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“Really? On your first day?”
“Yes, sir.” The voice of the rookie comes firm and determined, Tsuruno takes a moment to assess the situation.
It’s his first time having a partner, yet that’s not the worse part. This new partner had been assigned to Tsuruno today of all days.
“We usually don’t send rookies to the field on their first day.” Tsuruno states and Shishido shakes his head, standing as straight and stern as he can.
“I can take it, sir. I’ve been training for this.” That much was true. Tsuruno had been told repeatedly about how much the boy had exposed himself to the most heinous and gruesome files, all to be able to aid him on the field. One thing he hadn’t been informed about, that the boy kept to himself, was the fact that he had also tried to thoroughly study the man’s files themselves. Study him before finally being under his wing.
“One thing’s training with files, another seeing it with your own eyes. Are you sure you’re up for the task?” Tsuruno makes sure to ask one last time. Shishido doesn’t hesitate, he nods to his question and the man can only shrug.
“Fine, then, you’re in luck. Our crime scene is… pretty unique, apparently. Let’s get going.” Before Shishido can ask about it, Tsuruno is already standing from his desk and walking out the office. Quickly, he follows after him.
“Sir, wait!”
“Keep up, kid.” Tsuruno said, mischief clear in the way that he chuckled, walking out the station and into the busy streets.
Shishido followed, hoping not to lose him while mumbling to himself. True enough, one thing was knowing of Tsuruno in file, the other was having him live… His attitude should’ve deterred him and yet, he only felt the already existing respect continue to rise.
Outside, it was chaotic. The crowd was overwhelming, the people in a hurry. He wasn’t used to it, and Tsuruno knew, by the way the boy scowled, pushing against the crowd. The fact that he was big and intimidating enough helped if even a little. Some people knew to step aside despite their own need to move fast from the wave.
Eventually, though, as they continued down the road, the crowd started to dissipate. The more Tsuruno and Shishido made their way towards their destination, the more they lost sight of other people. Eventually, they were walking down what felt like an abandoned road.
Dusty and empty, silence engulfed the area. It was supposed to be peaceful, but the aura of the location sent shivers down Shishido’s spine. Somehow, that sensation felt familiar, and he didn’t like it. He tried tracing back at the files he studied, try to recall if he had ever felt like this, but nothing came of it. Instinctively, he moved closer to the other man.
The shades Tsuruno had on masked the way he squinted at the cabin in the middle of the road. Out of place, locked – that was their destination. He had checked the surroundings, engrossed in the need to discover just what was going on here… Why exactly had he been sent to this place? He knows that whatever he finds here is bound to make his blood boil.
Stepping right to the front of the entrance, his hand hovers on the handle that had been begging to be turned.
Instinctively, a hand stopped Tsuruno, touching his shoulder. He turned over to glance at Shishido, confused.
“What is it? You nervous?”
“No, I– just…”
“Relax… Whatever we find here won’t be able to hurt you.” Because, surely, what they would find was bound to be death.
The handle turns and he opens the door. Immediately, Shishido groans and recoils, a hand to his mouth and nose.
Tsuruno does the same but a little more subtly. Instead, most of his energy goes to observing the crime scene.
It’s all red.
Mercilessly red. The crimson that Tsuruno hates the most.
The splatter across the room screamed of cruelty, the remnants of people told a sad, unfortunate story.
“A man did this,” Tsuruno said with confidence, despite the cabin being in the middle of nowhere. Shishido stands by the door, hand to his mouth and nose still. Tsuruno turns over to him, gestures for him to enter. “Hey, help me out, kid.”
“Y…Yes, sir.” Shishido finally reacts, slowly lowering his hand. He gulps quietly as he wobbles in. The scene is a vibrant crimson that threatens to make him unnaturally nauseous. Every step he took felt harsh against his body, as if his legs wanted to give out.
No, there was something else taking over. He knew, but he tried to deny it. He desperately wanted to deny it, even as his eyes focused on Tsuruno.
“Are you okay, Shishido? You’re looking pale.” Tsuruno asks as he turns around, crouching down to check one of the many pools of blood scattered around.
“I’m… okay. I’m just…” Nauseous, he tries to say, but instead, silence comes out. His hand goes back to his mouth, the other joins. Closing his eyes tight, an image comes to mind, a voice whispers to his ear.
“When you least expect it, it’ll surface.” Nishitani III had said once, in delight. He never understood just what he meant. It was unfortunate for him, to realize the reason behind his wordings and delight now that it was too late.
“If you need a break, just take it.” Tsuruno says, chuckling to himself as he rises back up.
“What were they thinking, sending a newbie to a scene like th–” It sinks in, a sharp pain against the side of his neck. He feels it pulsate against him, he feels a pull to the back. A hand holds his head steady, fangs burn against skin and exposed blood. It’s pouring over, a gentler red, his heart starts to race.
It feels eternal. For a moment, Tsuruno thinks this is it. This is what happened here, and this is the end for him. Yet, when he tries moving his head… He sees his subordinate, desperately drinking, deeply united against him.
A dangerous thought comes to mind; this is okay. Let him drink, he must be starving.
He’d read up on creatures like this, not because he believed in them but because some special cases required it – some of them could not be solved if he didn’t keep the possibility of them in mind. Vampires or whatever people called them… The sightings, the myths, the local news, word of mouth. It had never been so blatant as this. Clear proof, the way his blood is being sucked out of his body.
And just as he was closing his eyes to give into the weakness, the fogginess replacing what was once his energy, it stops…
“Oh no… No–no–no.” Shishido had pulled away, though he hadn’t let go of his grip, noticing the way the man’s legs had lost their grip on gravity. He held Tsuruno in place. Tsuruno could see it, as his head leaned against the man’s chest – he felt guilt, strong guilt as he eyed him, covered in the splatter of his blood.
“Why didn’t you… tell me, Shishido? What were they… thinking?” Tsuruno asks, though he doesn’t expect any answers, he feels the world is starting to fade, anyway.
“Captain, wait– please! I–I’m sorry. I’ll fix this, I promise, please…”
“Stop… screaming, Shishido. Just… tell me…”
“Yes, Captain?”
“Are you… okay now?” The question that had been weakly delivered rang across the room before the man lost all strength. A sharp gasp followed as Shishido acted as fast as he could. He carried the man easily out of the cabin. They needed to get away, he needed to help Tsuruno in any way he could. The only idea that came to mind was a hospital.
It was a bad idea, he knew, but the only one that would ensure Tsuruno could be properly nursed back to health. All sorts of questions were thrown at him, he doesn’t really know if he answered them correctly. He thought of running away once he made sure the man would be okay… But he remained seated in the waiting room. The nurses had been kind enough to keep him there, and clean him up, asking no more questions.
While he waited, he could still feel the delicious taste of the man’s blood against his tongue. He thought he had steeled himself for anything. Knowing of the gruesomeness of the work, having lived under the rule of the cruelest man he knew, he thought that was enough to face anything. He never expected that he was falling right into the man’s plan… That what would awaken was something more primal, a craving for blood… Even now, he can still smell the man’s blood, mixing up with another’s. It was silly, but he was recoiling at the thought, preferring for his blood to remain his own… But glad that he was being saved.
The last words the man said also lingered. They lingered far more vividly, far louder than the blood itself.
Even as he was losing consciousness, he was worrying about him – that stranger he had to take care of.
“Captain,” he felt his heart throb as he called for him.
“If you wish to see Tsuruno-san, you can do so now, sir.” One of the nurses breaks him out of his trance. He glances at her, hopeful, she nods back at him. “He’ll be fine. You can go see him.”
At the confirmation, he rushes away to the room. Sliding the door open, he is careful not to disrupt his possible slumber, but…
“Shishido,” a hoarse voice calls to him. He can see his eyes opening, recoiling at the light of the room. He turned his head slowly to the side. “My… shades.”
“They’re probably saved with the rest of your stuff.” Shishido takes the courage to say before carefully sitting down near the bed. “Sir,... Captain, are you–?”
“Are you okay, Shishido? Did you get enough? I can give you more now if you–”
“No, sir, I would never–! I mean, I… Yes, I’m okay, and I’m so very sorry for my behavior. I lost control. It shouldn’t have happened.” As he bows, Tsuruno shakes his head.
“No, I get it… That place was full to the brim with blood. Felt like some sort of… sick ritual. Or a message.”
Shishido’s eyes remain downcast as he listens.
“I think it was that last one.” Shishido admits, Tsuruno gets it – it feels personal.
“A message? Which kind?” He prods, hoping the boy enlightens him further, confirms the surface of his suspicions.
“A mockery. It was a message for me. Proof that I can’t escape what I am.”
“Well, joke's on them, ‘cause you already knew that, right?”
“Yes… But… I didn't think I could turn this uncontrollable. I thought–”
“Doesn't matter. We all have our flaws.”
“But, Captain, this is different! I attacked you, and I barely could stop myself.”
“But you did, so? What's your point?”
Shishido hesitates. Was the man careless when it came to his life or was he just… this trusting? Even with a new subordinate? One that almost killed him? It made no sense… But, somehow, Shishido thought it fit him. It brought him comfort.
It wasn't like he already knew him completely, but… that brief moment when he was drinking his blood, he could feel a link. Maybe, it was just his desperate desire to connect with someone. Maybe they both felt the same. Regardless, here he was, accepting the man's words as if they were sacred. He was right. There was no point worrying about what his true nature was. The only thing he could do was to work on himself.
“How can I make it better?” Shishido whispered the question, slightly embarrassed by it.
“You deal with it head on, like the rest of us.” Tsuruno replied, resolute, staring right back at him.
There is silence in the room again. Shishido’s head hangs low, his fists seem to curl up tighter. Tsuruno chuckles.
“Doesn’t mean you have to deal with it alone. Don’t look so upset.”
As if on cue, Shishido’s eyes light up when his head rises, even as he squints them as if he were confused.
“I don’t–”
“Save it, kid, you need all the help you can get. I’d know.” He jovially said as he pointed over at the bandages over his neck. “We gotta start by training you not to bite like you want to rip people’s necks off.”
“That was… Right.” Shishido keeps the thoughts to himself, feeling his cheeks burn. It only deepens when he takes the courage to grab the man’s hand, a discreet smile forming. “When can we start?”
“Hah, you’re bold, kid.”
“Not a kid.” His swift reply prompts laughter out of the man. It seemed like he had been holding that comment in for a while.
"Let's start after I take a rest. It's been one hell of a day..."
A hell of a first day.