No Life King

Aka [Red]

by Warumono

"Battousai," the words rolled off her tongue with familiarity yet she knew she had never heard that name before. There was something about it that sent chills up her spine.

The captain took another draw of his cigarette. "Relentless bastard," he muttered.

She gave him a puzzled expression.

"Don't tell me you got into this mess without knowing the facts?"

Kaoru blushed and shook her head. Really she had no idea what type of organization she was working for. The determination and the odd sense of duty to her master allowed no questions to be asked of the institute's true meaning. "I was . . . That is . . ."

He exhaled. "Great, I'm not going to play teacher. Go ask your master, I have other matters to attend to." Saitou walked away flicking the remains of his cigarette at the young vampire.

"Is the wolf giving you a hard time?"

She didn't look at him, she didn't want to see that grin on his face. "Wolf?"

He whispered into her ear, "Don't annoy him to much, or he might just forget that you're on his

side."

She turned her red eyes to him but saw that he was surveying the scene with a solemn face, something very uncharacteristic. Kaoru scrunched her face in annoyance. "Who is Battousai?"

The air went still and she watched him as he stood stiffly, hesitant to answer her question. He sighed as if not wanting to go through the whole explanation. "He works for work for the Vatican. The name for their little group is called Knife."

"Oh," she said. "Why doesn't Sheath work with them?"

"Protestants and Catholics don't get along very well."

"I guess that makes sense. Wouldn't it be easier though?"

He grinned at her naivety. "Easier? No," he simply said.

The young vampire continued to stare at him wondering if she had made the right decision to join them. There were so many things that were a mystery and perhaps she would never fully comprehend the truth behind the institute's true intentions. One thing was for sure, they were there to kill those who did not belong in their world. But, then what was she doing there?

"They are trying to undermine our authority here," Tomoe said passively.

Shishio growled. "They think they are all high and mighty, damned Catholics."

"I hate to admit it but they were right in this case. Those vampires could have done more damage had he not intervened."

"Who says it was him?" Tomoe said, folding her arms.

Saitou shrugged. "Isn't it obvious?"

"Point. Enishi," she called him over, her eyes quickly flickering towards the young vampire. She watched as he went to her like an obedient child.

"Yes, neesan?"

She scowled at him but ignored the hated nickname. "I want you to take Kamiya with you and return to the institute. It is almost sunrise, after all."

Enishi fixed his glasses. "It was him."

"I didn't ask you."

He grinned. "What are you going to do about it?"

"That is none of your concern. I will handle this matter and you will do as I say. You will not let personal issues get in the way. Understood?"

Captain Saitou and Commander Shishio stared at the two as if waiting for chaos to ensue.

Enishi lifted a gloved hand and mocked a salute with a feral smile. "Yes, master."

She watched as her servant walked towards the young girl.

"How can you trust him?" Shishio asked.

Turning to face him she shrugged. "I know what I'm doing."

Saitou stomped out his cigarette. "You better be careful with him. With the possibility of Battousai's presence things could get out of hand, even with those little seals on him."

Tomoe's eyes narrowed at them. "It won't. I'll make sure of that. Though, I do have one thing for you to do , Captain Saitou," she commanded.

"What is it?"

"I want you to take the girl out tomorrow night," she said, giving him a knowing look.

He smirked and nodded. "Done."

-----------

She looked over the mess and blood that covered the room like a coat of paint. And she suddenly realized how beautiful it all looked. The fresh scent of blood and the deep red hue splattered along the walls like a lovely contemporary painting. It dripped off the walls and furniture adorning the room as if taunting her, telling her to taste it. The smell reached her nostrils and for the first time she realized how truly hungry she was.

Kaoru's face began to contort into a savage expression. Her eyes began to glow red, like the blood, and the tempting sight of the liquid drew her towards to wall just next to her. Her tongue began to peak out of her soft pink lips as she went in to taste the sweet liquid.

"That's not very sanitary."

The voice surprised her and she draw back as if burned. "Ma--Master!!"

Enishi grinned at her. "You haven't been eating," he stated.

She said nothing.

"You should because next time it won't just be the wall that looks enticing," he said gesturing towards the people in the room.

She nodded again, guilt washing over her face. "Lets go," he said as he turned away from the scene and walked out of the building.

Clumsily she followed like a loyal pet. "Wait, master!"

-----------

"So are you going to tell me?"

Darkness shrouded the two men. In appearance they were complete opposites; one small in stature and the other tall and bulky. The larger man leaned back in his chair and studied the smaller man. He sighed. "That vampire you kill—"

The smaller man interrupted, "Those things were not vampires,"

"You're right," he said as he eyed his partner wearily. The man could be stubborn and thick headed sometimes. "Just listen, they look and act like vampires—" He put up a hand to stop the other man from interrupting again. "But they're obviously not. They are humans who are altered to be vampires."

Golden eyes widened. "How is that possible?"

"A small chip is surgically planted in the patient and after a few hours it begins to take effect. No one knows how it works, only that it does."

His partner bowed his head and growled, "who would do such a thing?"

The bulky man shrugged. "We don't know yet, but we have a few people working on it. They might be able to weasel the information out from our dear friends."

"I want nothing to do with them," the man pounded his fist on the table for emphasis.

He smirked. "I know how you feel about them, but we have no choice. I hear they have a new recruit."

"So?"

"One of yours, I hear."

His golden eyes focused on the man in front of him. "Enishi?"

He nodded. "Looks like they're expanding."

The smaller man shrugged, "Why should I care?"

A smile formed on the other man's lips as he leaned forward, placing his chin on hand. "Does Kamiya ring a bell?"

A startled silence hung in the room as amber colored eyes narrowed dangerously. "Tell me."

-----------------

Blood spilled.

Daddy! Stay awake! Please!

Scarlet stained.

Kaoru.

Name whispered.

Don't leave me ...

Tears shone.

Stay away from them.

Gurgled tone.

From who? Who did this?! Daddy!!

Sobbing voice.

He ... was ... so red.

Last words spoken.

She clutched the papers to her, her ruby colored eyes glazing over with a fresh batch of tears as she remembered. "No," she said gruffly as she wiped her eyes violently. "I said I would never cry again and I won't."

Kaoru had been up for hours, studying the papers that Akira had given her. There had been photos clipped to some of the documents, those had caused her to tear up. They were gruesome visuals of her father's demise. She didn't need to see the photos to get the idea of what had happened, she had seen it played through. The authorities had said it was a robbery, that someone had broken in and attempted to steal but something went wrong and her father paid the price. But that was wrong, as an innocent Kaoru had heard everything that night. It was no robbery, someone had broken into the house with a yearning to spill blood.

Her eyes hardened as she flipped through the papers hoping to find something out of place that would give her some kind of lead, but nothing had shown up. Suddenly her eyes widened at something peculiar in the police reports. "A vampire?" She whispered curiously. He had lost so much blood that night, there were wounds all over his body as if someone where trying to slice him through, but there wasn't that much blood around them. Had it been a vampire trying to feed on him?

She shuffled the papers away as she heard someone approaching the room. After a few minutes her red gaze turned to the door as the man named Akira appeared with a tray in one hand and a case in another.

"Am I intruding?" The servant man asked.

Kaoru smiled and shook her head. "No, not really." She stood up to help with the tray and cringed as she noticed the blood. "I'm not really hungry right now though."

The man smiled at her amused. "Well, I'll just leave it here just in case." Taking the case he placed it on the table. "Anyway, I have a gift for you."

She blinked curiously. "A gift?" Her gaze fell on the metallic case, it was long and wide. "What is it?"

"It is what I promised you," he smiled mischievously. "Open it."

She approached the box cautiously and placed a hand on it, feeling the cold and sleek texture. There was a click as she snapped it open to reveal her reflection staring back at her through the cold steel of a long blade. "A sword?" She whispered as she inspected the weapon. The blade bore the words and the next adam will awaken. The hilt was black and silver with a complex design of blue thrown into the mix. Next to the weapon was the sheath that was a simple black casing.

"You know how to use one of those, right?"

Kaoru nodded but didn't speak as she inspected the weapon.

"Kamiya Kasshin Ryu, wasn't it?"

She spun around to face him. "How did you know that?"

He smiled. "I read your files."

She nodded then looked back at the sword. "So I have to fight with this."

"Yes, the blade is blessed so make sure not to touch it, leaves nasty marks. Regular bullets and such have no effect on those creatures. A sword is a swift way for a sure kill."

Taking the blade out of its place she felt the weight and gripped the hilt in her hand. It was truly amazing but there was something disturbing about it. "How do I --?"

"The most effective way is to decapitate the assailant," he said as if reading her mind. "Running it through them won't be enough, although it might stun them. The heart works as well."

"So will you be teaching me?"

Akira grinned. "Oh, no, swords aren't really my specialty. Your master, Enishi, will, when he feels the need to get around to it. There is a training room just down the hall from here, just for you."

She sighed knowing that it was Tomoe's way of isolating her from the rest of the inhabitants in case she got out of hand. "Thank you, Akira-san."

He nodded. "Just doing my job. Make sure you eat up, ok?"

Kaoru cringed but made no move to respond.

"Be careful with it," he said before leaving the room and leaving her alone.

---------

The blade glinted in the dim lighting of the room as she moved fluidly with the weapon in her hands. Bringing it up and down with such force that she was loosing breathe. It had been awhile since she had last held such a thing in her hands yet it all came back to her as if it were second nature. The feel of it was not lost to her as she gripped it tighter. But this was no shinnai nor was it a bokken, however, it made no difference to her.

Am I doing it right, 'tousan!?

Ah, very well but try positioning your feet this way. See, much better.

Kaoru swung the sword in a graceful manner hitting opponents that did not exist yet her red eyes burned into the dead air ready to kill what was not there.

"Itai!" The burn was superficial but it stung like hell.

"You should watch where you swing that."

It was him. "What you are you doing here?" He looked different without his long coat on and in a sleeveless black shirt.

He took off his glasses bearing his red eyes to her. "Watching you," he said as he took her arm.

A small blush crept on her face as she watching him inspect her wound. "I'm fine," she whispered a bit too harshly.

Enishi grinned at her as he let her arm go. "I'm sure you are but your form is a bit too careless. With this weapon not only do you need to watch your opponent but you need to watch yourself."

Kaoru frowned. "I knew that."

"I'm not saying you didn't."

She said nothing as she continued her kata. "What do you want?"

"Very good, for a police officer."

Her blue eyes narrowed at him. "My father used to teach me."

"Ah, yes you're father," he said in an amused tone.

She lowered the sword and looked at him. "You knew him?"

His eyes lit up for a moment before placing his glasses back on. He shook his head. "Not really."

"Oh," she said almost disappointed. "It sounded like you did."

Enishi smiled and turned away from her. "You better get rested up. Saitou's taking you out tomorrow night."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "What!?"

He turned his head to look at her amusement dancing in his eyes. "Don't let him get to you."

And then he melted with the shadows.

Red , begins to cover the poor man with much pain.

TBC

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I'm sorry if this story seems scattered. It is the beginning and I am still developing the plot, though I got the gist of it down. I also keep writing scenes that belong in later chapters! It's such a pain!! More E/K interaction next time. I SWEAR!! I know one of the random ones I've written has to go with the next chapter somewhere!!

I just thought it seemed a little too soon for all the 'fun' stuff to pop out. There might be a meeting with Battousai too ... Lots of history to show there ... ohh the mystery of it all ...

warumono