A breath hisses from clenched teeth as a hand slowly pulls the damn knife out of the shoulder it was stuck in. A groan leaves bloodstained lips before the knife is thrown with the force of an angry mother at a wall.
CLANG!
Ichigo leans her head back, barely wincing when it hits against the wall. She keeps her hand pressed tightly to her shoulder while blindly digging for some kind of antiseptic inside the incredibly old and dusty first-aid kit she managed to find inside the vampire den.
"Hope you don't mind," She mutters towards the limp body in front of her before she lifts her feet and rests them on top. She pays no mind to the ashes falling from the stab wound in the center of the dhampir corpse's back.
Another knife protruded out of her right leg, blood dripping off and landing in a puddle right below. There was a bullet wound, the bullet had gone clean through, above her knee on the same leg.
Ichigo sighs quietly when she feels the familiar packaging of some antiseptic wipes. Much better than what she had expected. She lifts one of the packages towards her mouth and bites down on a corner for leverage.
"13 dhampirs and seven vampires." Ichigo tugs at the hole in her shirt to make it bigger before wiping away at the stab wound. "None were the boss. This was simply a secondary base. Damnit..."
Ichigo ignores the constant throb in her shoulder as she forcefully moves it closer to her chin to press the antiseptic wipes against the wound. She digs for the roll of bandages she felt inside the first-aid kit while on the hunt for the damn wipe.
She found evidence of organ trafficking, and murders, the second she entered... but it's clearly a brand new base with old tricks. An expansion of a branch from another district–or, most likely, districts.
Districts 1 through 27 is completely controlled by the Yarrow in North Rukongai; a vampire had won control over 1 through 13 in a fight to the death while 14 through 27 had been an official addition when the Central 46 approved Districts 9, 18, and 27 to be legal blood trading centers. District 28, District 29, and District 30 were under the protection of the Yarrow, but have been kept as neutral ground with other vampiric factions.
Districts 31 through 40 are still in the Yarrow's territory, but are more or less ignored in favor of near-constant death matches against the Yarrow's leader. There has been talk of a sub faction inside the Yarrow expanding the control in Districts 31 through 40 without Central 46 looking, but Ichigo has yet to receive any confirmation.
With how badly regulated the two red-light districts, District 34 and District 35, are, Ichigo hopes that the Yarrow is successful. 41 through 57 are still claimed under the Yarrow's protection, but nothing else can be done besides some talk. The Yarrow's leader doesn't do talk.
It's 58 through 80 that worries Ichigo. If a vampiric faction is attempting to gain control over the almost lawless districts of North Rukongai, it's likely that the first base, the home base, is in the first few districts; it's most likely going to be in District 58 or maybe even District 57.
It can't be an encroaching faction. There would be literal blood flooding the streets in that war, especially if the faction was the Iris or worse, the Thistle.
Of course, if that damn clown decided to go experimenting and committing war crimes in the farther districts of the Rukongai once more, Ichigo would have killed him before it ever became this bad. "Research and Development" be damned. Central 46 doesn't even like to approve of his actually helpful patents that could save lives; nothing would have changed.
It must be a young faction–likely a predominantly dhampir with a vampire leading it all. Smart faction, Ichigo has to admit. Not regulated by Central 46 and barely even noticed by the Yarrow. It's easy to sneak in and gain a foothold... and with very little superpowers controlling the trafficking and the black market in Districts 58 through 80, it's a quick and easy way to become a territory.
Ichigo hisses loudly as she pulls the bandages wrapped around her shoulder tight. "Fuck. This is going to be a huge problem."
Ichigo takes out the knife in her leg and begins to at least disinfect the wounds and wrap them up. There was a convenience store down the street. If she can manage to break in, they should have something for a better job at fixing her wounds.
After a few more minutes of sitting with her legs propped up on top of the corpse, Ichigo finally forces herself to stand up. Be it a new faction or an old one, she does not want to go on another life or death fighting spree after getting severely injured. Again.
"Fuck. I knew I should have skipped work," Ichigo mutters through a bolt of pain from the rough stab wound in her abdomen. She had hastily closed it up with a stapler she previously used as a weapon against the dhampir she used as a footrest. From her sudden twist to kill another vampire, the knife dug through her side a bit further and tore the edges of her skin.
Ichigo stumbles her way through the ground floor of the old building. She doesn't bother to hide her footsteps, or avoid the shards of glass and fallen objects, not having any more fucks to give this mission. She breathes deeply, only to scrunch up her nose once she steps out of the building and into the filthy alleyway. It smelled like garbage and dead rats.
Pushing off of the door she was leaning against, Ichigo steps further into the alleyway while tugging up her long sleeve. She raises her arm towards her face to look at her watch screen.
Hunters will be sent at 0500 hours. Safehouse 30 approved.
Ichigo snorts derisively at the message and roughly lowers her arm as she walks out of the alleyway. She leans against the wall of the closed shop next to the alleyway and holds up her arm once again.
"Hey, you fucking assholes! I've dealt with the vampire den. Thanks for the safehouse 31 fucking districts away and I need this mission moved to high priority." Ichigo looks up at the pitch black sky, watching the calming storm. "We either have a new faction on our hands, or an old one wanting to start something big. And be sure to–oh for the love of the Gods. Are you fucking kidding me?"
A silhouette steps out of the alleyway on the other side of the closed shop. Ichigo groans loudly while her message is sent to the Hunters' Association.
"Please tell me you're just looking to mug someone," Ichigo almost pleads, already reaching behind her back for one of her daggers. She has maybe 40 bucks on her person and hopefully that will be enough–if this was a human.
Three more silhouettes walk out of the alleyway before lightning flashes through the clouds. Four sets of glowing eyes surrounded by blood red are lit up by the flash and protruding fangs gleam. Ichigo groans loudly before she pushes off the wall she had leaned against. Of course.
"Let's get this fucking over with." Ichigo unsheathes her dagger and holds it to the side. She sprints forward and lets the adrenaline take its course.
The vampires hiss loudly before two sprint forward to meet her. Ichigo ducks under a sudden swipe of incredibly long, and sharp, nails painted silver before roughly tugging up her dagger. The other vampire screeches as the dagger slices up into their leg and further into their pelvis. They screech loudly as the edges of the wound immediately start to turn to ash.
"You bitch–" A second dagger suddenly impales the other vampire's face before Ichigo drags it down and through their throat.
Ichigo sees more than feels when one of the remaining two vampires throws her through the air. And when she means sees, she means spotting the three or four staples popping out from her abdomen and flashing white when lightning streaks across the sky once more. And the vampire suddenly appearing in front of her. That too.
Ichigo flips in the air and lands on her feet, sliding back against the muddy street. She slowly stands up before staggering to keep her balance.
"You damn Hunter! I'll–" The vampire that had thrown Ichigo back is cut off by a sopping gurgle from the vampire she had stabbed in the face before collapsing. The vampire seizes, hand grasping at their neck while the blood turns to smoke and the ash from the wound starts to spread.
Ichigo smirks when the other vampire she had wounded collapses onto their knees, nails piercing through the bone of their own pelvis, the ash having already flurried away. The two remaining vampires snap their heads toward the young woman, lightning bringing out the terror and abhorrent shock in their eyes.
"Run and pray you never run into me again," Ichigo bares her teeth like an animal with an offsetting grin. They clearly weren't animalistic, but they definitely weren't completely human with the slightly narrow width of each tooth and the deceptively sharp canines.
She watches the vampires abandon the two that got injured, disappearing in black blurs. Ichigo sighs quietly and stays standing for a moment longer. Blood from her abdomen finally soaks through her shirt enough to start dripping onto the muddy street.
...clunk...clunk...
"Fuck..." Ichigo presses a trembling hand against her worsened injury before her knees buckle and her vision blurs in and out. She collapses onto her knees with a soft whine; she digs her nails into the torn wound, pulling out the remaining staples before they could shred her skin up more.
CLUNK. CLUNK.
"I... I have to get up..." Ichigo thinks as she holds up her weight by one hand against the ground. She has to get to that convenience store. She can pass out there.
CLUNK. CLUNK.
Gold eyes slowly blink up at the echoing sound, wooden and muffled against the muddy street. They blink once more when the rain starts to fall again.
"Oh my! Doll, are you okay?" The words struggle to make any sense to Ichigo's partially conscious mind. Ichigo's mind sharpens despite how little conscious thought she had and brings the urge to fight or run.
Geta sandals stop right in the blurred edges of her vision, untouched crimson red fabric less than an inch above the ground. Ichigo instinctively reaches up with her dagger pointed towards the vampire in front of her.
A highly amused hum leaves Kisuke's mouth as she easily slaps the dagger out of Ichigo's hand. Long crimson nails wrap around the freckled hand and cages it inside long fingers.
"Hm. Don't worry, I-chi-go-chan. I only wish to help you," Kisuke whispers against Ichigo's ear before she pulls the young woman into her embrace and underneath her wagasa. Ichigo barely feels the slight pinch against the inside of her wrist, her eyes falling shut without her consent.
Either she's going to live or she's going to die by this woman's hand. Fuck.
"S-Safehouse..." Ichigo licks her lips and forces her eyes open. "District 30... S-safehouse..."
Kisuke pauses before chuckling lowly. Ichigo ignores the wave of warmth that spreads through her body and the goosebumps that appear on her neck from the warm breath.
The older woman easily lifts Ichigo up in her arms like she was simply some paper. "Let me worry about that, doll. You just rest your pretty little head, hm?"
Ichigo's head falls back, eyes fluttering close. If she didn't make the choice then, it would have been made for her. She just has to take the risk.
Give a little, get some back. The most important thing her father had taught her before his death. And something she has always lived by since then.
Ichigo slips from reality and falls into an endless void, carried gently by a beautiful vampire that clearly has ulterior motives.
Crimson rays of the full moon bathed the entire room in an unearthly bloody glow. The crimson water barely rippled as a pale woman meticulously washed herself. Sunset orange hair, turned blood red in the light, floated around her broad shoulders and sharp collarbones like snakes. A raised brand on her back just barely peeked out from the water.
Black painted nails twitch as the pale woman stops washing her arm. Gold eyes blink open and are met with the sight of glowing silver eyes and pale blonde hair turned crimson in the moonlight.
The pale woman smiles almost immediately and lowers her arms into the steaming water. The other woman steps closer, eyes wide in a way that warned anyone who looked inside them to not look away.
"Welcome home." Ichigo doesn't dare look away. "I didn't expect you to be home so early. I would have finished sooner."
Kisuke continues to stare at her, her fangs poking out from her painted lips. Her head tilts as her eyes flick towards something–someone, actually–behind Ichigo. Ichigo doesn't bother to hide her smile, eyes glittering in mischief.
"Is something wrong, darling?" Ichigo feigns innocence like she didn't know that the servant was watching her bathe the entire time. Kisuke's eyes flick back towards her, a snarl finally breaking the blank mask over her face.
The servant screams in pain as his stomach is torn open with a simple twitch of Kisuke's fingers. Ichigo doesn't turn around to watch the show, no matter how much she truly wants to.
Ichigo doesn't hear the blood splatter against the ground. Kisuke is using it to stitch up the wound, and probably attach many things that should never be attached, it seems.
A smile flits across Kisuke's face, full of sharp teeth and a possessive promise of violence. Ichigo blinks, still feigning innocence even when Kisuke steps closer.
"My beautiful doll, why did you let him watch you?" Kisuke raises her hands completely out of the water and grabs Ichigo's face.
Ichigo attempts to turn around. "Who was watching–"
A hand wraps around her throat and uses it as leverage to pull her closer. Sharp crimson nails prick into the skin where rivulets of blood start to fall. Ichigo stares up into silver eyes; they were dark with fury. Ichigo couldn't stop the shiver that crawled up her spine even if she wanted to.
Kisuke smiles just a bit wider, humming quietly. She leans closer until their lips barely touch.
"Oh, doll. We've been neglecting you... haven't we? Are you really going to play this game with me? You won't enjoy the end result," Kisuke whispers against Ichigo's parted lips. She giggles softly as she tightens her grip around the pale throat.
Ichigo's eyes flutter and a gasp leaves her mouth in instinct. Her fingers twitch, but stay at her sides in the steaming water.
"...what game?" Ichigo willingly falls into Kisuke's trap, her entire body trembling in the absolute obsessive need to be broken.
The expression of such a pure emotion on a face always covered with a blank mask physically brings Ichigo to her knees in that moment.
A soft sigh leaves dry lips. Ichigo flips her body around, curling underneath the blankets piled on top of her body. She ignores the growing ache in her abdomen from the movement and sighs once more.
What kind of dream was that? It was nice...
Sleep still kept Ichigo just underneath conscious awareness with warmth completely surrounding her, inside and out. Her face scrunches up when the ache in her abdomen somehow spreads to her right leg.
She grumbles quietly as the ache turns into a throb before it turns into needles repeatedly impaling her abdomen and leg. Ichigo finally completely breaks through the sleep keeping her just out of reach of reality and blinks her eyes open.
Almost complete darkness meets Ichigo's eyes. Light barely pierced through the only window in the room, rays of sunlight shining brightly against the ceiling and floor from behind the curtains. The faint light barely catches onto her silver cuffs, making them emit a soft glow.
Ichigo groans quietly when the needles repeatedly stabbing into her quickly turns into hot pokers. Gods, this fucking hurts! Damn vampires.
She lurches out of the bed, falling to the ground with a loud cry of pain when fire sears into her abdomen. Ichigo punches the wooden floor and grabs her abdomen in an instinctual attempt to calm the agony.
"Where–where am I?" Ichigo rapidly blinks her eyes, trying to blink away the many spots blinding her vision. She blindly reaches behind her for the bed she was sleeping in.
"I put in a lot of work in closing up your wounds, doll." The young woman snaps her head up when she hears a door slide open. "I should tell you to be careful, but I didn't realize you would wake up so soon."
Ichigo breathes heavily and calms her racing heart as the memories of her last moments awake are suddenly brought forth. Her "emergency" mission and the attack afterwards.
That's right. She didn't really have a choice, but to let Kisuke take her somewhere safe.
"W-where? You–" Ichigo closes her eyes and gently shakes her head, pushing away the remnants of what little sleep attempted to keep latched onto her consciousness. She slowly opens her eyes again and focuses on the woman crouched right in front of her. Ichigo mostly hides the full body twitch in her surprise at how silent Kisuke had moved.
Kisuke smiles casually with pale blonde hair out of her half pigtails and falling over her shoulders and back in waves. She wore a crimson yukata with a black lily pattern, loosely tied around her waist to the point where it fell off her shoulders and revealed pale thighs.
Ichigo takes a deep breath and looks around the room, pretending like a red blush wasn't crawling up from her chest. With how dark the room was, she couldn't see anything other than the traditional architecture of the room. Ichigo then focuses on her agonizing wounds.
Stitches, as red as blood, almost seemed to glow in the muffled sunlight. It seamlessly keeps the skin closed, almost as if it was a decoration instead of keeping a wound shut. Ichigo pulls at the unfamiliar wine red yukata she was wearing to inspect her abdomen wound. The same stitches against seemingly uninjured skin stares back.
Ichigo doesn't hear the blood splatter against the ground. Kisuke is using it to stitch up the wound, and probably attach many things that should never be attached, it seems.
It wasn't a dream. It was–
"Do you like how they look? My ability can... heal in a sense, but the stitches are always left behind," Kisuke interrupts Ichigo's revelation with a cheerful statement. Ichigo blinks and focuses back on her abdomen, quickly realizing that she didn't have her bra, or even some sarashi wrap, on.
The blush quickly crawls up and spreads across her entire face as she snaps her yukata close with her legs curling to block it from view. Ichigo snaps her head up and glares fiercely at the highly amused woman that had a front row seat to her exposed chest.
"Oh my! You look so adorable when embarrassed like that, doll!" Kisuke giggles, easily leaning away to dodge a kick to her side from Ichigo.
"You–you fucking pervert! Did you–did you undress me? While I was unconscious?! What the–"
"You were covered in blood and filth from whatever... fight you were in before the one I found you in. Had I not undressed you and cleaned you up, you would have likely gained a nasty infection. Besides, those clothes were not salvageable," Kisuke lightly defends herself, standing up before she taps her cane against Ichigo's leg.
Ichigo continues to glare up at her, but her hackles lower at the logical explanation. She huffs before looking away from the blonde woman, face still painted red.
"...how long was I out?" Ichigo pretends like the previous interaction didn't happen, glancing back up at Kisuke.
Kisuke smiles knowingly before tapping Ichigo's leg once more and points her head towards the shoji door. "Almost a full day. It's three in the afternoon. We're in Blue Grass Snake."
"District 47..." Ichigo looks up at the ceiling with a small scowl. 14 districts from the vampire den...
Ichigo shakes off her thoughts and slowly stands up, using the bed behind her for leverage. Kisuke hums softly, as if curious about Ichigo's actions, before she starts to glide towards the door. Ichigo stares at her back with a narrowed gaze before slowly shuffling after the woman.
"Are you hungry? I was just about to order you some breakfast!" Kisuke asks, glancing over her shoulder with a bright smile.
"...I'll get something on my way to District 61," Ichigo eventually answers, more focused on the decor of the hallway. Or the lack thereof. Calling it minimalistic would be incredibly generous.
"You're going back?"
Ichigo snorts derisively and rolls her eyes. "Don't really have a damn choice. I'm not even going to be able to give my report for two weeks, at least, with the investigation and clean up going to be put solely on my shoulders. With no help from anyone else."
A heavy sigh leaves Ichigo's mouth before she shakes her head and finally notices how Kisuke had stopped walking, causing her to stop. Gold eyes blink before glancing up, only to freeze at the sight of bright quicksilver eyes, wide and unblinking.
Gold eyes blink open and are met with the sight of glowing silver eyes and pale blonde hair turned crimson in the moonlight.
Why such a premonition? Is something coming that requires the vampire's aide?
"You're quite strange," Kisuke comments, not unkindly. Ichigo comes back to reality at the statement. She doesn't bother to stifle the smirk growing on her face before she walks past the vampire.
"I get that a lot." Broad shoulders shrug before silent footsteps walk into the open, and empty, expanse of the living room. Ichigo scrunches her toes over the tatami mats as she inspects the slightly more decorated room.
A chabudai sat centered across from the closed fusuma doors with two dark green cushions. A simple stand stood to the right of the fusuma doors, a single black vase holding a simple red dahlia with a single oddly shaped sword mounted vertically above, its simple paper charm lightly dancing in a gentle breeze. Across the fusuma doors was another set, most likely leading outside.
Her eyes continue to rove around the room before they pause at the white egret flowers, freshly plucked and beautiful, laying on the chabudai. A teapot sat next to them, steam lazily billowing out of the spout.
Ichigo blinks before she feels something soft brush against her arm. Kisuke walks past with her hands hidden inside the sleeves of her yukata as she walks towards the table. Gold eyes glance back at the bundle of flowers before Ichigo's feet carry her over to the chabudai.
"Would you care to at least stay for tea?" Kisuke questions softly while sitting in an agura position. One of her hands slinks out of her yukata with a simple white fan, gracefully opening it to hold it over her smile.
Ichigo bites the inside of her cheek before sighing, desperately keeping her eyes away from how Kisuke's yukata was hiding almost nothing. She carefully kneels down across from the vampire, tucking her legs beneath her and straightening up into a seiza.
"White egret flowers aren't in season," Ichigo speaks up, eyes trailing back towards the bundle. "Where did you get such a beautiful batch?"
"Hmm, oh simply somewhere that cultivates many flowers year-round. I didn't take you for someone who enjoys flowers," Kisuke dismisses the question with a vague statement. Her fan flutters in front of her face, making the scent of matcha fill the air.
Ichigo shrugs as she continues to stare at the flowers. "The people I work with don't know the importance of flowers. I use that to my advantage when necessary."
Kisuke hums in interest, quicksilver eyes glittering in something close to fascination; it passes before Ichigo could completely decipher it. She folds her fan back up to begin pouring them both tea.
"You know I am a vampire."
"You know I am friends with Kuchiki Rukia, the princess of the Kuchiki Family and the Camellia–both which are publicly known as pillars in vampiric society," Ichigo retorts with a raised eyebrow.
"You know that I am a vampire," Kisuke reiterates, "and yet I haven't felt even the smallest bit of malice coming from you like last night when you fought those four vampires."
Ichigo snorts before she grabs her offered teacup. She closes her eyes and takes a sip, humming in subdued delight at the missed taste of matcha.
"I prefer actions over words. I've dealt with enough people trying to talk their way through everything to last five lifetimes."
"Oh?" Kisuke questions, bemused and openly intrigued.
Ichigo hums once more before taking another sip. She ignores how she scalds her own tongue.
It's been much too long since she had tea of any kind. It's surprising how much she actually missed it. Once she's able to go back home, she'll have the tea restocked. She has a feeling it won't just be for her and her sisters.
"I take it that you're enjoying the tea?" Kisuke pulls the conversation back towards the distracting topic. Ichigo raises an eyebrow with an amused smirk. Kisuke simply covers her mouth with her fan, eyes crinkling as her covered smile grows.
"Very much so. Thank you." Ichigo drinks the remaining tea in her cup, her eyes not straying from the vampire's own. "I don't suppose this is where you will be telling me what you are in your society."
Kisuke simply smiles. Ichigo equally pays with her own smile before she stands up from the table.
"I'll return the yukata the next time we meet," Ichigo states, turning her back towards the vampire. The almost silent flutter of Kisuke's fan stalls for barely a second; Ichigo partially believes it had only happened in her thoughts.
"...think of it as a gift. You look stunning in red," Kisuke's compliment makes the orange haired woman pause in her steps. Ichigo almost glances over her shoulder, but stops right before the pale blonde could enter her peripherals.
"...so do you." Ichigo continues walking towards the set of fusuma doors leading towards the outside. She ignores how hot her face burns.
The faster she gets this damn mission finished, the faster she can go home. Ichigo doesn't have time to entertain mischievous vampires and their teasing. Definitely no time at all!
Hey! Hope you all like the new chapter! A bit longer than the previous two, so I hope you enjoy! And like I said before, things in the plot are going to be happening very quickly and then calming into its own rhythm.
By the way, since very, very, very little is known about most of the Rukongai, I'm making up names as I go. I am going to name them by their English translations, 'cause I know I'll just fuck up the kanji. Just like how I am calling these "factions" their English flower names.
I hope you all are enjoying the story so far! Bye.
WhovianWhoudini