the whole building… All that, for nothing.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself; he needed his mind clear and to be able to think rationally.
First, he would have to alert his and the other two clans. Not only had they lost a member, but a precious war asset as well. If used by their enemy, who knew what damages she could cause them…

He disappeared to Rikkai's Headquarters, appearing in the main lobby. Being so late, only Yanagi was still there, checking plans and charts. He looked up from the papers at once though, an eyebrow cocked in surprise.

"It is rare to see you come here at this late hour." He commented. "What hap-"

"Hirari was kidnapped by Atobe." Yukimura interrupted him, unable to stop his teeth from clenching.

Yanagi's eyes widened slightly in surprise. That he hadn't foreseen.

"I'll alert everyone." The Data man closed his eyelids and mentally passed the information to the other two leaders and the tops of their respective clans.

"We'll get her back soon, before she can be harmed." He then assured his leader.

Yukimura ran a hand through his hair. "I should have never left her alone… Not even home."

Yanagi shook his head. "Stop blaming yourself. Even I didn't think it possible… Such a risky and audacious act, with so many things that could have gone wrong…" He tilted his head lightly as he murmured to himself. "Somehow, it's not like Atobe to do such a move… It's almost as if he was desperate."

Yukimura frowned lightly. "Desperate…? What do you mean?"

"It's just an assumption." The Human shrugged lightly. "He usually never leaves traces, for instance. Especially if he does a job himself."

"The fact itself that he went personally makes me feel uneasy." Sanada admitted as he joined the other two. He looked their leader in the eyes."I swear that we'll get her back."

Yukimura nodded lightly, feeling terribly tired. "I know we will."

"… He wanted us to know." Yanagi kept reasoning. "Actually, there might be another reason as to why he got her… A reason that isn't connected to her powers."

The other two men looked at him at once, Sanada frowning, Yukimura suddenly hopeful. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that he might have simply taken her hostage because she is close to Seiichi." He explained. "After all, we aren't even sure that the Vampire that attacked her in that alley was from Hyoutei. He might have been part of another smaller clan, or a loner for what we all know."

At that, Yukimura's heart felt a bit lighter.

"And either way, he'd be a fool if he harmed her." Sanada concluded, patting his friend's back once. "Yet no matter what, we'll make sure to have her back save and sound."

Yukimura smiled softly at his two friends, glad for their words. "Arigatou. Now", his tone and expression changed back to being serious, leader-mode activated, "let us gather everyone. We need to form a rescue plan…"

Hirari woke up slowly, feeling dizzy. She brought a hand to her throbbing temples with a groan. She had a terrible headache, and her neck felt pretty sore too. She ran a finger where she felt the stinging pain of the bite and winced; of course, the wound was closed but she felt like she had a couple of small blue spots, caused by that Vampire's harsh feeding.

Right, the Vampire…!

Hirari sat up all of a sudden, yet she was greeted with nausea and her headache worsened. She laid back down at once.
After taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself, she decided to examine the place. The first thing that she noticed was that she was laying on something soft, and that she wasn't tied up. Glancing around, she could see that she was in a wide, elegant room, and lying in a huge bed. It was as comfortable as being on a cloud. The bed was of the baldachin type, and transparent, royal blue curtains were just around her.

On her left there was a window, which showed that she was quite high, maybe a 5th or 6th floor. She grumbled lightly realizing that she could not use that as escape.
From there, she could see a vast forest, nothing else but a vastness of green trees. The sky was a bright light blue, with no clouds on the horizon; it would have been an ideal day to go out hadn't she been in that mess.

She let her glance slide in front of her, where an ancient looking, wooden desk and its leather chair were. Just behind it there were several shelves filled with books and on top a modern clock. She saw that it was past breakfast time, meaning that she had been k.o. for a lot more hours than she'd normally sleep. Admitted that she had not been unconscious for more than a day.

Finally, she spotted the door, on her right. She knew that it had to be locked and possibly guarded, but no harm in trying. She stood up, careful not to worsen her headache further, and neared it. She slowly and carefully twisted the doorknob, her breath held; yet as she pulled to open it, it wouldn't budge. She let out a light disappointed groan and retried a few times, yet she eventually gave up and decided to explore the room. Other than what she had already seen, the only interesting thing that she saw was a wardrobe, also ancient and in polished wood. Curious, she opened it, but it was empty.

It was in that moment that she realised that she was barefoot. She checked herself in the mirror that was inside the wardrobe: she looked fairly normal, except for socks and shoes nothing seemed missing; her face was a bit paler than usual, but seeing how that Vampire had drank from her until rendering her unconscious, it was no surprise. And as expected, there were indeed two small blue spots on her neck where he had sunk his fangs. She frowned deeply, wondering once more who that person might be. Did he kidnap her because he knew of her power? If yes, than it would be tough to get away from there. It would look a lot worse than a 'normal' kidnapping.

Hirari let out a sudden gasp, her hand dashing to her neck. The Talisman with the Elemental Stones which she had been wearing at home was gone! She frantically searched it in every pocket, but in vain. They had probably taken it off her.
Also, the bracelet, earrings and necklace that she always wore were gone too, even though they were harmful objects. She cursed a bit as they were precious gifts that friends had given to her in different occasions.

Just in that moment two things happened simultaneously: her stomach rumbled and the door was unlocked and slowly opened.
The girl tensed, her eyes darting there. She was expecting her kidnapper to come in, but instead another young man entered.
He was tall and had broad shoulders, white short hair and hazel eyes; he was wearing a necklace with a cross pendant.

Hirari relaxed slightly when saw him being a Human, yet kept her body alert and ready for anything.
The man smiled gently at her. "I suppose you're hungry?"

Hirari's eyes narrowed slightly; he was acting nicely, huh. Was he trying to win her over, perhaps? Whatever, it wouldn't work at all with her.
She decided to answer the question with another question.

"So what if I am? And who are you? What is this place?"

"How rude of me." He apologised. "My name is Ootori Choutarou, and I came here to check on you."

Ootori Choutarou, huh… That was not really a name that rang any bells, she thought a bit disappointed.

Ootori seemed about to add something else, when the door opened again and a head popped inside.
It belonged to a megane with navy hair, the same colour as Yukimura; this were a bit longer and didn't quite enframe his face like the Vampire's did.

"Shishido asks for you." He said in a deep tone.

The other man blinked once, and then nodded lightly. "Alright, thanks for telling me, Oshitari-san." He excused himself with Hirari before leaving with a smile on his face.

The man called Oshitari smirked at the girl before leaving too, and the sound of the door being locked was heard.

Hirari sighed deeply and went to sit on the bed. Now the only two information that she had were those two men's names and appearances.

Oshitari…

Unlike the other one, this name was somewhat familiar. Where had she heard it before…?

She frowned, lying on the soft covers as she thought. Yet the more she thought, the less she remembered.

Hirari closed her eyes to try and force her memory more, yet instead of a memory, sleep was what came to her once more.

Language notes

arigatou gozaimasu: thank you very much

New character infos

Hyoutei

Ootori Choutarou: Human; Top 10 of Hyoutei