Tekeshi looked at the mass of weapons lined against the wall of the shop, and laid out on the hood of the Warmachine Buick. What had he been doing with himself, and how the hell did that morning star show back up. That thing just wouldn't stay gone.
Even though he had the two or three long arms, and the two sidearms, he had typically used, he also had become a pack rat for anything he found interesting when he tore up a Fairy Tale base. This wasn't even everything, just what was in the car. He had some major artillery in that, whatever space he had at his disposal.
What was he going to do with all of it?
What was he going to do with his car?
He never had the time for it while he was on the war path, but now the time had come. The weapons weren't really important to him, and he would most likely give them all to his mother. She liked guns, really more than he did. Probably even the ones he used most, he didn't need them anymore, and really didn't want them anymore. He wasn't giving up the .44 though, something about it made him feel calmer now.
"So, uh, if this were the human world I would most likely be calling the JSDF at this display. Instead, I don't even find this strange. How are you holding up being back," Tsukune stepped into the bay, and looked at the literal arsenal.
Tekeshi turned around to look at his dad, "It's, I don't know yet. I'm, I'm sorry I have been avoiding you. I just don't know how to justify what I was doing to you, or even what you might be thinking of me."
It was true. Tekeshi had spent the last week avoiding more than a few people. He hadn't even seen the Mongrels past the few minutes when he had made the furious entrance he had. They were worried about him, but they were giving him space for the moment. Tsukune, had been as well.
He wasn't going to lie and say that he really had the best relationship with his son. They weren't about to go toe to toe over anything, but they didn't understand each other that well. Tsukune was still a human in many ways, and Tekeshi was in most ways a vampire born, beyond being born a vampire. It was actually strange to think that it was Tekeshi who was closer to being a human than him now.
"I'm not going to lie and say I can really understand what your motivations were. I don't care either. You came back, and that is all that matters. I know that that Utsuki and Deesseedra are glad," he said looking at the younger man.
Tekeshi chuckled and smirked, "So even you haven't gotten it completely yet."
Tsukune rolled his eyes, "Yeah, we are all having issues still. We do our best though, yet she will still have a fit. How are you holding up upstairs?"
Tekeshi looked away. He didn't want to speak, or even think about it. He knew he had to.
"I, I'm not doing really great there. Even if I'm, or was, a vampire, what I was doing, it's bothering me. It may be whatever I really am now, but, I, I was having problems before I came back. I killed a lot of people. Yeah they were shit as people, but, I killed them regardless of whether they were really trying to fight back or not. I shot them down, without hesitating," he looked back at the weapons that were leaned against the walls.
"Not all of them. Have you forgotten Mrs. Grimbal. What you did for her? What you had us do for her children? Unfortunately, her mother and husband were killed a few months before you met her. Her children were somehow surviving, and they won't talk about how they did, at least not to us. You helped them live, even though there wasn't any reason for you to. Tekeshi, you aren't a bad person, even with the blood on your hands. You want to protect people, even if you have never met them. They just want death, chaos, and control," Tsukune leaned up against the car.
"I hadn't even thought about her since. I was actually surprised when she thanked me outside Grandma's room. I, met the woman who poisoned me as an infant," he said.
"Come again," Tsukune was confused at his son's words.
"I wasn't sick as a kid. I had suspicions when you first told me about what happened to me, and Grandma came to the same conclusions. It was that gorgon that taught art when you were a student here. Her method was pretty ingenious too, platinum. She used shavings so small that it wouldn't even register to a full grown vampire. Sprinkled in my laundry. Dad, I held her against a wall, and I just coldly snapped her neck. I started dry heaving as soon as I let her go," Tekeshi looked down at his hands as he spoke.
Tsukune grimaced. Ishigami Hitomi. That was a name he really hadn't ever wanted to have come to mind again. It really didn't surprise him that she somehow ended up a part of Fairy Tale. Nor that she would have been depraved enough to poison an infant in such a heinous manner. What bothered him was the effect killing her was having on his son.
"Tekeshi, it isn't worth thinking back on the bodies you leave behind you. Her death, it doesn't matter in the scheme of things. The lives that you saved, by taking every life you have, is what matters. You slaughtered the best part of a Sheriff's Department, not because of anything you did, but because of what they were doing to the people. Did you keep up with that afterward," he asked.
Tekeshi shook his head, "I never thought about keeping up with things like that."
Tsukune nodded, "They had an emergency election about three weeks later. They also started rehiring the deputies that had been let go by the cartel officer that had been elected through a mixture of intimidation and fraud. The governor of New Mexico is currently in the early stages of trial, along with three district attorneys, and the state attorney general. General crime is down about forty three percent, and drug trafficking is down sixty five percent. Focus on the results of your actions, not the actions themselves. That reminds me, you need to see your friends."
"Yeah, I do. I just, don't know what to say to them. I, try to, but then I just can't do it. I'm afraid of what they may think. I know they aren't going to have the same reactions as much other humans would, but I left without saying a word to them. They would have tried to go with me if I had. They knew that I was leaving when I left to come home from Phoenix, so they had a chance to come to terms with it. I just left this time. The only two people that saw me leave, were, Karasu, and Asusa. They were standing outside the mausoleum the night I left. If I had said anything to any of the Mongrels, they would have tried to follow me."
Tsukune nodded, he actually knew exactly how the Mongrels were going to react. They weren't really that hard to figure out, and they were not very quiet.
He looked over at the automotive monstrosity that was the centerpiece in the bay, "So, what is this thing? And why?"
"70 Le Sarbre, with a twelve valve Cummins turbo diesel swapped in, and a reworked six speed commercial truck gearbox. After a few running gunfights I put eight inches of steel where the radiator was, and put the radiator where the back glass used to be. Then I just started grafting armor on it where the bullets hit and made it stop. That made it look like this. Bullets won't stop it anymore," Tekeshi looked at the car with a strangely fond look on his face that he didn't realize was there.
"It's... Tekeshi, I'm not going to lie to you, this is the ugliest shitbox I have ever seen," Tsukune grimaced as he spoke.
"And vampires drink blood, any other obvious things to say? It wasn't meant to be a fashion statement. It wasn't meant to try to rival the Grand National. It was a tough car that I managed to steal out of a junkyard out of necessity. I don't know what to do with it now though. There is a lot about it that, I don't want to remember after this. I'm done with the fighting, the killing, and all the rest of it. I want to figure out what I need to do to wake Yusa up, and then, I don't know," Tekeshi walked over to a stool next to a workbench.
"I see. I never thought I would ever hear a vampire say anything like that," his father continued to lean against the car.
"Dad, I'm not a vampire anymore. At least, not completely anymore. I am so far beyond you and Mom, I'm afraid of myself. I literally bounce buckshot off my face, and haven't shed a drop of blood since I killed Shinso. I can make myself instantly look like a different person if I want, and could take a step right now, and be in New York City. I don't have an understanding of this, and beyond being afraid of myself, I am afraid of what I might do to others not realizing it. I just, want to go somewhere, where I don't have a reason to use any of these powers. I just want peace. I want to settle down with 'Suki and Dee-, Karasu, and say screw the rest of the world. I don't know if I can really explain it, and it make any sense, any of what is happening in my head. I don't only think of the people I killed, I think, about what families I destroyed without knowing it. How many fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, and what other possible relations I took away. How many children will never see a parent again? How many parents will never see a child again? I know, that they didn't deserve the lives they had, but did their families deserve to lose them," Tekeshi placed his face in his hands, not really wanting to let his father see the tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
Tsukune had to think on what his son had said. He had heard of children being afraid of the changes they went through during puberty, but no other child had to go on to go through the changes that Tekeshi was going through. He wasn't a vampire any more, that was true. Now he was the single most important being to vampires. Without him, there were no vampires.
How did someone just, accept that, and not be afraid of it? Especially someone so young.
"I, don't know how to start understanding any of this. No, I do, because I am one of those parents, or on the edge of being one. I was tired of this fight for years, and thankfully, I think Fairy Tale is busier trying to deal with the other groups that are hunting them, and trying to reorganize, than coming after the school now. Are you going to stay," he asked, hoping that he would get the answer he wanted.
"I don't know. Dad, we both know that I could take a placement test, and it would most likely say I should be working on a Ph.D. I don't know that there would be any point to me starting classes again, but, I don't want to leave everyone again. At least not like I did. I barely had time to truly accept that, 'Suki returned my feelings, before I almost lost her. I don't know that I could leave her again. I don't want to leave her again. I also don't know how long I can stay here without being enrolled, without it causing trouble for you," even when he wanted to be selfish, Tekeshi wasn't very good at it.
Tsukune laughed, "You know, you don't make any kind of sense."
Tekeshi looked up with a raised eyebrow, "What?"
"I remember when you showed up at the beginning of the year last year. You looked like a straight up biker thug out of a movie. All black leather, and devil may care demeanor. Yet there you were, protecting this random human you had never met, and being willing to fight to the death for her, even though you didn't know you would win. Now, there you sit, having earned every right to be as selfish as anyone could be, and your thoughts are on what your choices might do to me. Tekeshi, I don't care what the board has to say about you staying here, even without being enrolled. They have been fighting me on the humans attending, and not getting used as torches, despite the school being here to teach yokai and humans to coexist. I am at the point I will take any excuse to open some seats up, so let them utter one little peep," the words coming from Tsukune's mouth surprised his son.
Tekeshi looked at him like he had two heads, "Aren't you the one that is always saying that you need to keep a civil relationship with them?"
Tsukune nodded, "Yes. I am also, at least until we see how powerful your grandmother is when she has recovered, the second strongest Shinso vampire alive. I have only so far that I can be pushed, until start losing my patience. Just because I am peaceful, doesn't mean I am harmless."
"So," Tekeshi started, "I guess that means that 'Suki, is awakened. I honestly can't tell anymore. I think I am so powerful, even you feel like just a regular vampire to me, where I used to be able to tell. I can still tell you are different, but, I don't quite have an understanding of what that is telling me. So, I guess that means you expect Grandma to, be more powerful than you are?"
"She was at one point in time, the second most powerful being alive, or known to be alive, after Alucard. As powerful as I am, I think I would be like a child compared to her, and I am not altogether sure that Utsuki will be able to keep the number one spot. I mean, granted she only brings the count up to four."
Tekeshi spoke up, "Actually five. I happened to meet another Shinso in Ireland. She runs a tavern in County Kilkenny. Nice woman, and very welcoming. She made me promise to bring you and Mom to meet her someday. Her name was, Cumman Mac, Sirric? Sittic? Oh, what was that last name, uh...Sitric. Cumman Mac Sitric. So, yeah, we have to make a trip to Ireland at some point. I still can't believe that I was able to actually bring her back. Karasu isn't happy about it though."
Tsukune tilted his head a little, "Why wouldn't she be happy about it? Isn't she happy for us?"
"She said, I may have picked a fight with forces that I could not begin to imagine. Apparently even demons respect death. Shinso, he had a name for whatever it is. The Keeper of the Whispers, Whispers being what he called souls. Apparently they contain everything that a person is or was, even down to their genetic code. That was the reason I was able to use the two dead orcs, I am sorry about that, to reconstruct her body. But, yeah, I didn't mean to kill them, but they were orcs, and apparently didn't have the brainpower to understand that continually bumrushing someone that was literally throwing you around like a paperdoll wasn't good for your long term survival goals," Tekeshi offered a weak smile as he finished speaking.
"Ah, yes. I had a feeling that was about what happened. Utsuki, was honestly much more upset about that than I was. Like you said, they were orcs, and, well apparently not all orcs are going to do orc things. Most of them seem to though. I see trading two extremely dangerous miscreants, for your grandmother, as a worthwhile transaction. So don't worry about any repercussions from that one, you made up for it in my eyes. Besides, what can the school board do to you now?"
Tekeshi's eyes actually seemed to fall. Power was the last thing he really cared about, and being reminded of how strong he actually was, and that he was now essentially untouchable, didn't make him feel better. It just made him feel somewhat disconnected from the rest of the world.
Tsukune realized his mistake, "I'm sorry. I forgot how you felt about it. I know this hasn't been easy, and probably won't ever become easy. I would like you to finish school though. I know that you really don't have any academic challenges here, and you may never actually have any kind of a career past graduation. You might though, and I want you to have every single advantage you can get. Especially given the emphasis our culture places on education."
"Dad, have you ever walked down the street in a Japanese city, and realized how many burnouts there are in the population? I don't know what I am going to do after graduation, but, I don't think I am going to become a salaryman. I don't even know if I want to go to college. I should at my age, but I don't. Not with how upside down things have become. Do you want her," the last question confused Tsukune.
He asked, "Want, who?"
"The car. I, don't need it anymore. I also don't want to see it junked. Even if the memories it brings up aren't great, it did right by me. Even if I was never in danger of dyeing from being wrecked, I never lost track of my targets chasing them. It kept the rain off me, and gave me shelter when I didn't have any other options. It's a good car, and I know you like unusual ones. Plus, I can't get it registered or licensed, given that it is technically a stolen vehicle, and has no paperwork on it at all. I don't think it would matter in your collection though," Tekeshi gave the car a look, with that fond smile again.
It was, as ugly as a car like it could get. The armor scabbing all over it, the broken Buick hood ornament, the scratched and scarred black paint. Only someone that had a real reason would have accepted a car that like into a collection of pristine and proper vehicles. A reason like having been his son's for eight months of a one man war.
"She'll be in good hands. So, about the artillery..."
"Sir, please, let me translate what you are saying to her," the young woman said, somewhat distressed.
The security man at the airport gave her a dull look, "You said that she was Romanian, so she must understand Romanian."
The young woman looked over at the vampiress who was calmly sitting on a bench, waiting for someone to let her know what was going on, "I understand you are confused, but she isn't Romainian, she is Wallachian. She doesn't speak proper Romanian, she speaks actual Daco-Romainian. She can't understand most of what you are saying."
"Simona, I do understand most of what he is saying, I just don't understand what many of the words mean. Could you ask him to explain them," the vampiress' voice spoke inside the girl's head.
She turned, "Why didn't you tell me that earlier? Sir, she actually does understand what you are saying, she just doesn't understand the concepts. Hopefully you can explain them to where she will understand I am not trying to lead her around for no reason."
The security worker looked between the two women confused. The same thing that he had been doing for the last thirty minutes, especially when the woman who did the speaking used some weird dialect that he barely understood. He didn't get paid enough for this.
"Yes, Ma'am. You have to have a passport, that has a good photograph and address. A regular form of photographic identification, such as a driver's license, or government ID. Finally you have to have a valid ticket with check in information on it. Otherwise I cannot allow you within the terminals. If you continue to, argue, or force your way past again, I will have to alert the police," the man said, looking at a clock and waiting for the next ten minutes to pass so they became someone else's problem.
"You see My Lady, I haven't been lying to you. We have to go through all of this. We nee... OH MY GOD," she fell down as soon as she noticed another guard with one eye walk up, in the dead center of where his eyes should be.
The man looked at her confused before addressing the first guard, "Uh, Central is wanting to know if everything is ok. Your radio died again, so they sent me up. Is she ok? Or is this the first time she has ever seen a cyclops?"
"I don't know. Is there anyway you can just take over and send them on their way so I can get a new battery. Maybe they will finally replace this unit, I keep telling them it has a short in it, and that it will never stop needing battery replacements every few hours. Please man, do this for me," the guard looked hopefully.
"What is the issue," the cyclops asked.
"Apparrently the Venus over there, is Wallachian, and doesn't have anykind of ID, and just tried to push through and demanded a plane," the first guard relayed.
The Cyclops looked over at Candace, "She is a vampire, you may just want to find her a plane to where she is going, before she starts embarrassing the military. Vampire's don't play very nice when you get them angry."
"How rude, and also true. I know my husband is very prone to disembowelment when someone angers him, but I like to think I am much nicer. I just collapse throats, or cut them. I miss my dagger," Simona's eyes bulged when she heard that part in her head.
Why did it have to be her that could hear the physic voice of this woman? Why her?