Chapter 6
If she had known the huntress was a chain smoker, she would have avoided wearing her poor butterflies out in tracing her; she could recognize that disgusting smell of smoke even a mile away. Indeed, there was no need to use the smell: on the pursuit's way, the Mukami were following her; and she was so glad about it.
How many great things have been happening, she thought wryly, as she looked around carefully, realizing that they were in a quite deserted street near a to-be-renovated area. Probably the huntress was quite confident in her abilities; she knew that the girl would have followed her and had deliberately led her into that abandoned neighbourhood to face her directly.
She stopped, muttering incomprehensible words, and looked at the female figure standing a little far away from her, holding a cigarette in her fingers, exhaling smoke with exhibitionist-ish gestures.
I'm gonna make it explode in your face, I swear, she thought again, with a nerve pulsing painfully on her temple; obviously annoyed, Yuuma, who was munching on some sugar, shoved her from behind, mumbling not to waste any more time. Fortunately, Mary managed to keep her balance (and above all to ignore the excruciating pain that had radiated from her back to her whole body); she turned to him, eyes twitching.
- What's your problem? – she snapped, though keeping a minimum of demeanour; the giant opened his mouth, at first surprised by the girl's hostile tone, then shaking a fist.
- Huh?! I just told you not to waste time, we don't have all night to get ri-...
- That woman - she interrupted him, under Kou's amused eyes and Ruki's stern ones; Azusa was looking at them timidly with a finger on his lips - could kill us anytime, we must be caref-...
- HUH?! Oi, Mesubuta!
E-Eh? Mesu... bu-buta...?!
- Don't you dare underestimate us, we're not weak! - he yelled at her, grabbing her shirt collar aggressively and staring at her. She didn't react immediately, still processing the nickname she had just been called with; she loosened her hand's grip, thus dropping the school bag and the paper bag containing the new clothes and the chocolate bars.
Ruki took advantage of the moment of silence to scold Yuuma, intimating him to lower his voice; in the meanwhile Azusa was biting his finger, envious of the girl's position, as he was imagining to be in her place and hit by his big brother.
- Maybe not weak, but surely you lack intellect... - Mary murmured at one point, scrutinizing the vampire who widened his eyes, quite shocked; Kou stifled a laugh, then burst out laughing.
- HUH!? You...
The girl suddenly felt an electric shock crossing her spine; she managed to push Yuuma off and quickly jumped to the road's side, dodging just in time an invisible entity dropping onto the ground and crushing it: the vampires, astonished, retreated.
Mary clicked her tongue: her arms were sore, probably because of the immense effort to move the giant, who was cursing like a sailor; she was also afraid she had annoyingly sprained her ankle; finally, remembering her purchases and her school bag, she shifted her attention to what had remained of it, grumbling bitterly.
She heard Ruki's cold voice telling his angry brother to be quiet, while Kou and Azusa turned restlessly towards the woman who was progressively approaching them, quiet, producing a ticking sound at each step because of her boots' heels.
The girl followed their eyes and widened her eyes as she saw a luminescent hand raising with a quick and decisive gesture in their direction: with feline speed she went in front of the two confused vampires and raised her hands in front of herself as to stop something; along the skin of her fingers, burgundy veins appeared.
A violent impact struck her on the two Mukami brothers; the three of them stumbled to the ground, her back on the blonde, who let out a surely irritated groan; to get away the girl rolled to the side, clenching her teeth with pain, but in that way she bumped Azusa, making him sigh out of pleasure.
- Neko-chan, what...? - she heard Kou exclaim, in a more nervous and dumbfounded tone; she ignored him, busy in exchanging a puzzled look with the pleased one of the lavender-eyed slender vampire, enthusiastic.
- Izanami... - he called her, and he would have begged her to bump him again if she had not been lifted by a couple of strong arms; the brutal treatment suggested that it was Yuuma, and she didn't fail in realising it.
She was wrong in thinking he had reached her to vent his anger on her, though: the giant plunged his nose in her hair, breathing deeply, intoxicated, and only then Mary realized she had a wound on her head; he inspired a second time, releasing an awkward growl that vaguely reminded Shuu's ones when he was feeling too much neglected.
- A sip right now wouldn't be that bad, ne, Mesubuta - he whispered huskily in her ear, chuckling afterwards, clutching her wrist with one hand and her waist with the other - I might forgive your insult, then...
What insult? I don't recall having insulted... ah, that, she commented in her head, remembering that she had actually told him he wasn't very clever; she tried to refrain from slapping him in his face, but she wouldn't have had the time to do so anyway: the huntress, with her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket and the cigarette between her teeth, was already a meter away.
- Disgusting - she said, her comment grim and nauseated; she examined them with eyes as cold as ice, her face framed by a few strands of short hair.
Ruki narrowed his eyes, cautious; Kou gave her an indecipherable look and shifted his arms behind his head, scowling; Azusa silently examined her from below, still sitting on the floor, biting the bandages on his wrist; Yuuma grunted, distancing himself a little from the girl, without loosening his grip; Mary stared at the foe with her silvery eyes, noticing on her forehead an inscription she recognized instantly.
- Daughter of raped witches... - she whispered; hardly anybody could have sense a sickened tone in her voice, but the Mukami brothers did hear it and were mentally questioning about it.
- Oh shut up, hybrid. Surely I'm not as filthy as those of your species.
Mary's hair whitened and her gaze sharpened. The vampire finally released her and walked away a few steps: he had felt something tingling in his skin, causing him more than a few shivers, because that feeling had been really strange, abnormal.
The girl walked to the foe and, after brushing her hair off, tilted her head to the side, saying:
- I've never understood all this hatred towards hybrids. Is it just envy, or are you terrified that most of the hybrids are always quite powerful?
- Envy? What envy? It is regardless of whether you have superhuman powers, that there are hunters to exterminate you. Demons, witches, vampires: you are a danger to the human species. And especially you hybrids, you're more dangerous than the bloodsucking vermin – the huntress acidly stated, raising her head and glaring at the Mukami brothers.
Mary sighed exasperated, the guys slightly confused by it.
- Always the same banal answer. Never met a hunter who knows how to give me a logical explanation - she said, shaking her head before turning her eyes to the starry sky; the huntress arched her eyebrow and let the cigarette fall on the ground, now consumed.
- Logic? Beings capable of killing with a few gestures mustn't exist. Isn't it reasonable to think about survival, the preservation of the human rac...
- Selfish, incoherent, ignorant - the girl's piercing and dark voice interrupted that conversation which had already been heard countless times, so much that it had lost any consistency and credibility.
The hunter stammered something, trying to resume her speech, before widening her eyes as she felt the cold striking her throat; she remembered wearing a scarf, though... which was hanging cut into two on her chest at that moment. Lowering her shocked gaze, the pain, the feeling of wetness, and the metallic smell of blood were finally apprehended by her brain and the woman fell on her knees, then finally laid on the ground.
Mary frowned, staring at her lifeless body with her silver eyes, stained by cold ruby streaks.
- As if you weren't any worse... - she whispered; her lips bent bitterly on that thoughtful expression, where the shadow of the discomfort she had experienced a few seconds before persisted.
She was a bit relieved: the encounter hadn't become a long battle, the Mukami brothers weren't injured and she... was physically intact (because in the meantime those few injuries had been healed), but not spiritually: the remorse was already surfacing, overwhelming and just at the same time.
Before she could allow other thoughts to obliterate her mind, Ruki's voice brought her back into reality.
- Let's go.
The girl turned to him, impassive; she nodded and, retrieving her sadly flattened bags (hoping that at least her new clothes and the chocolate were saved), followed the four Mukami brothers, unaware of their expressions: the oldest was as curious as ever; more than all the others, Kou was confused by the conversation between the witch and the huntress; Azusa, delighted, was already planning something to make her angry and get hurt (ahem...); Yuuma didn't know whether to be worried or not.
After all, their prey had just killed a huntress in front of them without moving a finger.
Thanks for reading~ I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!
