{5}Gavotte.
A few hours later, there was a soft knock on her door. She had been dozing, just dancing on the edge of consciousness. Her puce eyes snapped open, her body jolting at the sound. Her anger was long gone, so when she deliberated who it might be, she found it didn't matter and muttered, "Come in."
The door opened and Hagi stepped in. She didn't have to look to know it was him. The door clicked shut and he crouched by her head, eyes dark and still unreadable as before. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine now," She sighed. "I'm sorry I got angry."
"It's fine," He shook his head. "I understand why you were upset. And you're right." He paused. "I was just being selfish."
Saya smiled sleepily. "I guess we're both guilty of that now."
He nearly smiled, but something seemed to be troubling him. It was the same expression he wore, weeks before, after the conversation she had with Kai about what happened to some of the Red Shield members. Before, she let it slide because her exhaustion, but worry swept over her like a frigid blanket and she pulled herself up on her elbows to look closely at him. "What's wrong, Hagi?"
"It's nothing," He said, his voice without inflection.
"There's something bothering you - I can tell," Saya insisted. "What is it?"
"It's just a continuation of how selfish I've been acting," Hagi's eyes were bordering ancient sadness, their depths opening slightly. "Ever since you've woken, I've been acting like this. I'm sorry."
"Hagi, it's okay. Just tell me."
He just sighed slightly, the closed his eyes, as if he were tired, though they both that sleep was beyond reach for him. When he opened them again, they were no longer unfathomable. They reminded Saya very much of when Hagi was younger and he was still getting over the fact his parents had sold him. That deep, irrepressible pain and sadness. Almost as if there were no hope left on the earth. And just like before, Saya felt the strong urge to take him in her arms - so she followed that urge.
She sat up and pulled him against her, cradling his head in her arms. She heard his quick intake of breath, the surprise at the swift movement. Then his arms came around her waist, bringing her closer. And as they sat in complete silence, Saya found a soft, gentle comfort she only knew with Hagi. It was different with other people. Things could be quiet, unobtrusive, but true silence was something her and him could only achieve together.
In her closed eyes, she saw flashes of the days back in the manor, at the Zoo. Everything led back to that damned place. Remembering the first time they met, and where they were now - time had not been particularly kind on their moments together, the way it pulled and rocked the ground beneath their feet, forcing them to not put very much trust in it's solidity.
Eventually, like always, they had to pull away. But this time was not willingly. There was a loud crash downstairs and a series of loud, banging footsteps coming up the to her room. They pulled apart, eyes meeting for only a moment, then Hagi was off the floor, getting out her sword - something she hadn't seen in ten years - and tossing it to her. As she caught it with a loud click, she heard the snarls downstairs as the Chiropteran threaded it's destructive way through the dishes on the counter.
Kai burst through the door, blood streaming down his forehead, determination all over his face. "Excuse me," He said quickly slipping in between Saya and the bed, going for the closet. In mere seconds, he was holding two guns.
The ruckus downstairs paused for a moment. Then there was something moving up the stairs in a wake of disturbance. As if she'd been doing it everyday during those ten years, Saya unsheathed the sword with a hollow, metallic ring, and slit her palm against the sharp head of her sword, coating it with blood.
"Just like old times," Kai muttered, and then she went forward through the doorway, Hagi and Kai flanking her.
Saya was still bleeding by the time it was over. She picked up a handful of what looked like Erythrite, in it's ruddy glory. Kai had already gone to get some garbage bags - strangely useful at a time like this - and the blood was still flowing freely from her shoulder. In a matter of seconds, her eyesight dwindled and she was falling backwards, sword falling from her grip and colliding solidly with the wooden floor.
"You haven't healed yet," Hagi murmured, catching her as always. "You need blood."
Kai walked up the steps with the garbage bags, looking doubtfully at the crude implements, then caught sight of Saya. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Saya lied, allowing Hagi to pick her up.
"I guess I'll clean this up." Kai looked down at the crystals, face discouraged.
"I'll help you when this dizzy spell goes away," Saya promised as Hagi took her back into her room; she knew what he was going to make her do. She dreaded it.
Kai grunted and started picking up handfuls.
The door was shut and the setting sun filled her blurry eyes as Hagi crouched in front of her, pulling gently at her coat. She slipped it off and revealed the deep cut, blood gushing steadily from it.
"Take my blood," Hagi said softly. "You won't have enough time to get to Julia's." He paused. "I'm sorry."
Saya bit her lip. She remembered what he had said on the roof that night they spoke of it. Take it if you need it. Logic was winning this battle now. She nodded and whispered, "I'm sorry, Hagi."
She leaned her face towards his neck and brushed his hair out of the way. And right before her teeth pressed into him, she heard him whisper, "You don't need to apologize. It's yours anyway."
"Regardless," She breathed, lips moving against his cold skin. And then she sunk in, feeling the rush of liquid in her mouth, the bittersweet taste, the intoxicating smell. She barely noticed the hands gripping her shoulders, the fingertips digging in, but not in pain - in pleasure. As the blood flowed thickly down her throat, she could feel her body regenerating, the strange sensation of flesh braiding together over her wound.
Once she felt her wounds healing, she pulled out and licked away traces of blood as his wound healed in mere seconds. When she pulled away, she couldn't look at Hagi. She stood, wiped her mouth and said, "Thank you."
After a moment in silence, she walked out of the room and helped Kai clean the rest of the expired Chiropteran. The pieces were sharp and cut both of their fingers, but neither of them said a word. The job was finished in minutes and when Kai and her both stood, there was an understanding in his eyes.
"You're going to go look for the others, aren't you?" He asked.
"Why not?" She sighed. "I've already got one." She waved at the two bags in Kai's hands.
"I wonder how many there are," Kai wondered aloud.
"Only one way to find out," She murmured. She knelt to pick up her sword and when she stood back up, Hagi was beside her, like always. "Let's go."
"Yeah, I'll just clean up this entire mess by myself," Kai said loud enough for them to hear as they went down the stairs. When they entered the first floor, Saya saw that all the tables and chairs were thrown haphazardly around the room, broken china and glasses shattered. "Good thing I put away that money for the next time a Chiropteran destroys this shop."
"I promise I'll help when I come back," Saya smiled. "Just go over to Julia's and get that head taken care of."
"Honestly, Saya, I'm not a kid anymore," He complained, but the rest of the complaint was lost through the front door of the shop - Hagi had shut it before the "kid" could say anymore.
Saya just shook her head and walked into the deserted street, squinting into the lingering sunlight. The city was under a curfew, due to the murders, so hardly anyone was out - which was a good thing. Over the next hour, her and Hagi scoured the city, looking for even a trace of Chiropteran. As they passed the park where she had been talking to Ayumi, Riku, and Ai, she wondered idly if they found somewhere safe to stay.
"You don't think there was only that one Chiropteran, do you?" Saya asked doubtfully, after searching the entire west half of the city, successfully evading the police.
"Unlikely," Hagi replied. "There should be at least two more."
"I'm not sensing anything, though," She sighed doubtfully.
"Let's keep searching," He said softly. And so they did. They did for more than two hours, working well into the darkness. Things were starting to look downright hopeless. Then a high-pitched scream was heard in the distance, towards the docks. And instantaneously, Saya's mind zeroed in on a Chiropteran, her vision blurring, head throbbing. It would've appeared to anyone else that she had suddenly found something extremely important on the concrete beneath her feet, but she was really just trying to sense where in the docks the scream had come from and what was the quickest route there.
"Saya," Hagi whispered in her ear. "We have limited time. I know it's hard, but quicken the pace."
He meant of course for her to quicken the pace in which her sixth sense was working. It was hard. She hadn't used this sense since the last time she was awake. Suddenly, her mind locked in on the route and where the attack was taking place. There were three more there. One more than expected.
Oh well.
She took off, knowing that Hagi was right behind her, like always. She cut through the park, clearing the five-foot, chain-link fence with obvious ease. Wind rushed past her ears, creating a loud roar of sound around her. Wine-colored eyes went furious crimson, and she drew her sword as she ran. Basic form of attack: charge right through. She leapt quickly from the bottom of a set of stairs, to the top in one stride, pounding down a wooden boardwalk that led to the particular dock she was headed for. It was behind building H-2, which was used to store crates for fishing boats. No one was there at this time. She rounded two more corners, then flew towards three hulking figures.
They never saw her coming. She sliced her hand, coated the sword with blood, felt the adrenaline pulsing against her eardrums, the colossal sound deafening. She thrust off the ground, held her sword expertly above her head, and came down with a loud battle-cry. The Chiropteran was split completely in half, falling over, it's skin crystallizing already. Hagi had the other one pinned to the wall of the warehouse and the third one was charging towards Saya.
"Saya!" A little girl screamed; Ai. Saya's eyes went to the three children crouched by the steel wall, looking terrified. Riku, Ayumi, Ai…They had stolen her attention for too long - the Chiropteran crashed into her, three talons going through her left upper arm, pinning her to the concrete. A gasp of surprise escaped her lips and she struggle furiously to get away from the drooling teeth merely inches from her cheek.
Then the weight was gone, the talons ripped out of her flesh. Ai screamed out again, but Saya didn't let her mind wander again. Hagi had the creature around the neck, leaving her the opportunity to slice it's abdomen open, guts and gore spilling onto the stained cement. It crystallized in Hagi's arms. Then there was the last one, pinned pathetically to the wall by Hagi's knives. This one was the smallest and apparently the weakest - most Chiropterans could get out of that.
She took another clean swipe with her sword and put the damn thing out of its misery. With a resigned sigh, she dropped the sword, wiping the blood off her face with her sleeve. When she looked to the children, they were still huddled together, eyeing her in horror.
"Why are you guys here?" She asked, irritation in her voice.
"We were trying to get into safety, but they herded us until we were cornered here," Ayumi answered in a shaken voice.
Saya shook her head. "Go home."
"What are you?" Riku asked, standing up before his sisters could get the stability to. His eyes were wary of her - she knew they were afraid of her now.
"One of them," She whispered, looking down at the Erythrite-like remains of the Chiropterans. "So you should stay away from me. Go home and stay indoors until morning."
They looked at her fearfully.
"But you're not bad like them," Ai said through her frightened tears. "You're good."
"If you say so." The bitterness in her voice couldn't be hidden. She lowered herself to the ground, completely exhausted. Hagi came to her, sword in hand, cleaning the blood off it with a cloth. "Go," She snapped when they continued to stare at her.
In a rush of movement, they took off towards the boardwalk at a sprint, Ai still sobbing weakly.
"Well, now that that's taken care of…" She sighed painfully.
"Why did you scare them off?" Hagi asked quietly from beside her.
"They need to be afraid of Chiropterans - I'm no exception. My nieces are out there somewhere, becoming carbon-copies of their mother. The world is about to be in more danger than before. They need to understand that." Wisdom spoke out in her voice. "Just another battle I'll have to fight."
"Or maybe not," Hagi said gently, wiping more blood off her cheek. "Maybe they won't turn into what you think they will."
"Maybe," She agreed, though doubtfully. "Let's go home and help Kai."
Hagi stood and offered her hand to her, which she gladly excepted. As they left the dock, she made an obvious point of stomping all over the Chiropteran-crystals.