Favors
Chapter 7
Night fell overhead as Issei made his way up the curvy road near the outskirts of Kuoh where the forest resided. Up ahead he saw a single traditional Japanese house that looked cozy enough to fit a small family and big enough to make another house with its wide front. A garage stationed next to the right side of the house was a more up to date building made of metal and equipped with modern assessments judging from the sliding stainless steel garage door and thick plexiglass windows.
Walking up to the house, he passed a faded sign that spelled out 'Aoki's Workshop' in dry ink that looked to be in dire need of a new coating.
Issei steered passed the front of the house and went around back, behind the house which was just as wide the front. In the backyard was another garage this one bigger than the one upfront but old that anyone can tell from the rust. It had the same modern garage opener with a door at its corner, light shone from the barred up windows above letting Issei know people were inside.
He heard two sets of voices as he neared the entrance, knocking once he waited as the voices ceased, a few moments later a deep voice that dragged out words spoken behind the door, "Who is it?"
"It's time to check-in, just to be around each other." Issei smiled as he heard the familiar sound of a pistol being uncocked as the person on the other side unlocked the door. The door swung open to reveal a muscular tan middle-aged Japanese man, his face hardly visible from the scruffy beard and unkempt bedhead that reached his shoulders. His sunken eyes held a shade of brown looking down at him as a single brow disappeared into his long black bangs.
"You don't have to say that every time you knock." He spoke with a voice so dry it could sand rocks.
Nonplussed Issei walked past him, "I got nothing against you watching those nighttime drama flicks. God knows I enjoy them just as much."
He glanced back, "But your passwords suck ass."
He heard Renji mumble something about master cooks and disparager teenagers, but he was too far away to listen or even care.
Inside the garage was filled with various workshop equipment that scattered unprecedentedly around the room but was surprisingly clean for a workshop. The size by itself could fit around thirty people if that didn't include standing on the furniture and the three vehicles parked alongside each other.
A black Imeka with dark tinted windows and the other a red Subaru with a low ride scissor lift stationed underneath. The last vehicle was hidden by a clothed full car cover, the only thing visible was the open hood that displayed the car's inner mechanics that looked unfinished as the parts sat on the ground next to an open toolbox.
Saji was sitting at a metal table cleaning out a silver pistol carefully polishing a white guard. The pistol looked like any firearm one would see at a gun store but looking closer they could see small encrypted symbols with strange bold words trailing around the firearm like a snake coiling around its victims. Saji wore an open black jacket with a purple shirt underneath, dark blue jeans, and a pair of tactical combat boots fitting the role of looking stealthy but not enough to bring attention to himself.
Lying on the table were all types of assortments: a big black gun that looked three times heavier than the one Saji was holding, bullets with different colored casings, disassembled engine parts which were pushed to the side at the moment, and tubes of clear water that gave a rainbow shine when the artificial light overhead reflected the angle just right.
His focus was on point but Saji noticed when Issei walked up behind, setting down the gun fully, turning to both of them who later just finished closing back up the heavily armed door.
"So are we going to do this now or wait until Kiki-san shows?"
Issei stopped before reaching the table, "He's not here?" His voice lowered as he felt his lip twitch when Saji shrugged his shoulders unhelpful. He made a big show of looking everywhere before throwing his hands up frustratingly, " Well isn't that just perfect! I told him to help Blackbeard here to pack up hours ago."
He looked back Renji who was supposed to be responsible for him, "Don't tell me he chickened out after all that crap about 'joining the hunt' or whatever the fuck he said?"
Issei rubbed his forehead in annoyance, "Someone please tell me he wasn't blowing smoke up our asses this whole time. We got more important things than looking for Mario's wayward pet." The first thing to go wrong without his evening even starting.
The next time he sees Kikisitguo Yoshino, he was going to shoot him.
"Relax bean sprouts," Renji said as he walked around the table Saji was cleaning his gun on, grabbing two large black gun cases stacked underneath, "I called him earlier to go on ahead to set up the trap while the both of you took your time getting here."
The big guy walked to the back of the Imeka, Saji so graciously helped him out by putting away the pistol he was cleaning his side holster covered by his jacket and picking up the last black case. Saji easily lifted the carrier with his free hand and grabbed green ammo cases.
"We weren't just taking our time, something did happen on our way over." He said in exasperation, he already relayed the story to him when Issei was dropping off his sister.
"So I heard," Renji mumbled, instead of packing up more he went around the table to stand in front of Issei while Saji went to grab more items ignoring what they were doing. Renji just looked blankly at Issei while he just stared back at him unintimidated.
"As thickheaded as you are, I would have never thought you would be stupid enough to make a situation any worse than it is. But here you are trying to pick a fight with Devil but not just any one of them but it just had to be the most powerful Devil's in society little sister." He spoke in English to not be heard by Saji who kept grabbing their tools.
Issei almost lazily responded, "It was my only approach, otherwise they wouldn't get it through their pretty little heads not to brother and leave us the hell alone."
"Well, the shit we had to deal with lately just isn't going to go away or solve itself with just the three of us! It's not going to be easier either by starting something we could've avoided if you just would've kept your goddamn mouth shut!" Both of them growling like a pack of wild dogs.
Renji would've preferred Issei to just lie to them as long as he could, by staying under their radar. Until they had the full working capacity of their original group or to understand what they were up against. Living out sight is how they managed to survive for so long and picking fights with them was not a method unless they preferred to be dead, Renji wished the idiot would've thought about them instead of showing his ass like some douched up muscle head.
Ever since Issei came back from Tokyo, Renji's been losing members of the group when the Fallen moved into town. The group disbanded with only a few of the seniors staying behind and the younger ones since they had nowhere else to go. Renji has been teaching them with the basics helping them train, some show promise to fill in some of the gaps but not quickly enough. Issei would have a say in the matter but after some arguments from Renji, fighting, yelling, and more fighting both came to the conclusion that it would be Renji's responsibility since he filled the more prominent role better and Issei would only act second in command if anything were to happen.
"And don't say that it was for the best, we all know how much bullshit that was before you went to Tokyo. Ever since you started freelancing you've been doing nothing but avoiding our issues and acting like a distressed drama queen when little things that didn't bug you before now do. You need to pull your head out of your ass and think about the rest of us instead of yourself."
He might be a drunk from time to time but deep down he genuinely cared for their well being seeing as they are so young. If he had it his way none of them would fight until after high school or become of age but life had other ideas. Ever since he was thrust into the world of monsters among men, Aoki's been doing his best to guide them by taking all that he's learned from his time as a Hunter and former serviceman by implying his skills to a bunch of greenies who aren't even at the legal age to do anything.
But not that stopped him like he always says 'If you're old enough to kill, then what's stopping you from chugging down some Bacardi?'
It sounds a lot better when the fights were over.
"When you push someone, you expect them to hit back twice as hard."
"That's never stopped us before, they were eventually going to come to us. I just laid down the ground rules." Issei countered with a low tone that bordered on growling.
"Not everyone's bulletproof! We got our skin to worry about, not just your need to flex every time you're in harm's way!" His hand gripped the edge of the table as his shoulders shook from fury.
"Like they would bother to listen to us. You know how this song and dance go! I won't let some entitled pricks thinking they can wave their little finger at us like their fucking pet servants! What I did was necessary for all of us!" Issei broke out yelling with his eyes slightly glowing with his anger.
Renji yelled as he slammed a hand down on the table, "IT'S NOT YOUR CALL TO MAKE!"
Renji took a sharp intake of air, breathing out heavily from his nostrils looking like a bull ready to charge. The two glared at each other waiting for the other to move just to make an excuse to start throwing punches but an unexpected third party intervened.
"I'd like to say something."
Both heads swiveled in Saji's direction as the young teenager welted under their glares but with momentous strength, he spoke, "I-I think there's a better way to avoid them and not be able to bother us for a while."
Neither two said anything, if they did then it would likely be at each other's throats.
Taking it as a sign Saji continued with more confidence, "We can call in that favor from the Orthodox Church. They did promise they could help us out with any of the bureaucratic fallout between the Devils, I bet they can pull some strings for us." They remembered them or more accurately the Russian priests.
Issei recalled a few months back when the team had more numbers then they did now, the group had taken a job to hunt down a pack wild Manticore's at-...Cheonguni? Chernobog? Chinese song?... He had no idea, all he knew was that it was somewhere in South Korea and there were a lot of trees and a river.
A valley? Whatever.
The people who sent the request wanted the job to be quickly taken care of so they sent a team of their own from the Middle East to join them. At the time they were confident enough to handle the pack but the other group had experience dealing with these kinds of creatures and they were well equipped.
Unfortunately for them, somewhere along the way, the beasts that reminded him of Man-Bear-Pig were picked up by a Stray Devil who used some freaky-deeky mind control on the pack turning them into their attack dog. It became apparent that they weren't going to win when it's new 'master' could effectively control all thirty of them while using coordinated attacks.
As the dogs from hell kept nipping at their heels, they hastily retreated inside an empty temple on the top of the mountain, fortifying themselves as the wild beasts circled them waiting by command of the Stray Devil as he taunted them with promises of horrifying deaths.
With their backs against the wall, help came from the most unexpected of places. Unbeknownst to them, a group of solo exorcists had been tracking down the Stray Devil from Russia for weeks and happened to stumble upon their operation. They managed to get a clear shot to the abdomen with a holy bullet forcing the Stray to retreat into the forest with the wild pack.
After one introduction they joined forces to fight a common enemy, both knew what the other had to do. Issei, or rather 'Dean' had to use his Sacred Gear to his full extent which he managed to kill half on his own while the rest of his team fought the stranglers.
It was one long night of them using guerilla tatics, fire and maneuver, and on-the-spot planning but they managed to kill off the monsters one by one then locate the Stray Devil's hideout. When the Stray was cornered at its shelter it became desperate enough to change into its monster form but the priests were prepared and were able to kill it by setting the place on fire which turned out to be a bad idea in the long run.
The whole forest caught on fire, although they managed to keep the flames controlled with the help of one of the priest's knowing a few water spells, the residents still saw the smoke and called in the State Forest Firefighters.
Safe to say after hearing the familiar sound of sirens, everyone left in a periodic fashion.
No one got hurt except for one of the priests who got tossed around like a bullfighter by a Manticore's goat horn during the fight.
After their three-way joint operation ended the priests offered them compensation for assisting in them which he accepted on their behalf. They became good friends during their short time together, especially with their leader Father Feliks, who had great respect for Issei or rather 'Dean' after seeing him in action taking lethal blows meant for him and protecting everyone during the Manticore fiasco.
Father Feliks (or what he prefers them to call him Eric) felt grateful towards the Hunters he insisted to pay them back for their assistance which came in two parts. The first was a favor that at any point in time they can call them for intel on the Vacant which was pretty devious for a priest to spy on their own but he said something along the lines of 'God will forgive if it's for helping out my fellow 'tovarisch''
He told them of times when their church had to be involved with the Nordic faction in the past when they used to visit parts of Russia for setting up residents and landscaping. Eric said to have contact with one of their blacksmiths that made weapons for the Church and he highly recommends him.
The last thing he said to them was if anything troubles them with authority they can call them to negotiate deals, that goes for monarchy, oligarchy, autarchy, even anarchy although that last one was meant to be a joke. They named it their one free out-of-jail card if they needed to get out of a sticky situation if one of them ended up in prison or got in trouble with the Church. That's if the situation wasn't too severe then they would handle the rest.
Trading in that last one now was a good idea, better than Issei's plan which would backfire in time. They just hope that the favor extends to Devil's as well.
Both of them were in deep thought, thinking it over until Saji said something completely left-field, "If they can't help us then we could always go to Kyoto Sanctuary and send a request to become official Kouh Guardians."
They looked at Saji like he lost his mind to which he defended, "I know we don't like talking about it, but can we at least consider them an option or a last resort if it comes down to it. If we can become legal guardians of this town then they have to let us go otherwise they risk going to war with another Faction."
He shrugged his shoulders weakly, "It's not perfect but it's the best I could think of on the way over. Either that or we contact the League for help, but I know how both of you feel about them."
He wasn't wrong, they weren't an official organization so technically any Faction could go to war with them and they wouldn't be able to stop them. The only reasons why they're still operating are their methods of making new weapons, cheap services, and their centerpiece Sacred Gear Users.
Others would not stand if one Patheon starts mass extermination of God's Artifacts from paranoia and risk going to war with the one even two of the Big Three's, not to mention other Religions that hold Sacred Gear Users in high regards since none have the means to integrate them into their society like Evil Pieces can or they have to wait for the natural way and hope that one is born into their clans.
Issei didn't like it one bit, he'd rather shoot his foot than ask anything from those guys. Not to mention the major dissing he a few hours ago would make him feel like a total hypocrite by asking someone else for help.
Lately, the Shinto Faction have been more or less on and off with Hunters, that's mostly due to the bigotry they face from some of the extremists in their groups. But there have been cases where they were allowed to take requests for a Hunt they couldn't handle.
He might hate them for doing nothing the majority of the time that doesn't mean he outright despises them for being different. He appreciated how they looked.
His only response to why was simple, 'Sexy Fox Girls.'
"Fine." Renji spat out bringing him back to the conversation. Far from finished, he turned to Issei raising a finger at him.
"But if Sirzechs goddamn Lucifer comes down here because he feels his younger sister's being threatened. It's all on you." He said before digging into his vest hidden pockets to grab his silver flask, drinking its warm contents to calm his nerves.
With the matter settled Issei walked to the Black Imeka to the side passengers, inside the glove compartment he pulled out a black handgun similar to Saji's design but held more of an old look with a few scuff marks on the wooden grip and what was once a chrome now worn down from age. It still had its uses and purpose for one being able to still fire although the gun had a much deeper linking to him than that. He would never change the handle more so because of its sentimental values and for the fact that the runes on the gun would not allow anyone other than a professional enchanter to take off its plates without blowing themselves up.
Issei has been on the lookout but he never found the opportunity or trust for his 'baby' to be fixed by the hands of a stranger. Since it's maker had gone missing before Issei could request for new repairs.
As more the other parts he does change them regularly since they tend to wear out by the end of the third month from all the activities it's been through. Satisfied he added it to his waistband and went back to the table as Saji picked up the last of the cases.
"Oh yeah, hey dumbass! You'll need this." Raji threw something at Issei that he caught reflexively before it hit his face intently. The object in hand was a thick black leather bracelet with small colored rocks embedded in the accessory like a cheap ware one would find at a second-hand store.
"What's with the heel is with the goth wear?"
"Say hello to the new and improved 'Shimmer Glimmer'." He with the same dry voice while shaking both hands in a 'be amazed' fashion.
"Don't go breaking it like the last one, try it on." He slipped it on his left wrist and almost immediately he felt something off. Looking at the hood of the Imeka he saw his whole image change into his older persona without using his magic. Marveling at how fast the change happened he also noticed just how better it was compared to his illusion magic, small details that weren't there before now shown by the hair on his head to the faded cuts on his hands.
"They said it needs to have a constant source for it to work, wear it on the left arm and it'll keep the charge still going, if you give it too much it'll break."
"At least this time we can keep your glamour spell at a low you can save up that energy in a fight." He referred to his 'masking' spell that took him ages to cast and it still took a great chunk from his small reserves. Although he was proud to have done something that seemed unattainable for a muggle such as himself.
Issei shook his head, "I'm not calling that."
"I'm not the one who made it." Renji shrugged uninterestedly reaching into his back pocket he took out a small notepad, "Here's the address to the warehouse, we'll be scouting the area before we head there directly."
Muscle memory from his days in the military kicked in as he looked over his shoulder at Saji who straightened his back instinctively from the sharp look, "The whole street is mapped out and we have gathered intel on the surrounding area, the next course of action is to communicate with our insider and request an update with the situation. If there have been any changes then our first act would be to get our scout out to regroup and re-strategize the situation. If there have been no changes then we process as planned but since we are on neutral terrain and our target is located inside civilian territory…" He motioned his hand to Saji who understood.
"We double-check the area in case of civilian interference or by other observing parties to determine if they will interfere with the mission. Safely will be our top priority since groups are more active during the night, if any Fallen have been spotted we retreat immediately."
Loss is not an option. Reji drilled into his head day one, it doesn't matter what task they had on hand as long as they could get in and out without losing their lives is worth celebrating over. The living could always try again, the dead could not.
"That's right," Renji said approvingly.
"Nice rolling calling Gunny Hartman but we gotta get going." Issei cut in literally between the two breakings whatever moment they were having to grab the key to the Imeka.
"You get to drive the Momma Vic."
Ignoring any objection, he hopped inside the vehicle and was the first to leave when the garage door opened.
(Line Break)
Issei pulled around the corner of the open parking lot. Off to the side, he spotted a boy a tad bit younger than him on his knees looking down at something but looked up when he saw the vehicle approaching. The teen had long greasy jet black hair that covered his forehead, nothing too distinctive about him other than the more slightly tanned skin of an athlete and the scars that ran along with his hands like he got in a fight with a cat and lost. On that topic from Issei's point of view, he could see his palms were covered in something crimson like he was out recently covering up a few bodies. He dusted off the questionably red material on his pants when Issei parked the car.
Kikisitguo smiled widely as Issei got out, "Hey Hyoudou-san! I got the stuff Renji-sama said you needed and I just set up the trap!"
The car door groaned as he shut it, he looked around before setting his eyes at the single warehouse. A small pressure built up in his left hand as he moved closer to the dark building. He stopped next to the Hunter in training without taking his eyes off the place he went straight to business, "See anything come or go?"
Yoshino shook his head, "Naw, it's just been me so far and I think I know why. I'm not an expert, but it looks like the Stray set up one of those wards that keeps people from getting too close."
He wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I'd thought it was trying to be considerate until I got close, even over a block from there I could easily smell the rot coming from the inside. I'll tell you what, compared to that I'd say slaughterhouse's smell better."
Issei half-listening kept looking even as the other car pulled up next to Issei's. Renji and Saji got out of the vehicle, Saji went for the trunk while Renji pulled out his flask to take another sip, the content slipped down his throat and a few escaped into his beard.
Wiping away the spilled liquor on his jeans as he talked with Yoshino for a short while the kid nodded and walked to the back with Saji. The older man stood side by side with Issei surveying the building like him, "It looks like the right size to hide in, there has to be a backdoor to this place.
"Right there." Issei pointed to a barely visible small door on the left side. "I'll go that way, you guys coming from the front. We're lucky it's just a Low Class, we have enough rounds to hurt it before we take it around back."
Renji, "You want to take the lead on this one?"
"I thought you would want to."
Renji shrugged, "Naw, you get to play bait this time. Your God awful lizard BO will be enough for it to focus on you and we'll just annoy it at best."
Issei and Draigg felt indignant from that, "At least I don't smell like cat piss."
"I think you're mistaking it as your own you sweaty hooker."
As they started dishing out insults like the mature adults they were, Saji went up to Kikisitguo handing him a gun case, "Hey Kiki-san, the shipment came in last night. I already installed its new features."
Like a kid on Christmas Yoshino eagerly grabbed the case setting it on the ground, snapping it open to reveal the hidden treasure within, "Hello beautiful."
As he was going to reach in to grab it he heard something that made him look at Renji shocked, "Wait, what was that you said?"
"Emperor Fucknut thought you got cold feet and left," Renji told him with a slight slur in his voice. Renji's strange way of preparing for a fight is to have the right amount of alcohol in his system and it was even more strange he has more focus than any of them, so it didn't cause a panic that their leader was drunk off his ass before a firefight.
Yoshino looked at the brunette with a hurt look, Issei ignored him and went straight to the warehouse back entrance. He touched the ground where Yoshi was kneeling moments ago, "How long has it been since it moved?"
The teen pushed his personal feelings to the side although he did feel a bit bummed, "Not since this morning when it came back from hunting."
Standing back up he finally took his eyes off the building to now stare intently at the floor, "It looks good."
He turned around to face all three of them, "Ok here's how it'll play: I'll get point, Yoshi you go far, find a good vantage point from between there." He said pointing at two buildings on the opposite side of the street. "Renji, you and Saji go around the front and try to get it out in the open."
Yoshino nodded his head grabbing the gun case with the ammo can next to it while Renji pulled out his handgun checking over the bullets as Saji nodded his eyes full of cautiousness but with an equal amount of determination.
"Alright boys, it's time to shake the hornet's nest."
I know, this chapter may seem harsh on Issei but it needed to be written. All characters have motivations that will affect how they interact with each other, which is going to add the factor of how the group works, some will clash against his methods and some will change him. Ddraig is one of the leading factors to work on that. In the end, it all comes down to what they need to do to survive and how they function/operate together. This is why I had Issei feel like the Hunter business shouldn't have gotten this big so early, but it was bound to happen their small group would start to expand into bigger operations. With him (not wanting to be) had become an icon for others to join. It got way out of his control very quickly, as you could tell he doesn't want to become apart of an organization since you know the Dean Winchester's side of him does things in a traditional sense and he's not one to lead big groups. There have been several occasions when he led large groups but it's not his style to be a leader, he's more of a grunt which is said by several of his peers in the past. Sure in theory he could be a great leader in time no doubt and if forced to he would've considered keeping the position. So for why he's being a dick to others is due to stress, and let me tell you if I had to teach and lead children to hunt down monsters of the night it would not be a fun time for me. He's got a lot on his plate right now and Renji does too as the Team Leader. There's going to be tough times ahead that's for sure and I hope you guys can give me other pointers on which directions this group is going to lead. I made sure to make a few things stay blank so that when the time comes I can fill in the right moment, keep some things shady to make some surprises catch you off guard.
Keep the reviews coming and bring up points for me to improve the 'Hunter Faction'. I used to think I could write this all out by myself but if I want to get this done faster, I will need all the help I could get. If anyone out there is good with writing skills please PM me and we can chat on the side.
Keep shiny planet Earth until then,
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