Work Text:
5:03 PM
Thirty six days since An died. Just over a month since Kohane lost her dearest partner. She sits cross legged at the grave, a bouquet of flowers in her hands.
“Hi, An.” she says, placing the flowers down with the others. “I still miss you more than ever, you know.”
“The team is doing well. We still miss having you on missions. Nothing is the same without you. I don’t know if Akito has been here yet, but he and Haruka miss you, too.”
“Minori wanted me to bring you this, too. We couldn’t find yours, but she made another one for you. She wanted you to have it, even though you…”
Kohane simply places the ring in the bouquet.
“Um… Yeah.”
Kohane feels tears in her eyes again.
“I have to go to work soon. I’ll be back. I love you.”
…
12:39 AM
It’s here, Kohane knows. With the resources of the guild and her strong intuition, the vampire hunter is certain. Within the decrepit building, there were few places to take cover— after all, the building was empty (save for debris and rot, useless to her). But, for a vampire, a good shadow would be enough.
Her hand hovering over the holster strapped securely to her body, she’s ready to empty her firearm at once. Moving slowly through the vast building, she remained keen as ever on any sound or sign of movement.
From within her pouch of supplies, she fishes out a box of matches and a traditional candlestick. Lighting one of the former in a swift drag against the side, she brings the match to wick. Her tools could be called ancient by many, but she knew how to use them effectively.
It wasn’t a rarity for her gear to be destroyed during a confrontation, so she only took the ‘good stuff’ on the highest risk commissions. Whether this thrifty philosophy was for better or worse, it certainly saved her team trouble.
This mission only tracked a single vampire, so as usual, she’d forgo the excess and stick to the classic. This was what she honestly preferred; it proved much more reliable. Lit now, the dilapidated warehouse doesn’t feel quite as daunting.
There are only two exits to this warehouse, as she observed from outside. The one behind her, and the fire exit on the other side. There are two ways the hunter could play this: she could wait, exert her patience, or she could go on the offensive.
On one hand, impatience on the vampire's part might lead to more aggression, but then she’d be level headed and prepared for an attack any moment. On the other, trying to attack would save her time, and even though the vampire likely knew she was there, they might not expect her to be so forceful.
Kohane shuts the warehouse door with a slam, a risky gambit to trap herself inside with the monster, but she’d also know if it left the warehouse, and pursuit would be easier from there.
The hunter couldn’t grip this double-edged blade too tightly. She knew too well the consequences of doing so.
She could have sworn she heard something— a whisper of wind, the pattering of a rodent’s feet? Or perhaps, something more sinister and deadly. Kohane stopped, pressing a hand to her chest. It was still there— a silver amulet given to her by Minori. Not that she was the only hunter to receive one.
“Even if it doesn’t do much,” her friend pressed the necklace into her hand, squeezing gently. “It’s a symbol of my care for you, okay? Stay safe, Kohane.”
Now, eyes darting around, she scrutinises every shadow cast by the dancing light of her candle. Any minute now, surely. Her hand returns to hover over the holster.
Then, a shadow came charging straight at her.
…
12:46 AM
Footsteps reverberate through the warehouse. Someone is here. An wishes she could say that’s a bad thing, but she’s already drooling at the thought of a meal, instinct overriding morals. The vampire hadn't made much effort to hide, though perhaps in hindsight that was a bad idea.
When there's an entire organisation dedicated to hunting you down, assuming safety in an abandoned building is naive at best. The intruder isn't yet near her, but they are getting close. She rises to her feet. It would be worse than bad if she were caught prone. Or supine, in this case, if you’re one for semantics.
Through the towering rusty shelves, she sees a small flame and a silhouette by the doorframe. The hunter is about the same size as her, if a little shorter. If hand-to-hand combat was a strategy many hunters employed, An might have a slight upper hand. However, it wasn't.
Fear and desire churn in the melting pot of her empty body, prey and predator all in one, almost close enough to smell. She’s running out of time. Hiding is becoming less and less of an option with every passing second.
The only possible advantage left would be the element of surprise, but she's still too far away. The vampire curses under her breath. Getting any closer is a dangerous game, but she stalks closer through the shadows nonetheless. She isn't cornered. Not yet.
Even if she were close enough for a sneak attack, the hunter was clearly on guard. There would be no stealth involved, just a regular old attack. Suboptimal by every definition, but also the only choice. One small step to shift her momentum. She leaps.
Weakened by hunger, it's harder to aim for the prey's neck for a quick kill. The trajectory leans more towards the upper arm, near a specialised guild crest denoting a hunter's rank, and their team, if they work with one. By the time recognition interrupts desperation, it's too late.
…
12:57 AM
At the sudden attack, Kohane shouts out and stumbles back, dropping the candle. She fights to regain her footing. Instinctively, she plucks her gun from the holster, cocking it and pressing the muzzle to the vampire’s side, approximately in line with the middle of her ribcage.
“ I won’t hesitate to shoot ,” she asserts. Her voice is soft and sweet in nature, but the words make her intentions clear.
She looks up at the vampire in the dim light from the candle on the floor, soon to be extinguished by the wax. The hunter almost finds something familiar. Her prior statement wavers. She reaches into her pouch, and a clicking sound followed by a clear ‘beep’ is heard.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Shit. Shit. Damn it, damn it! Of course. Of course ofcourse ofcourseofcouseofcourseOFCOURSE. Their team is one of the most prominent in the area, of course it would be them.
How stupid was she to have not even considered that? Wasn't that partially why she was laying low anyway? Too afraid to face her old friends, eating as little as possible to prove she wasn't a monster, and for what? For her to lunge at her closest companion without a second thought, apparently.
She doesn't dare move, aside from involuntarily shaking. Shakier still is her voice.
"K- Kohane?" The name barely escapes her mouth. Fear and hunger, now joined by desperation, guilt and longing, deny her any additional words.
Kohane’s heart splatters over her boots. That face, those eyes, once a rich amber, now sunken and panicked, dull orange. Oh, how she wishes she didn’t recognise those eyes. She wishes she didn’t recognise the curve of moonlight caught on her face, Kohane wishes she didn’t recognise her.
Her grip on the pistol falters, loosening, cool metal no longer pressed so harshly into the vampire’s skin.
An?
She tightens her grasp tenfold, Kohane has to pull herself together. She’s a respected hunter, not the timid little girl she used to be, scared of the dark, let alone to pull the trigger
It’s impossible, isn’t it?
She’s dead . The girl she thought she’d spend her life with, the girl who taught her to hunt– dead , but now here in front of her.
Her eyes widen, darting. Adrenaline surges through her body. Her An is right here, and she’s got a gun pressed to her.
There’s no way. It must be some sort of trick, exploiting her grief and weakness . Kohane scolds herself for thinking this awful, cruel monster could ever be her An. Kohane’s white-knuckled grip on the pistol doesn’t feel quite strong enough.
Just get it over with, take a deep breath–
"I.. I'm sorry, Kohane. If I– If I had known, I wouldn't–"
Shallow breaths fail to ground her as tears make themselves known. If she had known it was Kohane, would that have made a difference? Even now, shock is keeping her from lunging again more than anything.
The hunter smells so, so good. And she's tantalisingly close. The vampire is torn in two, between exorcising that awful thought and giving in, nourishing her starving body. And yet all she can do is lie there as the world spins.
Kohane goes weak in the legs, numbness over taking her fingertips. This An, her An, she looks like she’s in so much pain . It stings to see her again, to see her crying, apologising.
She can’t shoot her. She can’t hurt her.
That’s not her. Don’t let your guard down.
Kill the monster.
How dare it take An’s face.
“ Shut up! ” she yells.
Her hand is trembling, voice trembling, a beam of moonlight glinting off the barrel of her pistol. Kohane isn’t so sure if she’s yelling at herself for thinking so cruelly, or at the monster for so perfectly impersonating her An.
An's mouth uselessly flails agape, closed, agape again. Finally, it makes up its mind.
"I don't want to die. Not again." Shaky, barely a whisper. "Not if it means I have to lose you again." She curls in on herself slightly.
"But I'm so hungry, I– even now, I–..." The tears only increase, a crescendo of despair. This is so much worse than she'd feared.
Kohane bites back an apology, looking into An’s eyes, she sees only a trace of the girl she used to be. Kohane feels her breath catch as another shining tear falls down An’s cheek. She wants to reach out, wipe her tears, and tell her it will be okay.
She feels her heart break at An’s words.
Unfortunately, she can’t say such a bold thing with certainty. Kohane points her gun directly at An. Her body fights the motion, rejects it, the movement of her hands become so erratic that she can’t plausibly aim.
She says nothing. Kohane knows she isn’t strong enough to speak.
The vampire can barely breathe. It's unlikely she'd have enough energy to fight back, even if she were standing. Maybe this would be the end. For real this time.
At the very least, if her counterfeit second lease on life were to be taken, she'd choose no other pair of hands to place it in.
"Thank you, Kohane. For everything."
No, that’s…
Kohane shifts the pistol in her hand, heart twisting brutally when An flinches like she’s about to shoot.
It hurts more, it hurts worse to know that An will let her do so.
But, that’s her An.
She drops the pistol on the ground, kicking it away. It slides, spinning until it hits the front door with a clang. Kohane isn’t sure what she feels. Tears well in her eyes. She’s so uncertain— will she die for letting her guard slip this way? Would it matter if it was An? Maybe that’s how the vampire feels right now.
She feels guilty, but still hopeful. More than anything, even the uncertainty, she just doesn’t want An to hurt like this, to starve like this.
Kohane kneels down in front of An, pulling her into a hug. The girl swears she’s never hugged anyone so tightly, arms wrapped around the vampire as if she’d disappear otherwise.
“An,” she mumbles, breath hitching. “ An. ”
"Kohane.." She inhales sharply. It's not easy to lean into the hug, most of the vampire's energy was spent on the attempted attack.
It doesn't matter, though. It doesn't matter, because Kohane is hugging her. Something so simple, what used to be so commonplace, yet so invaluable now, filling a hole An hadn't realised had opened. And it's so warm. Even on this dreary night, on the floor of an old warehouse, this is the most comfortable she's been in far too long. The vampire sobs into her hunter's chest, sputtering incoherent apologies.
Kohane holds the vampire close. This embrace was what she missed so dearly, what she longed for. The interval between this moment and the last they were able to enjoy this simple comfort felt longer than a lifetime.
How could she ever hurt An? How could she let An die here?
“You’re dying,” she spoke breathily. “An, you should drink from me.”
An freezes for a second, carefully sitting up to look Kohane in the eyes, double check that it wasn't some strange joke. But no, she's serious. Now that they're so close together, that horribly tempting scent is even stronger...
Snap out of it.
"No.. no, no, I couldn't do that, no, Kohane- Kohane you'd die!"
It's sickening how much of her wants to take that offer without a second thought. She wishes she couldn't feel the hunger in her own gaze. Wishes saliva wasn't pooling in her mouth. But it's out of the question. An impossibility. No matter how much her body screams, she could never do that to Kohane.
Kohane lowers her head.
“But you’re going to die if you don’t.” she says, reckoning with the awful possibility of An dying in her arms. She can’t have that.
“And, if I drink your blood after, then we’ll both survive. I’d rather it be like that. For us to be together again. Even if it means I have to leave everything behind.”
Is she really sure? Kohane offered something like that so recklessly, but can she really follow through with it?
What?
An mouths the word, vocal cords temporarily failing. That hadn't even crossed the vampire's mind as an option. Because it wasn't one, was it? But what other option was there? Every other possible outcome resulted in at least one of their deaths.
This was a compromise, although not a very good one. An would only temporarily benefit for Kohane's eternal detriment. And yet, it remained the only way everyone could get what they wanted. The only way they could leave this crusty warehouse together. The only way for her to feed without becoming a murderer.
"You.. you know what that would mean, don't you?" Of course Kohane knew. Even An knew, back when she worked with the guild. It was one of the first things you learned. How vampires reproduce.
“This is what I want, more than anything else.” she says, but her voice shakes. Before Kohane reconsiders, she’s already reached up and undone the top buttons of her shirt, shifting forward and leaning her head on her shoulder. “An.”
Is it really going to be okay like this? Both of them becoming what they desired to purge, living a life not knowing when or how they’d next sustain themselves?
“We don’t have much time. The others will be worried that I haven’t reported back.”
"...Ok." The vampire leans in, nestled in the crook of Kohane's neck.
Too tired to fight any longer, An gives in as instinct takes over. Sharp fangs easily pierce soft skin. They reach for the precious bloodstream, a coveted bounty she took far too long to seek out. Crimson liquid shoots through tubular holes in the fangs and into her system.
It's heavenly.
Kohane cries out and tries not to move. The pain is awful. She grabs onto An, hugging her, nails digging into the fabric of her clothes. It’s cold in the night air, but the rush of her blood leaving is warm. In the vampire’s arms, she stills, relaxes as much as one can given the situation. It’s been so long, too long.
An isn't sure she's ever felt better. A rush of euphoria, addicting and sweet. A wellspring of metallic ambrosia, warm and sublime as its source.
Kohane is exhausted.
She feels so safe, so wrongly safe here.
But, so guilty too.
The first time she’s seen An in so long, and what does she do? She yells, draws her gun and dares to threaten a shot.
After she’s been starving for who knows how long, too?
Kohane’s eyes grow wet as tears drip down her cheeks. She feels sluggish, weak, her limbs are heavy. She feels the pricks of pain in her neck dull and become distant.
Ah, if An was planning to drink her dry, maybe that wouldn’t be the worst way to die.
…
1:08 AM
An pulls away in a flash, hand over mouth.
"Are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" She prays she didn't drink too much, berating herself for losing control. It was a horrible feeling, losing yourself like that.
The wound is raw. Kohane opens her eyes, dazed— not that she noticed she closed them in the first place. There are spots in her vision as she slumps back into An with a sigh.
“‘m okay,” she murmurs.
Oh no. Oh no no nonono. Shootshootshootshoot. She drank too much. If she doesn't act fast..
Without a second thought, An bites down as hard as she can on her arm, ripping out a chunk of flesh. It's excruciating, but she can't get distracted. Shock and adrenaline will carry her until Kohane is safe.
"Kohane, can you open your mouth?"
Weakly, she looks up at An and parts her lips. Kohane is completely stupefied, unaware of what’s happening to her. Her heart is pounding in her ears— or is that An’s heart? Either way, she really does feel like going to sleep now.
Wincing, she raises her arm, trying (and somewhat failing) to spill as little of the pooling blood as possible until it's above Kohane's mouth. Once in position, she tips her wounded limb, disturbing the scarlet pool.
Penetrating the small membrane barely keeping it structured, the ichor poured down her arm before beginning to drip. That won't be enough, she needs more, faster. Much to her body's dismay, she squeezes the tear, prompting it to overflow. If An had a third arm, she'd place her hand near the target to help funnel it down Kohane's throat, but this will have to do, no matter how messy.
Kohane looked up. The sanguine fluid dripped down her lips and chin, staining her uniform (though she surely wouldn’t need it after tonight). The drops she caught on her tongue were metallic in taste, and she placidly swallowed the blood that followed.
Not that Kohane particularly enjoyed the mouthfeel of blood, but she realised that like An moments before, this was what she needed to survive.
Lucidity returning alongside the metal feeling coating her tongue and throat, she looked up at An with a panic in her eyes.
“You have to leave this place,” she whispered. “Or hide. I don’t know how long it’s been, but,”
Her eyes dart to the door as she sits up.
“Haruka and Akito will be here soon. I didn’t cancel my backup request.”
The former hunter tears a strip of fabric from her shirt, tenderly wrapping it around An’s wound. She didn’t know if vampires suffered the same from bleeding as humans, but she didn’t want to find out now.
“Please, go.”
An wants to refuse, swear to stay by her side, but she knows Kohane is right.
"Okay. Make sure you button up your shirt. Please don't tell them about this, about me. I– I'll try to meet up with you tomorrow, I don't want you to have to do this alone."
Not like I did.
“Okay,” she responds, sitting up. The blood stains her shirt, but in the darkness, it didn’t quite matter.
She lingers for a second longer, locking eyes with her former teammate. The ghosts of words unspoken linger in the air as she turns to leave. Out the fire escape, just in case, and into the woods.
The night whisked An away, and she was left sitting on the dirty warehouse floor, waiting for her co-workers.
Not that they’d hold that title for long. Kohane hugged her knees, her whole life would now be turned upside down. She’d have to leave the guild, her friends and family, live a life of hiding and stealing drinks of blood when she could.
…
1:15 AM
Haruka carefully enters the warehouse, rifle at the ready, before stopping in her tracks. It’s quiet. Too quiet.
A pit is forming in the hunter’s stomach, but hasty assumptions will do her no good. She debates calling for Kohane over their handheld transceivers, but in the worst case scenario that (god forbid) she had been killed, announcing their presence to a monster full of energy would significantly lower their chances.
Akito follows, watching his footsteps. The dead silence doesn’t go unnoticed. He spots a glint of light, gesturing for Haruka to cover him.
With a faint rustle of fabric all too loud in the quiet, he crouches down, picking up a pistol. It’s bronze and stylised, signature to their team. When he turns it over, a faint crackle of pink lights up in its barrel. It’s cocked, so she must have seen something.
He finds all six bullets in the magazine.
Something awful happened tonight, no doubt.
The pit grows. Haruka should’ve trusted her gut earlier, shouldn’t have dismissed the sinking feeling when Kohane left on her own.
If that weapon is here, its wielder, or what remains of her, shouldn’t be far ahead. The shelves around the room are all in place, covered in dust, at least from what Haruka can see in the dark. Of course, that doesn’t mean there was no struggle.
The gun’s position is odd, considering there are no signs of movement around it. Kohane was disarmed, at least of her gun. She carried other weapons and tools, Haruka was well aware, but this was yet another bad sign.
Akito gestures for them to move further in, taking the lead, he cautiously steps across debris and dirt. There’s no cover, so even when Haruka flanks him, he feels exposed. Not that the target would be equipped with a firearm— after all, Kohane’s gun was left behind, still, an ambush wasn’t out of the question.
In the distance, he sees a silhouette, slumped over on the ground. He glances at Haruka, then back at the figure.
Her heart rate spikes dramatically. The air is still. Suffocating, almost. She has to investigate the body, even if it’s a trap. She needs to see if it’s breathing. And if it’s her. Haruka nods to her partner and raises her rifle, taking a cautious step towards the figure.
With his finger ghosting over the trigger, Akito walks over to Kohane and crouches down, finding her wrist and pressing two fingers to check her pulse. It’s slow, but he can verify that she’s still breathing. He turns back to Haruka and nods.
She seems barely conscious. They’ll have to take her back to base before debriefing.
...
2:02 AM
The tension in Haruka’s body is dissipating, though it’s hard to feel relieved, per se. The whole situation is so bizarre. Kohane was disarmed before she was able to shoot a single bullet, though she clearly intended to. She was found unconscious, covered in blood, but not blood splatter, and without a single obvious wound.
“..Kohane,” she turns to her groggy coworker. “I can only assume you were ambushed before you had a chance to defend yourself, which not only implies an incredibly powerful or stealthy opponent, but also begs the question of how you made it out alive and well.” She fiddles with a pendant, the same as the one Kohane wears. “Were you drugged..? What happened in there, if I may ask? Was it a vampire, or some other monster we don’t know about? Unless you were knocked out too fast to know…. Apologies, I don’t mean to overload you. If you need to rest, please do.”
Kohane sits, dazed. Her eyes are far off as she recalls An’s words. They’d meet again.
She’d have less than a day before she turned, less than a day to say goodbye to her life as she knew it now. With Haruka at her side wringing answers from her, she couldn’t focus.
“I don’t remember,” she lies through her teeth, eyes searching to land anywhere else. “I’m sorry. I let the target get away.”
That much is somewhat true.
“I guess it can’t be avoided at times,” he huffs, placing her gun on the table. “I’m just glad we could recover you. Don’t beat yourself up, it won’t get us anywhere. On the bright side, we won’t have to worry about a lot of replacement paperwork, since most of your gear is intact.”
Akito can tell Kohane has seen something she wasn’t meant to by the strange dazed look in her eyes. Maybe he’ll press it later if she gets any worse.
> fin