Chapter Text
In a world devastated by the presence of vampires who lust for human blood, it is natural for humanity to come up with countermeasures to protect their livelihoods. Evolution had long since done away with the traditional countermeasures of identifying vampires — gone were the times where the sunlight or garlic could be worshipped for their additional roles of warding off mythical bloodsuckers. Humanity instead had to resort to more confrontational methods to defend their turf — which was why, over time, major organisations dedicated solely to the eradication of these humanoid monsters started popping up all over the world.
While humans indeed fall short of the vampires’ naturally superior physical prowess and speed, they reigned supreme over one aspect in this prolonged war: the human wit. Vampires have shown that they give in to primal instincts and lose their rationality and sense of self-preservation when hunting, which effectively renders their normal, human appearances ineffective. Therefore, despite the vampires’ overwhelming display of raw strength, humans still possessed a competitive edge with their strategies, coordination and tactics, allowing the relative stability of the human race. Inventions of specialised weapons and supplements further guaranteed the success of exterminations, to the point where society could return from its previously war-torn state following the emergence of these invasive monsters to the peace of today. The majority of the latter that were not wiped out now stayed in the shadows, only reminding the world of their threatening existences via occasional huntings.
Although vampire extermination was a dangerous job with fluctuating rates of mortality, the many humans bursting with aspiration, the desire for glory or, more tragically, a want for revenge for fallen loved ones ensured that these extermination agencies never fell short of manpower. Still, the training was infamous for being tough, and it was no surprise that the number of full-time, qualified agents teetered on the lower side.
“—But well, Bofurin’s still in its baby stages as an organisation and our allocated funds are limited, so we don’t really have much impressive equipment, hahah!! But never underestimate the benefits of sparring with each other! In my opinion, honing your battle instincts and techniques should always come first before messing around with high-tech machines… and overreliance on enhancement drugs are even more of a no-no! Well, getting your own Bloodforged weapon will make exterminations easier, but the process is really tedious and requires ritualistic offerings from the body, so I don’t recommend you to go down that route unless you’re really dedicated…”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sugishita nodding in aggressive agreement at this half-assed introduction of the academy. To be fair, the whole limited funding thing did explain why the entire place practically looked like it was falling apart. Still, something about its wild appearance spoke to Sakura, which was why he decided to go for it rather than sit through stringent placement tests of other more notable agencies. Oh, and also because the entrance fee was affordable. And also because the rent for a one-room flat in this particular town was affordable. Actually, scratch that whole thing about the “wild appearance speaking to him”, because everything was actually hinging on the capacities of Sakura’s wallet.
To his right, Nirei was jotting down notes in his notebook so quickly that his hand was a blurry mess. It was a wonder how his handwriting still looked better and neater than Sakura’s. Wait, why was he writing it down again? Knowing his obsession with information-gathering, shouldn’t he already know the official history of this establishment before coming here? Sakura frowned and snuck a peek at the handwritten contents: ‘Umemiya-senpai’s Rendition of the History of Bofurin!!’ He could see direct word-for-word quotations and even what looked like the length of Umemiya’s various pauses or chortles recorded to pinpoint precision.
Mental.
“All right, I think that’s about it! Any more questions?”
“Yes!” Nirei’s excited voice and exaggerated raising of his hand jolted Sakura from his not-so-inconspicuous peeking. “I couldn’t really find any reliable sources online, and I’ve heard some… rumours about Furin’s past. History says that it was once one of the largest vampire bases, but it got restructured into an extermination academy after the vampires got wiped or driven out in a coup launched by humans, restoring peace and human inhabitation in Makochi. But, there’s some speculation about how there may still be vampires concealing themselves as students or even amongst the leaders with their rumoured shapeshifting abilities—”
Nirei’s voice faltered, and Sakura could see why. For a moment, he could swear that their leader’s eyes had darkened perceptibly. In fact, Sakura was quietly admiring the gall of his usually timid friend in boldly insinuating such scandalous suspicions right in front of their leader’s face, but it was too late to stop him now.
“U-Uhm!! I’m so sorry! I just realised how insensitive that must’ve been… I’m not implying anything, I swear, p-please don’t kill me!!”
The shadow disappeared as quickly as it came, and Umemiya quickly grinned to ease the trembling boy’s discomposure, but there was the absence of the usual twinkle in his gentle eyes. “Ahahah! Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you – it’s normal to be curious about controversies after all! But as far as I’m concerned, those rumours aren’t true. Anyway, it’s getting late — woah?! It’s three-thirty already?! You lot ought to have been out for patrol thirty minutes ago! Especially you three—” He pointed dramatically at where Nirei, Sakura and Suo were sitting — “It’ll be a very bad example for the rest if their Captain and Secondaries were seen skipping patrols! Go go go!!”
“Not to worry, Umemiya-san, we have already dispatched the rest of the class on patrol.” Over Sakura’s choked protests, Suo looked over his shoulder to smile exasperatedly at their leader who was already on their backs physically chivvying them towards the stairs. “Nirei simply wanted to ask you a few questions before patrol, but it escalated into quite an insightful lecture.”
“Sorry about that, I’m way too personally invested in Furin to be able to hold back from fully sharing its history to curious young minds.” Umemiya beamed at them, flashing his dazzling white teeth. Ugh, somehow Sakura’s eyes hurt from that. “Well, see you later if you have anything to report! If not, see you tomorrow! And, Sugishita, do you mind checking on the green onions? I think it's about time they’re picked!”
“See you! T-Thank you for taking the time to speak to me!” Nirei stuttered, still slightly unnerved. In his haste to escape from their leader’s presence, the blonde tripped over his shoelaces, sending him tumbling down a flight of stairs. Sakura stared at the mess before him in exasperation.
“Oh dear, are you alright?” Suo called down at the groaning boy sprawled across the base of the stairs. Nirei shakily raised a hand to give a thumbs-up. “That was quite a fall. I hope it’s at least worth the session that we just had?”
“Yes, it — oww — is! Well, I mostly just wanted Umemiya-san’s take on the rumours, actually. Now that I know they’re all fake, I can breathe easier.”
“What, you’re worried about Furin being secretly overrun with vampires?” Sakura remarked incredulously, extending a hand to haul Nirei onto his feet. “They’ll just be revealed when they hunt, no? No one can hide it if they’re going batshit insane for blood.”
“Well, it’s true that every vampire has to hunt at least once a month, but some vampires may have better control over their thirst than the majority,” Suo mused, putting his finger on his chin in contemplation. “I’m sure that my master has encountered a few who could suppress their hunting instincts. There was one time it took him three months of monitoring to catch the suspect hunting in the act.”
“Those are really rare, though, so it shouldn’t really be a big issue…?”
“You do sound awfully unsure~”
“I prefer the term healthily cautious, Suo-san!”
The three of them continued their discussion as they left the school grounds. Suo slowed down as they reached the main street of Makochi. “Hmm. It doesn’t seem like there were any issues for today,” the one-eyed vice captain reported, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “The others are all heading back home. Still, we should do one final patrol to compensate for our absence.”
Sakura and Nirei were in agreement with that, so the three of them traipsed in companionable silence, occasionally greeting or returning the greetings of the villagers who’d spotted them. As they crossed the bridge, Sakura decided to voice the burning question that had been nagging at him ever since Umemiya mentioned about the different training academies.
“Actually, S-Suo.” Sakura felt his face heating up at his attempt to call out his friend’s name — goddamnit, why was this name-calling shit still so hard for no reason? “Why did you even come to Furin? You look like you should be in the other, I dunno, better-off agencies.”
“Hmm? Sakura-kun, do you perhaps see me as someone affluent?”
“Well, you’re dressed like one! And those tassel earrings look like they cost a lot!”
“If they’re fake, they don’t cost a lot, you know~”
“So they’re fake?!”
“Hmm… who knows~?”
“Honestly, I’ve actually been wondering that too,” Nirei cut through Sakura’s frustrated growl, glancing earnestly up and down at Suo’s outfit. “It’s the way you hold yourself too. You give off the air of an — hmm, how do I put it… ah, a rich young master! How did someone like you end up in Furin? I-I mean! Not that Furin’s bad or anything — but I heard the quality and quantity of facilities available at the top three agencies are simply astounding. They even offer to help get you your personalised weapon through a much shorter method if you can afford it! Ah, though if you live around here and want somewhere closer, Roppo-Ichiza is just as impressive…”
Suo chuckled gently. “I like Furin,” he answered simply. When he saw Sakura and Nirei staring at him — the former with a sceptical, disbelieving look and the latter with an earnest eagerness as he held his pen and notebook at the ready — Suo gave a tinkling laugh. “Really, what answer are you expecting?”
“N-Nothin’!” Sakura snapped, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing away. It was a stupid question anyway.
“Perhaps you’d like me to be more honest? Well, no fancy interior or technology can compete with the company of the people at Furin, which is why I’ll always choose to stay here even if I do have the choice to transfer.” Suo, with his dedication to be the ever-loving insufferable menace in Sakura’s life, pointedly poked his head into Sakura’s field of vision with a careless smile. “So you don’t have to worry about me abandoning you, Sakura-kun. I’m sure Nire-kun also shares the same sentiment.”
“Yeah! Sakura-san, you needn’t worry!”
“SHUT UP! I WASN’T WORRIED ABOUT THAT!” Sakura yelled, redness already adorning his cheeks as he sped up.
*
They had just rounded the last corner of the town, right across the Shishitoren turf, when they heard sounds of muffled scuffling in the distance. They were at the more deserted part of Makochi, and there was nobody around to head them with any information. Alert, Sakura charged off into the direction the sounds seemed to be coming from. It was nearing evening, the prime time for vampires in hiding to reveal their horrific, basal instincts. A commotion this late outside in a secluded area was never a good sign.
Sakura willed his legs to pump faster. Trepidation crept up his throat when he distinctly heard an inhumane snarl somewhere up ahead.
A vampire was definitely hunting.
Were they too late?
“Sakura-kun,” Suo’s voice was steady and calm as always. “It should be the second alley after that open dumpster.”
“Right!” He instantly zeroed in on the location. He recognised the familiar flare of excited anticipation before an upcoming fight, but it was slowly engulfed by a twisting feeling in his gut. If they were too late…
The stench of blood overwhelmed his nostrils, making him falter in his steps. Suo’s palm was suddenly on the small of his back, the gentle pressure urging him forward despite the inevitable horror that awaited them. Sakura caught Suo’s determined glance and gave him the slightest of nods to steel himself before he flung himself into the alleyway.
It wasn’t the worst scene that Sakura had witnessed, but the various blood splatters that painted the walls, air-conditioning vents and dustbins were still a chilling sight to behold in the usually peaceful Makochi area. Sakura’s heart skipped a beat when he perceived two figures, which had escaped his initial notice in the gloom, right at the dead end of the alley. Judging by the relative silence compared to the earlier scuffle, the fight had just concluded. Before he could say anything to break the tension, though, Nirei’s footsteps echoed disconcertingly loudly in the narrow space. He wheezed as he caught his breath at the entrance of the alleyway.
“S-Sorry… you guys were— too fast—” he panted, before he spotted the bloodbath. “Eek! W-W-What the heck happened?!— Eh, Kaji-san, Enomoto-san?!”
“Are you two alright? What happened here?” Suo repeated, his tone wary, as Nirei scooted up to him to hide behind his back.
Kaji looked over his shoulder from where he was squatting, supremely unconcerned about the amount of blood on his person that was making him look like an entity fresh out of a horror manga. “You just missed the fight. The vamp’s dead,” he told them bluntly. “But we have to get Kusumi to the hospital now.”
Sakura’s heart seemed to drop to his stomach. He had not noticed the fallen second-year student lying behind Kaji’s figure. He’d suffered a deep, nasty gash across his chest, and seemed to be unconscious. Kaji had taken off his jacket and was pressing against the wound to staunch the bleeding. Instinctively, Sakura ran up to help him. Relief flooded his senses when his fingers felt the warmth from the body, indicating that his upperclassman was decidedly still alive. Behind him, he heard Suo make a phone call, presumably to the hospital.
“This is bad…” Enomoto breathed heavily, running a hand through his hair in a distracted manner. He, too, had blood splattered haphazardly on his clothes and small bruises dotted his face. “I’ll admit I let my guarrrrd down a little, but… that ain’t no norrrrmal vampirrrre. Nirrrrei, it’s best if you don’t apprrrroach the body.”
“Eh? Why not? What exactly happened? Isn’t it d-dead?” Nirei’s voice was shrill with fear as he scuttled back towards Suo’s side. Nirei usually inspected the vampires that were taken down by Bofurin, like their identity, and other information pertaining to their vampiric characteristics, such as abilities displayed and their power levels and whatnot. Sakura supposed he’d missed several important life lessons on how exactly to do that, but information-gathering would never be his forte anyway, so he’d gladly save his brain space and leave it all to Nirei.
The three newcomers automatically glanced at the unmoving body, which had been tossed to one side of the alley. As far as Sakura could tell, though, it just looked like a regular, unassuming person who had suppressed his vampire tendencies for too long. Well, the only thing that stood out was the clear stab wound right through its heart – usually, for young, starting organisations like Furin, their members would simply knock the creatures unconscious and hand over the bodies to parent agencies which were more well-equipped to dispose of them. It was rather unnerving to see an actual corpse laying there right before their eyes, knowing that its brutal demise was brought about by one of Bofurin.
Sakura had to repress a slight shudder.
Kaji’s expression was pinched, as if the lollipop nestled in his mouth was sour. How is he still eating a goddamn lollipop in this kinda situation? He motioned for Sakura to continue pressing against his vice-captain’s wound, which thankfully looked like it had stopped bleeding copiously, before he quickly went to retrieve a dagger that had fallen beneath a vent.
Grade Captains of Bofurin were the only ones granted the authority to decide when to deal the finishing blow if needed, and consequently shoulder the onus of writing a detailed report of the situation that warranted its perceived need. The short dagger, adorned with a Bofurin logo, was an official, vampire-hunting property granted to all registered training academies in limited quantities, to only be used in life-or-death scenarios. Sakura had been absolutely horrified by the very concept of writing reports, and had vowed never to so much as touch the dagger that was entrusted to him — getting mauled by a vampire was probably better than the sheer misery of fumbling through written reports.
Kaji soundlessly stepped forward to give the corpse a kick to ascertain the creature’s death. Given the rough treatment, as well as his peers’ lack of recognition, this vampire must have come from out of town. Satisfied with the confirmation, Kaji sheathed his dagger quickly with a soft shing. Even though he knew these blades were used sparingly throughout the history of Bofurin’s deeds, something about seeing the glint of the knife sent chills down Sakura’s spine. Dangerous.
“It displayed way too much intelligence even though it was in hunting mode. When they hunt, their biology should temporarily trade their rationality for physical powers, but it… it was consciously taunting us throughout the fight. And he managed to counter some of our follow up attacks, which has never happened before, and also got a good hit in,” Kaji’s tone was clipped and quieter than usual. “I need to follow Kusumi to the hospital. Enomoto, can you help me report this to Bofurin first? Tell Umemiya I’ll have the report ready by tomorrow. The rest of you, can I trouble you to—” The blonde paused, eyes skimming over the warzone that had been an ordinary alleyway hours ago — and sighed. “Fuck, nevermind. It’ll be better to just hire a cleaning agency…”
“So what do we do with the body?” Sakura questioned, a rather lost expression on his face. He wasn’t sure about Kaji or the second-years, but it was definitely the first time any of the first-years had to deal with an actual extermination. “Deliver it as usual?”
“To Roppo-Ichiza, yes. I’ve contacted Nakamura-san already. His team should be on their way now. The researchers will still want to dissect and study the body, after all.”
*
After the soft ding that signalled their successful identification verification, the double doors slid open, admitting the two figures silhouetted in the shadows of the twilight. The lankier of the pair walked with a slight swagger, complacence exuding from his posture, while the shorter figure was a contradictory image, his stance stiff with guarded formality.
“Lighten up, Takiishi, this news will definitely make the Boss happy.”
Takiishi did not speak, but instead hastened his pace as if trying to put more distance between himself and the other’s presence. His companion chuckled, easily catching up with him. After many twists and turns at unmarked corridors, the pair finally reached their destination.
“Why the late visit?” A cold voice issued from the formidable figure that lounged in a jeweller armchair by the fireplace. Beneath the fringe of snowy white hair, piercing golden eyes surveyed the two visitors sharply. Those golden eyes never failed to send shivers down his spine, but Endo, like the little shit that he is, still liked stoking the flames from time to time. He held his hands up in mock defeat.
“Sorry, sorry~ We didn’t mean to disturb your beauty sleep.”
“Takiishi, report.”
“I am here to report on our monitoring of Furin’s new first-years in the past month,” Takishii began emotionlessly, walking up to the small table piece by the armchair where the Boss sat, placing a brown envelope upon its polished surface. “Their profiles are detailed in the document. As for the photographs… We’re confident enough to say that we have definitely found him.”
There was a brief spell of silence, interrupted only by the rustling of the envelope as the man pulled its contents out. The document was laid aside in favour of the printed photographs of a boy donned in the Furin uniform. The two underlings could see their boss’s eyes twitch slightly as he continued inspecting the photos silently, which depicted the target’s visits to various locations around Makochi: the Furin campus, Pothos cafe, and even what appeared to be the nearby red light district. In every image, the boy seemed unaware of the camera, and even seemed carefree in the presence of his friends.
“All the efforts spent searching over the years, only for him to stumble right into our noses,” the man snorted, a hint of derision in his amused tone. He let the photographs scatter around his chair carelessly as he brought a hand to his chin thoughtfully. “We won’t deviate from our plans for Furin. When the time is right regarding the boy, I’ll trust that my Noroshis will execute their duties perfectly, won’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” Takishii bowed immediately, while Endo did a lazy salute. At their boss’s gestured dismissal, they turned to leave, but the raven-haired man lingered long enough to sneak one last glance at the scattered photographs.
He’d never get tired of looking at that eye-catching combination of black and white hair, after all.