Here is the update of Chapter 1!
=================================================
Chapter 1
Years have passed and the two girls lives have changed forever. After the accident, the two took on a certain job and started travelling together.
The same girl with long hair and chiseled face was now 20 years old and grew much taller. Her friend had also grown taller and was now 18, she also had her hair cut short and was more boyish and handsome.
They were sitting at a small cafe in Kyoto, both of them wearing long tunics over their clothes. The older girl, Sayaka, had a leather jacket on over a grey shirt, long leather pants and black leather boots. While the younger, Sae, had a scarf around her neck. She had a shorter length coat than Sayaka’s, and wore hot short pants over a pair of black tights and similar leather boots.
The chiseled face girl had something that looked like a sword wrapped around her, straddled on her back, while Sae had two guns strapped onto her belt. The shopkeeper had a curious thought after staring at these strangers for a while.
As he brought their drinks to them, he looked at them a bit more before taking a breath and speaking.
"Say, what exactly are you two ladies? You entertainers of some kind?" he asked.
Sayaka nearly choked on her drink when she heard the comment. "Hah!? Do we look like idols to you, Mister?" she retorted with a frown.
“Sayaka-chan, no need to be so harsh,” Sae said, calming her friend down. “We’re travelers.”
“Ah, I see. You didn’t look like you were from around here. Where're you from?”
“From Tokyo,” said Sae.
“Tokyo?” said the shopkeeper with surprise, “Well then what brings two girls from Tokyo all the way to a small city like this on the outskirts?”
“We’re just here looking for something,” said Sayaka. “Trust me, we’ve come a long way.”
“And still longer to go.”
“We decided to stop here for a rest.”
He noticed the weapons and asked, “I can see you girls know how to defend yourselves. Had to deal with vampires?”
Sae, who was about to take a drink, suddenly stopped the glass from touching her lips. She looked at her friend, who gave her a serious look.
“You two must be really strong.”
“Yes.” Sayaka said.
Ever since a certain war against the demons of the Underworld over 100 years ago, demons and vampires have roamed Japan, seeking blood. There are only so many who are willing to stand up to face them. The Hunters.
The Hunters were the guardians of this dark world. They protected humans from the monsters who would attack. Among the Hunters, the Elite Hunters are the strongest. Although no one has seen them, they are true legends. Some say they were fallen angels, gifts from God who were went to protect them. Others say they were vampires who betrayed their moral instinct and never went rogue.
Rogues are the vampires who were ruthless in their kills. They merely did it for the pleasure of killing. While higher levels, like the Royal class or Purebloods only seek prey for their efficient feed. The Purebloods were the strongest out of the vampire clan, with one ruling as their leader, but much like the Elite Hunters, no one has seen the leader or knows their true identity.
“So, tell us, what’s your name?” Sayaka suddenly asked the shopkeeper.
“Yuisuke. Yokoyama Yuisuke.”
“Yokoyama-kun… do you know the legends about the Tear of blood?”
The boy looked and saw both of their faces were serious. He looked around, to make sure no one was listening, and went in closer.
“I’m not sure if it’s what you’re asking about, but… look,” he revealed a small necklace, a bright red ruby gleaming in the center. “It belonged to one of my ancestors. They call it ‘the Tear of blood’. My father gave to me as a birthday present.”
“If it’s not any problem with you, can we take that off your hands?” Sayaka asked as she pulled back her hair, revealing a ruby red earring. “It can be quite dangerous in the hands of a mortal like you.”
“What?”
Someone screamed, “It’s a vampire!”
The three looked and saw a group of vampires, three, to be exact. One of them had just bit someone, feeding from them.
Sayaka cursed under her breath. “Of all times...”
“Someone call the police!”
That was when Sayaka and Sae rose from their seats. "No need. Leave this to us," she assured.
"Hey! What are you two girls going to do?"
“Yokoyama-kun, trust us.”
“We know what we’re doing.”
Sayaka drew out her sword and walked over to one of the vampires, aiming the tip of the blade at their neck.
“May I help you, little lady?” he hissed.
“I’m gonna ask you once… get out, or I’ll make you.”
“Oh~ you have some guts, huh? You must be stupid in trying to challenge me!” he lunged forward to attack her, but Sayaka spun and dodged his attack. She skillfully swung her sword and slashed his back.
“Not so easy, right?”
The vampire looked up and met Sae’s gaze. He flashed his fangs and went to bite her, but she kicked him and took out her gun, shooting him. One, two, three times. He collapsed, dead, and turned into dust.
The crowd was amazed at how these two strangers from out of town handled the vampire. The two other rogues went outside, about to escape.
“Oh, no you don’t.” the two ran out, then Sayaka threw something and the two rogue vampires were ensnared in a net.
"What… what are you two?” Yuisuke asked.
"We're vampire hunters, it's our job," said Sae.
"I'm Akimoto Sayaka. This here's my partner Miyazawa Sae."
"We're actually well known as the Twin Towers in the Akihabara area," Sae included.
"Twin Towers? Hey, I've heard of them before! They're said to be great vampire Hunters!"
"Yeah and one of them is also called the Bloody Choukoku!"
“That’s right. And that’s her partner, the Genking.”
“Sugoi~ It’s really them!”
“They’re, like, Elites, right?!”
Yuisuke studied their weapons. “Those weapons… where did they..?”
Suddenly, one of the vampires escaped and released his partner from the net. He ran up and grabbed Sayaka, choking her neck and pinning her against the wall.
“You’ll pay~” he hissed as he started choking her, strangling the air out of Sayaka.
“Saya--kah!!!” Just then, the other vampire stabbed Sae’s chest and killed her, causing her to fall to the ground.
“No!”
“Uso… she’s dead.”
The Genki girl’s body laid on the ground, slowly bleeding out. Everyone looked away from it, some of them crying.
However, the only one who didn’t shed a tear was Sayaka.
“Ha… Looks like we took care of her.” one of the vamps chuckled.
They had their eyes on Sayaka. "And you're going to be joining her."
Sayaka grinned a bit. “Oh really...”
“Huh?”
“KYAAA!”
Sae, who was thought to have been dead a minute ago, was up and standing alive before their very eyes.
“She’s…! How can she be alive…?”
But for Sayaka, she was completely calm and cool. “This? Oh yeah. We get that all the time,” she said, “My friend here, you see… is immortal.”
“What?!”
Sae aimed her gun at the vampire and shot him in the head, killing him.
“It means, unlike you, I can’t die.”
As the dust faded, Sayaka fell back to her feet, holding her neck. She simply chuckled, as if she had felt worse before and that this was merely nothing.
“Whew. That was a close one, eh, Sae?”
“Uh-huh.”
Seeing the two converse so casually and normally, Yuisuke was a bit shocked.
“So...this is...normal?”
Sayaka gave a hesitant grin. “Strange choice of words, but yeah,” she said.
“Let’s just say this is my punishment for trying to bring back the dead,” said Sae, “Just like how Sayaka is punished as well.”
“Sayaka?”
One look at the elder girl and Yuisuke could see nothing about Sayaka that could be different from a normal human.
“Well… perhaps you’ll be an easier kill.” The vampire prepared himself to attack, its fangs growing. It started running, its eyes growing hungrier.
“Don’t look away. You have to see this...This is what happens when humans attempt to cross the boundary of mortal and immortal.”
With that, Sayaka took off her earrings, and her eyes immediately turned red. She sped up to the vampire and slashed his stomach, making him cough up blood.
“You… damn!!!” It lunged over and went to bite, but suddenly, the girl grabbed him with an unnatural strength.
The look in her eyes made something run through him. Fear. He was starting to shake, but couldn’t look away from her.
“This is your end.”
She bit his neck, sharp fangs piercing his skin. With that bite, the vampire screamed, before he died and turned into dust.
That was where Sayaka's deep secret has been revealed.
"So…you have become a vampire, Akimoto Sayaka!"
Sayaka moved back her hair and put her earrings back on. Her eyes were their normal, dark brown again.
"How ironic. The famed vampire hunter known as the Bloody Choukoku hunts down vampires and demons when she herself is a vampire…”
"You're wrong," Sayaka corrected, "I am not a full vampire …not yet, at least. I was lucky enough to hang onto what's left of my humanity. But who knows when I’ll finally lose myself…”
“Sayaka…”
Yuisuka began to piece together the facts.
“One is an incomplete vampire...the other is an immortal.”
That was when a realization came.
“Now I see...you two have done it… The forbidden spell.”
“Yes. 5 years ago...”
Flashback
Screams were heard after Sayaka and Sae attempted to perform the forbidden spell. Sae was laying unconscious in the snow, not breathing, and her dear friend was desperately trying to wake her.
“Sae! Sae answer me!” Sayaka cried out.
But to her sorrow, no answer was heard from her best friend.
“No...No, she’s gone…! Sae!”
Though she was still breathing, Sayaka was in no good condition herself. She clutched her abdomen, where blood is seeping out from the younger girl’s chest.
“No...this wasn’t supposed to happen…!”
End of flashback
“...All we wanted...was to see our families again. To save them and be together once more…”
"And I suppose you two want the Tear of blood in order to finish what you've started and bring your families back to life? How touching."
But Sayaka gave a scoff. "Don't take us as idiots," she coldly spoke, "There's no way we'd be stupid to make the same mistake twice."
"We only want the Tear in order to change us back to human again," Sae firmly stated, “So, please, hand us the Tear.”
“That Tear is our last chance… the only chance we have left of being human again.”
Yuisuke saw how serious they were, and finally sighed, giving them the necklace.
Sayaka held it in her hands, closing it in her palm. She shut her eyes for a few seconds, but when she opened them back up, she looked at the jewel again, more closely.
“What’s wrong?”
She growled, handing it back to the boy.
“It’s not it.”
“Eh?!”
“That ruby is a fake, probably a knock off from a pawn shop. Yokoyama-kun, you’re father must be a cheapskate.”
“Uso...”
Sae frowned. “I thought we had it this time...”
“Whatever,” Sayaka sheathed her sword, then grabbed Yuisuke’s collar. “Alright, listen, you and everyone else here can’t tell anyone what happened. We have our own personal business, and we don’t need the unnecessary attention.”
“Alright...” Sayaka set him down. "But, you two… I can’t believe you did all this to revive your dead families.. At least you two got to see them in the end, right?"
Unfortunately, there was no happy ending to Sae and Sayaka's story.
"…No. In the end …the spell didn't work. We learned the hard way that it is impossible to bring back the dead, no matter what black magic we use. Sayaka became part vampire, and my body's cursed with immortality. The two of us took our grandfather’s weapons, and made them capable of killing vampires and demons.”
“Your grandfather was a Hunter?”
“Yes… but, he also knew a lot about Black magic, it seems...”
“That’s how we came across the forbidden spell...”
“And now, the two of you are travelling together, trying to find the Tear of blood in order to become human.”
“Un...”
Yuisuke chuckled, handing them the ruby necklace.
“Eh?”
“Your drinks, on me. And, you can keep that. It probably has more value to you than for me. Call it a thank you.”
“Th-thank you!” Sae and Sayaka both bowed in front of him as he went back inside the shop.
------------------------------------
With their big lead turning out to be a false trail, the Twin Towers are left empty handed out of this trip. That night, they sat on top of one of the buildings. Sae was looking at the necklace, seeing the gem glimmer.
"Well this is ridiculous…" said Sayaka after a deep sigh, "And here I thought I was finally going to get you back to normal, Sae."
However her friend shook her head.
"No. Getting you back to human is the first priority, Sayaka," she stated, "If we don't find a way to turn you back to human soon, you'll… you'll…"
She couldn't finish her sentence because she is aware of what may happen eventually. That moment would be when the beast inside of Sayaka will completely take control over her and she will become a full vampire, one that will have no restraint and will attack any human for blood.
Knowing Sae's thoughts and that she is worrying about her, Sayaka reached up and patted Sae's head.
"Don't worry about me," she reassured.
“But...”
“Sae, I’ll make sure we find that Tear… and then we’ll both be back to normal… then, we can leave this crazy place and live a simple life. A better, happier life...”
Sae still had a sad look on her face, so she leaned forward and hugged her, holding her head.
“It’s okay… I know you’re scared.”
“I just… don’t wanna lose Sayaka..”
Sayaka took the necklace and wrapped it around Sae’s neck.
“It looks beautiful.”
The two got up, looking at the night sky.
“Where are we going now?”
“Dunno… but, the sooner we leave, the better.”
Sae nodded. The two started going down the steps on the side of the building, while Sayaka got out her phone and made a call.
“How did it go?”
“We still haven’t found it yet.”
“Well, I may have some information on its location.”
“Eh?!”
“Apparently, its in Hokkaido.”
“Hokkaido… then that’s where we’ll need to go.”
“I’ll warn you, though. It’s incredibly cold up there, especially around this time. There’ve been a lot of people who dared to find it, but would end up freezing to death.”
“We’re not like them...”
“Also… the Tear is in the hands of a Pureblood.”
Sayaka stopped in her tracks. “What?”
“Not just that… the leader.”
Sayaka looked at her partner. Sae gulped a bit, adjusting her scarf.
“Well… it seems we have a bit of a challenge now.”
To Be Continued
Topic: Blood Bonds -- Chapter 2 (Saeyaka) (Read 28251 times)