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The darkest parts of the city were always active. Dim lights and dripping pipes attracted the most grim monsters, prowling for unsuspecting victims. The cost to put in a few more lights didn’t seem like it’d be too much to Tsukasa, but what did he know? The pockets of the rich in charge only got fuller as everyone at the bottom suffered. Sending out “protectors” to deal with the beasts was a measly bandaid to a much larger, systematic problem.
Protectors did nothing but symbolize the power that the government had. It was hard to turn a corner without running into that shiny protector badge in the city center, but it was rare to come across one where Tsukasa spent his time, in the grim backstreets.
The vampire’s thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang, followed by a cloud of smoke emerging from behind a building. Quickly, he was back on his feet, dashing toward the scene of the disturbance.
Tsukasa had decided it would be his duty to protect the backstreets for as long as the people in power did nothing for their less fortunate citizens. Night after night he prowled, hunting down the shadow beasts, known colloquially as “rogues,” that feasted on humans. For a while, Tsukasa had despised humans for terrorizing his kind into hiding for so long. Years ago, the thought of saving a human would have made the vampire sick. Hate only breeds more hate, however, and as it turns out, no one hates humans more than other humans. It was disgusting to him how little regard the corporate leaders in charge of running the city had for their own people, especially the people that needed kindness the most. He learned to redistribute that hate up the ladder, and to protect the people who had nobody else.
Guilt bubbled up inside him. The air smelled of wet pavement, rot, and smoke; it was difficult to detect the scent of rogue, but it was faint. He should have noticed it before anything had happened! As he raced down the alley, turning a corner, he fully expected to find the lifeless body of a civilian hanging from the jaws of a beast. A dark maroon painted the road, pieces of black fur scattered about. Bright pink caught his eye, reflecting off the shiny badge he loathed.
Before him stood a short girl, hands wrapped around a hammer the size of her torso. The pink lights emitting from the hammer lit up the scene. She had a cheerful grin across her face, despite the growling beast circling her, trailing blood and limping.
Tsukasa pulled up his collar instinctively, hiding his fangs from the girl. She seemed to barely notice him, though, more preoccupied with the opponent in front of her. A few moments passed before the protector lunged once more, landing a final blow on the injured rogue. The impact of the hammer was certainly loud and sent a blast of debris flying. This must be what caused that smoke earlier, Tsukasa thought, observing the fight from around the corner. The body of the defeated rogue began to evaporate, leaving behind only a pool of blood.
Satisfied, the girl hummed. “Wow! These guys sure are everywhere around here!” she exclaimed, seemingly to nobody. Tsukasa continued to watch her as she wiped a speck of blood from her face with her sleeve. “I wonder why we’re never sent out here…?” she pondered, tapping her chin with her finger. “Oh well!” she shrugged, ending the conversation she was having with herself.
How odd… maybe protectors were beginning to become self-aware. That aside, Tsukasa couldn’t just leave her to walk off like everything is fine. That’s not part of his status quo.
Swiftly, the vampire dashed forward, running across the stretch of blood-stained pavement and toward the protector. Once the gap between the two dissolved, he unsheathed his claws and struck toward the back of her head. Despite facing the other way, she clearly heard his approach and ducked just in time, causing Tsukasa to stumble forward. That’s right, protectors aren’t as stupid as rogues. The pink-haired girl pulled back, taking a look at him.
“Hello!” she shouted in greeting. Her eyes widened when she took in her attacker; he wore a flashy cropped jacket with long, blue sleeves, and a collar that covered half of his face. His hair was long, blond-to-pink fade reaching his waist. And of course, his slitted eyes were a deep red.
“Oh! I know you!” she pointed, jumping back up to her feet in excitement. “You’re Pegasus!”
Something deep in Tsukasa’s ego stirred. Just a little. As it turns out, stealth is not his strong suit. He’s earned a name for himself, he would call himself “famous,” though “infamous” is a better way to describe it. As a late-night vigilante, his name, or rather, his pseudonym, has been passed around. If he’s going to save civilians, might as well tell them “the star that will keep the city safe ☆” is called Pegasus. He had no plans on making his identity as Tsukasa Tenma public.
He straightened up, theatrically moving his hand to his chest. “You are correct!” he beamed, “I am Pegasus!” The protector looked way too excited for his act. They were on different sides, weren’t they?
Tsukasa raised his arm and quickly pointed at the girl. “I was just doing my nightly rounds, fighting rogues and protecting civilians,” he declared rather loudly, beginning his monologue. He wasn’t able to get very far, however, before the protector tightened her grip on her hammer. She was just pretending to be excited-
Behind him, he heard a roar. He whipped around, catching the flash of pink in the corner of his vision. Another rogue had crawled its way into the alley, sleek body in the form of an oversized lizard. The hammer crashed into the beast, creating another loud BOOM that made Tsukasa cover his ears. Despite her size, the protector was surprisingly strong, especially to be wielding a weapon that big. The rogue let out a pained cry, thrashing wildly after the strike it received. He knew that this protector could easily take this one out, after watching her so easily defeat the previous one, but he was not going to let her take all the glory. Not when his monologue had been interrupted so abruptly.
He took action, running directly at the beast. He felt pink eyes on him as he leapt forward and raked his claws across the face of the injured rogue. It hissed and stumbled, impaired vision causing it to lose its footing. This one is slow, Tsukasa thought to himself, striking the lizard-shaped rogue once again with claws. He pierced its throat, its blood staining his hands. As the monster choked, a large hammer flew into his eyesight and smashed into the head of the beast. Startled, the impact sent him staggering backwards, and he found himself in a crouched position, eyes remaining on the unmoving beast. After just a few moments, like the one before, it dissipated into the air, leaving only its blood behind.
Tsukasa let out a sigh. The adrenaline of the attack was still coursing through his veins. To the right of himself, he heard a shrill cheer.
“YAY!” He looked over. The short protector girl was doing a victory dance of sorts, waving her hands in the air. “We did it!” she yelled once more, turning toward Tsukasa. “We made the monster go WOOSH!”
Quickly, he wiped the look of disbelief off his face. Normally, protectors would be after him now, but she made no move to attack him. Even though he had charged her before…
“Yeah! Of course-” he started, picking himself off the ground. “WAIT, no, that was supposed to be my kill!” Tsukasa shouted, pointing at her.
“That doesn’t matter!” the girl smiled. She stepped over and took her hammer in her hands once more. “It’s gone now, nobody will be hurt!”
Right. Because protectors were so concerned about civilians and not just their own image. Even so, it was unusual to find a protector in this area. It was odd, and now that Tsukasa had time to think about it, she seemed different than all the others he had encountered.
“Anyway! Mister Pegasus! You really are a vampire!” The smile remained on her face as she spoke. Tsukasa braced himself to lunge at her, but she quickly put her hands in front of herself, as if that were going to stop him. And it did. “Wait, that’s not bad!”
He paused, flexing his claws. “Am I not your enemy?” he asked, intrigued by the morals this pink-haired girl carried. He was right, she was definitely different. She shook her head violently.
“Of course not! I’ve seen what you do. You have the same goals that I have,” the girl exclaimed, excitedly pointing to the shiny badge on her collar. “I want to protect people, just like you.”
That’s what protectors always claimed. To join the ranks of protectors was to pledge yourself to the government and follow whatever orders they gave. That’s what Tsukasa hated so much about them. The government would never send a protector to this part of the city though, so whatever she is doing here is by her own accord. And for that, Tsukasa decided she was not a bad person.
He retracted his claws, however still stayed alert. “I believe you.” Naive maybe, but she was skilled and had a good heart. “What are you doing all the way out here?” he decided to ask.
“I just felt like coming here! My dad tells me to stay closer to the capitol, but there’s so many rogues over here. I don’t know why we’re never stationed here,” she responded easily. She seemed like an open book, having no reason to hide anything. “Oh! Do you want me to still call you Pegasus? Or is that too formal? I’m Otori Emu, but you can call me Emu, now that we are friends!”
Friends?! That was quick, but Tsukasa simply didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise. This girl, Emu, was a force to be reckoned with, in a good way, he supposed. “Ah- well you can call me Tsukasa!” He was not keen on giving out his surname, lest harm will fall on Saki, but Tsukasa sounded safe.
Wait. “HUH?!” he shouted, eyes widening. “OTORI? AS IN, OTORI ENTERPRISES?” She only beamed back at him.
The city was run by a group of powerful corporations- one of them being Otori Enterprises. This girl was a part of an influential family, one he certainly had no business messing with quite yet. Shit. He already gave her his name.
At this point, Tsukasa was starting to visibly panic. “Hey! I’m not going to tell them about this,” Emu tried to convince him, taking a few steps toward the vampire. The sudden movement caused him to growl, sending her a piercing glare.
“I should have never let my guard down,” he spat. If he were to concuss her, would she forget that he was ever here? He took a glance at his surroundings, surveying near objects, before returning his gaze to Emu. She looked concerned, and a little sad. No, he couldn’t do that. She was a protector, but she also showed him kindness. It would be against everything in him to hurt her seriously.
“I’m not even supposed to be out here,” Emu spoke again, “if I told my family who I met, I would be in big trouble!” She sounded reassuring, but Tsukasa refused to drop his guard again. “So, it’s okay! We can be friends!”
Friends… maybe it was a good idea to get to know somebody on the inside. He wasn’t intent on manipulating her, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t need to. This Otori Emu had a genuinity about her that Tsukasa was sure he liked. He wouldn’t lend his trust so easily to a protector. However, he may as well see where this would lead.
The vampire took a deep breath. “Okay, fine, I believe you.” He hoped his words were true. “Just- don’t tell anyone my name. Okay? I’m Pegasus.”
The girl nodded her head excitedly, smiling wide. “WONDERHOY! YAY!” she shouted, jumping up and down a few times. Emu then paused, grinning at Tsukasa. “Wow! I’ve never been up so close to a vampire before-” she took a few steps forward before he put his hands out in front of himself, stopping her abruptly.
“Hey, not so close,” he growled. She pouted a little bit, then quickly recovered.
“That’s okay!” she smiled, circling back to her previous spot. “Well, Pegasus, it’s getting late!” Emu glanced up at the dark sky. “Er- early?” She turned her head to the side, before letting her pondering get too far. “I’d better be off! Take down any of the rogues I may have missed for me!” she had already begun to dash away, shouting and waving her hand back at him.
In an instant, the pink-haired girl disappeared behind a corner. Tsukasa stared at the empty spot where she once stood and brought his arms to himself. He wasn’t able to get a final word in with her before she left. Would he ever see Emu again?
She clearly did not have any problems disobeying government orders, traveling farther than her issued post. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing to see her again. The two had worked so well as a team, not knowing each other at all. Perhaps Emu could be what the world needed to make a change.
Tsukasa found himself missing her presence. He had been living a much more lonely life than expected.