Archive of Our Own

With the sun mostly set along the horizon, the sky had turned dark, and a cool mist settled over them and the surrounding forest. Just enough light slithered through the fog from the moon, giving the trees and foliage a subtle silver glow– enough for the two of them to see what they were meant to be hunting.

“Apparently there's two of them so this should be piss easy,” Atsumu mused, twirling the stake between his fingers. He tossed it up, watching as it rose high before falling back down into his palm again.

“You're always too overconfident Atsumu, one day it's going to get you killed,” Sakusa chastised. His stakes were neatly tucked into his belt. Four dull wooden points that wouldn't do much harm to a human.

Though, they weren't there to hunt humans.

They were here to hunt vampires.

Atsumu may be overconfident but there was good reason to be so. He'd killed vamps before. Sometimes it had been a struggle, sometimes he was in and out before the sun had started rising. So he felt that a little cockiness was deserved. They had worked as hunters for years, after all. It wasn't as if this was their first mission. And it certainly wasn't going to be their last.

Word had gotten around that two figures, quickly and stealthily in the night, were taking stragglers. Any human that wandered a little too far a little too late and they were gone, swooped up and never to be seen again. When the clan were handed the mission, Atsumu and Sakusa saw no trouble in taking it. They should be done within the next hour or so and then Atsumu could go home and finally sleep.

He had traversed these woodlands plenty of times before. He'd had to face worse before. Sometimes, the weather wasn't as blessed as it was tonight. He had faced creatures in the dead of night, pitch black as the stars and moon were hidden by a thick smattering of clouds. Tonight he could at least see. He could make out the shapes and would be able to pinpoint the movement.

Though, vampires had better eyesight than them so it was unsurprising they were spotted first. And it was also unsurprising that the vampires weren’t sticking around for small talk and instead got straight to the point.

There was a flash of movement within the trees and suddenly Kiyoomi was being pinned to a tree, his elbow coming up to stop the Vampire from clamping down on his neck. Luckily the two of them were prepared and had worn appropriate clothing, skin covered by cloth. Although not impenetrable it would at least slow down the process and give them time to escape.

Sakusa was completely capable of dealing with the problem so Atsumu turned his attention to the other vampire, wooden stake flicked up once more and caught between his fingers. He smirked. This was going to be fun.

It was a flurry of movements. Sure, the supernatural were usually quick but Atsumu was no stranger to fights and could hold his own too. He dodged and weaved, using the foliage to his advantage. He slipped behind a tree, the vampire's clawed hand coming around to reach him. With a swift moment, he dashed it with the stake, a smoking line forming across ashen skin. The creature hissed, reeling. Atsumu had time to move forward, turning around to face the tree.

From somewhere amongst the thicket a shrill shriek filled the air and Atsumu knew Sakusa had slain the vampire he was up against.

In front, the vampire had straightened itself up, bloodlust in its eyes. It bared its fangs, clutching the wounded fist tightly and darted forward hastily.

Atsumu steadied his stance. He took in a deep breath and swung.

The stake left his hand, shooting forward straight through the vampire's chest. It screamed, black bile gurgling up out of its mouth as the darkness spewed from its shirt and onto the leafy floor. Staggering, it let out a pained panting breath, claws scraping out chunks of skin in a useless attempt to dislodge the wooden stake embedded deep in muscle. The damage had already been done. Flesh burning, the skin broke away and turned to ash. The body crumbled, muscles now sludge as the vampire became nothing more than a rotten pile of decay.

“See?” Atsumu huffed out an accomplished laugh, “That was easy.”

He crouched down, grimacing as he stuck his hand into the mess to retrieve his weapon. The viscous liquid was warm against his skin. Somewhere off to the side, he heard Sakusa scoff, accompanied by an eye roll no doubt.

“Anything useful on the body?” Kiyoomi prompted. Atsumu shrugged as he stood, not bothering to rifle through the vampire's guts. He wasn't about to try and find little things such as trinkets or gems. Sakusa scoffed again. “Fine, lazy ass, I’ll do it myself.”

Out of the two of them, Kiyoomi was always the one who rummaged for goods. He brought gloves with him, after all. Atsumu took a step towards the other rotting body, eyeing up the remains attached to a trunk. Damn, Sakusa really did a number on it.

Perhaps if he wasn't so enthralled with admiring the corpse of a creature, he would've heard the subtle rustle of something fast approaching. Perhaps, if Kiyoomi hadn't been entangled in bloodied remains, he would've felt the rush of wind push past him.

However, neither of them were prepared.

Atsumu had been told about two vampires. So he wasn't ready for the weight of a third creature to come barrelling into his side. He yelped instinctively, a groan escaping him as he slammed into the floor and rolled through the leaves with the beast. Faintly, he heard Sakusa yell, in his peripherals his partner was running to get to him.

With the way the vampire was splayed on top of him, Atsumu's arms awkwardly pinned to the floor, he had no way to react. He struggled fruitlessly and a wave of dread washed over him as the vampire exposed its teeth into a manic grin. The fangs glistened and Atsumu’s struggles increased tenfold.

“For my brethren,” it hissed, a cool finger hooked itself under the fabric protecting Atsumu's neck and suddenly the unshakable night air was brushing against his skin.

“ Kiyoomi–” Atsumu yelled, attempting to jerk his body to get the vampire off of him.

A laugh filled his ears, dark and broody, then the creature leant forward and suddenly everything felt electrifying.

There was a pressure against the side of his neck, two minuscule points that felt on the brink of explosion. Atsumu saw pure white, vision gone. It slowly faded to a red and then finally cleared. He was met with trees and sky, no vampire on top of him.

Screaming. There was screaming from somewhere–

From–

“ Atsumu.” 

Oh. Sakusa.

“Atsumu stop, calm down.”

Ah. He was the one who was screaming.

“ Hurts,” he whimpered, craning his neck to see Sakusa to his left. A clumped steaming mess beside him. The last vampire, no doubt. Atsumu's body spasmed, heat spreading from his neck, muscles cramping. He lifted a weak hand, wincing as it met slippery skin above his collarbone, fingers coming back crimson.

“Shit,” Sakusa whispered.

His body, wracked with tremors, pulsed again. A long whine pushed past his lips. “Am I–”

“Shit,” Sakusa repeated, hauling Atsumu up and clumsily lifting him up onto his back.

Blood poured from his neck, dribbling down his shirt and dripping onto the floor. Specks of ruby landed on leaves, leaving a trail as Kiyoomi started to stumble back the way they came. He felt the skin tighten minutely, the small opening in his neck slowly starting to close. He trembled, flushed and sweating, as his skin knit itself back together again.

Fuck, not good.

“I’m turning, aren't I?” he asked weakly. 

Kiyoomi didn’t respond, speeding up until he was sprinting through the woods.