Ann's world slowly regained color and texture- first a mixture of blacks, then greys, then color slowly bloomed as her mind regained consciousness. Textures and colors passed by her face, a mixture of smooth and rough surfaces in dim red light. It was entertaining to watch for a moment, but she tired of it. What else is going on? Her eyes shifted. She saw some moving legs on one side of her and a wall on the other. The legs were upside down. That's odd.
Then her internal gyroscope kicked back on and she was shocked to be hanging sidewise. Her instincts told her to right herself, to regain her feet, but as she tried to send the usual commands to her limbs, she found they didn't answer. This isn't right... Something is wrong...
Memory returned to Ann in a flash. She remembered a disgusting monster tail sticking into her gut, red with her blood. Now she was being carried through some dark place, helpless. Fear drowned her mind, but she felt none of the usual physiological responses. No goosebumps. No paralyzing dread. She was already paralyzed, trapped in her own head- like she was tied to a chair and had two windows with which to watch the end of her own life.
Every nightmare she'd ever had began replaying in her mind- the bite, the violating feeling of being drained, the slow sleepy slip into the dark. She knew she needed to run, to get away, to do anything at all- but her limbs didn't answer, refused to obey, leaden, fuzzy. SIlently screaming, she watched herself be carried down the side of a metal wall with intermittent windows.
Two portions of the wall separated. Dim lights turned on as Ann was carried inside and she was unceremoniously tossed upon some sort of bench. Ann landed painfully on her side, but it allowed her to move her eyes around. It was a long, narrow room; the grey walls filled with symmetric windows. Benches ran down both walls and there were intermittent metal poles up and down the length of the space.
The floor and benches were mostly cluttered with cases, boxes, containers, and bags. It looked like a family moving to a new house had unloaded the contents of their wagon all over the place. She should still just see Kamoshida at the far end of the room. He was doing something to knobs and levers on a small desk. He no longer had eyes for Ann. She was just another piece of luggage.
V-E-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-u-u-u-u-u-m-m-m-m-…..
The room went dark, sparking new fear in Ann. Maybe it would be better to not see the end coming, but now it could be her death at any moment, she wouldn't know it wasn't coming, and so would have to remain tense until it actually happened!
To Ann's relief, the lights came back on, but fewer of them and dimmer than before.
"What the-... fuck!?" said Kamoshida in the dim light, his voice full of frustrated disbelief.
Click. Clik. Click.
" What the fuck! Now!? It breaks down NOW?! Come on… unable to initiate on reserve power? Shit!"
Ann wasn't listening to him. Instead, she was screaming inside her own mind. Screamed for God. For help. Someone. Anyone. HELP ME, PLEASE!
**My… it's been far too long...**
Ann's fear froze into neutral shock, twinged by sudden hope. What was that?
Hello?
She waited to hear something again, but there were no sounds in the room besides Kamoshida cursing and struggling with whatever he was doing over at the desk. Ann's brief hope faded back into dread and fear- making her situation seem even worse than before. Her eyes liquefied with tears. She was going to die. God. And she was fooling herself with voices. Teasing herself with false hope.
Wait! Was she really going to lay her weeping and accepting her death?! Screw that! This isn't happening! I'm not dead yet! I can still live! If I could just move!
Ann's eyes focused on her own hand in front of her. She focused all her will on it. A finger twitched and then was still. Goddamnit! The surge of anger and denial collapsed as readily as her earlier grief. Ann's vision began to blur again with new tears as frustration and dismay roiled through her. Was this all she should do? This was the thing that hurt Shiho! Kamoshida! He is right there! And I can't do a fucking thing!?
**Tell me… who is going to avenge her if you don't?**
Her mind fooling her again! Shut up! If it only never happened! All of this is just some nightmare! I'll just wake up and forget!
**Forgetting him was never an option… Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within. The you that is not a child...**
Who was that? God? Ann's eyes were drawn to one of the nearby boxes, just in the upper portion of her field of vision. It was glowing mutedly orange, and as she focused on it, the box intensified and reddened. Ann began to feel a fiery heat, her forehead burst into sweat.
**Do you hear me?**
Fear and wonder enveloped Ann as the metal case melted before her eyes, revealing a floating red orb. It hovered a moment, and then began to float towards her. The heat which had her sweating increased as the orb approached, turning into a scorching pain. Ann could feel the skin of her face beginning to burn.
God, help me! I hear it. I hear you!
**Good. Oh!…**
The orb stopped its forward motion, almost entirely filling Ann's limited field of vision.
**You are not…? Ah, but there is some, I see. It's enough. But you're also restrained? Nothing can be done with you restrained.**
A surge of heat blazed through Ann's body and she felt the paralysis lift. She pulled her head away from the scalding orb, scrambling backward, she kicked at it. Her foot touched the orb and stuck there, like it was covered in some sort of glue.
**There you go… We can finally forge the contract…**
Ann's shoe burst into flame, the sole began to melt and drip along the surface of the orb. Intense burning traveled up Ann's extended leg. She screamed from the shock of it.
**I am thou, thou art I…**
The orb began melting into her foot. The agony intensified. And beyond that, the Kamoshida creature turned his head to look back at her. Its gold eyes widened in shock. He spun.
"NO!" he yelled.
"There must be a better way to do this!"
"We need to get through this door."
"But your leg-!"
"-Will be fine. Pain is temporary." Amamiya lifted his leg for his third kick at the door, which was showing mild disfigurement from his efforts. It seemed like progress, but Makoto was unnerved by the crunching sound his bones made every kick.
V-E-R-R-R-R-r-r-r-r-r-u-u-u-u-u-m-m-m-m-…..
The light over the door went out, plunging Makoto into darkness.. She felt the ground under her shudder slightly. What was that? She reached for her lantern, but then the light came back on- but duller and less powerful than before.
And the magnetic door opened! Amamiya snatched its edge and flung it open. He paused, eyes roving. Makoto moved forward to see what he was seeing. It was a long narrow corridor with a metal path over a dark abyss. A bridge.
"No traps," said Amamiya, then he took off at a run. Makoto followed, keeping pace. They crossed the abyss, their feet making clunking metallic sounds on the metal bridge. Then they were through and Amamiya paused at the next doorway. Makoto edged up behind him.
Ahead was a large empty space, sparsely illuminated by dull lights. It was another room of divided platforms and a central depression with steel beams. But in this room, there was something sitting in the depression. Some sort of windowed, narrow, metal building.
"They're inside that train car," said Amamiya, striding forward towards the small metal building. His hand was on his sword hilt.
"Train car? What's a train-?"
KA-KOOM!
Makoto shut her eyes against a blazing light. Her body was flung backward by a wave of heat. She landed on her back, hard. Her head snapped against the stone floor, her armored helmet clacking and protecting her skull. Makoto's skin broke out in an immediate sweat as she blinked at the ceiling. What in God's name?
She pulled herself up. The metal building had burst open. Flame and glowing metal illuminated the room with orange light. Amamiya staggered to his feet- his hat missing. He drew his sword. Makoto still had her gun in her hand.
Ahead of them, perhaps 70 meters on the far side of the platform, a charred corpse began rising from the ground. It hadn't been there before, so it must have come from inside the exploded train car. It was still smoking and aflame in parts. God! It wasn't Ann, was it?
A huge scorpion tail swayed into the air as the thing rose to its feet. No! It's not Ann! Makoto raised her hand cannon. She quickly aimed center mass and fired.
KOOM! KOOM!
The creature staggered as the heavy shells tore into its charred flesh, but it didn't fall. Instead, it oriented on Makoto. She fired again. Kamoshida's torso jerked from the bullet as it flicked its tail in her direction.
KOOM! Sssss! ...tsck!
Something Makoto didn't see flew past her ear and struck something behind her. Kamoshida was shooting something at her! She needed to get to cover. Her eyes searched left and right. There was no cover here! Just an empty, open space! The tail flicked three more times. Time slowed for Makoto. A sense of doom rose up in her mind.
Oh, God! I'm going to die!
Amamiya jumped in front of her. His body jerked and he staggered back. She braced him with her forearm, keeping him upright. Makoto felt electrified with surprise and gratitude. He'd saved her! He was- he was leveraging his healing ability for her! If he could heal a broken kneecap in moments, whatever Kamoshida was firing at them must not be fatal to him.
But it was undoubtedly painful. She wouldn't waste his sacrifice. Makoto leaned out from behind Amamiya and fired.
KOOM! KOOM! KOOM!
Kamoshida did some jerking of his own, but he didn't fall. Makoto's bullets were not doing enough damage. She was out of rounds and he would probably be healed before she could shoot him again. Amamiya raised his left hand as Kamoshida's scorpion fail flicked again. Makoto ducked behind him.
Makoto heard a gust of wind followed by a fleshly impact. Amamiya staggered, grunted, and the weight on Makoto's bracing arm intensified.
"Hang on, Mr. Amamimya! I have to reload!"
Amamiya swayed on his feet. Then he dropped to his knees. Kamoshida flicked his tail again as Makoto dropped down, too. These projectiles sailed over their heads.
"I can't block them forever, Niijima, " His words sounded slurred. "These things are poisoned…"
Makoto snapped in the new cylinder of shells with a practiced flick of her wrist. Poisoned! Even with his super healing, he'd be as weak and feeble as he was in the tunnel! Unable to fight. Unable to flee. A sitting duck.
Makoto's heart rate jumped back up to a frantic pace, her mouth began salivating uncontrollably, and her stomach threatened nausea. They were doomed without his fighting ability. How could she face Kamoshida and that tail of his on her own? Super strength, speed, reach- meanwhile, Makoto had a gun and some knives. She might be able to escape if she ran now…
No! Abandon an ally? Never! Niijimas don't run! The shame of it would haunt her forever. Makoto swallowed down the bile and held herself firm. She could NOT go to pieces here! She would live. Amamiya would live. And they would put Kamoshida's head on a pike!
"Just hang on, Mr. Amamiya," Makoto's voice sounded firmer than she thought it would. She leaned out from behind Amamiya's drooping body, hand cannon up.
Makoto lined up Kamoshida in her sights. She needed good that would disable the noble. But it was a small target and hard to see in the weird lighting of the room. Fire and molten metal created odd shadows. What was Kamoshida's burned head and what was just darkness? Makoto's finger tightened on the trigger as Kamoshida's tail seemed to be readying another salvo. The bastard knew he was winning so he was content to sit back and snipe at them.
FWOOSH!
A new burst of blame engulfed Kamoshida in red fire- he screamed, limbs and tail thrashing in agony. Makoto's eyes traced the trajectory of the fireburst. It came from the smoldering wreckage of the thing Amamiya called a train-car. In glimpses amidst the inferno, she saw a female figure, adorned in fire. God, was that Ann? Those huge pigtails were there. It had to be her. She was burning! But- despite that, she was walking calmly, menacingly, towards the thrashing Kamoshida.
The flames were quick to die out on Kamoshida, but his body was black and smoking. Still, his unnatural healing process was working fast. Kamoshida flicked his tail at Ann, but her outstretched arm produced a new firestorm, destroying the projectiles and reigniting Kamoshida.
"How is she doing that?!" said Makoto.
Amamiya didn't respond. He seemed riveted on the battle before them.
Kamoshida screamed in rage and twisted into a fast spin. His scorpion tail lashed out and struck Ann at high speed. She streaked like a meteorite into the room's far wall and collided with the loud crunching of stone.
"Ann!" yelled Makoto. Her voice regained the attention of Kamoshida. He turned upon Makoto and Amamiya again, both of them still mostly immobile and trapped in the open. He was obviously intent on finishing them off. Makoto raised her gun. She had to at least knock his aim off with a bullet.
As she aimed, she saw that one of the few surviving lightbulbs was above and behind Kamoshida's head. It was rapidly increasing in lumination- turning from dull glow to a searing golden light. The bulb exploded, and in the passing of an instant, Ryuji was in the air, his body laced with arcing energy as blond as his hair.
What was this?! Were the Sakamotos a family of wizards?!
He fell atop Kamoshida, latching onto the vampire's charred shoulders, fingers digging into burned flesh. Kamoshida's eyes went wide in shock, he instantly reached up and behind his neck, seeking purchase on this new attacker. Ryuji hugged himself harder to Kamoshida's back, avoiding the hands, and he bit savagely onto Kamoshida's shoulder like a bulldog.
Zzzzrrrrrttt!
Kamoshida's head jerked up, teeth clenched, limbs stiffened- he held himself frozen, slightly twitching. Ryuji was grasping and biting all the harder, new blood leaking out of Kamoshida's shoulder.
"Two? Two personas?" said Amamiya in disbelief.
Personas? What were those? Then Makoto realized that in the shock of seeing Ann shoot fire and now Ryuji appear out of nowhere, she'd missed an opportunity to get a good shot herself! But the window wasn't closed yet. She raised her gun and aimed carefully at Kamoshida's head. She needed to bring the creature down for good. Ryuji was holding the creature still- somehow. And Makoto's vision was aided by Ann's fresher flames; the head was a plain target. But it was also very close to Ryuji's head.
Makoto emptied her lungs, her mind; she shut down her ears, her nose. Tuned out the pounding of her pulse in the side of her head. Time slowed. There was just her and the target. Father was watching somewhere behind her on the veranda. The wooden mannikin wobbled slightly from the wind blowing through the estate gardens. Be precise. Look down the barrel. Be sure of its angle. A hand cannon has a short barrel, so even a minor tilt will send the bullet far off target. Anticipate the tension of your trigger finger. Keep it smooth...
KOOM!
Kamoshida's head snapped back. He collapsed like a severed marionette, the scorpion tail flopping down like a dead snake. Ryuji tumbled from Kamoshida's back, cursing and cradling his right leg. But he was alive. Makoto sucked in a breath of air, giddy with relief.
"Good shot," said Amamiya, his voice still slurring. "Cut off his head. One bullet won't keep him down long."
His voice was distant to Makoto, dreamlike. They might be winning. They might have done it. She just needed his sword.
She snatched the blade from his offering hand and sprinted across the open space. She could already see Kamoshida stirring. His tail began to snake along the pavement. As Makoto arrived, the bullet ejected itself from Kamoshida's skull. His eyes opened in a flash of anger, then opened wide in sudden fear as Makoto swung Amamiya's blade like an axe, putting in every ounce of force that she had in her.
The blade sliced through Kamoshida's neck like it was a taunt string. Surprised by the lack of resistance, Makoto spun around with the force of her own swing, went off balance, and fell to the stone floor.
God! This sword is sharp!
Blood surged from Kamoshida's severed neck, his body pumping an unnatural amount of viscous liquid over the stonework, black in the firelight.
"Fuckin' gross," hissed Ryuji and he pushed himself away from the growing pool of blood.
Makoto stared at the corpse, finally limp in real death. She'd done it! She'd killed a noble! Pleasure and satisfaction frolicked through Makoto's soul. She wasn't useless! She wasn't just playing with Father's legacy! She was a vampire hunter! A real one! A real daughter of Niijima!
But she didn't have time to bask in her self-glory. Ryuji was nearby, breathing heavily. All signs of his strange abilities were gone.
"Ryuji, how did you do that?"
He shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, really. It's the glass ball, I think."
The glass ball? What did that mean? "I see… are you hurt?"
"Yeah, my leg is fucked. I think it's broken."
So they would need a splint to get him back to town...
"The head!" called Amamiya, "Kick the head away, Niijima!"
Makoto broke from her internal pleasure and looked at the head. There was a great deal of blood pooling around it. More than gravity or random chance would allow. Goosebumps popped up all over Makoto's body. She shot to her feet and kicked Kamoshida's head with all her strength, sending it bouncing and rolling past Amamiya.
Amamiya watched it pass him. Then he collapsed onto his back with a sigh. For the first time, Makoto could see him from the front. He was impaled with eight long barbs- they stuck out of his body like broken arrows. God!
"Mr. Amamiya!" she blurted and ran back over to him. He was a pincushion! It was the price paid to save her. She slid on her knees next to him. He opened his grey eyes to frown up into her face. The distant dancing of flames reflected atop his irises.
He was silent a moment, then said: "I'm fine, Ms. Niijima. I've had worse."
Fine!? He was impaled! "But these stingers!"
"I'm aware," he sighed and closed his eyes, "Just-... give me a moment of peace before I start yanking them out.."
"-The poison!"
"Morgana has it under control."
The cat-hand? It could do that sort of thing? How? She opened her mouth to ask, then held herself back. Amamiya was frowning slightly- he was in pain, but trying not to show it. It wasn't time to bother him with questions. She gazed at the large stingers sticking from his chest and abdomen. They looked deep. They surely would have killed her.
Thank God Amamiya was willing to protect her. And thank God that Ryuji and Ann were somehow able-
"Ann!" Makoto blurted, every ounce of victory leaving her mind. Ann may very well be dead from that blow! Amamiya's eyes shot open and he sat up. They both turned towards the distant wall where the flaming girl had flown. Makoto couldn't see anyone over there.
"Amamiya, do you see her?"
"No."
"Ann!" yelled Makoto. She started walking towards the far wall. Please be alive. Please be alive.
"She's here, Ms. Niijima?! Ann!" yelled Ryuji from his spot on the floor. "Ann!"
Then an anxious female voice called out: "Ryuji? Makoto?"
"Oh! Thank God! Ann!" Makoto spotted Ann's wide-eyed face peeking out from below the edge of the stone flooring. She was down in the depression of the ground. Despite being recently covered in flame and slammed into a stone wall, she didn't appear injured. But her face was one of extreme anxiety, that much was easy to see in the orange light of dying flames. Makoto rushed over.
"Ann! Yes! Are you okay?" yelled Ryuji from across the room.
"Are you hurt?" asked Makoto as she neared the young woman. "What's wrong?"
"No. I mean, yes, I'm okay. I'm not hurt," said Ann, hugging the low wall of the depression as Makoto approached. Her eyes flickered behind Makoto then focused back upon her. "Is he dead?"
"Yes. We got him. He's dead, thanks to you."
"Thank God."
"Here, let me help you up."
"No! I can't!"
"What?"
"It's just-… I'm naked!"
Indeed, she was. Ann was huddled in the crevice, bare as a babe. She did her best to hide her bosom under one arm and her groin under another hand. Makoto wondered if this was how Kawakami saw her at the bath a few days ago. Makoto blushed. Ann really did have an amazing body.
"Oh, o- okay," stammered Makoto. "Umm-... oh! I'll get Amamiya's coat for you. It's like a cloak."
"Okay…"
"What's going on? Is Ann okay!?" yelled Ryuji again.
"I'm fine!" yelled Ann. "I just don't have any clothes!"
"... So?! Just come out! I've seen you naked my whole life!"
"There are other people here, moron!"
Bickering was a good sign. Makoto was relieved to have both of the Sakamotos back in hand. She returned to the sitting Amamiya. He had a tired look on his face.
"My coat to cover a naked young woman?"
"Yes, and we'll need to do something for Ryuji. I think he's injured."
"Yes. Kamoshida broke his leg."
"How do you know?"
Amamiya's eyes went wide and he looked away from her. "Does it matter?" He tried to take off his coat and winced. It was effectively nailed to his body by Kamoshida's barbs. He reached up to one of the stingers buried in his chest. He sucked in a few quick breaths, then gritted his teeth and yanked.
"Rrrraaagggh!" said Amamiya. His forehead began sweating profusely.
The stinger came out with a tearing sound and a burst of blood. It was long. Longer than Makoto had thought. The parts ticking out of Amamiya were roughly ten inches long or so, and the bloody part he'd just ripped out was almost the same. Eight inches at least! And an inch in diameter! So over a foot long. And barbed! God! Amamiya's resilience was astounding. Most of those barbs were surely buried in his essential body organs even now.
Makoto realized again that if even one of those things had hit her...
"Mr. Amamiya..." she said as she watched Amamiya breathe heavily and examine the stinger with morbid curiosity. His eyes turned to hers.
"Thank you for my life."
Amamiya's eyes opened a bit wider, then he looked away quickly. "Don't mention it. You saved me in the tunnel, if you didn't know. So, I was just returning the favor."
A business-like transaction for business partners. It was a logical way to look at it. But that didn't end the gratitude she felt towards him. He avoided her gaze and grasped another stinger. Makoto closed her hands around another.
"Want to do two at a time? Get it over with?" she asked him.
"Yes," he said, a little breathless.
"And Amamiya…"
"What?"
"You can call me Makoto, if you like."
Silence.
"Use Ren, too."
"Okay, Ren. Are you ready?"
"Yes. On three. One. Two. Three-... Raaargh!"
With Ren de-spined, Ann suitably enshrouded in his jacket, and Ryuji splinted; they made their way back out of the ruin, Ryuji on Ren's back. Once outside, they settled the Sakamoto's into the coach, which, lacking windows, seemed to make Ann rather uneasy. She didn't like the coach at all. But there was no choice but to use it- since Ryuji's leg was broken, he needed to lie down. So they propped the door open and that satisfied Ann.
The coach was a prize of war, as far as Makoto was concerned. The coach itself was heavy and impractical, but worth keeping as a curiosity. The real prize was the team of four mechanical horses. Ren advised they were model twos- medium lifters, as opposed to the draft model ones and the riding model threes. Either way, it was valuable technology. She would probably lend one to Iwai to tinker with. The man would probably forget to eat.
Anamiya's… no- Ren's horse never did arrive- so it must be lost in the city somewhere. So he climbed up to the coachman's bench and resolved to drive the team. He'd probably rather be inside out of the sun, but with Ryuji lame and Ann practically naked, he was the only one to drive. And a driverless coach propelling itself through town would stand out. Makoto hoped for a quiet ride to the Takemi clinic to drop off Ryuji and Ann. Then an additional uneventful trip to the Tocho building to claim their bounty from Mr. Akechi Goro.
She mounted Johanna and kicked her to life. She looked over her shoulder to find Ren watching her from under the shadow of his big hat.
"Ready, Ren?"
He nodded, but said nothing. Now that they were out of danger, he wasn't talking as much. That was disappointing. She'd thought they crossed into another new realm of their association- an intimacy of conversation wherein he spoke with her and remained quiet with everyone else. That appeared an idle fantasy. Or maybe he was simply fatigued from the de-barbing… they'd pulled eight of the things out of his body.
Makoto turned back to the woodsy trail in front of them and revved Johanna. Another disappointment: she still hadn't heard him use her first name yet. That didn't mean anything... he would say it eventually, she was sure. And she was strangely curious to hear how 'Makoto' sounded in his voice.
She opened the clutch easy and led them back towards The Long Dark, the city, and home. The pace was a slow one, as they wanted Ryuji to have an easy ride with the broken leg of his. Makoto enjoyed the leisurely pace for a change. It was done. She could rest in success for a time and chase away that nagging inner voice that always told her she should be doing something more, something better, something useful. Well! She'd done it! So she would take a break thank-you-very-much!
But what about Ryuji and Ann's strange new powers? And what about the vampire trying to break into her home? The high-grades outside the school last night? The name: Kaneshiro? Ren said that the blood of those creatures revealed no relationship to Kamoshida, the noble they'd just slain. There was another noble in the city. But so too were there other vampire hunters! Makoto couldn't hunt them all down! And she certainly couldn't do it for free... well-... actually… she could.
The Niijima Estate held plenty of capital. Yoshida was more than capable at finance. Money was an issue, but not an insurmountable one. She could pursue any target she desired- she didn't need to get paid. But did she really want to go through this all again? These last few sleepless days and nights: constant worry, tension, fear. And at the end of it all, the capture of the Sakamotos and a close brush with death. Who in their right mind would want to do all that again?
Yet Father did. Sae did. Perhaps Niijimas didn't possess right minds. Perhaps right minds simply read about abductions in the paper and hoped it didn't happen to anyone they knew. Perhaps right minds counted on someone else to deal with the problem, having an unshakable faith that the best result was inevitable thanks to the unknown work of the "They".
Those in their right minds were fools, then. Nothing happened unless someone went out and did it. They'd done it. They were the "they". Herself, Ren, and even the Sakamotos. They'd all put their lives on the line to stop Kamoshida when everyone else had turned the other way, covered it up, and hoped it wasn't true.
What if there was some organization that hunted vampires without contracts? What if this group worked for something other than money? Something like… justice for the taken and the slain. Justice for those countless people who went unavenged due to a lack of funds. It was an interesting idea, but would any other vampire hunters feel the same way?
As Makoto fantasized about the future, they emerged from the Long Dark and back into the city proper. A crowd of people was gathered around the tunnel entrance and a great murmur of general conversation suddenly hushed as Makoto rode Johanna back out into the sunlight.
"Hey! It's one of those Niijimas! I told you it was a vampire hunt!"
"And there's the coach! The one that tore down the streets!"
"Someone's driving it now though. I swear it was driving itself before, and that man was trying to get inside it!"
"I bet he's a hunter, too!"
"He looks like one!"
Makoto slowed her motorcycle down. The crowd wasn't parting for her- instead they were standing in her path and gawking. The coach came to a stop behind her.
"Ms. Niijima! Did you kill a vampire!?"
"Um-" said Makoto, feeling highly uneasy with hundreds of eyes on her. "Yes."
A cheer went up all around her. Hundreds of voices broke out in excited conversation. Several people rushed forward to shake her hand. Perplexed and surprised, Makoto began shaking hands. More people crowded around her till she could see nothing but excited faces. She turned to look at Ren, but his eyes were over her head- he was looking at something other than the crowd.
A trumpet blared. The crowd simmered down and hundreds of heads turned in the direction of the sound.
"Out of the street! Make way! Make way for the Council Guard!"
People made way, parting before Makoto's path, revealing a waiting contingent of cavalry. A dozen men in white uniforms waited on impatient horses- the animals excited by the large crowd. Each soldier had a sword on their hip and a rifle on their back. A dozen rifles! That was a lot of firepower in one place!
Their leader had golden fringes on his shoulders and brown hair under his tall cap. It was Akechi Goro.
"Ms. Niijima!" said Akechi, trotting his horse forward. His eyes were narrow and he seemed aggressive. "What's going on?"
Makoto remembered his dismissive attitude just a few days ago. She was suddenly filled with the desire to trump this preening princeling. She put the kickstand down on Johanna and stood over her leaning bike. She untied the sack that was attached to her saddlebags.
"We were coming to see you, Mr. Akechi. We're honored you came to meet us," she said loudly, making sure the silent crowd could hear.
Akechi blinked, off-balance from the unexpected formality. His brown eyes widened as they flicked around the gathered crowd. He was realizing they were on stage. "The honor is mine, Ms. Niijima." He cleared his throat. "I'm eager to know why you wanted to see me."
Makoto opened the sack and lifted up Kamoshida's wide-mouthed head, exposing it to daylight. Gasps of shock burst out of the crowd as the head spontaneously burst into cold white flame.
"My partners and I wish to collect on your contract!"
End of Act 1