Chapter 7 (Part 1)
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“Crap! I better get back!” Takamina said to herself.
She was out doing some early inspection when she got a message from Miichan. She told her to hurry back because of an important mission.
As Takamina was running, she didn’t see a woman walking the opposite way as her and ran into her.
“Hey, watch where you’re going,” she said annoyed.
“Ah! Sorry!” Takamina bowed before continuing to run off. The woman clicked her tongue and kept walking.
Takamina made it back to the agency and reunited with the group.
“Okay, what do we got?”
“First off,” Miichan asked, “How was inspection? No demonic spirits?”
“No.”
“No Cross associates.”
“Nope.”
“No rogue werewolves or vampires?”
“No and no.”
“Good. Now, let’s begin then.”
Miichan approached the computer and pulled up a few pictures of some murdered people. All of them had identical bite marks on their necks.
“There’s been some vampire activity recently, and I would like to investigate this particular matter due to the victims, not just the culprit.”
“Why the victims?” Takamina asked.
Haruna pointed at the screen and said, “Those people… they’re all rogues.”
“All of them?”
“Not only that. Take a look at what Sasshi found when me and her did some night investigation just last night.”
Miichan then pulled up a picture of a murdered Cross associate, with the same bite marks.
“A vampire did that?!”
“We can’t be sure whether this vampire is on the good side or not. They could just be another rogue.”
“Or like Yuko…” Haruna mentioned.
“How’ll we find them?” Mayu asked.
“We think we may have an accomplice,” Sasshi said.
“You got a name and face?”
“Yup.” Miichan then pulled up a picture of the mentioned suspect. “This is her. Matsui Rena.”
Takamina’s eyes widened. It was the same woman she had just ran into moments earlier. She remembered her rather angered glare, so Takamina wouldn’t be surprised if she was an accomplice.
“We’re gonna have a stake out. Spy on her and see what she does.”
“Yuki, Mayu, you’ll come with us to find her location,” Haruna said. “Takamina, you’re coming with me and Miichan.”
“H-hai!”
“Yosh! Let’s move out!”
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After some searching, the group found Rena in Tokyo and started following her around undetected. They started watching her as she entered a local cafe. Mayu and Yuki entered the cafe and watched her from a distance as Miichan, Haruna, and Takamina monitored from outside.
“Do you think this is their rendezvous point?” Haruna asked.
“We can’t be too sure.” Miichan then spoke into an earbud Mayu and Yuki had. “You two, be sure to keep an eye on her.”
“Of course.”
The two watched and saw Rena ordered something from the menu, specifically pointing to something so the waitress could see.
“Mamarin,” Mayu said. “This girl’s aura isn’t dangerous… What if she isn’t working for the vampire?”
“Then it’s all a misunderstanding. Besides, this vampire could most likely be using her, as well. Making her do things against her will.”
“True…”
“Still, I can’t help but feel something off about her aura.”
“Me too. I’m not quite sure what it is, but--”
The two were suddenly cut off when a loud ringtone started playing.
Akai pinhiiru
Gimme your touch
Gimme your breath
Gimme your eyesRena suddenly blushed and grabbed her phone out of her pocket, apologizing frantically as she rushed to the bathroom. The trio saw the sight from outside.
“Yuki, follow her. Make sure she doesn’t see you.”
Yuki nodded and got up from her seat. She walked to the bathroom door and started listening carefully to the girl as she talked on her phone.
“...Yeah, I’ll be there in a second… I can’t talk for too long. There are people watching me… Right. I’ll see you soon.”
Yuki heard the footsteps and quickly backed away as the girl left.
“Excuse me,” she bowed before leaving and letting Yuki enter.
“Did you hear all that?” she asked.
“Yeah, we heard,” Haruna said. “I wonder if she knows we’re watching her.”
“What’s going on now?”
The three looked at the café window and saw Rena sat down and put away her phone. The waitress then came and handed Rena a cup of coffee and a plate of melonpan.
“It looks like she’s having lunch.”
They all watched as Rena began happily eating the melonpan. She then took out a book from her bag and read it as she drank her coffee. As she looked through the pages, she would often pause a bit to take another sip or bite of melonpan, as well as chuckling a bit on funny parts.
When she finally finished, she bookmarked the page, paid for lunch, and left the cafe. They started following her again and saw her going down the street until they reached a bar and café called "ROZE".
“Lunch again?” Takamina asked.
“No. This must be the rendezvous point.”
They saw her enter the building and decided it was Takamina and Haruna’s turn to investigate. So they exited the vehicle and made their way to the entrance.
“Nervous?” Haruna asked.
“Un, a little… I’ve never faced a vampire.”
“Be careful, kay? I’ll be here to help, but they’re seriously powerful.”
“Right.”
“Now, let’s go.”
With that, Takamina nodded and pushed open the door. As soon as the two hunters walked through the door, they saw that the bar and cafe was near empty. The woman they had been tracking was nowhere to be found. The only other person that was there besides them was a bartender at the counter, cleaning some glasses.
He took a look at the two and smiled. “Welcome.”
The two silently bowed, politely.
He set the glass down. “Anything I can do for you?”
“U-um…” Takamina stuttered, blushing as the young man was very handsome. “We.. we’re looking for someone. We thought we saw her come in here.”
“Well, no one’s come in besides you two, so you can wait here until she comes. Have a seat,” he gestured to the two open seats in front of the counter.
“Thank you… erm...”
“Ruka. Just call me Ruka.”
Since the two still needed to investigate they just ordered some water and decided to wait for Rena to turn up.
“Strange~” Miichan scratched her head. “We ALL saw her go in there, right?”
Mayu and Yuki nodded.
“So,” Ruka asked the two hunters, “what brings you ladies in? You said you were looking for someone.”
“Ah, yes. Uh, actually, we were supposed to meet them here.”
“But, uh.. looks like they haven’t turned up.”
“Welp, it’s no one expect us.”
“Yup. You, me, and--”
Just then, another young man appeared and walked to Ruka, hugging him from behind.
“Ruka~ Why are you still so busy? Didn’t you say we were going to--?” he stopped when he saw Haruna and Takamina. “Ah! Customers~”
“Are you a bartender too?” Haruna asked.
“Mm~ more like a host. Name’s Haru.” The boy grinned, then knelt down on the counter and close to Haruna. “You smell nice~”
Haruna blushed a bit. “Th-thank you, I guess…”
“Nee, Ruka, I’m hungry. Make me a parfait.”
“No, Haru. We’re still on shift.”
Haru then smiled as an idea entered his mind.
“Then let’s make parfaits for these ladies, too. We can all share!”
“Eh?! Is that okay?!” Takamina said.
Ruka chuckled. “Well, I guess it’ll do no harm.”
He then proceeded to make four parfaits and served two of them to the hunters.
Yuki facepalmed. “We came for a mission, not for desserts…”
“Well, I guess it can’t be helped,” Mayu said. “Parfaits are delicious.”
“And is it just me or do Ruka and Haru seem to be acting a bit like…?”
“Ruka, open up. Ah~” Haru spooned in some of the parfait into Ruka’s mouth, the sight being witnessed by the hunters.
Takamina blushed.
“Now me!”
“Hai hai~” Ruka said as he spooned up some of the ice cream in the parfait and fed it to Haru, the boy smiling.
“They’re very cute,” Haruna whispered to Takamina.
“Uh, y-yeah.”
“Ah, Ruka,” Haru looked at the bartender. “You have whipped cream on your face.”
Then he did something unbelievable (in Takamina and Haruna’s eyes anyways)...
He leaned forward and licked the whipped cream that was on Ruka’s face. The two hunters blushed. Actually, Takamina’s face was as red as a tomato at this point. She was internally screaming over the sight.
“Oh my…” Acchan chuckled at Takamina’s expression.
“A-a-a-are you two… um… y’know~?” Takamina awkwardly asked.
Ruka’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What?”
“Aw, Ruka, can’t you take a hint?” Haru pouted, then smiled to Takamina. “Yes. We’re a couple~”
“EEEEEEEH?!?!?!” Takamina screamed out. Haruna was surprised, too, but not so much. The two kinda acted like a couple. Atsuko also suspected as such, but she still continued to giggled over Takamina’s reaction.
“Yup~ We’ve been together a long time~” Haru said, facing the other man. “We’ve done
this~ and
that~ and
those sort of things~”
“Th-th-those sort of…?” Takamina couldn’t even speak.
“Oi, Haru, not here. It’s embarrassing…” Ruka said in a low tone.
“Why? We can just give these girls a little show, let them see how deep our love is~” Haru said as he inched closer, their lips just centimeters apart.
But as they were about to kiss...
“I need to go powder my nose!” Takamina said as she quickly bolted towards the bathroom.
“Mou~” Miichan groaned. “Takamina, remember to look for Rena,” she spoke through the earbud.
“I know! I know already! I… uh…”
However, Takamina soon found that she was not near a bathroom, and was in a hallway that seemed to have several private rooms.
“Oh, so it’s this kind of bar and cafe…”As Takamina was walking through the hall, she then heard a sound coming from one of the rooms. She saw the door was cracked open and got closer to take a good listen.
“Ngh… n-no.. wait, not yet.. Jurina…”
Takamina’s eyes widened.
“That voice… it’s her!”“Don’t worry, hime. No one will disturb us. Now...”
She heard Rena’s voice start to die down. When she took a peek through the crack, she saw that Rena was in the room with another young woman. Not only that, they were… KISSING!
Takamina blushed again. It was a really rough, deep kiss, the girl with Rena was very aggressive and dominant, taking charge in the kiss. She desperately wanted to look away, but her eyes remained locked as she couldn’t move or do anything.
As they broke the kiss, Rena fell limp in the woman’s arms. She licked her lips and leaned in toward her neck, brushing back strands of Rena’s hair. Takamina clearly saw a fang flash out from her as she bit down on the latter’s neck. Her eyes widened as she heard Rena cry out; not a cry in pain, but rather a moan of ecstasy.
Takamina quickly ran out and kept running until she did finally find the bathroom. She turned on the sink and splashed cold water on her face.
“Oh my God…! This is too much! First, two male co-workers flirting and being all lovey-dovey, now two women were making out!”
“Minami, you saw, right?” Acchan said. “That woman who was with Rena… she’s a vampire.”
Takamina nodded. “Then we were right. She’s an accomplice.”
“Also… if that woman was a vampire, do you think there are others here?”
With that statement, Takamina’s eyes widened.
“Oh no…”
She rushed back and saw Haruna was still with Ruka and Haru. She went to her seat, still a bit shaky and her cheeks flushed.
“What’s the matter, cutie?” Haru asked with a chuckle.
“U-um… Haru..-kun.”
“Yes?”
“Er.. d-do you know.. anyone by the name of.. M-Matsui.. Rena-san.. who comes here?”
With that, Haru’s smile disappeared. She looked at Ruka, who whispered something to him.
“Um… I think it sounds familiar, uh… I’ll be right back.”
He then left, leaving the two confused.
“What happened?”
Ruka leaned over the counter.
“So.. Matsui Rena, you say? What business do you have with her?” he asked.
“Eto… we’re friends!” Takamina said in a panic. “W-we went to college together! We’re meeting after having graduated a year ago! Right, Haruna?”
“Uh, y-yeah!”
“Oh, is that all?”
“Yes~! We wanted to know how she was doing!”
Ruka then gave the two a serious glare.
“So, if you’re her friends, you’ll know everything about her.”
The two looked at each other, then nodded.
“Alright… what’s her favorite food?”
“Ah. Melonpan!” Haruna said.
“And her favorite book?”
“Uh, oh, what was it she was reading? Um.. it’s a novel called ‘Promise of a Rose’. Right?”
Ruka scoffed. “Did I say it was a novel?”
“Eh?”
“You two are lying,” he said with another glare, leaning closer. “Who are you really? What do you want with Rena?”
“L-l-look, we don’t wanna start a fight, so--”
As they were talking, the woman Takamina saw before walked out. She had a really pleased look on her face and adjusted her crooked jacket, smiling and humming a song under her breath. She sat down a wine glass in front of the bartender.
“Sayaka, give me a refill~”
Takamina and Haruna’s faces became confused expressions, “Sayaka?”
Ruka cleared her throat. “You got the wrong person.”
“Hm?” The young girl looked at Takamina and Haruna and her eyes widened. “Ooh~ I didn’t realize we had company.”
“Jurina…” Ruka leaned forward and whispered in her ear.
“Oh… so they want to harm my princess?”
She glared at the two and stood up.
“You want to hurt my Rena-chan?”
“N-no! This is a misunderstanding! We--”
Jurina flashed her fangs and charged to punch the short girl, only to be stopped by Haruna.
“We just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Sorry, but I only talk with my actions,” she said before attempting to kick the tall woman. She grinned at the two, “So instead of words… let’s use our fists.”
Takamina wanted to run away, but when she turned around, she saw Ruka standing behind her.
“W-wait,” Takamina tried to reason. “I-I don’t wanna fight vampires! I mean, if you really think about it, vampires are really cool! Hahaha! Y’know, with their strength and looks and.. er, scary sharp fangs..!”
“Takamina!” Miichan yelled through the earbud, causing some feedback. “You have to fight! This is no time to be scared!”
“Mou, shut up!” Takamina threw the earpiece out.
“So that’s your game,” Ruka said before he stepped on the earbud and crushed it.
“Please, Ruka-san! We have an obvious size difference! I’d never win against you!”
“Takamina, all this ranting won’t help!” Haruna said.
“No, she’s right,” Jurina said. “Also.. Ruka is a black belt in aikido.”
The shorter woman shivered in fear. “Mou!”
“Now then, shall we get started?”
Ruka and Jurina entered their fighting positions.
“Takamina, we have no other choice,” Haruna said as she pulled out her dagger. “You have to face your fears and fight!”
“H-hai..!” Takamina pulled out her gun.
Ruka and Jurina were the first to make a move on the two hunters. The two dodged and quickly started to counter their attacks. Haruna slashed her dagger, trying to stab the vampire. She ended up getting a cut on the cheek.
“Yada~ you cut my pretty face,” Jurina pouted. “Oh wait…”
Haruna watched in shock as the wound healed itself.
“Nevermind,” Jurina said with a catlike smirk.
“Just let me ask you this, are you lot working for Cross?”
“Huh? You mean that evil company?” Ruka asked.
“No, no, no~” Jurina said as she walked away. “Why on Earth would we be working for that group of devils?”
“Then.. what are you--?”
“Jurina!” Rena burst in and saw the current situation, her eyes wide.
“You!”
“Rena-chan~ why’d you have to ruin the moment? I thought I told you to stay in the room.”
“But…”
Takamina pointed at the woman. “O-oi, Matsui Rena! You’re an accomplice for this vampire, right?!”
Rena looked at Takamina. “Ah.. that chibi who ran into me today.”
Takamina blushed. “I am not a chibi!”
“Haa~ let’s just get this over with.”
She then whistled and a brown dog suddenly ran in, barking at the two. Takamina got surprised and ended up tripping, falling the ground.
“Woah, you okay?” Ruka knelt down and reached out his hand.
“Th-that trick won’t work!” Takamina pulled the man down and grabbed his hair. “You aren’t gonna fool me with an act like that! You hear?!”
"Takamina, calm down!"
However, as she pulled on it, she was surprised when the hair she was holding suddenly slipped off. As it did, long dark locks of hair flowed down from Ruka’s head, moving just past her shoulders. Takamina looked at the wig she was now holding, blushing as she stared at Ruka.
“Y-you’re.. a girl?!”
That was when Jurina started laughing.
“Oh my God! I wondered how long it’d take before you realized! Hahahaha!”
However, as she was laughing, Takamina and Haruna could hear another voice laughing. The two looked and saw the dog suddenly turn into Haru, who still had the brown dog ears and tail.
“I can’t take it anymore! Hahaha! This is so funny!”
Takamina blinked, confused. “Huh?”
As Jurina calmed down, she looked at the two hunters. “Hey, there are more with you, right?”
“Uh, yeah…”
“Bring ‘em in. We need proper introductions.”
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