The Sacred Night, Chapter 21
"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" A voice I didn't recognize shrieked through the nearly dark apartment building. Mine was probably the only apartment with any lights on.
"Relax, Fox, I thought you wanted me to do that," Sano's muffled voice replied. They continued arguing, but I didn't bother to listen. After all, I'd known Sano a hundred years. I had heard this conversation before.
I turned my attention back to the girl who was attempting to forcibly remove me from the door so she could break it down and reach the humans on the other side. Despite the claws she'd grown to further this purpose, I stayed in place. Generous quantities of my blood had collected on her fingertips, and when she took a break to enjoy it, the door, which I had incidentally been leaning on, opened behind me. I fell ignobly at the feet of the doctor Sano had called "Fox." She stepped forward to the wild female vampire, who rushed forward, ready to wrestle her to the ground to get her blood. The young doctor didn't give any resistance, though, so she simply drank with a voracious appetite.
I didn't ask the woman what her intentions had been, walking out there to where she could easily be killed, because she probably couldn't have heard me even if I had. She was probably laying on the beach somewhere as far as she was concerned- that was, if the vampire still had the presence of mind to use her mind control abilities, which should have still been functioning. I hoped it didn't hurt too badly if she didn't.
"Hey, don't take it all!" Sano exclaimed after a little while, pulling the doctor away from the vampire. She had her eyes closed, still savoring the taste, but allowed the taller woman to be pulled from her. I noticed again how very small the vampire was, and not only that, but young-looking. It did take a lot for me to think someone was small.
Eyes still closed, she sank to her knees and covered her face in her hands. It must have been a very long time since she'd fed, to enjoy it that much. After a moment, though, to all of our shock she began to shake and sob. Everyone drifted back inside, uncomfortable or simply not acknowledging whatever was happening because of what the girl had attempted to do. All the same, no one likes to be seen crying before a crowd, so it worked out all right. I sat down next to her and spoke softly.
"It's all right," I didn't know whether to address her as 'Onna-san' or 'Shoujo-san,' so I didn't use either, "It's all right, that it is," I continued. She didn't stop crying, but shook her head slowly.
"No, it's not. I would have drained her dry, and the other one, too, the sick one. I would have k-"
"Stop it," I interrupted, never fond of the word 'kill,' but also knowing she had not been entirely in control of herself. "It's over now, and you seem sorry, you do, so just do your best to control yourself in the future. When the humans get better, you might never even have to worry about it again!" I smiled, trying to reassure her that I didn't hold a grudge. I hoped that would mean something to her, since she knew one of the humans was my wife.
She didn't answer. She just cried there awhile, and I stayed there as a sort of support until she calmed down. She dried her eyes and stood up, but looked unsure of what to do. I asked if I could help with anything and she shook her head, but when I invited her in, she came. She sat with the rest of the vampires in the living room, while Kaoru and the doctor, whose name I had finally learned was Megumi, were alone in the bedroom. I had given Megumi the vial from Yumi when I brought the girl in, but nothing had happened yet. I didn't complain, since I wasn't a doctor and had no clue what had to be done to make my Kaoru well, but I had assumed it would be a simple matter of administering the substance in the vial after its safety was assured. Sano was the first to strike up a conversation with the girl we'd just met. She hadn't spoken at all, except when she'd initially yelled at Misao and me and when I'd spoken to her in the hallway.
"So, uh," I guessed he didn't know any more than I did what to call her, "What's your name, k-" he paused and corrected himself, "I mean, uh, what's your name?" Apparently, I also was not the only one to think she looked a tad young to be a vampire, but if she wasn't, she must have been something very similar.
"Tsubame," she answered without lifting her head.
"Sagara Sanosuke. So where'd you come from?"
"Right around here,"
He paused a moment, seeming frustrated by her minimalist answers, but then had an idea. "Say, you're, uh, awful small. How old were you when you were changed?"
"Ten,"
"And how old are you now?" The old piece of advice 'never ask a lady her age,' while it worked extremely well with human women, didn't apply to vampires. Vampire women flaunted their ages proudly, especially when they were 500 and looked about thirty.
"One hundred thirty,"
Sano looked as shocked as I was. She didn't look a day over twelve. Her ki had even been mostly calm but with a spark of rebelliousness, which seemed to fit a twelve-year-old. He gave up on conversation about then.
We sat in silence, waiting for a result on Kaoru's health, and everyone except Sano and Tsubame seemed a bit on edge. None of the rest of us had fed recently. No one said anything, however, partly out of respect for my worry over Kaoru, but partly also because they knew it wouldn't do any good. No humans would be safe to feed on until Megumi finished her work, since she would be busy and Kaoru would still be sick. It might even take a few days before Kaoru could be fed on safely.
"She's asking for you, Ken-san," Megumi announced softly, never looking at anyone else.
I supposed the name she'd chosen for me was cute, though it would take some getting used to. She led me back through my house to the temporary sickroom even though I knew where it was, which told me her doctor's arts were well-ingrained. It must have been Misao who'd found her, since she had been the only person present when I left other than Kaoru herself, and Misao didn't skimp. I entered and saw Kaoru better than she'd been the last time I'd seen her, but still not in great health. She was sitting up in bed and looked tired, but completely lucid, at least. I sat near the bed and held her hand, ready with a thousand questions.
"How do you feel?" I asked.
"Tired, but okay," she answered, squeezing my hand. "Megumi-san says I should be better in a few weeks,"
Weeks? I swallowed. I'd hoped the cure would be relatively simple. Then again, I was almost a hundred fifty years behind on what little medical knowledge I'd had in the first place.
"You'll have to feed on someone else," she whispered, lowering her lashes.
"No, Kaoru-dono. I'll wait for you, no matter how long,"
"I wish you wouldn't say that. It's fine, Kenshin, I understand. I won't hold it against you if you do. You know that,"
"I know. I want to wait, though. It's always been… special,"
"I know, and I've enjoyed it very much. I just don't want you to hurt yourself over it," she squeezed my hand again.
"It's important to me. If it gets really bad, I'll find someone else, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed, smiling. Megumi knocked and entered to remind me not to keep her awake too long, since she would need lots of rest. I nodded and said goodbye to Kaoru, and then left the room to wait with the other vampires. Megumi took me aside once we were in the hall.
"I can help you find someone to feed on while your wife is sick," she offered.
"No, thanks, Megumi-dono. That won't be necessary,"
"Or if you want, you could feed on me. I should be all right, and I'm the only healthy bound human that's very nearby. Anyone else would take longer to bring in," she observed, and her eyes were the only things not totally professional.
"Yes, Megumi-dono, if you don't mind my asking, how did you keep from becoming sick?"
"I just came here from Aizu when Misao-san told me what was happening here. No one in Aizu is affected, or at least not that I am aware of,"
"Thank you, Megumi-dono. I'll let you know if I need you," I finished and we walked out to the living room. Megumi must have been well-acquainted with vampires' sensory abilities, because she could hide things better than any human I'd met yet. It was either that, or she just didn't feel as much as I expected her to feel at the moment.
When I reentered the living room, I noticed that it was much warmer and brighter than before, and suddenly could barely keep my eyes open. The only vampire left by this time was Tsubame, and she was curled up on the couch. I didn't want to go back into the bedroom and disturb Kaoru, so I took the only remaining option- the floor. I lay down in front of an open window with a shaft of light falling across my face and effectively sending me into oblivion.
When I awoke, I saw Tsubame, predictably still sleeping peacefully in my living room. How would she have left? Every vampire in Japan was probably waking up at this precise moment. She woke up slowly, completely calm. She looked around a moment in the familiar disorientation that comes with waking up in a strange place, but then gasped. She covered her mouth with her hand and froze all except her eyes, which traveled around the room ever more nervously, settling after some deliberation on me.
"I'm so sorry, Sir, I'll be gone before you know it," she apologized profusely, looking around quickly to see if she had any personal items with her that she would need to take.
"No, Tsubame-dono, it's quite all right, that it is," I corrected, not wanting her to feel unwanted. If she actually was unwanted by certain individuals there, it was beyond my control.
"You must all hate me now, trying to hurt your sick human friend…" she continued, ignoring me and still looking around to prepare to leave.
"Tsubame-dono, stop. I don't hate you. I understand that you regret what you did, and believe me, I know what it feels like to do something you regret,"
She did stop. She hadn't actually gathered a thing, for all her searching, and she sat down very slowly as I talked. She was silent for a moment, and heaved a sigh so ragged it seemed to wither even her childish form. She looked around the room again, and looked up at me, seeming to wait for something in the still-dark room. She seemed to need, or maybe just want, an explanation of what I meant by my words on regret.
"Have you ever heard of the vampire in the 1860's that was known as "Battousai" in Kyoto?" I asked.
"Yes, but what could that possibly have to do with…" she looked me up and down again, "oh my g- you're the-"
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well, it's a tad short of my usual length, but that was just too perfect a place to end it. Sorry I'm late- ff.net wouldn't let me in!
Chibi Yuushi: glad you like my interpretation of the events. You are right about "bruja sangre." Glad my action was at least okay… man, do I hate writing fight scenes. I didn't think Shishio changed that much, since in the manga he does seem like a total pyro to me, and he used fire in his fight with Kenshin. I also thought it would be so very like him to wipe out all the innocent little humans for the sake of proving a point to vampires. one of your guesses as to the woman's identity is right, and I'm about to give away which one: who is Shura? Anyway, thanks for the song lyrics! It makes me think of a werewolf.
Houndingwolf: glad you like it so much! Good luck finding better ways to express yourself. Are you doing something strange when you review? Ff.net keeps sending me each of your reviews about 50 times in one day…
Cattibrie393: yes, it is a cure. Megumi is in here somewhere, but I don't think you've met her yet… are you talking about Yumi? The crazy woman is someone you should recognize once you find out her name.
PraiseDivineMercy: know why the fights ended too easily? I despise writing them. Sorry if it makes the suspense out. Yumi has so much to say that entire fics could feature her, but I didn't have much purpose for her in this one. If you'll notice, she at least survived, though! No, the humans are not gone, but they are too sick to be fed upon safely, so they either die or the vampires that usually feed on them resort to regular humans and thus, kill them. You will know soon who the woman is, and I never thought about it, but Hannya does have weird moves like hers. I thought it would be interesting to have Kenshin fight a woman who relied on flexibility, since women are naturally more flexible than men are. They're not really fighting, since he's just trying to restrain her, not injure her, but it still works.
D2k3001: glad you like it! Yes, she will be ok eventually.
Invader Zim: not to worry, ff.net was evil to me, too- I didn't get to post Thursday. Glad to hear it was a glitch that took all my wonderful reviews, I was afraid I didn't get any. Guess what my browser does? When I click "submit review" or "add to favorites" or something at the bottom of a fic, my browser thinks the resulting window is a popup and blocks it. Yes, fan fiction is usually spaced, I think. Yes, Kenji will be here eventually. I rather like him as well. You don't have to have a lot of time to post things, because if you want, you can leave two months in between chapters. You won't get as many reviews, but you can update on any schedule you want. Actually, I'm thinking the story will be longer than I anticipated, because I'm bringing Kanryuu in later, and because I'm enjoying it too darn much to quit.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: glad you like it! I'll update whenever ff.net lets me…