Chapter 11: A-Side of my Universe

Name: Honda Hiroto

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Nothing of any importance happened until Isis and Rashid rounded up a group of dissenters like myself. Isis had made contact with the leader of the Vampires, a guy named Yami, and we were all supposed to meet. Apparently Isis wasn't one to just sit by and not take revenge when her brother was murdered. Well, I was game, so I came with them. I was worried when I didn't see Otogi with Isis, but I sort of knew he wouldn't be coming with us.

Anyway, the meeting wasn't much to speak of. Nothing terrible important happened until the battle began.

As for the battle? I hated it. It was one of the most disgusting things I've ever participated it. It wasn't that I'm averse to killing. Hell no. I killed my first vampire when I was thirteen or fourteen. I had been raised to take respect life, to term it loosely, but be willing to take it if I had to. And when someone's swinging a weapon at your head, you don't really have a great alternative if you want to see your next birthday.

What really hit me, deep in the stomach, was how easy it was. I'd never killed a person before, only vampires. But I could easily slice a fellow hunter's throat open with my sword. They were my kind, but I was killing them without a thought, and they would have killed me without a second glance. But there were other things that happened that I hated even more.

There was fighting all around me; vampires and hunters defending and attacking everywhere. I could feel the blood splash onto my clothes and I looked around at the carnage. There was a large staircase leading to the entrance the other hunters had come through. The fighting had begun in the entrance, but quickly it had spread to include the stairs and the upper level. I tried to decide who had the upper hand, but it was impossible to tell.

After a moment I found Isis battling a hunter near the ledge. She was pressed against the glass that divided the ledge from open air, and she was desperately trying to defend herself. Slashing across her attacker's eyes and stomach, Isis winced as the blood splashed over her face and shirt, but her opponent wasn't dead yet. Plunging her dagger into Isis's stomach, the hunter collapsed into a heap. I watched as Isis sank to her knees, pulling the dagger out of her stomach.

Leaping over a hunter's back, I ducked and spun as I tried to reach Isis and avoid getting hit with a weapon at the same time. It wasn't easy and I still got nicked with a sword, which cut my face so badly that it has since left a scar.

When I finally reached Isis, she had already died, but I didn't know it. Her eyes were wide open and their unfocused gaze was directed on the ground to her right, away from where I stood. I knelt next to her, putting away my weapons, and tried to find a pulse, but, of course, I didn't. Looking at her hand, I found a wedding band, and smiled. At least she had been happy… a little.

"Is she dead?" A voice asked and I looked up to see Otogi standing a few feet away. He was also wearing the traditional capes like the other hunters, but he had taken down his hood so I could see his face clearly. I saw that he was sweating heavily and his clothes were splashed with blood, and so was his face.

"She's dead." I agreed, replying cautiously.

"So is Rashid." Otogi shrugged, looking around idly at the battle that surrounded us. In a way it was very surreal. There I was, kneeling next to Isis's dead body, surrounded by death and blood, but I was talking casually to my boyfriend as if it were all normal and routine.

"He was wearing a wedding band, like Isis. He's not to far away… in case you want to see him," Otogi continued, motioning behind himself to indicate the direction in which Rashid lay.

"Thank you," I nodded, but made no move to get up. We looked at Isis's body again for a moment, before I reached across her face and pushed her eyes closed, so they wouldn't continue their unseeing gaze.

"You're bleeding," Otogi offered as I pulled away from Isis.

"You don't look much better," I snapped defensively. I saw a flash of movement out of the cornor of my eye, and turned to see a hunter running at me. Grabbing his arm, I threw him against the wall and used my sword to slit his throat. I turned back in time to see Otogi wipping his blade, while taking a step away from the dead vampire at his feet. I glared at him for a moment, before going on. "So? Aren't you supposed to attack me?"

"I was waiting for you," Otogi laughed shortly, smirking down at me.

I smiled back and stood up.

"Then it's decided. Turn around," I ordered, grabbing onto his upper arm.

"What are you going to do?" Otogi asked, a little wary as I pulled out my dagger from where I had put it earlier.

"Wait and see," I grinned as I suddenly grabbed Otogi's ponytail and yanked his head back. Slicing down with my dagger, I cut off the chunk of hair, before pushing Otogi's hips against the glass divider. "Just play dead."

Pulling out my gun, I fired two shots over his shoulder and gently pushed Otogi over into empty space.

Tipping over the rail, Otogi flipped over in the air and looked up at me as he plummeted towards the ground floor. I could see his hands flailing in the air as they searched for something to grab onto. Our eyes met and I could see the fear and betrayal that he felt. I felt tears prick at my eyelids and I bit my lip, drawing blood when my teeth ripped the inner tissue of my mouth, but I ignored the pain.

Wincing, I flinched and looked away when Otogi's right shoulder crashed into the ground below and his head smacked the floor soon afterwards. I watched him for a second after the impact, but he didn't move. I wasn't sure if he was doing as I had told him, for once in his life, or if I had really killed him, but either way his limp body ripped at my heart.

Turning away, I took a deep breath, and held Otogi's distinctive ponytail over my head.

"I've killed Otogi Ryuji!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, squeezing my eyes shut. "Otogi Ryuji is dead by my hand!"

There was as slight pause, as a few stopped to listen. And then there was a rush of panicked voices. I opened my eyes to watch most of the hunters beating a retreat. Even Otogi's father looked stricken when he saw that I had Otogi's ponytail. It seemed that my plan had worked. If you killed off an important leader, the rest would withdraw and think and regroup. It would buy us time, which we needed. And it was working.

But what did I hate most about the battle? I hated that my plan worked, that they all believed me. The hunters believed that I killed my own lover; even his father believed me. And that's what tore me to shreds.

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