Chapter Three
Kasamatsu Yukio was woken early that morning by a phonecall from his boss, telling him to get his arse down to the eastern bank of the Sumida River as fast as he could. When Kasamatsu asked why, the only details he received were about a dead body and a suspected missing person's case. But Kasamatsu was experienced enough to know that there was probably more to it than that. Besides, the fact that his boss had asked him to go, meant that someone somewhere believed that either the victim or the killer (or both), wasn't human.
So he dragged himself out of bed, suited up, grabbed his badge and left.
He pulled up alongside the road leading down to the river's edge. The river bank itself was cordoned off, so the public couldn't get passed. Kasamatsu walked over to the barrier, flashed his badge to the policeman on guard and headed down.
The whole area had been marked with yellow and black police tape and people dressed in white overalls were either taking pictures of the crime scene, searching the surrounding area or on the river itself, in a rubber motorised boat, dredging the riverbed for further clues.
When Kasamatsu reached the riverside, he saw the body of the victim lying face down with her head to one side, on the grass. Her body was bruised and her eyes, lips and hands were swollen.
"What have we got?" asked Kasamatsu.
The man in white currently photographing the scene, put his camera down and said, "female, aged between 21 and 26. Found by a Takahashi Saburo-san who fished her out about an hour ago. The hook had caught her cheek, hence the gaping hole in the side of her mouth. Judging from the bruising and swollen ligaments I'm placing time of death to be approximately one week ago."
"Cause of death? Drowning?"
The man in white shook his head. He bent down and moved the victim's hair to one side, revealing a chunk missing from her neck. As if someone had ripped it out with their teeth.
"Vampire" said Kasamatsu, knowing then exactly why his division had been called out to handle this particular case.
The man in white nodded in agreement. "Most likely. Though it's messy. Not your usual clean bite."
"Probably a Newborn. Or a Wild One. Do we have ID?"
"Not yet. But she looks a lot like the girl on the missing posters. Once we get her to the coroner, we'll get her family in for positive confirmation."
"Ok. Anything else?"
"Nope. Other than whoever did it, dumped her body in the river after they were done with her."
Kasamatsu sighed. "Ok. Thanks. Let me know if you find anything else."
"Will do." The man in white picked up his camera and resumed taking photographs.
Kasamatsu made his way to the edge of the river a little further down. He looked from left to right, up and down the Sumida River, taking in his surroundings. To his left he noticed a bridge running across the river. A stone bridge, lined with street lamps and wide enough for cars to cross.
Following the instinct in his gut, Kasamatsu began walking towards it.
When he reached the bridge he waited a moment before stepping underneath it.
With his eyes on the floor he carried on walking.
He stopped when he reached the blood. It was about halfway underneath the bridge and had faded enough that there was hardly any trace left. But Kasamatsu knew what he was looking for. The blood trail started in the middle of the pavement and ended at the side of the river.
This is it he thought. This is where Aida Riko was murdered.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"It has just been confirmed that the body found this morning in the Sumida River is indeed that of missing person, Aida Riko. It is also believed that Aida-san was the victim of an alleged Vampire attack before her body was dumped in the Sumida River. The Supernatural Task Force have been called in to investigate."
Kise watched the report as he drank his morning coffee. He was sat cross legged in front of the TV with an empty bowl (of what was cereal), sat on the table next to him. He sighed and took a long gulp of his drink. It felt great on his throat.
The sound of the bedroom door opening, signalled Aomine joining him in the living room. The bluenette was dressed but his hair was still damp from the shower he had just taken.
"Is it her?" he asked, standing next to where Kise sat.
Kise nodded as he took another sip of his coffee. "It's just been confirmed. They say it's a vampire attack."
Aomine didn't say anything.
"Have you heard about any vampires killing humans recently?" Kise asked.
Aomine shook his head. "No. How are you feeling?"
"Better" Kise replied, choosing to ignore Aomine's sudden change in topic. "It was only a matter of time right?"
Kise wasn't sure whether Aomine knew he was lying. Well not lying per se, just withholding some of the facts. For example, even though it was the first time in weeks Kise's head had felt this clear (he'd been having weird dreams and headaches weeks before Aida Riko went missing), he still had this tingling feeling that things weren't over just yet.
Of course, he didn't know why. He never knew why at the time. Sometimes, Kise wondered why he was even considered psychic in the first place. His power never actually gave him any concrete information, just filled him with this sense of dread and knowing without actually knowing any of the important details. Not to mention the splitting headaches he always got as things were coming to a boil.
But if his current physical (and mental) state was anything to go by, it seemed that at the moment things had come to some sort of conclusion. Even if it was only temporary. However, he wasn't going to tell Aomine that. He didn't want to worry him even more (there was nothing worse than a worried vampire). So instead he plastered on his usual fake smile, stood up and stretched.
He was truthfully feeling pretty damn good. His head no longer felt like a champagne bottle ready to burst. He could ignore the nagging feeling at the back of his head for the time being.
Aomine didn't look convinced, but Kise didn't care.
"Are you working tonight?" the bluenette asked.
"Yep" replied the blonde. "From two until closing."
"Be careful."
There was so much sincerity in Aomine's voice, it almost took Kise by surprise.
"I will. Don't worry about me. Thankyou for coming over last night. I really needed it."
The corners of Aomine's lips curled up into a small smile. "I'll call you later."
"Ok."
And with that Aomine left Kise's apartment.
Kise turned off the news just as the news reporter began talking about the weather (dry during the day with chance of rain in the evening), and went to get a shower.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kasamatsu was leaning against his desk, chewing on his thumbnail, staring at the evidence wall in front of him. The only things on the wall at the moment were two pictures of Aida Riko (the missing poster and one of her lying face down on the riverside), a picture of the bridge where she was (supposedly) murdered (they were still waiting for the blood work to come back) and several pictures of the condition she was found in, including the bite mark on her neck.
It was this photo that Kasamatsu was staring at and it was this photo that was causing the detective trouble.
There hadn't been a vampire attack in Tokyo for approximately ten years. In fact, other than during simulation training, Kasamatsu had never investigated a vampire attack in all of his five years on the Supernatural Task Force (STF for short). Ever since the truce had been formed between the Humans and the Vampires, Tokyo had become a feeding free zone with both sides respecting the boundaries of the agreement.
So why now? And why Tokyo? Was it random? Was it a Newborn or a Wild One? Or worse. Was it a vampire in complete control, just out looking for a taste of human blood?
There was nothing worse than an out of control vampire (also known as a Rogue One). Amongst all of the Supernatural that existed in the world, vampires were by far one of the most dangerous. Before the truce was formed, vampire attacks were a common occurrence and up until then, everyone at some point had had some sort of encounter with one. And not many lived to tell the tale. However, Kasamatsu happened to know someone who had and was in the middle of contemplating asking for his help when the door to his office opened, interrupting his trail of thought.
"Blood work came back" said Moriyama Yoshitaka, Kasamatsu's partner.
"And?"
"Positive match. Looks like you were right. Aida Riko was killed under that bridge and then dumped into the river."
"Killed by a vampire. Which means we have at best, a rabid vampire on the loose who will likely make a mistake sometime soon or at worst, a totally in control vampire who knows exactly what they're doing, thus making it much harder for us to catch." Kasamatsu sighed. "She was dressed in some sort of running gear right?"
Moriyama nodded.
"Which means she was out jogging. Maybe she had a route? And if we can figure out the route…"
"Then we can figure out where the vamp targeted her and narrow down the search" finished Moriyama.
At that moment the door opened and a short man with glasses entered, announcing, "we have the victim's boyfriend waiting downstairs."
"Great," said Kasamatsu, "we'll be down in a second." He then turned to Moriyama and said, "see if you can dig up a map of the city. Maybe the boyfriend can help narrow down the search."
Moriyama nodded and the pair of them left the office.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Aomine blended in silently with the crowd of people stood at the barrier with their phones out trying to snap a picture of the crime scene below.
Typical thought the bluenette. He could practically smell the excitement and overwhelming curiosity permeating off them. Humans are disgusting.
He watched and observed the scene silently as various members of the forensic team continued combing the river bank for clues. There were also people underneath the bridge further down. According to the news, that's where the police believed Aida Riko had been murdered and her body dumped.
Deciding that he'd seen enough (and that he'd return later that evening when it was quieter), Aomine left. His space in the crowd was promptly filled by more onlookers too obsessed with their phones rather than respecting the fact that a young girl had lost her life.
Aomine crossed the bridge running over the Sumida River and continued heading east.
The city of Tokyo was divided into two sections. West of the Ara River was predominately inhabited by the Human population, i.e. people with no supernatural inclination whatsoever (Aida Riko's body had been found on the West side of the Ara River). Those of a more prominent supernatural disposition (Vampires, Werewolves, Banshees, Fairies etc), largely occupied the East side of the Ara River.
Since the truce, people from both sides had crossed over. Even though Aomine still lived on the East side, he spent a lot of time on the West. He even knew some Supernaturals who had either moved to the West or had spent their whole lives living there and didn't have any of intention of leaving (Kise being one of them).
But Vampires were different. Due to the violent history, all registered vampires in Tokyo lived on the East side of the Ara River and a select few (including Aomine, Shuzo and Kuroko), spent any time in the West at all.
Prior to the truce between the Human Government and the Vampire equivalent, people from both sides lived in fear and hatred of one another. Vampires were regarded as nothing more than blood thirsty animals that you could never turn your back on and to the vampires, humans were nothing more than cold, cruel and heartless beings who enjoyed hunting vampires for sport rather than for safety.
Since the truce, things started to change. Both sides agreed to leave the other alone, and if an attack did happen, then both sides of the law (human and non-human) worked together to find out what had happened and the perpetrator was dealt with accordingly. It took a while for the new laws to have any sort of effect, but as a result, there hadn't been one single attack for over ten years.
Not until September 9th 2016.
Aomine knew all the shortcuts through the city like the back of his hand and was across the Ara River and into the East side of Tokyo in no time at all.
A vampire club called Oblique was his destination, situated in the centre of the East Side. During the day it looked like an unsuspecting brown bricked building with people coming and going every now and then. At night, Oblique came alive.
However, it wasn't night. It was ten o'clock in the morning and Oblique was empty.
Aomine made his way through the back door, down the steps and across the large empty room towards the door on the other side. He took the stairs two at a time and walked down the corridor towards the door at the end.
There was no one waiting outside the office, but then again it was early. Most vamps didn't rise before noon.
Aomine knocked twice before entering.
"Kagetora I need to talk to …you…"
Aomine stopped dead in his tracks as he observed the sight in front of him; an older man dressed in a black and white suit, with a white ruffed collar and a black…cape. A goddamn cape wrapped around his arm which was raised half way up his face so only two glowing red eyes were visible.
The pair stared at each other for a couple of seconds. The room was silent, as if waiting for someone to make the first move.
Aomine couldn't bite his tongue any longer. "You look like an idiot."
The older man's eyes widened in shock. He lowered his arm dramatically, causing the cape to swish (yes swish), behind him, revealing a pair of white fangs protruding over his lower lip and a trickle of red dripping from his mouth. "How dare you!" he declared, in a thick accent Aomine had never heard of before. "How dare you insult your Maker, your King…the Dark Lord of Vampires!"
Aomine rolled his eyes, "you have got to be kidding me."
The man with the cape took two large strides towards him, "I should put a wooden stake right through your heart, you heretic."
Aomine didn't so much as flinch even if the man was two inches from his face. His own face was deadpan, not the slightest bit amused by his boss's recent antics.
Realising it was having no effect, the man in the cape slumped his shoulders and sighed. "Is it too much?" he asked, his voice and eyes now back to normal. "It's the fangs right?"
"And everything else."
Kagetora huffed as he pulled out the fake fangs and untied the cape before tossing them both onto the couch against the wall of his office.
"You do know Halloween isn't for at least another month?" said Aomine.
"I know. I like to be prepared."
Aomine internally rolled his eyes. For as long as he had known the man, his boss had always loved dressing up. It was really…weird.
"I take it you've heard about the body in the West?" asked the bluenette as Kagetora walked behind his desk and sat down.
"I have" replied the older man. "I take it this was the thing Kise-kun was so worried about?"
Aomine nodded. "Though, he didn't know the details until last night."
"If it is a vampire attack then we need to act quick. The humans are not going to take this lightly. I'm having Shuzo and Tetsuya look into it. We don't want to cause panic on both sides of the River. Either somebody has gone Rogue or-"
"Someone's turning people into vampires," Aomine finished, "and letting them loose in the city."
Kagetora smiled a sad smile before continuing. "I want you to stay close to Kise-kun. He's extremely important to all of this and I'm not going to be the only one who thinks so. We need to keep this quiet and get it sorted with as little fuss as possible. We don't want to be attracting any unnecessary attention. You know who I'm talking about right?"
Aomine nodded.
"Good. The last thing we need is another witch hunt. We have fought too long to keep this city safe. I would like it to stay that way. Stay close to him, keep him safe and find out what he knows."
"Ok."
Kagetora leant back on his chair and let out a dramatic sigh. "Ahhh…all I wanted to do today was watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show with Alex and sing all the songs. She'd be Janet and I'd be Frank N. Furter. There was going to be cosplay. Oh well."
Aomine shook his head in disapproval.
Kagetora glanced over at him and asked, "when was the last time you ate?"
Aomine didn't answer.
"Go eat" ordered the older vampire, "you're no good to anyone on an empty stomach."
"Yes boss" Aomine replied, with a (not so) subtle hint of sarcasm before leaving the office.
Once he'd left, Kagetora stood up and walked towards the large square window occupying one whole wall of his office. He opened the blinds and peered at the city in front of him.
A change is coming.
And Kagetora just hoped that they would be ready for it when it happened.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I understand how difficult this is for you Hyuuga-san, believe me I do. I only have a few questions."
"I've already told the police everything I know."
"I know. But we just want to go over everything one more time. The more information you can give us, the closer we can get to catching whoever did this to your girlfriend."
The man sat opposite Kasamatsu nodded. He looked exhausted. Like every ounce of life had been drained out of him and he was now running on empty.
"Ok" said Kasamatsu. "Can you tell me where you were the night your girlfriend disappeared?"
"I was at home. Sat on the couch waiting for her to come back. She'd gone out for a run and left a note on the fridge."
"What time was this?"
"I got in around 9:20. I don't know what time she left the flat."
"Do you or your Aida-san have any affiliations with vampires?"
Hyuuga shook his head.
"Any enemies? Anyone who would want to harm her?"
"No. Riko loved everyone. She didn't care what species you were. People knew that and respected her for it."
"The night she disappeared you said she went running. Does she usually do that?"
Hyuuga nodded. "Almost every night. She's a…" Hyuuga took a deep breath as he corrected himself, "was a fitness buff. It also helped clear her head."
"Did she have a particular route she used to take?"
"Yeah. She liked to run by the river. She ran the same route every time."
Kasamatsu nodded in understanding. He then turned towards the one-way mirror lining the wall opposite them and signalled towards it.
A couple of seconds later, Moriyama walked in and laid down a map of the city on the table between them.
"Hyuuga-san" Kasamatsu continued, "if you could mark on the map Aida-san's exact route to the river, it would be a great help."
"How?" asked Hyuuga, looking from one detective to the other.
"Knowing her route," answered Moriyama, "will help us narrow down the search. We could retrace her steps, try and find out when she was targeted and where the vampire had come from."
Silence filled the room for a moment. Everyone knew that vampires liked to hunt their prey. There was a high chance that Riko's killer had targeted her long before she reached the river. If they could find out where, then maybe they could find out where the vampire had returned to.
Hyuuga slowly reached forward and took the marker Kasamatsu was holding out to him. He uncapped the lid, and began to draw a dotted line from his apartment block all the way to the Sumida River.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Table ten" shouted Doris.
"Got it" said Kise, picking up the two plates. As he headed out with the food, Momoi was returning to the counter, shouting over her next order, "two Bellowing Banshees with extra fries and no mayo please Doris."
Table ten was occupied by two young women in the middle of a conversation Kise could've guessed involved some sort of gossip judging from their excitement and giggly responses. "Two Murderous Murmurs with extra salad. Enjoy your meal."
Kise bowed and went to clear the plates from the table next to them.
With his head feeling a lot clearer, Kise worked far more efficiently than he had the night before. He had almost regained complete control over his power and only every now and then did a random thought sneak past his control and pop into his mind.
As Kise was shuffling plates onto the tray, Momoi came sidling up beside him (looking a little stressed out) and said, "table three's complaining about their order. They're saying that the fries were cold and the steak over cooked and want a refund. What do I do?"
"Ok, tell them we can cover the steak and offer to pay for their drinks as well."
"Ok," said Momoi, looking less stressed, "that might work. Why didn't I think of that?"
Kise shrugged. "Don't worry about it. If they give you any more grief, just kick them out."
"Will do boss!" and she trotted off happily.
Kise picked up the tray of dirty dishes and headed towards the double doors leading into the kitchen.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kasamatsu stopped at the bridge and took out his headphones. He bent over with his hands on his knees and took deep breaths.
He'd done the route at least four times now and he still hadn't found anything out of the ordinary. He'd started from Aida Riko's flat and ended up underneath the bridge where she was murdered. But with the exception of the blood stain next to where he was standing, there was nothing else that could help them figure out where the vampire had come from. The streets were well lit and open until you reached the river bank.
Kasamatsu sighed. He knew he was on to something (either that or he was just refusing to let his only tangible lead go), but he couldn't actually see what was probably staring him right in the face. For that he needed expert help. Someone who could see and know things without actually seeing or knowing them.
He checked his watch.
They should still be open he thought. So with that in mind, he put his headphones back in his ears and returned back to the street.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Oh my God will this night ever end?" moaned Momoi as she slumped over the counter.
"Just one hour left" said Kise as he restacked clean glasses back on the shelves underneath the counter.
"We really need to hire more staff."
"Manager says we have enough."
"Yeah but the other two hardly ever show up. I think I've seen Minami-kun like, twice this month."
Kise didn't say anything. It was true that they could do with more staff but he also knew that the manager would never hire anyone else unless Kise or Momoi quit.
"I think you're being summoned" said Kise as he nodded towards the old man sat in the corner, signalling for one of them to come over.
Momoi groaned before sliding off the stool and walking towards him.
With the exception of the old man and a couple of older women huddled together on the opposite table, the restaurant was empty.
Kise's hopes that it would stay that way for the next hour were short lived when the doorbell above the door rang.
"Welcome. Ah! Kasamatsu-senpai!"
"Yo" said Kasamatsu as he sat on one of the stools at the counter. "Is it too late for a drink?"
"Depends" grinned Kise, "business or pleasure?"
"Both."
After pouring him a glass of water, Kise waited until Kasamatsu had finished drinking before asking, "so what are you doing here? Not that I don't appreciate the visit."
Kasamatsu sighed and set the glass back down on the counter.
"You look tired" said Kise.
"I am. It's been a long day. You heard about the body found in the river right?"
Kise nodded.
"Well guess who is in charge of capturing her killer…"
"Any leads?"
Kasamatsu shook his head. "All we know is that Aida Riko went out for a run and ended up being murdered underneath a bridge and dumped into a river."
"By a vampire?"
"Can't say for sure, but we're pretty certain it was."
Kise waited for a moment before asking his next question, "and is there a reason you're telling me all of this?"
Kasamatsu sighed (again). He always felt uncomfortable and guilty asking Kise for help. But he had no other choice. He reached into his pocket, pulled out the map and laid it out flat on top of the counter. He pointed to the black dotted line running between the buildings and said, "this was Aida Riko's route the night she went missing. Now, considering vampires are hunters and like to stalk their prey, I figured that maybe if we re-traced her steps, we might be able to pick up the vampire's trail or at least some sort of clue as to where it came from. If it's a Wild One, that might not be too difficult."
Kise nodded, "they leave more of a mess behind right?"
"Exactly they're sloppy and easy to track."
"But you didn't find anything?"
Kasamatsu shook his head.
"Have you spoken to the vampires on the East side?" asked Kise.
"We are liaising with them as per the truce. But they don't know anything either. And if they do, they're not sharing."
"So what do you want me to do?"
Kasamatsu hesitated a moment before answering (he really hated this part). He gestured towards the map with both hands and said, "I don't know…I was just wondering if you know something or whatever."
"Know something?"
"You know…with your psychic thing." Kasamatsu felt like an idiot for saying it out loud. Even though he had known about his friend's special power for a long time now, he still felt awkward bringing it up. Especially when his friend was trying his hardest to live an unassuming and somewhat normal life. Kasamatsu had no right dragging him into police business.
"I'm not a crystal ball" replied Kise.
Kasamatsu rolled his eyes. "I know you're not. But is there anything you can tell me? Like where the vamp is or whether there's going to be another victim?"
"You know it doesn't work like that."
"I know."
"I haven't had any feelings since you discovered the body."
"Could you just humour me?" Kasamatsu pushed the map towards him.
Kise sighed before studying the route Aida Riko's boyfriend had outlined hours ago.
Nothing.
"Sorry senpai," apologised Kise, shaking his head, "I've got nothing."
Kasamatsu smiled a tired smile. "It's ok. It was a long shot anyway. Thanks for trying though." He folded the map back up and put it in his pocket. "I better get going. I've got a report to write up."
"Ok. Don't stay up too late though. You'll get wrinkles."
"What are you my mother?"
Kise laughed. "I'll call you if I know anything."
"Geez thanks. I'll see you later."
"See you."
"Bye Momoi!" Kasamatsu called across the restaurant where Momoi was cleaning tables.
"Bye Kasamatsu!" the pink haired girl called back.
Kise looked at the clock on the wall. Only half an hour left.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Outside the restaurant, Kasamatsu was met with an unwelcoming sight.
"What are you doing here?"
"I can ask you the same thing" Aomine replied. "Are you trying to get him to help you with the case?"
"That's none of your business."
"It is if you're putting him in danger."
Kasamatsu gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, "I would never do that."
"You know how important he is. If the wrong people found out about his power-"
"I know. Who do you think has been looking out for him this entire time? I don't need some vampire telling me what's best for him. Especially you. Are you telling me you're not here to find out what he knows either? That's the reason you stay close to him right?"
Kasamatsu thought he saw the vampire's mouth and eyes twitch but Aomine didn't say anything.
"That's what I thought" spat the detective.
"We want the same thing Detective."
"I doubt that."
"What did you tell him?"
Kasamatsu didn't reply at first. "It doesn't matter. It didn't work."
"Have you found anything?"
Kasamatsu sighed. "No. You?"
"We think it's a Rogue Vampire."
"Why?"
Aomine shrugged. "Just a feeling Kagetora has. It's too clean to be a Wild One and if it was a Newborn there would be more bodies by now."
"Great. Well I'm glad we had this chat" said the detective, moving to brush past him.
"We're on the same side Kasamatsu."
Kasamatsu stopped walking and looked back towards the restaurant before looking Aomine in the eye and saying, "no we're not." He then pulled up his hood and resumed his jog down the street.
He had planned to run Aida Riko's route one more time but he was so worked up and agitated from his run in with his least favourite person ever, that even if there was some sort of clue, Kasamatsu wouldn't have noticed it either way.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After switching off the lights and making sure the restaurant was all locked up, Kise was on his way home.
Except that he wasn't.
In fact, he was walking in the opposite direction of home, he just didn't realise it at the time.
It wasn't until someone bumped into him accidently, thus stopping him from going any further did Kise realise what he was doing. It took a few seconds for him to figure out where he was. He had no idea what he was doing there and why he had even come that way in the first place. Until the man had bumped into him, Kise was certain without a shadow of a doubt, that he had been on his way home.
But he was nowhere near home. He looked at his watch. He had left work just under an hour ago.
He looked around; the street was quiet, almost empty.
For some strange reason Kise's body didn't want to move.
He tried to calm his heavy breathing and not let himself panic too much. This had happened before, but not for a long time. He used to sleep walk a lot when he was younger. Once he had woken up in the middle of his neighbour's garden, holding the garden hose and watering the plants (he was ten). After that, his parents had decided to lock his bedroom door on a night, for his own safety.
Sleep walking was one thing, but this was something else. Kise tried to ignore the nagging feeling tugging at the back of his mind. When this usually happened, it meant something bad would soon be following.
When it first started happening, Kise would fight it with everything he had. But he had learnt over the years that letting things take their flow and following what his mind and body were telling him was far easier (and less painful), than resisting. Besides, whether he liked it or not, whenever he got a feeling, that feeling was never wrong.
But he wasn't quite sure why he was there of all places.
He felt like he should know…but didn't. Not yet.
Then it dawned on him. As if someone had just opened the door and the clarity of it all had come swooping in. He swivelled on the spot and looked up and down the street. He then took a few steps back and looked up at the buildings in front of him.
On the corner of one of the buildings the sign read Yoshimi Zaka Street.
Kise shook his head in disbelief. Once. He had looked at the map once. And then without even realising what he was doing, he had joined the route marked on the map and had carried on following it across town.
But why had he stopped? Kise knew it wasn't just because the man had bumped into him. If it was, he would have carried on walking afterwards. No. He had stopped for a reason. There was always a reason.
He turned to his right and soon found out what that reason was.
To his right was an alleyway set back between two buildings. It was dark and narrow and at the end was a single dumpster.
Kise felt his feet move before he could do anything about it.
He stopped right on the edge of where the alley met the street. If he took one step, he would be in complete darkness. It was that darkness that was stopping him from going any further.
At the end of the alley, near the dumpster, was a turning. Kise was desperate to see what was around that corner but the rational part of his brain was screaming at him to not go any further. And thank God the rest of him was deciding to listen. The darkness felt alive. Like it was watching him, luring him and daring him to come closer.
Kise felt like he was being watched even though the alley was empty.
There was something not quite right about the whole situation. Kasamatsu had told him that he'd ran the route several times, so he must have passed this alley more than once. But he hadn't seen or sensed anything out of the ordinary. But then again, Kise wasn't like Kasamatsu. He wasn't normal. Unfortunately, Kise could sense things others couldn't and even though he had accepted his powers as a part of him and tolerated them, he hated not having control of his own mind and body.
Plus, he didn't even know what was so important about the alley in the first place. And he had no intentions of finding out. At least that's what the rational side of his mind was telling him. However, that part of his brain was shrinking rapidly and Kise could feel himself losing control.
He took a step forward, his foot half in the shadow, half in the light.
His heart rate was getting faster and the darkness seemed to be getting deeper. As if it knew it had Kise in its grasp. All it took was one more step.
"Kise-kun?"
It was as if someone had just picked up reality and smacked him in the face with it.
As Kise removed his foot from the shadow, the darkness appeared to shrink back, as if sulking that it had lost its prey.
"Kise-kun? Are you ok?"
Kise turned around to face Nijimura Shuzo standing behind him.
"Kise-kun?" the black haired vampire looked worried.
"I'm fine" Kise managed. He turned back to look at the alley but whatever feeling Kise had before, had now vanished.
"What is it?" asked Nijimura, following Kise's gaze.
"Nothing" replied the blonde. "I just zoned out for a second that's all."
Nijimura didn't look convinced. "Ok. What are you doing here anyway? Isn't your flat on the other side of town?"
Kise nodded. "It is. I just thought I'd take a walk. Clear my head."
"You should be careful. It's late and who knows what or who is skulking around."
Kise managed to laugh. "What you mean like a vampire? Pretty sure you're the only vampire around here Nijimura-san. What are you doing here anyway?"
Nijimura shrugged. "Nothing important. You should go home. Do you want me walk you?"
"No thanks. I'll be fine. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Kise didn't look back as he carried on down the street.
He could feel himself starting to panic. If Nijimura-san hadn't shown up when he did, God knows what would have happened. If he wasn't more concerned with getting home and bolting all of the doors, Kise would have been asking himself why Nijimura was there in the first place. There was no way that was a coincidence.
But he didn't want to think about that right now. He couldn't. Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialled the first number at the top of his contacts.
He only had to wait a couple of seconds before it was answered.
"Hi, it's me. Can you come over tonight?"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Nijimura watched as Kise turned the corner at the end of the street.
When he was out of sight, the vampire turned towards the alley. He stood on the edge, where the shadow met the light and looked into the darkness.
Kise-kun was here for a reason he thought.
Nijimura had been on his way back from the crime scene when he had ran into Kise coincidentally but there was nothing coincidental about Kise being on this side of town this late at night.
The black haired vampire had known the blonde long enough to know that trusting Kise's gut feeling was bound to lead them to something at some point. So with that in mind, he made his way down the alley.
He could smell it before he even turned the corner; the smell of decay, blood and death.
He turned right when he reached the end of the alleyway. On his left were several dumpsters. He walked towards the second to last one before the alley reached a dead end, and stopped in front of it.
Nijimura didn't need to open the dumpster, to know what was inside. He knew that smell all too well.
He sighed.
He took out his phone with one hand and opened the lid of the dumpster with the other.
If a Human (or even a Supernatural who didn't have the same senses as Nijimura), had opened the dumpster, all they would have seen were the multitudes of black bin bags that had been thrown inside.
Using his free hand, Nijimura removed the bin bags before he found what he was looking for.
He stopped when he saw it and hit dial on his mobile.
"Kagetora, we have a problem. There's been another one."
Nijimura listened as he received his instructions, not taking his eyes off the dead body staring back at him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That night, despite Aomine's best efforts, Kise didn't sleep very well.
True it could have been worse, but no amount of Pills or Vampire Static could drown out the feeling of dread and fear seeping through every pore of Kise's being.
He lay in bed all through the night, clutching on to Aomine's chest tight, eyes scrunched and fists clenched. He tried his hardest to ignore the numbing pain in his head and flashing images of a pale, bruised, dead body lying in the middle of the alley way he had found himself in front of a few hours ago.
The flashes were sharp and quick and sometimes Kise wasn't even sure what he was seeing. Each time one happened, pain shot through his skull.
Aomine lay silent, arms wrapped tight around the blonde, trying his hardest to soothe Kise's pain.
It was only when Kise had finally managed to doze off, did Aomine reach across for his phone. He opened the text he had received about an hour ago. It was from Kagetora.
There's been another victim.
Aomine sighed internally, before putting his phone back on the side and absentmindedly began tracing the lines of the scar on Kise's neck.
A/N
Hello everyone! Hopefully this has shed a little more light on things. But it is completely intentional to still feel slightly in the dark at this point. Any unanswered questions I promise will be answered at some point. Just a few quick notes: Kise is NOT a vampire (that I can defo confirm!). What he is and what power he has, will become clear later on. All I can say is that he is pretty powerful and kind of doesn't realise it. Aomine IS a vampire and we will definitely be seeing more of him as the story progresses. It's a little Kise heavy at the moment, but don't worry Aomine is just as important to the story! Kagetora is also another main character but of course (unlike in the manga) he isn't Aida Riko's dad in this universe. I've really enjoyed bringing in characters who don't get anywhere near enough time in the manga or anime; Kagetora and Nijimura included!
It has taken me a week to write this chapter (I do a little bit each night before bed), and the next one will probably be the same.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Nightmare-Taichou- Hello! Thankyou for your wonderful words! I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're enjoying it so far! Kise isn't a vampire and didn't kill Riko. All will become clear with his story (and Aomine's) as the story progresses : ) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! P.s. Nijimura will definitely be making more appearances ; )
murruemioria- Hello! Thankyou for your review! I really appreciate it! I'm glad you're enjoying it! Kise is psychic and is quite a powerful one. But all will become clear in future chapters! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Thankyou for reading!
I love you all!
RH
X
