Welcome back to another installment of the story and I'm sure many of you haven't or have noticed but, I changed the ending of the last chapter

Now initially I was gonna stick to the Touma loses his memories stuff as I have in the last two drafts but then after thinking it over for a moment and looking at one review I decided i will do something different

Now because of Tamamo, Touma has his memories intact, now there's a BIG reason for that and I'm only going to tell you that it's something big, something that will drastically affect Touma

Now with that out of the way yall who have followed me in the past are likely expecting this to be the Deep Blood stuff

Yet, it's actually not, not entirely, Deep Blood will actually be adjacent to another narrative and won't be a main focus, but they will line up soon enough, just read and find out

Fate/Index belongs to Nasu and Kamachi respectively. LETS GO!!

Chapter 6: Bloody Shadows

August 7th:

Since the 19th of July a couple of weeks have passed since the duo of Touma and Tamamo had, seemingly by fate, encountered the runaway nun known as Index Labrorum Prohibitorum, an apparent holder of 103,000 grimoires.

That day childhood friends fended off two magicians of the English Puritan Church who attempted to bring her back to have her undergo another yearly memory wipe based on a lie.

The following battles, one of which resulted in Touma's dorm apartment being burned, led them to find somewhere to hold up.

Since then Tamamo sometimes pondered back on the following day when after they sought refuge in the apartment of Touma's teacher Tsukiyome Komoe, much to her bafflement which required a hasty explanation.

'I wasn't expecting to see that saint again so soon.' She thought inwardly.

XXX

Flashback, July 20th:

The day after Touma, Tamamo and their new companion Index had settled in Komoe's apartment, the fox spirit now with her animal appendages hidden was busy cleaning up the place late in the evening while the loli teacher had business to attend to.

Touma and Index were in the kitchen as he volunteered to fix up some food from whatever was available.

Not a moment later a knock would be heard at the door, Tamamo stopped her task to go see who was visiting at this hour.

Needless to say she was less than thrilled with who it was.

"I see you're really trying to blend into this faithless city." Spoke the saint of the east.

"Kaori Kanzaki, come back for another round?"

Kanzaki said nothing, merely ushering her to step outside.

"I did not come under the pretext of starting another skirmish,

HOWEVER, I am here to deliver a message to our archbishop."

Tamamo raised an eyebrow at the news. What exactly did the church want with them?

"The Church has made the decision to put Index under your ward, the responsibility that me and Stiyl once held position in has been officially to the both of you." Kanzaki explained…

…though judging by the sight edge in her tone it was a little begrudging.

"Ok back up, the church wants us to look after Index…

…even though we basically went against them by kicking your asses?"

Kanzaki looked very annoyed by the blatant tone of Tamamo's recounting of their fight, though Stiyl was defeated Kanzaki was matched even with the fox.

"Listen, i don't like this either, if it was the boy alone perhaps I can be assured, but the fact that Index's safety is also being shared by yokai that is somehow taking up residence in a city that would deny her existence in full."

"If you're so against this, why not just defy the church and protect Index on your own? Especially now that you know the truth." Tamamo said inquisitively.

Kanzaki looked at Tamamo as if she had grown a second head.

"To go against the church is to go against my own faith and I will not do such a thing…

…even though the ones in charge have made a questionable choice."

"That makes no sense." Tamamo quipped.

"Silence! The decision has been made and if you or the boy won't accept we will have her sent back immediately." Kanzaki responded by throwing her ultimatum down.

"So they can curse her again? Some paragons of virtue you lot are, I accept taking responsibility for Index, at least i don't take away her life experience, now be on your way!" Tamamo snapped.

"Hmph!"

With a huff Kanzaki turned to walk away as Tamamo slammed the door, annoyed.

XXX

Present Day:

'Puritan church, Catholic Church, Orthodox Church, it's all the same to me, no good deep down.'

From that moment Tamamo had given the rundown on the situation to Touma and while there was a sense of hesitation he ultimately agreed to the responsibility.

Index had only been with them for a couple of weeks but Tamamo had ultimately grown fond of her pretty quickly, she was mostly innocent albeit with some impulsive tendencies that had to be controlled immediately, especially since that time her nun habit was accidentally destroyed by Touma's right hand.

Turns out that it was magically fortified to be as strong as a church wall. What happened next could be described as utterly bizarre.

XXX

Flashback July 30th

"Index? Index calm down, please!" Begged Touma as he was bear witness to a nearly naked Index.

Much of her robe was destroyed save for her habit and to the shock of both Touma and Tamamo the young nun wore nothing underneath.

Now exposed and embarrassed, Index was growling and baring her teeth like a dog.

"TOUMA!!"

Index lunged at Touma and immediately started to bite him right on his head, the action knocked a nearby Tamamo who was staring at the scene out of her funk and rushed in.

BAM!!!

With a swift hand she bopped Index over the head hard enough to force Index to release Touma. What followed was a hastily covered Index getting a stern lecture about such ridiculous behavior in the midst of an accident with the added threat of putting her in a cage.

XXX

Present day:

"Memories or not the girl shouldn't be biting people like that, ESPECIALLY someone who's close to me." Tamamo huffed.

Touma only chuckled at the reminiscence, at least he didn't have to worry about head bites being a regular occurrence.

"So is there anything you want to do today?" Touma offered to Tamamo. "Things have been smooth so far after you got conveniently registered into the city.

"I still feel like something was wrong when those black suits approached me." She replied in thought. "Anyway, I was actually thinking of going out solo for a bit to window shop."

Touma was surprised, since reuniting Tamamo had always stuck with him wherever he went with the occasional offer to her to lead the way.

"Are you sure Tama?"

"Of course, what did you think all I can do was puppy around you all the time? I will follow you wherever you go but sometimes I like to set out on my own, especially since there's someone to come back to." Tamamo said cheerfully.

This made Touma go red as he nervously scratched the back of his head. Digging into his pocket he brought out his wallet and proceeded to pull out his student cash card.

"Here Tama, I'll write down my PIN number and give it to you."

Tamamo looked surprised as she gingerly took the cash card.

"R-Really? You would trust me with this?"

"Of course I do, I don't think you'll do anything rash or lose it, feel free to buy to what you need—so long as it's within this Kamijou's budget!" Touma said as he quickly added that last part to ensure he made a point.

Tamamo looked her panicked friend and giggled only to stifle herself with her hand over her mouth, the trust between them was strong but his living financial situation was something he took very seriously.

"Relax Touma, I won't do anything to hurt your wallet."

Touma visibly relaxed as he let a smile adorn his face.

"I know Tama, I know."

A quick hug and a wave out the door Tamamo began her trek through District 7, as she walked along the street the sun was shining high in the sky, cleaning drones continued their nonstop routine street patrols, various students were out and about enjoying the various shops and amenities of the city, some had actually stopped when they got a glimpse of Tamamo as she passed through.

"Wow, she's gorgeous."

"Is that a model?"

"Is she dating anyone?"

Tamamo actively ignored the murmur of the students as she made her way to the nearest kiosk.

"Let's see what we have here."

As she began to browse the items on the shelf she was unceremoniously bumped into.

"Oof! O-Oh sorry i didn't mean to, I was just so caught up in the latest rumor I just…oh wow you're beautiful."

Tamamo, who was about to give an earful to the person who bumped her, immediately held her tongue when she got a full view of a middle school age girl bowing and apologizing to her profusely.

"My name is Ruiko Saten, are you a model?" Saten spoke.

"Uh, no? Also as long as you're sorry for earlier." Tamamo amended.

"I really didn't mean to bump you like that." Saten said shyly. "I was just digging into the juiciest rumors plaguing this city."

Raising an eyebrow Tamamo recalled her mentioning that in her frantic muttering. "So what is the rumor that got you this riled up to the point of not paying attention?"

The eyes on Saten flashed as she looked excited to share the information.

"Well, this one is BIG compared to all other rumors, on top of that it's actually affecting the whole city, the rumor is about the strange disappearances of countless Academy City students and residents, one moment they are there and the next…

…they're gone"

"Kidnapping?" Tamamo utters.

"A possibility but here's where it gets crazy, supposedly it's become frequent, students going missing across the city in rapid rate numbers, I've heard Academy City will be cracking down on curfew to the point it borders on martial law."

Tamamo pondered this as she thought about the implications of what she was being told, for something to like this to happen within a tightly walled enclave like this, is cause for much concern and speculation.

"Oh yeah, there's another rumor going around as well!" Chirped Saten which snapped Tamamo out of her thoughts.

"What other rumor is there?"

"Supposedly, people have been reporting sightings of walking corpses, zombies, maybe they're connected!"

Aren't you scared of the implications if this was the case?" Tamamo asked the resident rumor hunter.

"I've got my trusty bat to help me in the event of a undead breakout! I'll be fine so long as you aim for the head."

Tamamo snickers at her enthusiasm.

"Well you're certainly the brave sort, well, I need to get going, I'll catch you around Saten." Tamamo waved as she began to walk off.

"Hold on! I never got your name Ms…"

"Mmmm…Mizukume." She said as she thought back to one of her many names.

"Nice to meet you Ms. Mizukume." Saten officially greeted.

"A pleasure meeting you as well Saten, well see ya."

A brief shake of hands and Tamamo once more walked off with a last wave to Saten, she wanted to continue her window shopping before deciding on what to get but the conversation with the rumor hunter hung in her head like an itch that won't go away.

'Surely it's just that, rumors.'

'I wouldn't discount them OG, rumors can have a bit of truth to them.' Voiced Tamamo Cat.

'Maybe…'

She paused as she began sniff the air, her senses going into alert from a sudden change.

'Cat? Do you feel that?'

'The mana in the air, it feels weird compared to earlier.'

'Hm, I feel I need to investigate.' Tamamo assessed.

'Hold on OG, you might need someone to scout ahead, and it just so happens I have a little helper for the job.'

'Who?'

'Just hold your hand out and be prepared to let her out.' Cat instructed.

Holding her hand out a shimmer of light coalesced from her and formed into a small version of Cat.

"Oh it's you."

"Wan." Mini Cat also known as Tamaki said.

"So little one, think you can scout ahead and track the source of the disturbance of mana?" Tamamo asked curiously.

"Wan!" Tamaki saluted.

Jumping off her palm to the pavement below Tamaki began to sniff the air, catching the pungent scent that permeated, it was different from how it normally should be.

Quick as a cat Tamaki sped off in the direction of the source with Tamamo following behind.

Several minutes passed as Tamamo and Tamaki both neared what looked like an abandoned warehouse area. The whole place looked like it hadn't been maintained in years, rust lining the walls and old equipment strewn around, it seemed the place was marked for demolition soon.

"Anything Tamaki?" Tamamo voiced to her tiny companion.

"Wan Wan!" Tamaki chirped as she pointed to an area marked with heavy machinery.

Tamamo's ears were assaulted with the sound of groaning as she looked at the general direction Tamaki pointed out.

"Alright Tamaki, time to go back…

…Tamaki?"

Tamamo's eyes wandered over to the little fox and found her speeding towards the danger zone.

"Oh boy." Tamamo muttered.

'Follow her OG!' Cat yelled frantically.

'I know I'm on it!' Tamamo snapped back.

Running after the little pup, Tamamo neared the demolition site as the crackle of electricity was continuing.

Not a moment later as she rounded a corner she was met with a really troubling sight.

Several meters away stood a dark haired girl who looked about eighteen years old and was wearing a shrine maiden outfit, but that wasn't the big thing she zoning in on.

Surrounding the girl was a horde of what could only be described as undead corpses that have backed her against a wall, their decaying bodies deathly pale and eyes as red as blood, most disturbing of all was that these corpses looked to be primarily of students, middle school, high school it didn't matter.

'So those rumors Saten was chasing, seems like they might very well be true.'

It was then it dawned on her why the mana in the air was weird, and as she got a good look at the undead's features it became clear.

These undead weren't your typical zombie, no, these were Dead Apostles, vampiric like entities that were the natural predators of humanity, creatures that denied their existence.

'They exist here to?' Tamamo thought.

As she pondered the implications she was drawn out of her thoughts by sound of a charging DA, it was making a beeline for the girl who wasn't even phased by the action, instead she looked— sad?

"You idiot get away!" Tamamo yelled.

It was too late though, the DA sunk its teeth right into the girl, she would be joining them soon enough…

…only that's not what would happen.

"Wait, what?"

Tamamo would look on in fascination as the DA that bit the shrine maiden suddenly turned to dust, the victim didn't even flinch at all, only looked remorseful at the situation.

"Please, stop…no more, i don't want to kill anymore!" She screamed.

The cries of woe fell on deaf ears as another DA was preparing to go at her followed by several others.

The girl put her arms up in fear as they approached but she would not be hit. Her eyes were assaulted by bright light and immediately closed them, but upon opening them again she saw Tamamo standing in front of her giving off a radiant glow that reminded her of sunlight.

The Dead Apostles reeled back from solar energy, an anathema to their nature as creatures of the moon, some of the undead that closer were burning up as they tried to back away.

"Time to do a little cleaning up." Tamamo said as the glow dissipated and summoned her divine mirror.

The Dead Apostles screeched as they charged at the miko fox, but Tamamo was undeterred as she launched her mirror at them, laced with divine solar light it cut through multiple DA turning them to ashes.

"Heaven's spiraling flame!"

Whirling fire erupted from her talismans, the burning tide engulfing the entire horde in fiery judgement. Having taken a deep breath she relaxed her stance and expelled her mirror.

"That takes care of that." She said in a business like manner.

"Thank you" Said the shrine maiden.

Tamamo looked back at the girl with a curious gaze.

"You don't seem to surprised about anything." Tamamo replied.

"That you're a fox spirit in a city of science? I'm not gonna lie and say I'm not curious but I'm also aware of the existence of magic."

"Well, that makes things easier, I was of mind to erase some of your memories of what transpired but it seems you're the type to keep a secret, if anything you seem like you can easily blend into the background." Tamamo deduces.

"If you can do that then perhaps i would like if you just did."

That statement from the girl made Tamamo raise an eyebrow, there was definitely a story to this mysterious individual.

"You can call me Tamamo, if I may ask, you didn't seem to bothered by those Dead Apostles, if anything you just looked sad."

"Aisa Himegami's my name, Dead Apostles?" The girl questions. "I've never heard that term before, is that a new way of saying vampire?"

'Figured the term wouldn't exist here, this world really is different.'

"Well I guess you can say they like vampires but they're a bit more complicated than that, those undead are called Dead Apostles, and they prey upon humanity like vampires would, only these things come in various forms and ranks, what you were attacked by was the bottom of the barrel." Tamamo explained as roughly as she could.

"I've never heard of them until now, my knowledge of magic and all things occult that I've been taught or heard, that term never came up." Himegami said.

"I see, well, I definitely have some questions for you, how are you not a Dead Apostle? Getting bit by one converts you at the spiritual level, yet you're still human and that DA was rendered dust."

That made Himegami's head tilt down, like she didn't want to recall anything.

"It has to do with my ability, Deep Blood." She states.

This got Tamamo's attention as two things clicked in her mind.

"You're an esper aren't you."

Himegami only nodded.

"I was born with blood that attracted vampires like moths to a flame."

'A Gemstone then.'

"But this Deep Blood, it seems to be an anti-vampire based ability."

Himegami went on to explain how her village was attacked by vampires one night, they were all lured here by the sweet scent of her blood, one by one each fell to dust before her.

"Vampires aren't any different from humans, they have dreams and feel just as much as anyone else, i don't want to kill anymore innocent people."

Tamamo pondered the information, she felt bad for her that much was certainly clear.

"Well, if anything, you shouldn't feel bad about the death of a Dead Apostle, the difference between them and the vampires you faced is that they act more like wild beasts, they have no more humanity in them, even ones who are higher in the ranks, more powerful, named and intelligent are not to felt for."

"But they were once people…"

"Once, not anymore." Tamamo stated.

Himegami remained silent after that. What more could she say to this fox.

"I've been encountering these Dead Apostles for some time now since coming to the city, it started with one but then the numbers began to rise." She explained.

This made Tamamo go into alarm, this made her growing suspicion since coming here to Himegami's rescue become a reality.

Somewhere in this city there was a high rank Dead Apostle converting students and staff alike, such a threat wasn't allowed to remain, especially if it would eventually stumble on the doorstep of her and Touma's peace.

"Well I need to go, my master will be waiting for me to return." Himegami said as she bowed.

"Your master, are they a mage? What are they doing in a place like this? And with a Gemstone esper no less. Do they even know what's going on here?"

"I haven't found it in me to tell him, honestly should I?"

"I think if you want to contribute to saving more lives it would be best." Tamamo replied.

Himegami nodded before she made her leave.

'OG, what's the plan?' Cat said.

'I look to nip the source of this Dead Apostle problem at the bud, problem is how bad is it?'

Tamamo began to walk out of the demolition site with all manner of things running through her mind, if this city had a dead apostle problem that can become a major issue for Tamamo's wish of a peaceful life with Touma.

As night fell Tamamo was preparing dinner for herself, Touma and Index, now she quickly found out that the nun was a gluttonous girl.

While she didn't mind cooking as it was the duty of a wife, she would rather make plenty for her partner so she figured she would have a fight on her hands to get Index to cut back her deadly sin…

…how she became a nun in training? Was beyond her.

"Hey Touma?" She said to her dear friend.

Touma looked up from a magazine he was looking over when he heard Tamamo.

"Yes Tama? Need anything?"

"No," She said, shaking her head. "I'm alright— I just want to tell you I'll be going out for a night walk, I might be back a little late."

Touma looked at her quizzically.

"Why's that? Something important you need to do?"

"Mhm." Tamamo nodded.

"I can go with you, if you feel you need help I'll do anything I can." Touma urged.

Tamamo smiled slightly at his kind enthusiasm and concern.

"I know you would, but I need to do this on my own, don't worry, I can handle myself, you know that better than anyone."

Touma had his reservations about this but decided not to press, she ultimately had a point.

"Just…be careful please."

Tamamo walked up to him and placed a hand to his shoulder in reassurance.

"Don't worry too much. Now come on, the food is ready, let's eat then you and Index go off to sleep."

Dinner went smooth without anything crazy happening, and after helping Touma with the dishes she made sure the bed and the cot were comfortable for Touma and Index.

Once the two were settled Tamamo gave Touma one more nod of reassurance before walking out of the door.

Once she was outside she began to sniff the air and feel the mana within it. She was narrowing down to pinpoint the stench of undead, there was even a certain weird feeling as well.

'Well, looks like I'm in for a long night.'

With her thoughts in order she began to lift into the air and flew to an abandoned warehouse to the west of her.

XXX

The guttural screams of terror as a Skill-Out gang was getting slaughtered and converted by a dead apostle hoard that sprang up on them in a sudden ambush.

Gunfire was ringing but bullets did little to stop the ghouls from trying to eat them or turn them. One of the survivors decided to route and make a b-line from the slaughterhouse, he didn't even register Tamamo as he ran by in sheer terror.

"Ugh…the stench of blood and death makes me wanna vomit, too filthy, but the undead REALLY bothers me."

As she entered the warehouse she exploded with magic power as the dead apostle hoard took notice of her and prepared to get her.

"I'll make this as quick as possible." Tamamo said as she drew some talisman."

AN: so we leave this chapter off here on a bit of a cliffhanger, I'm glad to get back into writing this story so I'm going to start out light but I'll definitely get into making longer chapters.

Hope you all enjoyed this and I will see you in the next chapter

Next Chapter: A Fool's Errand

See ya!