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Tsuki Nightray: I'm so glad you love the fic! I wish I was still new to it, discovering all the amazing fics you can find and reading them for the first time. I'm so honored you love my fic, its plot, and how I write. I keep improving daily and will aim to make this fic something good and enjoyable to read.

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Triggers: threatening

Published: 19/12/2023

Chapter 5:
The Hunter

Tightening the color around his neck, Yusuke was struggling to figure out how to insert the white band into it. He hadn't slept much, his mind a constant flurry of confusion. Not knowing if he should hate the priest or be thankful. On one hand; he had cursed him, on the other; he was shielding him from a hunter. But he still cursed him.

The color was poking into the skin of his neck and he found it to be highly uncomfortable. A small portion of his mind wondered if this was how it felt to be bitten by his kind.

Kurama was already downstairs, his clothing looked different from his and he was afraid he had dressed himself wrong.

"I don't know how you put this on." Yusuke decided to be brave and approached the priest, collar inserts in hand. He kept his voice low as he tried to conceal his discomfort.

Kurama eyed him up and down, silently taking the insert from him. Yusuke lifted his head, looking at the ceiling instead of the redhead. He was careful and quick, shoving the insert into the collar with ease and adjusting the collar so that it wasn't poking Yusuke's neck anymore.

Yusuke muttered his thanks as he slid the cross around his neck.

"It looks good on you," Kurama said, nodding in approval. "Like it's been made for you."

"Has it been made for me?" Yusuke asked as he buttoned the cuffs of his sleeves. With the collar adjusted, the clothing was very comfortable and warm. It wasn't as pretty as Kurama's, his clothing consisted of pants, an intricately embroidered blouse, and an even more detailed sash around his shoulders.

"It was mine once." Kurama reached out to fix a crease in the shoulder hem. "But I took such good care of it that it still looks new."

A ray of sunshine found its way through the window, signaling that it was time to get going. Kurama went first as they followed the narrow passage towards the church. It was a safe passage as it went through multiple locked doors, never needing to go outside.

They entered the church, closed the door behind them and Kurama began giving him orders. He had to play along, he had to play a part in this to make his innocence believable. He had been pondering if this was the right choice but if the priest was serious about this, then Yusuke would have no choice in the matter.

"The people will arrive shortly." Kurama hummed as he flipped through the book on the pedestal. Yusuke approached him with worry, he had no clue what he had to do during the service.

"What should I do during the service?" He asked.

"You will stand to my left, you may not know any of the words but try to mouth them and go along. The hunter will come to the service, he will ask us things but here I will prohibit you from speaking nor will I allow you to look at him." Kurama turned to adjust something next to the book.

The faint teeth marks were still there, though nearly gone, Yusuke started to feel bad for going too far.

"During this service, and in the presence of others, you will revert to me as Father." Kurama continued.

"Father? Why should I call you Father?" Yusuke felt a shiver creeping up his spine.

"Everyone calls me Father, it is a sign of respect as I act as their spiritual leader. Hence my importance to them. You will call me Father to fit in, it has no other meanings or uses."

Yusuke softly snickered. "Can't I just call you Daddy instead?"

"Absolutely not." Kurama nearly gagged. "That makes it sound like it's some kind of sexual kink."

"That's because it is if you put it into context…"

"Just stop, Yusuke. We have less than five minutes before the people arrive and I'm not having you goof around and getting us, and especially me, into more trouble than necessary. Did I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Da-Father." Yusuke tried wiping his smirk off of his face. Kurama was right, he had to take this seriously. He could hear the people coming to church and promptly took his place beside Kurama.

As the people entered, Yusuke was able to see the appreciation everyone had for their priest. Some even brought him gifts which mostly consisted of food and fabrics. They bowed to him, took their seats and within minutes, the church was packed with people. He received some looks as people passed him but most people who recognized him were surprisingly happy to see him as a priest's helper.

It was Yusuke's job to stand in the back, to Kurama's left, as he spoke to them. He assured them that no danger would come for them. Their prayers were in Latin and Yusuke did his best to go along with them.

Roughly twenty minutes into the service, Kurama stopped his prayer with a firm "He is here."

Yusuke was unprepared as the doors swung open, revealing a cloaked figure who calmly entered the church. He had a bad feeling about this, something about the hunter felt weird.

"So it attacked you..?" He spoke loudly as he bee-lined towards the altar.

Kurama walked up to him to meet him at the edge, away from Yusuke's position. "It did."

"And you were able to defend yourself?" The hunter eyed him up and down. "You don't look like you've been attacked by anything."

Pulling his collar down, Kurama revealed the bruises left on his neck. "I guess we're skipping the introductions, are we not?"

"I know who you are, everyone does." The hunter took a closer look at the bruise, not laying his fingers on Kurama.

"Care to make yourself a bit more known to us then? I think the people deserve to know who they've hired." Kurama grimaced at the man's entitlement.

He scoffed and turned towards the people. "I am Hiei, your monster hunter. I hunt everything that roams this earth and flies these skies. Now, someone please tell me why the only person not in this church screams of anomalies other than these vampires."

A woman stood from her spot, it was the same woman who delivered Kurama's request to Yusuke's door. "You must excuse him, sir. He's my grandfather, has lost his mind decades ago."

"So the town's lunatic is the one who I meet first while everyone else hides beneath their newly found 'God', I question who the real lunatics are," Hiei growled as he eyed the horde.

"I'm no God to them," Kurama spoke.

"They're the sheep you shepherd, don't tell me there isn't a form of ownership in all this." Hiei scanned the room, nearly everyone had their head down, afraid to speak or act towards the hunter.

Besides one young man, who had grown the courage to speak up. "We are here on our free will, we have hired you to catch a vampire, not to chastise our priest."

"Fine, but know that I'm no vampire hunter, I hunt monsters, every single one of them." Hiei scoffed at the man's words and turned towards Kurama. "If you are as powerful as they say, why haven't you hunted any of them down?"

Yusuke felt a lump form in his throat as the hunter approached Kurama. Before he knew it, the hunter stood eye to eye with Kurama, it didn't even occur to him that the hunter was a lot smaller than the priest.

"Why didn't you kill the vampire when you were ambushed? If you are as strong as everyone says, it shouldn't have been a problem for you." Hiei took a few steps back and stretched his arm out towards him in a flash, yet nothing happened.

"You seem to be underestimating me." Kurama hummed lowly. Hiei merely laughed as his attempt to action failed. "I decide what happens in my domain. Therefore, I also decide who gets to use their ability here. Your power is useless here."

"You have guts, I give you that." Hiei lowered his arm. "I accept your request for me to catch this vampire, but if the lunatic speaks of other creatures I will not be able to ignore them." He turned towards Kurama and Yusuke. "We'll meet again soon, priest."

…

"What the fuck was that?!" Yusuke's hand shook as he clutched the cross between his hands. Kurama had closed the doors behind the last leaving villager before Yusuke's outburst.

"Calm yourself, he didn't even look your way, be glad you're not on his radar."

"What was that hand thingy he did? I had a feeling that was supposed to harm us, I thought that would've been my end!"

"He possesses some powers, he had gained them artificially. I guess you now understand why I took this so seriously. This hunter isn't just any hunter, he has the most kills to his name and you don't want to be on his hit list." Kurama grumbled as he blew some of the candles out.

Yusuke followed by example. "You seem to be on his hit list the way he threatened you."

"Ignore it." Kurama loosened the collar of his robe slightly. "Every hunter is suspicious of a priest with such influence, let alone a priest that can disable anyone's attack within his church."

"He knows you're not human?" Yusuke stuttered.

"I am human, Yusuke. But the amount of influence I have is something he doesn't like." Kurama grinned. "Previäir is one of the biggest towns, I suspect the other priests Hiei has encountered were not as significant to the people of their town, if there were priests at all."

"Every town has its priest, right?" Yusuke was getting concerned, there was a form of sadness behind Kurama's facade. He also couldn't ignore the fact that Kurama was drained of energy, loosening his collar was one way to give him more room to breathe. But he wasn't fully healed yet.

"I hope so." Kurama moved to sit on one of the church benches. It was within seconds that the barrier had lifted, the sun shining its warm orange hue through the colored church windows. It was only then that Yusuke realized Kurama's barrier meant no harm, it seemed to purely disable anyone's power other than his own. But the toll it took on him was something that scared him most.

"Your abilities as a priest…" Yusuke didn't dare finish his sentence.

"Every priest's ability is different from the other's." Kurama started. "Mine are meant to protect. But a barrier like this drains a lot of my energy, that's why I'm not hosting daily services." He closed his eyes momentarily to collect himself.

"So after holding up a barrier like this, you are basically leaving yourself vulnerable? But why don't you do a daily service while you put up a barrier like this every night?" There was too much to ask about and Yusuke felt slightly bad for ambushing the priest with questions after he'd just successfully saved him from the hunter's suspect list.

"It largely depends on the amount of people within my barrier. Then again, trying to use your abilities may seem futile, but suppressing that outpour of energy is the thing that drains the most energy."

"So when he tried to release his energy, you just suppressed it? Why didn't you suppress mine when I…" Yusuke helped him back up.

Kurama stumbled slightly. "I was already drained from service, so I took a bet." Steadying himself, Kurama motioned that he was alright. "It doesn't leave me vulnerable, I have reserves, but I always need some time to recharge."

"Right." Yusuke eyed the empty church. "What do we do now?"

"You can go as you please." Kurama petted his shoulder. "The barrier has lifted, the hunter is doing his thing, just make sure you're not doing anything suspicious and you'll be fine."

"What about you?" Yusuke quirked his brow. "What will you do? Are you going to rest all day?"

"Nah." Kurama stretched the muscles in his neck as he moved his head from side to side. "I might eat something and head into town, I haven't been out since… I need to socialize for a bit."

Yusuke fidgeted with the buttons on his sleeve. "Want me to accompany you?" He was surprised at his own offer, maybe he'd developed some form of respect for the priest. But he knew that this offer was purely to keep himself safe, he feared encountering the hunter without the protection of the priest.

"You want to join me into town?" Kurama asked, a little taken aback by the offer. "Didn't you want to leave as soon as you could?"

Yusuke lowered his head. "That was my intention initially, but I have a bad feeling about this hunter."

"Are you afraid he's going to hurt you?" Kurama started heading back, opening the door to the catacombs.

"No, but I am afraid he's going to try to do something against you. He didn't seem to like you one bit." Yusuke followed him. The tunnel to his house was within the catacombs but he'd never seen what was on the other side. A big door divided the space and he was left guessing what was behind it.

"I am very sure he will try something. He hunts monsters, I'm afraid he will find other anomalies than vampires within Previäir." Kurama muttered as they reached his house. Entering and locking the door behind them.

"How do you know?" Yusuke asked while Kurama proceeded to strip himself from his robe and coat, leaving him with a white blouse, he kept the pants, blouse, and shoes on while switching his church attire for more casual clothing.

"I also have my suspicions with some residents." Kurama started. "You know there are more supernatural creatures other than vampires in this world, I won't be surprised if he catches something. You should change into something casual, you don't want to go into town with that."

Yusuke obliged and went to his room to change. He was well aware of other non-human creatures living like he was, though he was still debating which were accepted by humans and which were hunted. He knew sorcerers were accepted but witches weren't, what was the difference? Yusuke couldn't quite put his finger on it but it might have something to do with what they use to obtain power. Witches were known to have pacts with the devil while sorcerers were of high intelligence. Whether a God or a devil existed was still a debate Yusuke didn't dare participate in.

"Are you ready?" Kurama called from downstairs.

"I am!" Yusuke quickly put his shoes back on and made his way downstairs. Kurama looked just as good in casual clothing as he did in his church attire. No wonder why everyone in town was so loving towards him. Though it is forbidden for priests to have romantic relationships, he wondered if Kurama ever used his looks to his advantage.

Small talk wasn't one of Yusuke's strong points as they walked into town in silence. He kept his eyes on the priest, each little stumble shot adrenaline through his spine. Yusuke made a mental note to hit himself in the head later for becoming protective over the priest who cursed him.

The usually silent town was filled with yells and chants as they entered. Yusuke eyed Kurama with confusion and the priest mirrored this.

"What are they yelling for?" Yusuke whispered, loud enough for Kurama to hear.

He listened for a while, the noise becoming clearer the closer they came to the center. They heard someone scream, the voice of the hunter mixed within the mix of sounds.

Kurama stopped in his tracks as he saw a few people approach him, their expressions feared yet glad to see the priest. From the looks of it, they were sent to fetch them, the hunter must've caught something. Yusuke felt his heart sink. What if he wasn't the only vampire in this town?

His train of thought was halted as Kurama scowled, finally understanding the situation. "They've found a witch."

To my readers:

This is probably the last chapter of 2023

I just want to give a big thank you for reading this story this year. It was wild, it was weird but if you're here that means you loved it and that means the world to me. So, signing off for now, I will wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year and I'll see you in the next one!