Dream of Crimson – Part IV

By Vikki

Disclaimer:  I can only dream of owning this … so, no worries, right?  ^^x

Flame Policy:  I … AM … Persia!  Whahahahaaa!

Pre-Author's notes: Apologies to my readers … I posted a list as one of my fics, and it got reported to the staff.  I've been suspended for the past five days from ff.net – translate: no posting!  I had to wait until Monday the 11th!  Sorry.

*   *   *

Youji's apartment door was locked.  I used my copy of his key to get in without knocking and hurried to his bedroom.  As I passed the threshold into his room, I felt as if I were being brushed by something that asked, Who? Who? and when it saw that I would not harm Youji, the thing went away.

Youji was sleeping peacefully, bare-chested, but covered from the waist down by his sheets.  He was in a natural sleeping position – in his case, sprawled languidly across the bed – and his breathing was even and slow.  I let out a breath of relief that I had not realized I was holding.

He stirred.  "Kenken?  That you?" he yawned, stretching.

I stiffened for a moment and sank slowly into the chair still positioned by his bed.  "Don't call me Kenken," I said softly.

"Yeah, that's you."  Youji smiled, sitting up, and finally opened his brilliant green eyes to look at me.  And he really looked at me; his eyes weren't like blank windows to the soul as they had been yesterday.  I heard myself sigh in relief again.  "You don't look so good."

"Rough night," I said, glancing at the clock beside his bed, "though I guess that shouldn't matter by 4:45 PM the next day."

Youji chuckled.  His hands rested in the sheets bunched around his legs.  "I've had days like that," he said.  His eyes became distant and confused as he ran one hand through his hair.  "How long have I been sleeping?  I feel like I've slept for a week."

"Only 36 hours," I told him, grinning.  "That's hardly record-setting for you."  Once Youji had slept all the way through a weekend.  He didn't sleep a wink all of the following week, but still – 36 hours was nothing for him.

Youji looked at me sharply, then, none of his catlike grace in his features for a moment.  "36 hours – Ken, what happened?  I remember going to the Library with you to look for targets, and after that … nothing.  Well, a little something, but it's all bits and fragments, and they really don't make any sense at all."

I shifted uneasily in my chair.  "You're not gonna believe a word of this," I warned him.

"Try me," Youji answered.  He pushed himself back on his bed so he could sit up against the headboard and crossed his arms over his chest.

So I launched into my version of the events of the last day and a half.  I told him about the vampires and the werewolf and how Aya had rescued us both; I told him about Aya's and my trip to see Bethany, a.k.a. Bel'uah, and I told him about the call from the witch last night; I told him that I had a gun and that he ought to buy a gun with silver bullets, too.  I left out some information – such as that both Aya and Bethany weren't human.  For some reason I felt like that was dangerous knowledge that ought not to be spread around.

When I finished, Youji just looked at me for a long moment before letting out all of his breath in a long, low sigh.  That sigh sounded like he was giving up all he held dear.  "You know, Kenken, you just shattered my belief in all that was stable."

"I know," I said as calmly as I could, which wasn't very calmly.  I was trembling, and I wasn't sure if it was because of what I remembered or because of a sudden, utter feeling of hopelessness that had descended on me.  I was a pawn – hell, we were all pawns – being moved about by players on a chessboard that we could not possibly understand.

Youji looked away from me now.  "I need a cigarette," he said shortly, rolling over to grope for the pack that he normally left on his nightstand.  There was no pack there now; he swore and began to get out of bed.  I jumped to my feet, told him I'd get him a pack from his stash in the kitchen, and bring him a lighter, too.

We all needed our little comforts right then, I thought.  Who cared if Youji wanted to smoke?  It was more likely that we'd be killed by our own targets than by lung cancer.

Once Youji had comfortably started in on his cigarette and I had settled back into the chair by his bed, we just looked at each other for a long moment.  Finally Youji said, "Well, that story fits right in with the bits I remember."  There was silence for a moment before he added, "Sorry, Siberian."

It was an official apology to me for his failure to back me up during a mission.  "Forget it," I said, and I meant it totally.  "There's nothing to be sorry for, really.  You found the targets, didn't you?" I tried to joke.

Youji smiled a somewhat bitter smile.  "That's my line, Kenken," he told me.  Then, very suddenly, he became the Youji I knew.  He smirked genuinely at me.  "Well, then, the supernatural truths have just succeeded the natural truths," he said as if it was the most natural thing in the world.  I felt a momentary flash of anger, but the twinkle in Youji's eye stopped me from speaking.  "We'd best learn how to track vampires, and quickly, ne?"

I was totally caught off-guard.  I smiled uncertainly at him.  "Yeah. Fast."  And just like that, I felt the anger that I'd felt before nudge aside the despair within me.  These vampires had messed with our heads.  They were going to pay with their lives.  I snarled silently at them.  "Youji, tonight I'm meeting with this witch woman Yumi.  I'm not going alone if you'll come with me.  Will you?  I just need to find out what she wants and get as many answers out of her as I can."

"I'd be glad to interrogate her," Youji said, smirking still as he climbed out of his bed.  He wore only his forest green boxers.  "Especially if she's as sexy as her voice."

"Youji!" I felt the familiar flash of embarrassment and anger and was comforted by the routine of it.  "That's just – just sick!"  Youji laughed at me, and I became angrier.  It was comfortable, this routine.

I thought I was already so weirded out that nothing could faze me anymore.  Unfortunately, it was almost disgusting how many more things were out there to 'weird me out'.

As the old saying goes, this was only the beginning.

*   *   *

                At 9:25 PM or so, I creaked up to the steps of the Hot Cat Club.

                I say 'creaked' because I was decked out in so much new leather there is really no other way to put it.

                It was Youji's fault that I was dressed this way.  My pants, made of black leather, were tight to my thighs, buttocks, and other parts of my anatomy, but rode loose over my calves; my shirt was a dark burgundy hue and embarrassingly short, continuously riding up my chest to expose my midriff. My shoes were clunky and uncomfortable, although I probably could have run in them if I had to.  I had two rings on my right hand.  Youji even had me wearing a leather collar around my neck. I had put a stop to things there because I insisted on an oversized leather jacket so I could hide my gun on my person somewhere.  I didn't trust Yumi for a second when she said that no vampires could get into her club.

                Youji was decked out even more magnificently than I was, wearing black leather pants similar to mine but with silver trimmings, a mesh midriff shirt, and a leather vest over that.  It was in the vest that Youji had hidden his .38 caliber standard-issue police gun that I had had no idea he'd hung onto.  He wore a silver chain around his neck and silver rings on numerous fingers.

                There was a line to get into the club.  I cut directly to the front of it, carrying the faxed directions Yumi had sent me.  A beefy bodyguard glared at me with his arms crossed as I approached.  I held up the directions.  "Yumi Ryuuki sent me here," I told him as he snatched the paper from my hand.  "I need to get in directly."

                The guard eyed me, then grunted noncommittally and turned his eyes on Youji.  "This is my partner," I explained quickly.  "I won't talk with Yumi if he can't come in with me."

                Again the guard grunted, then pointed us inside with a jerk of his thumb.  Youji took the lead immediately, walking in without fear.  I hesitated for a moment, and that moment was all that the bodyguard needed, apparently.  He grabbed me by the arm and leaned over to speak in my ear.  "Yumi is a waitress," he told me.  "Ask for a Bloody Mary with real blood.  She'll talk to you then."  He released me and straightened, folding his arms and scowling again at the line.  I stared at him, pulled my shirt back down to meet my pants, and hurried in after Youji.

                As soon as I stepped into the building I was hit by heavy rock music blasting from the dance floor below us.  A set of stairs led down to the mass of wriggling bodies that constituted the dance floor; in the middle of the crowd a band played on a platform.  The floor was ringed by a raised, carpeted area, and it was on this level and to the right that the bar was.  The air was smoky; all I could smell was cigarettes, alcohol, and sweat.  It wasn't that warm on this upper level, but I broke out into a sweat anyway.

Standing next to me, Youji was smirking widely.  "This is a good club," he shouted at me over the music.  "No wonder there's a line already!"

I nodded, but I wasn't paying much attention to him.  My sixth sense was going off the scale.  All four of the band members on the dance floor were superhuman; the waitress at the bar was superhuman (no surprise, because that was supposed to be Yumi); some of the dancers were superhuman, and more than one patron of the bar as well.  "This is a freaking witch haven!" I shouted at Youji.  "They're everywhere!"

"Okay," Youji nodded.  "But the witches are against the vampires, right?  They're the good guys."

"I hope," I answered sourly.

Youji helped by taking the lead.  "Look, I'm going to go dance," he announced.  "You can contact me on the radios, as usual.  It'd probably be better if Yumi didn't know I was here anyway.  If she tries to hex you or something, I'll play the knight in shining armor, okay?"

"All right," I agreed, pulling my shirt down again.  Youji grinned at me, shouted, "Good luck, Siberian!" and disappeared down the steps into the pulsating crowd.  I wound my way through the numerous patrons to the bar.

Yumi was a young woman who couldn't have been more than a few years older than I.  (Teenager that I am, these things are hard to judge.)  She wore an obscenely tight black skirt and a white blouse unbuttoned to show just a little too much cleavage.  Her skin was bronze; her hair was silky black and pulled up into a tight bun in the back of her head, only a spray of hair emerging for colorful flair, I supposed.  She didn't even look up at me as I took a seat.  Wiping a glass clean with a towel, she asked, "What'll it be, ojii-san?"

"A Bloody Mary, please," I said.  Feeling silly and a little jittery, I added, "With real blood, if you can manage it."

Immediately her whole demeanor changed from indifferent waitress to attentive witch.  She looked up at me, her dark eyes piercing.  "So you're Ken Hidaka."  She looked me up and down, smirking just a little.  "It's a pleasure to meet you."

I shifted uncomfortably on my seat, cursing Youji and his leather fetish.  Nervously I tugged at my shirt.  "And you're Yumi Ryuuki.  You wanted to talk?"

"I still do.  Let's go someplace quieter," she nodded.  Her voice was soothingly smooth.  "Oi, Kasumi!"  She tossed her towel to a waitress at the other end of the bar as she looked up.  "Take over for me, will you?  I have business."  Without even waiting for an answer, she vaulted easily over the bar and led the way towards the back of the club.

I couldn't help noting that Kasumi was a witch, too, as I followed Yumi out of the loud, smoky room.

Youji's voice crackled in my ear over the radio.  "Where are you going?"

"To the back rooms," I whispered.

"Tell me if you get some action," Youji said before cutting the connection for the moment.  I blushed, although I wasn't certain what sort of action Youji was talking about.

Once we were out of the smoky main room of the club, we were in the smoky back halls of the club.  Yumi led me past doors leading to rooms from which moans, grunts, and cries of pleasure were clearly audible.  I tried very hard not to think about them or hear them.  Finally Yumi turned out of the dim hallway and unlocked a door.  She flipped on the light inside the room and stepped inside, beckoning for me to follow.

The room was fairly large, but it was bare.  The floor and walls were concrete.  A few rickety old wooden chairs sat against the walls.  The only real furniture in the room was a gigantic stone table in the very center.  A single uncovered light bulb hanging from the ceiling provided barely enough light for me to see the corners of the room.  There was a faint smell of blood and decay, and the room was very cold.

However, it was not the furnishings that made me feel uneasy and nervous.  I could almost see the supernatural energy crackling around in here.  Yumi seemed to swell in my eyes, and I knew somehow that this room was some sort of a focus point for her power.

Yumi did not seem to notice my discomfort, even though I was fidgeting and fussing with my shirt and sweating just a little.  She pulled two chairs from against the wall and bade me sit down.  I obeyed awkwardly, shifting in my chair to keep my leather pants from pinching me.

For a moment there was absolute silence as Yumi produced a cigarette and lit it, taking a deep drag and letting it out through her teeth.  She looked at me; I tried to look calm and collected as I looked back at her.  Finally I asked, "Well?  We're here.  What did you want to talk about?"

Yumi didn't reply right away.  She took another drag on her cigarette instead.  "I had a few questions for you, but most of them were answered by a confidante of mine.  Don't worry; it's no one you know.  I have quite a few connections, Ken-san.

"Because of this, though, we can skip directly to the main reason I asked you to come, which I could not tell you over the phone.  I understand that yesterday was your very first exposure to the Underground.  I wish to enlighten you, then ask for a favor."

I balked at the request.  "A favor?  After you forced me here with blackmail?"  I forced myself to stay calm.  What would Aya do in this situation - no, wait, killing her probably isn't an option.  What about Youji?  I trusted his judgement; if I ignored the constant flirting, I could probably use his example.  "Can I refuse the favor safely?"

"How do you mean, safely?" Yumi asked innocently.

"Oh, bullshit, you know exactly what I'm talking about," I answered hotly.  "Will you blackmail me?  Choose your answer wisely, because if I want to, I'll just shoot you after this interview."

Yumi's sharp features seemed to become sharper and more hawk-like as she straightened to glare at me.  "You will not shoot me, not here in this room with my focus," she said in a towering voice.  "Because if you do, the forces in this room will not let you leave this place alive!"

I don't know how I knew, but I was certain that she was telling me the absolute truth.  Maybe it had something to do with how the room suddenly seemed to close in on me while a voice shrieked in my ears.  I shuddered and shrank away, stuttering an apology.

The room returned to its original size and Yumi seemed to be a normal person again - at least as normal as a witch could get.  She settled back in her chair.  "I'm glad you understand," she said in a cold voice.  Her voice and features thawed though, as she continued, "Yes, you can freely refuse to grant my request.  I highly urge you, though, on the basis of the fact that my request has quite a bit to do with the world as a whole, to accept.  However, this must wait.  I assume you have many questions about recent events, as it were.  I am here to answer your questions."

I nodded, struggling to regain my composure.  "Uh … all right, then.  Can you tell me about vampires?  Vampires in general, I mean.  Bethany-san wasn't very specific on that subject."

Yumi nodded her assent.  "Vampires are an ancient evil that have been on the earth since before the Roman Empire.  There isn't much known about their origins, but we do know quite a bit about their powers, existence, and weaknesses.

"Vampires are humans that have drunk the blood of a vampire.  They are immortal in that they cannot die by natural causes and do not age after they have been changed.  They have keen eyesight and a good sense of smell.  They can climb up sheer walls and jump from the ground straight up two or three stories; they have an unnatural strength and the power to hypnotize with their eyes.  To remain animated they must drink the blood of a mammal - otherwise they shrivel up and become a consciousness trapped in a dried shell of a body - and their easiest and most fulfilling preys are humans.  All vampires sleep the sleep of the dead for some portion of the day, and the older the vampire is, the shorter this sleep is, and the stronger the vampire becomes.  They come out at night most often, but if they are bold, they will hunt during the day as well.  The highest number of vampires lived during the Middle ages, which is why vampire stories began to crop up then.

"I'm sure you've heard all of the myths caused by these stories - that vampires are burned by crucifixes, garlic keeps them away, they burn up in the light of the sun.  These are all lies.  Crucifixes have no effect whatsoever on vampires, although they fear what it symbolizes.  Garlic can keep them away only insofar as its smell.  Vampires have highly sensitive noses.  If they have the will to overcome the strength of the garlic smell, it won't do you much good.  The sun also has little effect on vampires.  It will make them go blind if they spend much time in it, and they burn more easily than most Europeans, but otherwise, it does not effect them.

"On the other hand, putting a wooden stake through the heart of a vampire and cutting off their head will indeed kill them.  So will silver bullets.  Utterly obliterating their bodies and scattering the remains can work, too, but generally the only effective method of this is burning, which is awfully noticeable in this day and age.

"Vampires have appeared here in Japan only recently.  They were not here before World War II.  And even more recently, a coven of vampires has entered this section of Tokyo.  Miki and Stacey are members of that coven," Yumi nodded to me.  "We have counted six vampires as members of the coven, and they have hired two werewolves on their behalf.  The situation is delicate because this coven is bolder than most."

"Who is 'we'?" I asked, bolder now.  It was awfully nice to finally be getting the answers I needed.

"The coven of witches that I belong to.  We number seventeen."

"Can you tell me about witches?"

Yumi hesitated.  "There are secrets of the coven that I cannot tell you, but I will do my best.

                "Witches are humans that a highly developed capacity for tapping into the lifestream.  That sounds mystical, and that's because it is.  The lifestream cannot really be defined, but it is what enables magic to be performed.  It flows most strongly in the blood of all living creatures."

                "Which is why," I interrupted, "the vampires must suck blood.  They have no lifestream."  As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I blinked at my own knowledge.

                Yumi either didn't notice or didn't acknowledge my surprise.  "That is partially so.  In any case, the lifestream is what we witches can tap.  Some vampires can tap this stream, too, if they have fresh blood in their bodies.  And this brings me to blood magic.

                "There is no such thing as magic without blood.  This is why you can smell blood in here – any magic performed requires blood spillage."  I winced at the thought, but said nothing.  "Thus, we call magic blood magic.  I cannot really give you any more details on this subject because our magic is a well-kept secret.  I hope you understand."

                "I … I can't do magic, can I?" I asked.

                "I doubt it, but I haven't probed for a connection to the lifestream.  Would you like me to?" she asked.

                "No! No, that's okay," I shook my head.  "If I don't have to, I don't want to know anything else about blood magic."

Yumi was giving me that catlike grin that Youji often gave me when I was acting naïve.  I pressed on.  "What about werewolves, then?"

                "Werewolves are almost as old as vampires, although I suspect they appeared during the Middle ages for the first time.  Werewolves are humans that have been bitten by a werewolf.  In the light of the full moon, these humans turn into wolf-like creatures whose sole purpose is to kill whatever they can.  They are much stronger than a natural wolf, though.  In their more common human form, they often look perfectly normal, although the strongest ones may still have fangs.  They maintain a preternatural strength in their human forms as well, though this strength is lesser than their wolfish form.

                "The important thing to remember about werewolves is that they are rarely cruel or carnal people by nature.  In fact, I have known some of the gentlest people who were werewolves.  No; most of them are only dangerous during the full moon.  Although there are exceptions.  The werewolf with Stacey and Miki is a mercenary and hires himself out to the highest bidder.  Currently he works for the vampire coven; if I were to offer him a larger sum of money right now, he'd change sides in the blink of an eye."

                That reminded me of Bethany's accusations against Aya.  "That's right, Bethany-san said something about werewolves being officially neutral …"

                "They are," Yumi agreed.  "Werewolves often have as little to do with the Underground as possible.  And I cannot blame them."

                "You've used that term, 'Underground', twice now.  What is the Underground?"

                "The supernatural world beneath the normal, natural surface.  Do you see why we call it the Underground?  When was the last time you heard about a vampire attack in the alleyways of Tokyo, even though you know they are occurring?"

                I saw her point.  "Okay, one last question.  What is your coven's stance on the vampires?"

                Yumi looked agitated for the first time.  She shifted on her seat and uncrossed her shapely legs.  "That is awkward.  We are currently split on the subject."

                "Then tell me the opposing stances," I offered.  The witch, however, gave me a look that said it was very private.  "Listen.  I can't grant you any favors if my work helps the vampires out.  My mission is to kill the vampires – which you may know, thanks to that amazing confidante of yours.  I won't back out on that because they are killing innocent people!"  I was getting worked up.  I took a deep breath and held it as Yumi considered my speech.

                "All right," she said finally.  "I can tell you this: some witches are considering joining forces with the vampires.  This is very … unusual, because witches and vampires have been opposing forces for years – since the Middle ages, actually."  She paused as if considering what more to tell me.  "We – all of the Japanese witches, that is – have been at an armistice with the Japanese vampires for years.  Which finally brings me to my request: tip the scales in our favor.  Help my coven of witches overcome this coven of vampires, and we can set an example for witches across the country to follow."

                I stared at her.  Okay; I acknowledged that her request coincided with my mission.  However, wasn't she the one with the mystical blood magic powers?  "What makes you think I can tip the scales in your favor?  If you witches with your blood magic can't beat them, how am I supposed to?" I demanded.

                Yumi looked at me very calmly.  "Because, Ken Hidaka, you are a Slayer, and it is your calling to destroy vampires."

                I opened my mouth, and then I shut it.  I must have looked precisely like a fish out of water.  "That's bullshit," I finally managed.  "I don't believe it."

                "You perfectly fit the profile," Yumi informed me.  "You have no supernatural powers beyond a sensitivity to the preternatural, and perhaps a bit of inhuman strength if you're lucky.  You cannot be entranced by a vampire's eyes or located by their supernatural senses.  And you have the killing instinct."

                "The … killing instinct?"  My voice was small despite all efforts to sound tough and unfazed.  Something deep inside me was telling me that Yumi was right, and I was mad at it.  I was not in tune with this mystical interlocking inside me.

                "Yes.  You kill easily.  Yes, you kill with a purpose, but you still kill easily."

                "I hate killing!" I snapped at her, rising to my feet and letting the anger flow out of me.  "It's never easy!"

                "Do you remember the murderer of that boy who only wanted to protect his sister?  The victim was the same age as you, and when you found the murderer, you did not rend him with your claws.  You smiled as you shot him through the mouth."  Yumi's voice and face was impassive.

                I recoiled, sitting heavily on my chair.  "How can you know that!? Wait, don't answer, one of your sources, right?"  I asked sarcastically.

                "Correct," she said in that infuriatingly calm, collected, and yet sensitive voice.  "That is the killing instinct, Ken-san.  It is a part of you as a Slayer.  Acknowledge it and do not fret."

                I was incensed.  "How dare you dictate to me the course of my life-!"

                "I'm not.  You are a Vampire Hunter, and you know it."  Her eyes gripped me and insisted that I listen.

                She was right.  I was so mad, but she was right.  I sank back into the chair and held my head in my hands.  It was pounding.  I realized that I hadn't refreshed my supply of aspirin since six o'clock.  "All right," I said weakly.  "I'm a Slayer, a Vampire Hunter, whatever.  The point is, you want me to kill these vampires, right?"

                "Correct.  And if you have the courage, Ken-san, you will be able to do it."

                I tried to think through the fog – or maybe soup – that my brain had become.  "I'll kill them.  I have to.  But know that this has nothing to do with your request for a favor.  This is just because they're our targets, and they have killed innocent people."

                I could almost hear Yumi's slow, seductive smile.  "Very well."  She stood.  "Do you need help standing?"

                "Don't touch me," I answered, heaving to my feet.  I turned to face her.  "Do you use human sacrifices for your blood magic?" I demanded on impulse.

                Yumi was startled.  Very startled.  For a moment I heard the shriek I had heard in my ears when I threatened Yumi, and I thought it sounded like a dying girl.  I came to a sudden realization.  "This place was christened by a girl's death!  It's her soul, her blood that this place feeds on!"

                I saw in Yumi's eyes that I was right.

                I turned away, nearly running to the door.  When my hand was on it, I glared at her over my shoulder.  "Damn you!  Your stupid coven is no better than the vampires!  After I'm done with them, see if I don't come after you!"  I yanked the door open, shut it after me, and fled back into the noise of the main room of the Hot Cat Club.

*   *   *

                I smacked at my ear, turning on the radio that connected Youji and me.  "Balinese, we're leaving, and fast.  I think I pissed off the witch."  In fact, it would be quite remarkable if she were not pissed at me.

                "Right."  Youji's radio shut off; only a minute later he met me at the door, looking a bit disheveled and sweaty.  I motioned that we didn't have time to speak and yanked open the door.

                Even as I did so, I felt a swelling supernatural presence practically destroy the doorway leading to the back halls of the club.  I spun around to see Yumi standing in the ruined doorway, her eyes wild, her fists clenched at her sides.  She pointed at me stiffly.  "Ken Hidaka!  Hear my words!  You stand in the peril of two great powers – that of the vampires and that of the witches.  I have offered you shelter in our embrace, and you have rejected it!  Hear!"  Her voice was piercing and supernaturally enhanced; I saw a smear of blood across her throat and knew it was being used to increase the volume of her voice.  The dancers stopped dancing; the band stopped playing.  All were silent and staring at either Yumi or me.  She continued, unheeding, her voice dropping low.  "I swear vengeance, unless you see the error of your choice.  We are the lesser of two evils!  Choose!  You cannot stand apart from this, Slayer, Hunter!"

                All eyes turned expectantly on me, and I broke out into a sweat.  Youji put a hand on my shoulder, which was a welcome comfort.  Mustering my courage and anger, I shouted back at her, "Murderer!  I swore to kill people like you two years ago!"  I realized my fists were balled at my sides.  "I'm not a vampire, and I'm not a witch.  I'll walk my own path!"  With those final words, I stomped out the door to the accompaniment of absolute and total silence.  Youji followed me.

                After we'd walked (and I'd stomped) a short ways, Youji finally said, "I think you just made us a bundle of enemies, Kenken."

                "Don't call me Kenken," I said distractedly.  I slipped into the closest alleyway and leaned against the brick wall, running my hands through my hair.  I was suddenly very tired; the adrenaline I had been running on drained out of me in a rush, and I collapsed.

                Youji was right next to me.  "Ken?  Are you okay?"

                "Fine," I said slowly.  "Tired.  Chikuso!  It wasn't supposed to turn out this way!"

                "How was it supposed to turn out?"

                "I don't know.  Not with seventeen new enemies.  Not with me finding out I'm a … Slayer."

                "A what?"

                I sighed and started from the beginning, telling Youji everything Yumi told me.  "So, supposedly I'm a Vampire Hunter.  Isn't that just peachy?"  My voice took on an embarrassing note of hysteria by the end of my tirade.

                Youji wasn't fazed at all.  He was surprised, but not knocked out of it.  As if he knew I needed it, he acted exactly the way he always did: just a little too flippant, always grinning.  "That's all?  Well, then, no worries!  You've always been a Hunter, right?"  He slapped me on the back, and I smiled a little.  "Com'n, Kenken, you can't let this get to you.  It's the same as always: kill the targets, get the cash, and keep going.  The target is just a little unusual this time.  We'll get through this, same as always."

                That cheered me up a little, enough that I felt like standing up to go home.  Youji helped me to my feet, and we began to leave the alleyway.

                Flash fangs and blue eyes

                Abruptly I was aware of a nonhuman presence behind us.  "Youji!  Vampires!"  I cried, but I was just a moment too late.  I turned just as Youji was flung aside.  He flew several meters through the air and crashed into a lamppost, which he slid down, groaning.  I started to face our attacker, but he moved faster than I could even think, it seemed; the next thing I knew, I was plastered against the brick wall face-first.  I fell to the ground in a heap, barely able to look up at our attacker as my body recovered from the initial shock of being slammed into a wall.

                Indeed, it was a vampire; the teeth were unmistakable.  His eyes were an unnaturally bright blue under a mop of curly brown hair.  He looked as if he were younger than me.  Now he turned those unnatural eyes on Youji, who was struggling to stand again.

"Youji! Don't look into his eyes!" I said hoarsely, but I didn't know if voice carried far enough for him to hear.  It didn't matter; Youji had reached into his inside vest pocket and produced his .38 caliber pistol.  The vampire did not stop advancing, even as Youji pointed the gun at his chest.

He pulled the trigger.  The shot rang in my ears and blood spattered on my face.  The vampire stopped moving, staring with surprise down at the hole in his chest that was gushing blood.  Youji froze.

And then the vampire began to advance on Youji again.

Youji made an odd, strangled noise and emptied his clip into the vampire – six shots in all.  The vampire didn't even seem to notice; in fact, he was healing right before our eyes!  "Petty guns cannot hurt me, stupid human," the vampire hissed as he leaned over and grabbed Youji's face in his hands, forcing the playboy to look at him.

Okay.  So much for normal bullets.  This was the only coherent thought that passed through my mind at that moment.  The rest of me was crying Oh god not Youji not again make it stop, dammit!

I struggled to my feet.  Youji was kicking the vampire in the balls (if he had any), his eyes squeezed shut, his hands locked around the vampire's arms as he tried to loosen the inhuman grip of the creature.  The vampire seemed to be trying to get to his neck, but Youji was not a willing victim, and he was having a hard time of it.  I had been forgotten.

For a long moment I just stared at the two combatants, my mind clicking very slowly through the facts.  My first instinct was to jump on the vampire from behind, but a detached, logical part of me said that this would accomplish nothing.  I became aware of blood trickling from my nose and mouth.  A tooth was loose.  Youji was weakening.

Wooden stake.  Kill it with a wooden stake.  I clung to that thought and ran into the alleyway, towards the smell of trash.  Surely someone had thrown out an old broom, a hoe, a wooden dowel –

I found a broomstick so quickly it was almost frightening.  The end was even sharp because it was already broken.  I sprinted back to Youji.

Youji was almost lost, his grip weak.  The vampire didn't see me at all.  I practically threw myself on his back and shoved the wooden stake into him.

Blood spurted, drenching me suddenly, and the vampire let out a cry of agony as he tried to reach over his back and grab me.  I shoved the broomstick in further, amazed by how easily the skin gave way to the flimsy weapon, and clinging to his backside I felt this was the safest place on him.  His sharp nails tore at my clothes and shoulders, but they did little damage.  I kept forcing the stick into him.

It felt like an eternity before I finally felt no resistance to the stick and I knew I had shoved it all the way through his heart and body.  The vampire shuddered and collapsed to his knees, blood spurting from him still.  He was still breathing, though he no longer fought me.  He gazed at me over his shoulder through those malevolent blue eyes full of hatred, and I glared back at him, breathing hard.  I didn't dare let go of the stake, but I didn't know what to do next!  He was still alive!

Then I felt a hand reach inside my pocket and take my gun.  I jumped before I realized this was Youji.  He pointed the gun at the vampire's neck.  "Cut off its head, and it'll die," he said hoarsely, squeezing the trigger.

The bang was loud, and suddenly the vampire had no neck whatsoever.  The exploding tip of the bullet had done its dirty work.  Blood and bits of bone flew out in all directions to stick to the pavement, the wall, Youji, and myself; the vampire's head, which was mostly whole but had a ghastly neckline of hanging flesh, rolled away and checked up against the wall of the alley.  The body of the vampire was only supported by the wooden stake that I still held tightly in my hand.  I pried my fingers off of it; the body slumped to the ground, still adding blood to the pool around it.

Youji flipped on the safety of my gun and replaced it in my pocket.

I dropped to my knees and retched.

*   *   *

Author's Notes: Hugs and kisses to every reviewer!  You're all so cool!

Er … eheheh, this part of the fic is a little morbid, ne?  I look back on writing it and say, "Maybe Ken wouldn't retch at the end," because after all, he uses bugnuks.  I mean, that has got to be the most up-close-and-personal-with-my-victim's-blood of the weapons Weiss uses.  But I can't take it out.  It seems like a good touch.

Oh, yeah – I apologize for any and all Youji OOCness.  (Ken doesn't have much of a personality in the series, so I don't think it's possible to make him OOC.)  If it's really bad, I'll find out soon, because my buddy who loves Youji dearly will be reading my fic and criticizing my every misstep.  I tried hard, but I don't think I have a really good grasp of how Youji handles tragedy or surprises.

Back to pairings: I repeat, I'm blatantly ignoring the subject.  Actually, this section (and the next, I guess) have YouKen tendencies, but they're not planned!  Ken is coming off as bisexual.  That's just fine with me.  I just don't have the energy to throw in a love tangle along with all the shit that Ken will have to put up with.

Thanks for sticking with me!  We have a long, long way to go … I appreciate your patience.  ::bows:: Arigatou!