(A/N: Sorry if this chapter is kind of meh, I'm going on holiday tomorrow so I wrote it quick, since I wanted an update before then. There's quite a bit of exsposition and it's a little rushed.
But thank you too everyone who reviewed fav'd and followed, you guys are the reason why I keep writing :) I love reading your reviews
Nagisa walked through the streets of Kunugigawa as if everything was normal, as if he wasn't meant to be a missing person, and he wasn't with a fugitive vampire.
Karma was keeping to the shadows, the blue haired boy couldn't see him, but he could tell he was nearby.
The first time they'd infiltrated the village, Nagisa felt beyond nervous- He was sure that somebody would notice him right away, he thought that there was no way just wearing a hat would disguise him from the many towns people who where looking for him.
He was wrong. Nobody even gave him a second glance, for once, he was glad for his lack of presence.
Over the last week or so, he and Karma had been scouring the town looking for any sort of information, at first they didn't find anything, but then they took a visit to the town library; There, hidden in one of the many old record books were the blueprints to the academy, including all the information they needed on the extensive basement area- if these experiments were really happening, the bowels of the academy would be were they'd happen.
After they'd gotten the map, they'd spread it out over the bed and spent hours pouring over it, attempting to memorise it. Eventually, they managed to formulate a plan, and today was the day that they'd finally carry it out.
Nagisa reached the gates to the academy, they were wrought iron and surrounded by barbed wire, luckily, they'd timed their arrival so that it was just after school had ended, so that they were still open.
"Hm- I never thought I'd visit a hunters academy of all places." Karma said, suddenly walking next to him. He was wearing a black wig. Without his usual blood-red hair, the Vampire seemed completely different.
"Just act natural." Nagisa said, under his breath to him. The guards at the gate didn't even look up at the two of them as they passed.
"The securities surprisingly lax. I'm kind of disappointed, I expected a fight." Karma chuckled as they walked onto the grounds. The both of them were wearing the dark grey hunter's uniform. They both fit in seamlessly, the other students didn't give them a second glance as they passed.
"You need to sort out your priorities." The blue haired boy replied- but Karma had a point. Considering that there was a Vampire known to be wondering around (and kidnapping people, according to the local paper) you would think the town would be on high alert.
"I know, I know." Karma said, with a slight smile as they walked around the side of the academy. The building was old, and had originally been a Church. Gothic gargoyles protruded from the walls, glaring down at the two of them.
It made the blue haired hunter uneasy- he felt as though he was being watched.
"Do you think we should look for Nagisa again?"
Nagisa heard the voice and recognised it instantly- Sugino. His best friend from the academy. The blue haired boy froze, Karma looked at him questioningly. They stood still around the corner of the building, listening into the conversation on the other side.
"I don't know, I want to do something, but I have no idea were that damn bloodsucker would take him!" A female voice said- It was Rio. "Damn, I should never of left him by himself, Nagisa is too adorable for Vampires to resist!"
Nagisa gave a half frown when he heard that, Karma gave him a teasing grin. He was not cute, adorable, dammit, he was a guy!
"I just hope he's alright... " Sugino said, sounding strained. Nagisa felt a pang of guilt.
"He will be." Rio reassured him. She sounded like she was trying hard to be her usual upbeat self, but there was sadness beneath the surface. Nagisa wanted with every fibre of his being to run out and tell her that he was okay- but he knew he couldn't.
He had a higher purpose now.
Both he and Karma stayed pressed up against the side of the wall, until they heard Rio and Sugino's footsteps pass.
Nagisa let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure why Asano had decided to tell people he'd been kidnapped rather than admit that the hunter had willingly sided with the vampire- Maybe it was part of an agenda, or maybe that's how the elite really saw the situation.
"You alright?" Karma asked him. Nagisa forced a smile.
"Yeah." He said. "I just hate making people worry- "
"Do you miss them?" Karma asked as they walked along side each other. His expression was unreadable.
"Yeah." Nagisa admitted, then he looked at the Vampire, his blue eyes full of determination. "But part of the reason I'm doing this is for them- I don't want my friends or anyone to be made into experiments!"
Karma looked half-startled for a moment, then smiled. "Right."
The two of them reached the metal vent that lead to the basement- of all the ways in they saw on the blueprints, this would be the safest.
Just as they planned, Nagisa stood guard, leaning in the wall, while Karma pulled out a screwdriver and started unscrewing the bolts.
The blue haired boy couldn't help but notice just how fast he was at doing it; It would take a normal human about an hour to undo all those tightly screwed bolts, but the Vampire had the vent of in mere minuets.
Because he'd been drinking a bit of Nagisa's blood everyday, Karma's strength and speed had improved massively. Apparently, human blood made Karma more powerful than the animal blood he'd usually dined on, and Nagisa's blood was especially effective. (The hunter had mixed feelings on that).
Still, giving blood willingly had taken some getting used to;
"Just relax." Karma had told him, the first time Nagisa was willingly giving blood.
"I am relaxed." The hunter told him, although he clearly wasn't. His heart was racing in his chest, his face felt flushed and it was suddenly hard to breath.
"You know it doesn't hurt, right? I've drank your blood before"
"-Yes, without permission."
"Sorry." The vampire snickered, but the grin on his face told Nagisa that he wasn't sorry at all. The blunette wasn't sure why he was getting so nervous over this, but something about the way he was leaning back on the bed, and Karma was looming over him, one knee between Nagisa's legs made the whole thing seem so... Intimate.
"I'm fine, so just bite me." The hunter said, trying hard to sound calm and not let any of the embarrassment he felt into his voice.
"If you insist." Karma said, he leaned in closer over Nagisa, wrapping one arm around the hunter's waist. He grazed his teeth against the human's neck in a way that had Nagisa biting back a moan.
That damn vampire knows exactly what he's doing!
Then he sunk his fangs slowly into Nagisa's neck. There was a sharp intake of breath as the hunter felt the initial sting, then he closed his eyes, relaxing. The experience was strange as always, pleasurable in a way that Nagisa couldn't quite understand.
He felt that strong connection to Karma again. The hunter could feel Karma's arm tighten and travel lower down his waist- It seemed almost possessive, somehow.
Without even realising it, Nagisa had found himself clinging onto the Vampire's shirt as he drank from him.
After being drank from, Nagisa always felt relaxed and sleepy. He often found himself falling asleep next to Karma on the bed.
"It'll be a squeeze but we can fit through." Karma said, as he pulled the grid of the air-vent, and surveyed the dark space left that was their entry to the basement. "It's about a twenty meter drop though.. I'll go down first and catch you."
"Okay, let's do it." Nagisa squinted into the darkness; It was pitch black, he couldn't see anything. Vampire-vision must be amazing if Karma could see the bottom from here.
"Wish me luck!" Karma said, grinning as he slid of the ledge feet-first, plummeting into the unknown Nagisa watched as the vampire disappeared from sight, seemingly swallowed by the darkness. There was a moment of silence, then a soft thud was heard.
"Okay, now jump!" Karma's disembodied voice called up to the Hunter. Nagisa dangled his legs down the opening, looking around one final time to ensure that nobody was watching. He took a gulp of air, and pushed himself off the edge.
The hunter felt himself sailing down through the nothingness, a giddy feeling in his chest.
Before he could hit the ground, however, strong arms caught him.
"You alright?" Karma asked. Their faces were inches apart, so close that Nagisa could feel the Vampire's breath on his cheek, but it was so dark that Nagisa couldn't even see him.
"I'm fine." Nagisa confirmed, although his heart was still pounding from the fall.
"Okay, let's go explore!" Karma said, sounding somewhat excited.
"But first put me down!" The hunter demanded, trying to free himself from the vampire's hold to no avail.
"But it's easier this way~" the red head whined. Even though Nagisa couldn't see him, he could tell that his companion was pouting.
"Karma." He said in a warning tone- because really, it was embarrassing for a guy to be carried around like his was a princess- the Vampire relented.
"Fine." He said, Nagisa could practically hear the smirk in his voice as the red head set him down on the hard concrete floor.
"Okay, let's get started." The blue haired boy said. Karma took his hand and started leading him through the darkness. Without the sense of sight, Nagisa felt lost, but something about the vampire's hand clasped around his wrist gave him a sense of security.
"Okay, according to the blueprint we go straight ahead for twenty meters or so. We're in the pipe-system now, but we can get to the main part of the basement from from another air-vent in the ceiling." The red-head said, suddenly switching from being playful to serious.
"Right." Nagisa said, allowing himself to be lead along (since it was too dark for him to see). They didn't really have a solid plan for what they would do here, since they had no idea what they'd find. They had just picked the best route to explore and investigate the academy, but neither of them had any idea what would happen, or what they would see. They just had to do something.
"Found it- " Karma said, after a few minuets of walking the passageway, he tapped the air vent and a metallic sound echoed through the passageway.
So far, so good.
The Vampire pulled the cage of the vent, placing it on the ground, and turned to Nagisa.
"
I'll go first- just in case." Karma said, before scrambling up the air vent as swiftly as a cat.
"Be careful!" Nagisa warned.
"It's safe." Came the reply a moment later. The human felt a hand tap his shoulder from above. "Grab on, I'll pull you up!"
The hunter took Karma's hand, and allowed himself to be dragged up from the floor to the next level.
Nagisa was thankful that at least on this level there were dimly flickering gas-lights to illuminate the passage way.
"So if there's lights, that means that this part of the basement is in use somehow." The hunter mused, as he pulled himself properly to his feet. He noticed that Karma had pulled the back wig off. He definitely looked better with his natural red hair, the human couldn't help but notice.
"I can't say I like this decor though- and you humans say that we're the macabre ones- " Karma said, looking at the walls- Nagisa realised with a jolt that the stone was adorned with skeletons mounted in cases like rare butterflies. The bones appeared human, except a closer look at the skull revealed enlarged fangs.
"These are- " the hunter gasped.
"Vampire remains.. " Karma finished through gritted teeth. He was trying to appear nonchalant but Nagisa noticed the dark look in his eye- It can't be easy seeing members of your species slaughtered and then used as some sort of sick decoration.
"Karma- " Nagisa started.
"I'm fine." Karma cut him off. "I know humans don't always hunt vampires without justification. In fact, when it comes to turned Vampires there's usually nothing you can do but kill them before they loose themselves to insanity and blood lust."
Nagisa looked at him.
"But some of these- " Karma said, turning to look at a particularly small skeleton with a pained look in his eyes. "Are just children. And natural born vampires at that."
"I'm sorry." The human said, truly meaning it- he felt a sudden stab of guilt; Nagisa may not of killed any vampires personally, but until he met Karma he had always thought of them as monsters that needed to be wiped out. He had even treated Karma that way at first. Now he saw that the world wasn't so black and white, not every Vampire deserved to die.
"What for? You don't have to apologise for what your village did." The red-head said, sounding slightly amused despite the situation.
"Thanks." Nagisa said sincerely, he walked over to one of the cases. He blew the dust off the bronze plaque and read it.
It was dated ten years ago.
'Executed by sunlight for the heinous crime of disguising herself in our community'
"I remember these!" The blue haired boy said with a jolt. "These cases used to be up in the academy and the town hall about ten years ago-"
Karma looked at him questioningly "Why do they hide them down here now?"
"Executions.. We used to execute vampires, but after Gakuho Asano became the director of the academy, he banned them saying they were a waste of time and effort, and hunters should slay their targets as soon as possible." Nagisa said, old long-forgotten memories of kunugigawa flooding his mind.
"The director of the school has that much power to change the village's traditions?" Karma asked, raising an eyebrow. Nagisa shook his head.
"Not normally, but Director Asano controls the mayor, the cabinet- everything." Nagisa said- It was no secret who was really pulling the strings in Kunugigawa.
"It was ten years ago that hunters started going after Vampires that hadn't done anything wrong." Karma said. "In the past, hunters would only target turned Vampires, or Vampires that were killing humans or tresspassing in their villages. Your town even used to contract out Vampires to work for them sometimes."
"No way." Nagisa said, staring at Karma wide-eyed. Their village working with Vampires? That seemed impossible! Just how much had director Asano changed Kunigigawa? The two of them continued walking through the passageway, trying to ignore the way the hollow dead eyes of the skeletons seemed to bore into them.
"I went to an execution once." Nagisa said, remembering suddenly- "I was four years old. And terrified. But my mother dragged me along to 'teach' me what happens to Vampires. There was a huge crowd, everyone was so excited- like a festival or something- they brought out this man with a metal mask on, and tied him to the pole."
Nagisa winced, as he recalled what had happened next. "- He had on this blue necklace, and one of the hunters pulled it off. It must of been lapis lazuli, because the vampire just- went up in flames."
The blue haired boy remembered vividly how the stench of burning flesh hung in the air, the shrill sounds of the man's screams as he was burnt alive by sunlight, the feeling of his mother's hands gripping his chin so he couldn't look away.
Nagisa felt Karma take his hand and squeeze it.
"Humans and Vampires can be pretty brutal, huh." He said, with a sardonic half-smile as they continued to walk down the winding passageway, still lined with corpses. "At least executions are banned now, at least."
"Yeah- at school, sometimes the other kids used to carry out 'executions'. Really it was just an excuse to bully someone." The hunter said as they walked- he didn't take his hand from Karma's. "They'd usually pick a kid who was a loner or something, and make them the 'vampire'. Then they would beat them up, and that'd be the execution."
"Did they ever do that to you?" Karma asked, his grip on Nagisa's hand tightening suddenly.
"No- the bullies never even noticed me." The hunter admitted, he couldn't help but smile slightly- Karma sounded so protective. "Well, besides one time a few years ago." He admitted. "- I was walking home a few years ago when I saw some older students beating up a kid my age. I knew they'd turn on me for it but I had to intervene. I was lucky, really, they didn't hit me too hard- perhaps they knew that they'd already gone too far with the first boy."
Nagisa could still remember how he'd found the other boy, his clothes torn covered in bruises and burn marks, his arms tied to a tree behind his back. He knew that he couldn't just leave him- Even when the older students had kicked him in the stomach and punched him in the face, it was worth it to be able to help somebody else, and make his own worthless life a little less useless. The blunette had thrown his jacket over the boy, and helped him limp to the hospital, ignoring the pain from his split lip the entire time.
"Those bastards." Karma growled.
"Hey- it was years ago." Nagisa said, sheepishly.
"Your so self-sacrificing it makes me worry, you know." The red-head said, sounding uncharacteristically serious. Before Nagisa could reply, he suddenly stared dead-ahead and grinned. "Finally, we can get out of this corpse maze."
Ahead was a wooden door with a metal handle. Karma sniffed the air.
"There's something weird on the other side."
"Weird?" Nagisa questioned- could this be the experiments?
"Something I've never sensed before." Karma said, there was a wild look in his mercury eyes as he turned to glance at Nagisa "Pull out your knife and get ready. I'm gonna knock the door down."
The hunter nodded, pulling out his knife and getting into a defensive position.
"Ready?" Karma questioned. The blue haired boy nodded. The red head kicked the door, nearly breaking it in two. It flew of the handle, revealing the next section of the dungeon.
A low growl was heard from the room. Nagisa gasped, his eyes widening in horror when he saw what was inside.
A/N: Cliffhanger ending.. I'm so sorry! I'll try to update this as soon as possible (I know, this chapter was too much dialogue, but the next one will be better... hopefully).
Nagisa currently still has pretty low self-esteem in this story, like how he was at the start of the anime when he was willing to sacrifice his life to kill Koro-Sensei with the suicide bomb thing. (Does anyone else find it interesting that Kayano, Nagisa and Karma all basically risked their own lives/used suicide attacks as their first serious assassination attempts?).
Anyway, please review to tell me what you thought! Thank you :D