Whoo, back again! Higurashi Month 2019, because it has become one of my lowkey life goals to keep perpetuating this until it becomes a proper tradition for all three-and-a-half people in this graveyard of a fandom. And then keep doing it anyways, because tradition. If you wish to check out the prompt list, its on my tumblr page under the same username.

June 17th, 2019

The rattle of gunfire burst through the abandoned church, pews exploding and splinters flying everywhere. Black pockmarks burst into the old plaster of the chapel walls, an ominous trail of destruction resembling swiss cheese trailing in her wake as she bounced around the room. A reliquary, tucked away in an undamaged corner, held banks upon banks of tiny votive candles, their warm yellow flames flickering and swaying behind their dark red glass and shedding the only light in the rapidly-crumbling church.

Satoko Hojo grinned, baring sharp, needle-like fangs, as her feet brushed lightly against the old black support beam that grounded the roof, and she launched off with enough force to outrace a modern fighter jet, the pulse of air exploding outwards and making the candles sway and dance frantically in their holders.

Her prey, waiting for her as he stood near the altar, gun upraised, wasn't ready for her, not even close. Well, what could one expect, from a vampire weak enough to actually rely on a gun for defense?

There was a crunch and an inhuman shriek as Satoko's fangs clamped around cool, clammy flesh, a flat burst of sour blood trickling into her mouth, cold and dead. She swallowed regardless –waste not, want not.

Her prey began to dissolve, and Satoko quickly opened her jaws, watching the male –dressed in a grimy hoodie and jeans– fall back and disintegrate into ash, machine gun slipping from his collapsing fingers as gritty grey ash spilled across the ground. A few sparks lit off where his unholy ashes dared to contact the blessed altar, and Satoko smirked. The fool had been quite, quite desperate, to take shelter in the House of God, which hated them both, though she was strong enough to walk there more or less with impunity.

Satoko bowed, flourishing an ironic salute to the large, carven crucifix dangling from the ceiling, before she turned on her booted heel and began to walk out, the long tail of her black cloak swaying behind her small athletic back.

The gibbous moon glowed a silvery white in the great open space of the sky as she flung the doors open, letting in the cool, soothing scent of the night to the ruined church, and Satoko filled her miniature lungs with the familiar aroma of dew and the plants bedecked with it, smiling in satisfaction.

Her form writhed and fell apart, and a chittering cloud of bats winged their way up into the skies, clawing at the cool night air they ascended towards the moon.

"Target has been silenced." Satoko announced cheerfully to her current leash-holder, one Mion Sonozaki, scion of the legendary vampire-hunting Sonozaki clan. Her identical younger twin, Shion Sonozaki, gave a cheerful wave from her place playing chess by the fire with her personal vampire, Satoko's older brother Satoshi. (They had both been turned at the same time, but since Satoshi had always been her big brother, and still looked it, Satoko saw no reason to change his title.)

"Good job." Mion reported absently, her teal eyes intently focused on the sepia map laid out before her. "Where?"

Satoko pointed, and Mion carefully marked the place with a red pin, then looked up and offered Satoko a warm, if slightly wan, smile. Satoko studied her mistress critically, though her bright red eyes showed none of her thoughts. It had seemed barely a blink ago that Mion was the same height as Satoko, a wide-eyed little girl eager to play, but now she was on the cusp of adulthood, and already battle-worn and wear from her family work. A twinge of concern squirmed in Satoko's belly as she considered how quickly her most favorite mistress thus far would age, and then die. None of the previous Sonozaki leaders had understood Satoko and her brother quite so well, and she would miss Mion dearly once the exuberant young woman was gone.

The door to the Sonozaki hold suddenly burst open, and Satoko turned as Satoshi rose, both of their fangs instantly bared as Mion reached for a stake and Shion her wards. However, their instant bristle of readiness was unnecessary, for the abrupt and dramatic intrusion was merely two of Mion's informants and connections to the church –one sub-deacon named Keiichi Maebara, and his partner and fellow hunter, the nun Rena Ryugu. They flapped into the room, holy robes akimbo, in the irritably disheveled and exhausted manner of two agents after a long mission. Both of their draping holy garments were spattered in clotted blood both dark and crimson, gritty with ash, and Keiichi had a thermite burn on his left sleeve, Rena an ashy streak of the same chemical on her cheek.

"Ghouls." Keiichi proclaimed aloud, identifying the source of their mussed appearance and subsequent pique, and then collapsed dramatically into a chair, long limbs flopping, as Rena quietly walked over and placed their pins.

"It's been a rough night for everyone." Satoshi observed sympathetically as Keiichi's auburn-haired partner then flopped down onto a couch next to him, and Keiichi waved a groggy hand in acknowledgement.

"Oh-ho-ho~!" Satoko laughed behind her hand, red eyes glinting maliciously at the two exhausted humans. "My my, Keiichi, it seems all your tough talk has come to nothing! Being so exhausted over mere ghouls~!"

"They were very big and there were a lot of them!" the brunet yelped in he and his partner's defense, rosary jingling on his chest as he flailed indignantly with all four limbs. Mion and her compatriots laughed, and Shion got up to draw the curtains.

"Someone's planning something." she announced succinctly, looking out into the gloomy night. "Too many incidents spread over too wide an area."

"Well, we'll be ready for them!" Mion added firmly, clenching her fist as her teal eyes gleamed with determination. Satoko had no doubt they would. Two vampires, a nun, a priest, and a pair of hunters –a grouping like that was just asking for trouble of the bloodiest kind.

The small blonde vampire grinned, baring her fangs. She couldn't wait.

AN: As an asexual, am I allowed to say "I'm always a slut for X"….?

I'll risk it.

I'm always a slut for Hellsing. Vampires and violence and aesthetic, fuck yeah.

8.33 AM, USA Central Time