Disclaimer: I'm writing a fan fiction, aren't I?

Chappie nine here. Here I am writing when I should be studying but I can't seem to get my head off this fic! It's kinda preoccupying if you ask me… although you go out winning don't you? I update quite regularly. Around the weekends.

False Step Closer

"You shouldn't have come." Gingetsu said coldly without turning even. "I don't need back up."

"I know that Lieutenant but Kazuhiko asked me to accompany you." Walter answered. Gingetsu was quite evidently not happy with having the man with him in the mission. It wasn't about his age, he knew perfectly well that Walter was powerful enough to deal with whatever they found. He just didn't like having a partner that wasn't Kazuhiko. He didn't know how Walter handled the fights, and he likes to be in control.

Gingetsu came to a halt and pressed his back against the wall. Walter did the same.

"I thought you were retired." Gingetsu commented starting to walk again.

"I occasionally will intervene in some special missions if asked."

Gingetsu didn't say anything else as he moved forward.

Then he suddenly moved to the right, liquidly elegant in his movement and slashed by the middle a ghoul jumping to them. Walter sent his wires out to get rid of the rest. He was surprised by Gingetsu's reflexes.

"Split." Gingetsu said and without waiting for an answer, that anyway wasn't coming, he turned to the right of the alley and disappeared.

Walter slashed all the ghouls and followed him to the right. He ended up in another alleyway, but Gingetsu was nowhere to be seen. Frowning a bit Walter looked around wondering where the Lieutenant could have gone.

He heard a noise and turned sharply. A large man had lunged against him. Walter tensed his wires and prepared to receive his attack.

But as the man was almost over him a sword blocked his blades shoving them apart. Then Gingetsu turned faster than a blink of the eye and threw a back kick at the man's head.

The man tumbled backwards a bit, cleaning his bloody lip with the back of his hand.

"Hello Lieutenant Colonel. Seriously now, it seems like you love to interrupt me." He said, sadistic smile on his face. Gingetsu stood in front of him, blocking Walter with his body. The man noticed this, of course. "Oh, Gingetsu has new friends? I'm surprised."

"Leave Barus I don't have time to deal with you." Gingetsu coldly answered.

"Sure, if you have to be protecting the guy…"

"I was protecting you." Gingetsu replied. "I promised Kazuhiko I would let him kill you."

"If you think that guy could take me down…"

"I don't carry useless things with me Barus you know that." Gingetsu cut him, half turning. "He doesn't need me." Walter wasn't quite sure it was a compliment to him, but still half smiled.

"How is the Prince?" Barus asked. Gingetsu didn't answer.

"Let's move Walter." He said looking through his visor. Walter nodded and followed him.

"We'll be seeing each other again, old-timer." Barus greeted before turning and leaving himself. Walter observed him with an eyebrow arched.

"If you fight him" Gingetsu said. "Don't kill him. He's Kazuhiko's."

"Who is the 'Prince'"

"That's what he calls Kazuhiko. He loathes it."

"Oh." Walter thought Barus seemed the kind of sick man Alucard would have a lot of fun with.

The reason why Walter was with Gingetsu in this mission actually was that Kazuhiko was, though better, still in bed, and Niko remained quite weak. Besides that apparently the people they were dealing with did not like vampires… so neither Alucard nor Seras could come either, because they could be injured.

Walter seemed the obvious choice... Gingetsu wasn't happy about it.

They entered a house and carefully walked in the hall, looking around in alert.

It was afternoon, and the light was getting more and more orange and dim. The house looked to be very long abandoned now, being filthy and covered in dust and earth. There were old newspapers lying round spread open, against the walls there were rotten wooden planks leaning out of the way. Some had fallen to the ground and were being used as hideouts for all kinds of creatures: cockroaches, rats and more.

The stairs, situated in front of the door didn't look in very good shape. It looked like they were going to fall down any time soon. The wallpaper was torn out and ripped to shreds. Running aside the stairs a hallway was submerged in shadows. Close to them a door opened to the right. Another door was a dark hole where the hallway finished.

"Go right." Gingetsu commanded carefully judging the stairs with his visor. When the analysis told him it was safe enough, he started climbing up.

Walter tensed his wires, prepared, and went in the door. It was a living room. As filthy as the hall, the windows were broken and the orange light of the sundown crept lazily inside, as the soft wind slowly moved the shreds that were left behind the curtains. The room was secure.

The Angel of Death headed toward a door to his left that seemed to lead to the kitchen. Moving slowly, he looked inside taking the whole room in front of him with a quick eye.

There was a slight noise in the roof of the kitchen. Gingetsu was moving upstairs. Walter observed quite apprehensively that the kitchen ceiling suffered and dust came down along with some pieces of the paint. That wasn't safe at all.

Then he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye. His wires went to it more instinctively than anything else and soon he had a prisoner: a tall, very thin man. He was well dressed though, which ruled out the possibility of a homeless taking advantage of the rotten house.

Walter smiled wickedly. The ceiling moaned some more and he decided staying there was not smart. Dragging the moaning guy with him he went back to the living room. He tightened his wires so the man would shut up. It worked.

The Angel heard Gingetsu coming down stairs, preceded by another man. He wasn't pushing him but he had the sword in his hand and he wasn't exactly tender… you got the idea.

Gingetsu pointed him to the living room. The man stood next to Walter's prisoner.

"Who are you?" Gingetsu asked. He was the kind of man that stuck to business… Walter knew that.

"You'll never stop us." The man replied fiercely, though Walter could see he was quite scared of Gingetsu. He wondered if the Lieutenant had some kind of reputation…

"I didn't ask you that." Gingetsu replied very coldly lifting his sword so the sharp end of it was inches away from the man's neck. The guy shivered. "Who are you?" Gingetsu repeated. It was obvious he didn't like games.

"We are many." The man answered. "You'll never stop us."

Gingetsu moved the sword quickly forward and cut slightly the man's neck, drawing blood to the surface. The man moaned. Walter frowned. The sword rested on the man's shoulder, dangerously close to his neck. The threat was palpable.

"Last chance." Gingetsu warned low. He was serious.

"We work for an Organization." The man Walter had answered. Gingetsu shifted only a bit, still keeping the other in his visual, to look at him.

"What Organization?"

"They call it Shine Heaven Now."

Walter hissed. "Alexander Anderson has that written on his gloves." He said when Gingetsu turned slightly to him. "Miss Nagisa said he was here."

"Is it related to the Vatican?" Gingetsu asked.

The man shook his head. "I don't know."

"What about Azurite government?"

"I don't…"

"Tell me what you know." Gingetsu interrupted him.

"We… were sent here to take care of the sorcerers and the wizards that are with the Organisation. They had a mission. I don't know what. They summon things, I'm not sure what… they open portals. They said they were going to take down certain variables…they said we couldn't have any loose ends. The wouldn't take rogue vampires, they said… they brought this guy to take down someone else… they said it was dangerous to have him around… and the other guy, the priest to slow down the vampire, I don't know…"

"Good." Gingetsu quieted him. He drove his left hand to the visor and it made a little noise.

"Nakamura come in and retrieve two arrests. You know my position."

Next he retrieved his sword and turned his back on the guy, without worrying about an attack. "Let's go Walter." He said. Walter loosened the wires and followed him.

Before leaving Gingetsu stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Leave this room and I will send a vampire after you." He said in a monotonous tone. Then he turned and left, with the certainty of the man that knows he will be obeyed.

+break+

"They sent Barus to take me down, probably Kazuhiko too. The priest is for Alucard surely. As for what they want I can't tell yet, but I will find out." Gingetsu finished. He was standing in front of Integra's desk, hands behind his back, assuming the role of the officer informing his superior though Integra was no such thing.

She nodded. "We need to move faster." She said. "If they are looking to summon something we can't afford to lose any more time. It is time to finish this parade."

"They are very well organised…" Gingetsu commented. "I believe those men were there actually to be found by us."

"Explain yourself Lieutenant."

"It was too easy Sir Hellsing." Gingetsu replied simply. "We never should have found them like that. I suspect they are letting us know what they want to make us think we are on the right track… An Organisation such as this would not use a man easily scared by a sword on his throat. He should have known I wouldn't kill him before getting what I wanted. It was a set up."

"You mean we're back to where we started, nothing new…"

"No, what they said was true. They couldn't lie, both Walter and I would have known if they did. I was scanning him with my visor and he was telling the truth… but he spoke too quickly. I wasn't actually applying enough pressure to get him to talk. "

"I was convinced you were going to kill him though." Walter replied. Gingetsu shook his head.

"Not before getting my answers Walter, obviously. Those men weren't trained to deal with people like us. They were bait." Gingetsu thought a moment. "There's something else… Barus, showing himself like that. He gave away the fact that he's here… he surely knew I already knew that. But he attacked Walter and that makes no sense. Then he didn't provoke me into a fight… he just left."

"Maybe he was trying to take him down first, thinking he was weaker…"

"If I had access to Walter's files and knew his capabilities so did Barus, Sir Hellsing." Gingetsu replied. Walter stared angrily. " He knows who Walter is. It was deliberate."

"Then why…?"

"That I still don't know. But I will find out." Gingetsu said. "If you'll excuse me I would like to see Kazuhiko."

"Of course Lieutenant." Integra said nodding.

Gingetsu left.

"I was certain he was going to kill that man Sir Integra." Walter commented adopting a thoughtful look.

Integra didn't answer. Gingetsu kept surprising and confusing them.

+break+

Niko sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Kazuhiko's face, thinking. She hadn't wanted to see him in the last days, fearing she couldn't hold her tears back, and worried about her instincts. She had attacked Gingetsu that night and didn't want to run the risk over Kazuhiko. Obviously she would have liked to stay away from Gingetsu too… but she was thankful it had been him. He was powerful enough to reject her.

Niko lightly ran her fingertips over Kazuhiko's left cheek. He moved unconsciously toward the caress and she smiled. He was so charming when he slept… so innocent he seemed. Kazuhiko was not a cruel person… just a brutally honest one. However that didn't make him unapproachable. You just had to be a firm person to be with him. That's why he got along so well with Gingetsu and herself. They both knew who they were… well at least in some ways.

Niko saw Kazuhiko stir in his sleep, and rested her hand on the pillow next to his cheek. The man breathed deeply and moved his head. His eyes opened slowly. He wasn't being drugged anymore but he was still weak.

When his eyes focused and he saw Niko he smiled sweetly to her.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Hey…" Niko smiled dimly. She absently brushed the hair off his forehead.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. Niko stared at his chocolate brown eyes. "Gingetsu and Seras told me you were very weak."

Niko bit back her tears. He was in bed, burned and hurt because of her and he was asking for her health? How could he be so selfless, so kind?

"Why did you do it Kazuhiko?" she asked seriously. His smile trembled but remained. His eyes softened.

"I've lost too many people because I was weak Niko. I wasn't loosing you too."

There was a long silence. They stared into each other's eyes. She didn't need to read his mind to understand what he felt.

"It wasn't your fault, Kazuhiko." She whispered cupping his cheek with her hand. "Oruha… Suu… it wasn't your fault."

"I couldn't protect them…"

"You never could have… It was beyond you. You know this… "

"Well I should have been able to." Kazuhiko closed his eyes.

"It still hurts you…"

"I wish I could just forget… but I can't. I miss them both so much… it won't let me go on."

"Why would you want to forget them?" Niko asked softly. He opened his eyes to look at her. The pain in him was so deep, so tearing…

"I want the pain to go away." He answered inaudibly.

"Well I hope you don't. They don't deserve to be forgotten Kazuhiko." Niko said. She leaned forward and stroked his forehead caringly.

There was a long silence.

"Why did they have to go…?" he whispered. Niko looked at his eyes, surprised by the question, by the pain in his voice. He didn't understand…

"They're not gone Kazuhiko…" she replied smiling lovingly to him. She took her other hand to his heart and left it there. "They're here. Right here, always with you…"

Kazuhiko moved her hand away and shifted in the bed, facing away from her. Niko blinked to hold back tears. She was crying for him. His soul was torn apart by his feelings. And he didn't even fully understand them.

Niko leaned forward and kissed him gently in his temple. She stayed like that, leaned over him, offering him the only thing she could right now: her presence.

Well that was chapter nine. The plot is getting unravelled now. It was about time right? Ninth chapter… there will be some more explaining on Kazuhiko's past too and about Oruha and Suu. Also you'll be getting to know Barus. Heh.

Until then

Namariel out!