Lelouch stepped back and looked over a large board covered in paper and string, his project for the last month. An elusive vampire, attacking randomly in different locations across Japan with the same modus operandi. Young Couples, or Young women in certain cases, either on dates or hanging out wind up with their heads torn off and their arms tied around their ankles. The main sign of it being a vampire was the fact that every drop of blood was drained from the victims, the macabre display was rather unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.
Acting Regent Covis, because apparently Charles felt that his art-loving coward of a half-brother was fit to rule a country like Japan, hadn't even lifted a finger to deal with the situation. He was far too busy painting and building a large amusement park to even think of dealing with an actual issue plaguing the country.
Lelouch took a deep breath to calm himself, hoping to prevent another spiral into a rant about his so-called "Family." He had more important things to attend to, namely the serial killer vampire.
"Everything going well?" Milly inquired as she stepped into Lelouch's office.
"As well as it can be," Lelouch replied as he looked over the board once again. "The blank's next target will be near the Tokyo Settlement, I can't say if it will be the ghetto or the settlement itself," Lelouch admitted as he leaned over his desk.
"I can assume you already told Naoto and the web about it?" Milly inquired.
"Yes, he's getting teams ready and armed in case the vampire strikes in the ghetto," Lelouch answered.
"And the settlement?" Milly asked with half concern. Lelouch just huffed, despite everything they've gone through, he knew that Milly was sympathetic to the Britannian population. While he had his own issues with Britannia, that didn't mean he wished for a blank attack on their citizens.
"We don't have enough manpower, even if we hacked into the security system we won't have enough people to either bait the blank or trap it," Lelouch reasoned.
"Even with Alucard?" Milly inquired.
"And Suzaku, we can't cover the whole settlement with the few we have," Lelouch reasoned.
"And we can't send large amounts of Naoto's agents into the settlement, it would just set the Britannians off," Milly concluded.
"Exactly," Lelouch said as he sat in his chair.
"Still, are you sure about making this Suzaku's first mission?" Milly inquired, changing the subject.
"Yes, he's more than ready, even Alucard said so," Lelouch said.
"But this?" Milly asked while gesturing to the photos of the Blank's victims.
"Milly, he outran a Machine Gun," Lelouch stated bluntly.
"Wha?" Milly squawked out as her eyes widened.
"He. Outran. A. Machine. Gun," Lelouch repeated. Milly said nothing, her lips curling in a confused manner. "I can't say how he did it, Alucard just spouted about humans breaking their natural limits through sheer willpower," Lelouch said as Milly shook her head.
"Ok, so two people for the whole settlement?" Milly repeated as the two narrowed their gazes at the board.
"Yes, and I did bring it up to Naoto and he said he had someone who could join us," Lelouch said.
"So three now, Alucard, Suzaku, and someone sent by Naoto," Milly listed.
"Yep, Kallen," Lelouch said.
"Kallen? Isn't she one of the students in our year?" Milly questioned.
"The very same, We haven't interacted due to conflicting schedules and a "Sickly" persona on her end," Lelouch answered.
"She was here all this time," Milly lamented.
"Granted, she's mainly been helping Naoto's resistance against Britannia rather than the web of Hellsing," Lelouch said.
"It'll be nice to see her again," Milly mused.
"It will be, I just wish it didn't have to do with this," Lelouch said as he gestured to the board. "Still, three people aren't enough, I will have to step onto the field as well," Lelouch stated. Milly raised her brow as Lelouch appeared tense, her mind running as her eyes hardened.
"Well, if you're willing to join in, then I'll join in as well," Milly said with a determined look. Lelouch said nothing as he turned his gaze to her, his mouth slowly opening and closing. 'Look, I know I can't fight, but I can still make promising bait as long as Alucard is tailing me," Milly said.
"You would volunteer for this, despite questioning Suzaku's readiness?" Lelouch questioned.
"I know, but you need someone the vampire will target, if I'm included you at least have someone who knows what to watch out for," Milly reasoned. "Besides, you're willing to risk yourself as bait, I can't let you do that alone," Milly said sternly.
"Not alone, but..." Lelouch trailed off as he looked over to a map of the Tokyo settlement resting on another wall of his office. 'We need something for rapid communication, if any of us other than Alucard run into the blank we need to warn the others," Lelouch mused.
"Something faster than a phone?" Milly inquired.
"We need something that can alert the others with the push of a button and track our locations," Lelouch stated.
"Like the trackers on Knightmare frames, but human-sized," Milly spoke. The two of them stepped closer, before Milly threw on a smug smile while Lelouch smirked. A single idea formed in their minds, easily feasible with their resources.
"How long would it take to make them?" Lelouch questioned.
"A few days, we can even hand some of them to Naoto's group to make their job a bit easier," Milly replied.
"Then it's best to get started, who knows when it will strike next," Lelouch instructed. Milly only gave him a small salute before she rushed out of the office. Lelouch leaned back, new plans running through his mind. "Alucard can run it alone, It would be best to send Milly with Suzaku due to his skill, that would leave just Kallen and myself as a pair," Lelouch mused out loud. Lelouch's gaze ran to his arms, a frown on his lips as he gave it a small flex. "I need to fix this," he muttered.
Kallen walked through the halls of Ashford, her sickly persona on full display as she made way for the principal's office. Naoto had given her a rundown of what she could expect when she entered the room. Her hand ran to her coat, nudging the letter hidden within her pocket. Naoto had asked her to give it to Ruben before she started her new mission.
'It will be nice to see Lelouch and Nunnally again as well,' a lone thought wormed its way into her brain. She shook her head, pushing the thought down as she stopped in front of the office. She slowly opened it, her eyes glancing around the empty hallway.
"Ah, Miss Stadtfeld, please come in," Ruben's voice echoed out. Kallen followed his request, closing the door behind her as she approached. "Thank you Miss Kozuki, sorry about the strange nature of the meeting," Ruben apologized as Kallen nodded. She took in a deep breath, straightening her shoulder as she pulled the letter out of her coat.
"It's ok sir Ashford, Naoto asked me to hand this to you," Kallen said as she buried her sickly persona. Ruben took the letter with a nod before he gestured to one of his bookcases.
"I already have a note made to explain your various disappearances Miss Kozuki, best of luck with your new mission," Ruben said as Kallen heard something shift in the bookcase. Her eyes widened as the bookcase swung like a door and a hidden passageway was revealed. "I must warn you, it's a bit of a tight fit," Ruben warned. Kallen nodded as she stepped into the passageway. Ruben gave her a short wave as the bookcase closed behind her, swamping the passageway in darkness as she continued on her path. Her pace slowed as her eyes adjusted, she cautiously used her hands to feel her way around until she caught sight of light at the end. She hurried, shuffling through the passage as it grew wider.
She found herself in a hallway, the sounds of people talking not far from her. She gave a cautious look around before her gaze turned to the source of the noise. It was an office, the door was left open as she got closer to the office. She recognized the voices, despite how long it had been since she met with them. 'It's finally time,' she told herself as she took another deep breath. She walked into the office, her eyes scanning the room as she stepped in. The office grew silent as Kallen found herself under the gazes of many familiar faces. She felt relief as she was greeted by soft smiles and nodding heads from the trio of Lelouch, Milly, and Suzaku.
"Glad to see you again Kallen," Lelouch said. Milly gave them a smug smile as Suzaku shot her a small wave.
"Good to be here, sorry the reunion took so long," Kallen said with slight embarrassment.
"It's no issue," Milly replied as she stood in front of Lelouch. Lelouch calmly pushed her back with a small glare.
"Anyway, now that you've joined us I can assume you've been given a rundown?" Suzaku inquired.
"Yes, Naoto gave me a rundown of the vampire we're hunting, messed up bastard that it is," Kallen replied as she sunk into a more serious attitude.
"Then you are aware we'll be out there acting as bait in the Tokyo settlement?" Lelouch asked.
"Yes, in pairs right?" Kallen inquired.
"Milly and Suzaku will be wandering the eastern half of the settlement while the two of us will be in the west half," Lelouch said. Kallen froze, almost sputtering as she absorbed what Lelouch just said.
'Five years apart and he's already having us paired?' Kallen pondered with wide eyes.
"Milly doesn't have any form of combat training so it's safest for her to be with Suzaku, and Alucard will be alone with his own form of bait," Lelouch explained as Kallen slowly nodded. She caught sight of Milly trying to hold in laughter while Suzaku just nodded his head to Lelouch's explanation. "Naoto said you've got some combat training, and we both have silvered weapons on hand," Lelouch continued as he pulled out a long combat knife with a silver gleam. Kallen nodded, her hand running to the silvered knife and revolver hidden in her purse. 'Milly had these trackers made for each team," Lelouch said as he put down the knife and pulled out a watch-like bracelet. "These allow us to keep track of each team, and with a push of a button an alert will sound," Lelouch said as he pushed a small button on the side of the bracelet. The tracker let out a quiet hum while Milly and Suzaku checked their wrists. Kallen watched as both screens lit up, Milly lowered her wrist to show Kallen the screen. It was pointing in the direction of the tracker in Lelouch's hand with a small number showing how far away it was.
"When pressed, all other trackers will direct their wearers to the one who set it off, allowing us to converge on the vampire in question or follow if the worst occurs," Lelouch didn't bother saying what the worst was, it was clear on the evidence board. Lelouch tapped the tracker's screen, seemingly typing something, and the alert stopped. Lelouch passed the tracker to Kallen, prompting her to put it on her wrist. "If any of our trackers are set on alert, we are to regroup to either trap or evade the vampire," Lelouch said.
"Speaking of Vampires, where is Alucard?" Kallen inquired.
"He's working on his own disguise," A voice spoke from the shadows of the room. Kallen almost jumped but she managed to keep her feet on the ground.
"Ignore him,' Suzaku said.
"A bit hard to ignore him when he is the room," Milly jested.
"It's easier if he's aware of where we are while we act as bait," Lelouch calmly explained as the shadows appeared to shift. "Now, speaking of that, we have to plan out what routes we'll be taking," Lelouch said while gesturing to a map of the Tokyo Settlement. Kallen nodded, her eyes shifting to the western half of the map. She could see several areas marked as high risk, even several that passed by popular date spots in the Settlement. The east side bore much the same, though it had several routes drawn out by Milly and Suzaku.
'Oh god, everyone's going to think we're on a date,' ran through Kallen's mind as Lelouch held out a marker.
"Let's start planning, shall we?" Lelouch asked with an earnest smile.
'You're enjoying this, aren't you,' Kallen thought as she took the marker. if she held his hand for longer than was needed, no one chose to comment.
Walking through the Tokyo Settlement, the setting sun to their backs, Kallen tried to fight against the growing blush on her cheeks. Lelouch appeared to be faring better, but she could see that he was thankful no one could see them. His right arm was entwined with her left, his hand was close to where she hid her weapons in her purse. They had been walking like this for the past hour, passing by popular couple spots and areas where they might be attacked.
"Hey, Lelouch?" Kallen asked, breaking the awkward silence around the two.
"Yes?" Lelouch replied with a raised brow.
"I just want to say, it was nice seeing you again, and sorry that it took five years for it to happen," Kallen said.
"Don't apologize for it, I jumped right into work after the Ashfords took us in," Lelouch reasoned.
"And Nunnally?" Kallen asked.
"I tried to keep her away from it, but Vlad has been teaching her while I've been working," Lelouch said.
"Really, but isn't he loyal to you above all else?" Kallen inquired.
"Yes, but he's also loyal to Nunnally and the job above all else," Lelouch replied. "If I die, she'll be put in charge of it," Lelouch whispered as Kallen nodded.
"Knowing that, you still came out here?" Kallen inquired with concern.
"I have confidence that we can handle a blank, or at least run away from one," Lelouch spoke with calm confidence. Kallen just shook her head as they continued their stroll. Neither spoke as they passed the entrance of a movie theater, though Kallen felt her gaze drift to the posters.
"Do... do you think..." Kallen trailed off before she heard something. She pulled Lelouch closer to her, her eyes shooting to the darkness behind them, his eyes doing the same. "I have a gift for you, one to make up for the five years apart," She said while moving his hand inside her purse. Lelouch smiled at her as she felt his hand wrap around the grip of the revolver. "It's ready for use and I hope you enjoy it," Kallen said with a small smile as Lelouch leaned in.
As they heard footsteps grow closer, the tell-tale quiet hiss of a vampire carried by the wind.
Fast as a whip, Lelouch slid the revolver from her purse and leveled it at the approaching Vampire. Kallen activated the alert on their trackers as Lelouch fired two shots at the blank.
'Man, maybe Gramps was wrong about this place,' the thought ran through the head of a young man as he stalked the rooftops of the Tokyo settlement. He had spent the last six months in Area Eleven, blending in despite his choice of nightlife. 'I mean, he always talked about how vampires would infest areas after Britannia conquered them,' The young man continued his small tirade. 'Man, I found nothing here except docked marks and pretty girls,' The young man spouted as he walked across the roof. 'Maybe I could ask Mom if we can change areas?' The young man mused as he checked over the edge of the building. He could see only a young couple walking through the streets as the sun set to their backs. 'Man, even the other folks from school have their own life,' The young man said as he leaned back. 'I mean, Kallen and Lelouch, who would have guessed they were a couple?' the young man lamented before he noticed something.
Someone was following them.
Their steps were almost silent, but he could see the figure bore an unnatural look. 'Oh shit, is that an actual vampire?' the young man inquired as his gaze narrowed. He looked back at the couple below him, the two looked like they were about to kiss. His hands acted on his grandfather's training; 'Sorry creep, I can't let you ruin a date like that,' he stated as wires flew from his hands with practiced precision. The near-invisible wires flew toward the vampire just as he saw Lelouch and Kallen turn around.
And pull out a gun.
'What?' The figure's mind went blank as his wires faltered. Two shots rang out, the vampire stopping in its tracks as its hands ran to its knee. 'Ok, question it later,' The young man told himself as he pulled the wires back and shot them out again. He kept his eyes on the vampire, watching as his wires sunk into the Vampire's head even as the pair below pulled out knives.
He felt a shiver run down his spine as he made brief eye contact with Lelouch. The cold, analytical look of his eyes shook the young man to his core as he watched Kallen rush forward with speed he had never seen from the sickly girl. 'Ok, so Gramps was right about Vampires, Lelouch, and Kallen are moonlighting as Vampire hunters, that all makes sense,' The young man rambled on as he tried to come to some sort of conclusion. Quickly he pulled his wires back, tearing the head from the vampire as Kallen stabbed it in the chest.
He sunk back, his wires grew tense for a moment as they returned to his sleeves. 'Ok, ask them later, yeah that can work,' The young man thought as he ran for the nearby rooftop. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, making his way back to Ashford Academy. He never noticed the shadows following him all the way back to Ashford Academy.