WARNING: DARKER THAN USUAL CHAPTER.

TW for 1st half for gore and torture.

Himiko POV

The sun shines, and its yellow-orange glow paints the horizon as it readies to set, marking the time my kindred thrives, unburdened by the fear of turning into ash. The smell of caramel apples fills my nose, as I take a deep breath. I couldn't be faulted for saying it's just an ordinary day, if not for the...TENTACLE MONSTER RUNNING AFTER ME! AHHH!

I ran as fast as my tiny feet could carry me. Tiny? Whatever, it's not the time to worry about that! I ran into the forest, around tree after tree, hoping to lose the monster. At the same time, the landscape changes every step I take. I hear it approaching closer every second, slithering through the trees, taking the same route I did. My lungs feel like it's burning, but I know I can't stop because the moment that I do, it'll be over. I don't know what's gonna happen, but Mommy was very particular about not getting caught by those things.

While running, I see a bright flash of light, nearly blinding me. I made my way to it, slowly realizing that it was a portal opening to the Mundane world. I went through it, thinking it was the only way to escape the monstrosity running after me.

My expectation of a bright place considering that previous flash of light was flipped over its head when the moment I stepped into it, I was greeted by darkness. The place seems to be inside a large mansion, not unlike the place I grew up in. Thankfully, being a half-vampire allowed me to see clearly, despite the obvious lack of light. And though it isn't as sharp as I'd like to be for some reason, echolocation more than makes up for it.

I looked back at where the portal was but found nothing. Strange. Also, everything seems so big. My instinct is telling me that everything is wrong as if ants crawling under my skin. Yet for some reason, my body moved on its own. Room after room, I explored and each time I saw that nobody was there. It was a loop of me opening a place and finding nobody there until I came across what seemed to be a dressing room. Fancy. I looked around and was surprised by what I saw in the mirror. I've been thinking all this time that everything looked so big and tall. But that isn't it. I'm simply tiny.

'Cute~! But what the hell happened!? Did I piss off a sorceress and got cursed or something?' my thoughts exclaimed in panic as I look at my facial features, and see it not different from before I started my whole angsty crusade. I tried to shapeshift to my actual height but to no avail. I tried turning into various forms; other people, a mist, a bat, a rat, and even a wolf (yuck!), but none of them worked. Again, weird.

Being stuck in this form is far from ideal. Not only are my powers malfunctioning, but I highly doubt my plan to be with Izu-kun would ever happen if I'm stuck like this! 'ARGH! Once I find the one who did this to me, I swear...'

*Psshtt* *BOOM!*

My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a loud noise coming from somewhere inside the building. The explosion even shook it. I started following the sound of explosions, screaming, and the sound of what seemed to be bodies dropping to the ground.

*thud* "ARGGGHHHHH!" I heard the sound of someone screaming in agony. The sound pierced through the air.

I continued following it until I stopped in front of a large double-sided door. And it's not just large because of my current size, though it made it seem far more gigantic than it already is. If I have to guess, it's tall enough to fit several semi-trucks on top of each other, with room to spare. As I stood before it, the screams and explosions suddenly stopped.

For a split moment, I found myself hesitating, before steeling myself to open the door. What greeted me was a stuff of nightmare. Bodies are clumsily strewed about, blood covering them from head to toe.

A man who looked like he's in his thirties with limbs elongated and twisted into unnatural shapes, resembling gnarled branches of some sinister tree. Fingers elongated into razor-sharp claws, while joints bent in directions that defied the laws of anatomy, rendering them a grotesque mockery of the human form.

A woman, flesh dissolved into a putrid sludge, oozing and dripping from her bones like melted wax. Limbs sagged and melted away as if consumed by some unseen acid, leaving behind a puddle of bubbling, writhing flesh where a person once stood.

Another woman with golden hair has her intestines wrapped around her neck, as she hanged from the chandelier, wet sounds continue to be heard as the tension of her gut continues to echo in the room as her body continues to swing back and forth. Back and forth.

The others aren't that much better. Each and every one of them was mangled, defiled, and eviscerated.

I know for a fact that this sight isn't the worst I've seen but for some reason, I found my stomach turning before it, whatever food was still in there threatening to burst out of my mouth. My sight blurred for some reason. Before I realized it, tears gathered in my eyes while looking at the woman hanging from the chandelier before a familiar voice I hadn't heard in a while came out of my mouth.

"Mommy? MOMMY!" I shouted and my body moved on its own to get closer to the corpse but before I was able to do that, I felt sharp pain as a blade went through the back of my neck to my chest.

"Looks like you missed one, sweetheart. Don't worry, I took care of it for you. Can't have any loose ends lying around, can we? Consider it my little contribution to our shared goal of thoroughness," I heard a voice belonging to a man say, before feeling the blade get pulled out of me. He stood there, a grotesque silhouette against the dim light, his massive form casting a looming shadow over me. His pudgy fingers gripped the weapon tightly.

'Ah. I remember,' I thought as I hit the floor with a dull thud and saw my own blood spreading across the floor. It took such a long time to put two and two together, but it is that day, isn't it?

"Well, aren't you just full of surprises? Didn't realize He hired a janitor instead. Next time, I'll make sure to leave a mop and bucket for you," I heard a woman's voice answer, her lithe figure contrasting the man's bloated form. Though I wasn't able to see either of them with my eyes. I feel too weak to even turn my head to the source of the voice.

"It's cold...Mommy" was the last thing that I said before everything turned black.

...

A new scenery was unveiled in my eyes. I was in a dark, damp room. The putrid smell of feces and urine, mixed with decaying bodies, surrounding the area attacks my nose. I looked at the pathetic figure before me and approached it. My footsteps reverberated throughout the room. *click* *click* *click*

In front of me is a man tied up to an armchair. Disrobed except for his underwear. I noticed my limbs are longer than just before, but not a significant difference. Harpe in hand, I spoke, "Vampire extermination. Dangarnon. Tell me everything you know," I demanded from the man, my pre-teen voice making being taken seriously an uphill battle.

"Heh. As formidable as your presence may be, little endling," he said with sarcasm dripping from his words, "I've faced far darker shadows than you while comfortably seated."

They always start like this. But they'll start singing in a few hours. I looked at Harpe before stabbing it to his crotch, the legendary blade having no trouble going through Normie's flesh. I made sure to do it in a way that would hurt but wouldn't bleed him to death. At least, not yet.

A bloodcurdling scream echoed in this basement. I'm not one to waste time so I had my finger just slightly digging in his shoulder. While drawing blood, I traced a trail going from his shoulder down to his arm, his hand, and finally his fingertips. I looked him in the eye with a smile on my face as I used two fingers to grip his fingernails. His face turned from a healthy shade of ivory to very pale white, as if all blood drained from his face. Cold sweat appeared on it as he realized what I was about to do. With a slight tug on his nail, I gave him a taste of it, which earned another scream. Oh yes, I'm going to take my time with this newly minted eunuch.

"I don't know what you want, but I swear, I have nothing to do with it," he said, which delights me because I get to play even more. I started pulling even more until he started bleeding, the rest of his nails being forcefully pulled just enough to maximize the agony. After pulling it out completely, I poured salt over the wound.

"ARGHH Fucking bitch! I didn't know anything about it!?" he said as his eyes glared at me. I wanted to claw them out, but I'm going to need him to keep them in case I'm feeling a little merciful after all of this. On second thought, I just need one of them so I plucked his left eye out. He started screaming again, which is made worse because of the sound profile of this place so I just slapped him hard with my free hand to make him shut up.

"You'd know! Don't try to bullshit me. I did my own investigation so I can cross-check whatever stupid lies you try to spin," I paused for a moment before continuing, "Tell me. Your son, Takeshi, have you seen him lately? I heard he's doing good in his studies, always bringing back star marks from school," I told him, which made him pale even more.

"Please. My kid has nothing to do with this. Don't involve him," he pleaded, tears flowing out of his eyes. The left side must sting.

"I dunno. His dad's such a liar, I might just find the idea of tossing him to a nearby Defiler appealing," I said this with the sweetest voice I could. "Or maybe I'll sell him to the Unseelie Faes. I heard leather furniture is quite the demand there these days."

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT! I'll tell you everything you want to know, but please don't harm my little boy," he begged. His early defiant attitude is gone.

'Boring.'

"Fine. But don't you dare try to pull a fast one over me, or your son will wish I'd be as merciful to him as I did with your fellow Hunters," I said as I gestured at the dead bodies around him.

Thankfully, I didn't have to chop up his family in front of him and make them watch as I fed him the parts as I did with the last guy. His and his family's faces as I shoved their youngest daughter's face skin down his throat is just...*chef's kiss*

I'll just charm this one to burn down his house. What? I wouldn't harm his kid. He would. See? I am a woman of my word. This continued for a while before...

...

I slowly opened my eyes. The morning sun shines through the window close to my bed as a maid opens the curtains. If I'm a full-blooded vampire, that would've burned the hell out of me. The maid, with short green fluffy hair and green eyes turned to me with a smile.

"Ojou-sama, it is time to wake. I have prepared your garments for today's activity," she said as she brought a gold and blue dress but not caring about that, I only opened my phone to look at the date today. After confirming it, I breathed a deep sigh and said,

"Leave me alone. I'm not doing anything today."

"Ojou-sama?" The maid, not used to me treating her coldly, got confused by my action.

"Leave me alone!" I shouted, this time, as I pulled my blanket over my head, wanting to go back to sleep. Wanting for this day to be over. I'm not in the mood to play pretend to some perfect girl in front of a brainwashed maid and a spoilt daughter to some brainwashed rich couple. I only did this to have an alibi in case I ever needed it and because it's interesting. Mostly, the latter. But I can't be bothered. Not today, at least.

I can still see the maid through my blanket, staring at me, like she's unsure of what to do before nodding and walking out of the room.

I tried going back to sleep. Not only to skip the day, no. I wanted to relive the dream, if possible. Even considering how horrifying it is, how much I want to throw up at being reminded of that memory, and what they did to my people, it's still a way for me to see them once again. The only way, as far as I'm concerned and the waking world won't be able to give me that.

It took me a few hours of trying before finally giving up. Fine! I'll be productive or some shit. I went and got Harpe and walked all over town, trying to find what to do. I didn't even bother concealing my sword because I could just say I'm cosplaying so long as it stays sheathed. Works for these humans all the time.

I walked wherever my feet carried me without much though of what was around me. That is until a body suddenly fell in front of me. In an instant, I realized that the figure both felt and smelled wrong, a combination of sickeningly sweet, foul, and acidic. A necromancer's flesh-puppet. It's not moving though, so I wonder what happened.

I looked above and thought it might give answers if I go to the roof. I transformed to my bat form and flew to the roof. I saw what appeared to be a sniper's kit, complete with a rifle, tripod, and everything. I looked at the scope. Is that what it's called? And see where they're aiming at. I saw a short woman with a thin build, green hair styled in a ponytail, wearing a blouse as she was watching the TV.

'Are they trying to assassinate her or something?' I thought but immediately recognized who she was. It's Izu-kun's Mom! 'I should introduce myself or something.' Admittedly, I'm being a little selfish right now, but if someone attacks her, I'll be able to defend her. Then Izu-kun's gonna take me to his bed as a reward, ditching the werewolf bitch. Just imagining it is making me wet. I wonder how the flesh puppet died though. Well, it's already dead, sure, but still. I don't see anyone here. It didn't look like there was a fight either. Not even a trace of magic. Oh well!

I made my way through the busy streets, fixing my hair meanwhile. Once I reached the door for Izu-kun's appartment, I knocked on it. I'm so glad I decided to wear tights today, otherwise the tattoo I got would show. His perplexed face as he saw it is so wonderful~.

'Steady and firm. You can do this, Himi.' I thought this as the door in front of me started to open.

"Hello, dear. How may I help you?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Auntie. My name's Toga Himiko. I'm a friend of Izu-kun. He told me all about you. We haven't seen each other for a while so I'm thinking of surprising him with a visit. Is he here?" I asked. Of course, I know he isn't. He's in UA, after all.

"Oh! Has he, now? Great timing. Come on in! Well, he's not here yet, but I have a feeling he's going to visit us soon. Mother's intuition and all that," she said while gesturing for me to come in.

His apartment's not that big. Not small, it certainly is enough for a mother and son living together. But it's not a place you'd expect to find a demi-god being raised in. Then again, Perseus didn't get raised in a castle either, so who am I to judge? She led me to the living room, which has two sofas and a small TV.

"Here you go, Toga-chan," she told me as she put a small cup of tea in front of me. Such a gracious host.

We talked for a while about anything and everything. From what I can tell, she doesn't seem to be aware of Magic and Elsewhere so I didn't bring up those topics. Instead, I diverted the conversation to let me know more about Izu-kun, which wasn't all that hard to know. She loved talking about him. I learned a lot, from his childhood to what he was doing recently. Of course, I know what he was up to these days, but it was nice to know about him from before we met.

The conversation continues until the sound of the doorbell rings in the house. This smell. He's here. Unfortunately, the wolf's here too. Urgh.

"Oh, that must be Izuku. I'll go get it," Auntie said before going to the door. I can hear the *click* of the door being unlocked before a *creak*, opening it.

"Ara. Izuku. Itsuka-san. Come in. Come in." she ushered them to the living room, where I waited. The wolf, pointedly walked in front of Izu-kun, as if covering him, as she stared at me. Likely did not want to cause a ruckus because of his mom. I don't care about the pet so I ignored her.

"Surprise!" I told him as I jumped into a hug at him. He and his mom looked at me with surprise, but he caught me all the same. The pet was almost glaring at me, which made me smile.

I just noticed it from before, but did he just become more powerful? His Spark's looking weird. It grew in size and intensity and eight small orbs of different colors orbited around it.

"It's...been a while, Toga-san, right?" he said, which almost made me pause. Since when did he learn my name? He feels even more mysterious the more I learn about him.

"Come on~. I already told you to call me Himi," I said while fluttering my eyelashes at him.

"All right, then. Himi," he said which made my face turn red. I wasn't expecting it to have this kind of effect on me.

"You three must have things to catch up on, right? I'll just go make some dinner. Would you be staying with us for a meal, honey?" Auntie asked me.

"Sure, I will," I immediately replied. This is so perfect. As if I'm already a wife having a meal with my handsome husband and my kind mother-in-law. The pet can get lost for all I care though.

After Auntie's distracted with cooking, the pet is now even growling at me and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Checking up on my future mother-in-law," I plainly said. "What about you? Shouldn't you be traveling the world or something, going through your mid-life crisis?"

"Enough. The two of you will stop this," Izu-kun said before turning to me, "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I was walking around town when a necromancer fell dead in front of me. I investigated the roof and found a rifle aimed at this house. Figured I'll protect her in case the corpse has backups." I told him. I was tempted to earn extra brownie points by saying I was the one who took out the necro, but that wouldn't be wise.

Izu-kun's expression is complicated, mixed with worry and fear for his mother. Not like I don't get it, especially after that dream I had.

"I'll reach through my connections to have this area patrolled more frequently," the pet says before hugging Izu-kun. This bitch. "She'll be safe. I'll make sure of that," she continued.

"Yeah. All right, thank you, Itsuka," he said to her, which was frustrating me. "And you too, Himi. Thanks for checking up on Mom," he told me. I couldn't help but sport a horny grin at him.

"You're welcome. I'd be happy to have if you reward me with a good dicking," I told him. Subtlety? What's that? The only thing that'll get is someone else stealing the march on you.

"Perhaps not somewhere my Mom couldn't hear?" he said with a brow raised. At least it means he's not against the idea. The pet's glaring at me, it's hilarious.

"I'm looking forward to it," I told him, which earned a chuckle from him. Damn, even the way he did it is hot.

The rest of the day is filled with little conversations. It seems he wants to make sure I won't hurt the wolf so I promised not to harm her so long as she won't harm me first. This time, it's not some wordplay. It'd destroy my relationship with him, after all. Content with that, Auntie finished preparing the food. Izu-kun helped set up the table. The pet and I tried to offer help but were shot down by Auntie because we were supposed to be guests.

After dinner, I made my way back home, only for Izu-kun to follow after me.

"I can walk in the dark, you know?" I told him, a bit of a tease in my tone.

"I know. I'm not here for that," he told me, which made me curious.

"Oh?"

"I'd like to thank you for helping during USJ," he said. Truthfully, I didn't think much of it. The Beast's already on its last leg after he bombarded it with Poison. Evoker Poison Magic is no joke. I simply made sure that the harm done to him was kept to a minimum.

"It's okay. I'll just be expecting our first night to be super hot now as a reward for two things," I told him.

He walked up to me, "Of course. You'll be dripping semen from your holes for a month after I'm done with you," he whispered to my ears before nibbling and blowing at it. A jolt ran down my whole body. DID I JUST CUM FROM THAT?! "Well, that's just a taste for when I'll be giving you the reward," he said this as he walked back to his house.

"Hehe," I can't escape the stupid grin from escaping my face. I walked back to the mansion, giddy at what happened.

"Ojou-sama. Welcome back," the maid greeted me.

"Oh, Saya, right? Good evening. I'm retiring for the night. Do NOT disturb me, all right?" I announced to her before going straight to my room.

"My name's Elsie, though..." I heard the dejected maid mutter. Who cares? I'm flicking the bean tonight!

It's finally out! We've finally touched upon Himiko's situation. Was gonna call it Toga Himiko: Origin but decided against it. I have a different plan for that chapter. Hehe.

The chapter turned out to be darker than I planned, but I'm overall happy with it. The plan for the tone of the series is on the lighter side, but that doesn't mean the dark and scary parts of the world aren't there. Whoever exterminated the vampires royally pissed off Himiko and she's significantly scarier as a Trueborn. Don't expect this to churn angst chapters though. This ain't that kinda story. 😅