Chapter 41: Klein’s true side
Akira had taken a seat across from Lou while Reia went ahead to cook for everyone.
"So tell me, how do you think she copies essence?" Lou wanted to see how much Akira actually knew as it would cut time on explaining.
"I only know through contact she is able to mimic someone's essence and use it as her own."
"You are halfway there, so Klein doesn't copy it; she absorbs it through her essence. What the issue is, is how she went about doing it which is why I want to kill her." Lou tightened her fists, but because her arms were still in pain she quickly stopped.
"No, don't tell me." Akira had already guessed what Klein had done as the name succubus alone was a dead giveaway.
"Yep, she tried with Kim when I wasn't around as she wanted Kim's essence, but that isn't all." Lou's golden eyes shone with a bit of fire as the mere thought of the situation infuriated her. Kim had also snuggled closer to Lou as it was a day she would rather forget, but was unable to.
"There were many cases of males being drained on the battlefield and basically being killed because all their essence was taken away from them." Essence was a core energy for people to live and even if you didn't use it, you still had some, so if it was completely gone your body would begin to malfunction.
"Now of course when we run out of essence we truly don't and our bodies stop us from using it all, but Klein is able to draw out the essence that keeps us alive. So by the literal sense of the word, she is a succubus and there is a reason why her squad always has new members." Lou's blood boiled as Kim was close to falling prey to Klein. Although she wouldn't have been killed if Lou hadn't come back, Kim would have been traumatised for the rest of her life.
Akira looked at the ground in silence digesting the information and with now getting the full picture it was clear what Klein's intentions were.
"So basically you think of her obsession as something to do with my essence and she would want to keep me around just for her needs." Akira knew there was something with his essence that intrigued Klein so much but never knew why.
"Indeed your essence is a unique case, but there is still something about Klein which I doubt you have seen." Lou, who had witnessed the other side of Klein first-hand had figured out what it was through her own investigating.
"You may think she is human, but in reality, she is some variant of a vampire and to be more specific it's like she has split personalities." Having witnessed this when she saw Klein attacking Kim back in the academy, Lou had wanted to figure out what kind of beast she was.
"Wait, I saw this when I bumped into her one day and she seemingly became a different person until I used my essence on her." Akira recalled the day when Klein was frantically running but suddenly turned into a beast. At the time he assumed Klein was some sort of special race, but due to his parents saying to stay clear he brushed it off.
"Hmm, so you saw it. Although I call it a vampire I don't know the true name of it, but Klein seems to switch between the two when her desires flare-up." Lou assumed that instead of blood it was essence so she branded Klein as a pseudo vampire.
"Then so by giving her my essence it calmed her down?" Akira assumed that because he fed the beast it returned Klein back to normal.
"That might be the case, but usually when she transforms she needs a lot of essence so maybe the reason why she is so adamant about being with you is that it calms her urges the best." Lou had no idea how it fully worked, only knowing that until it had taken some essence Klein would stay in that form.
"Tch to think I would just be used as some sort of soothing toy." Akira had felt quite disgusted and now understood why Lou and Reia have such animosity toward her.
"Glad to see you joined the anti-Klein club, but if you see her again do us all a favour and kill or even better, bring her to me~." Lou shivered at the thought of being able to finally kill Klein.
"I will see if I can bring her to you, plus she seems to listen to me so I can probably trick her." Akira did not like the thought of potentially using his body to trick Klein, but if it was for getting a satisfying kill then he would do it.
"I know what you're thinking and no you won't." Reia had come out with a few plates filled with eggs and bacon, a rather typical breakfast.
"Ooo getting jealous are we?" Lou chuckled at Reia's reaction as now it was becoming clear to her how she felt but was just too afraid to admit it.
Reia glared at Lou without saying anything and proceeded to sit down to eat her breakfast.
"Sheesh, the room feels so cold now. Anyway, seeing as she ran away if she decides to stick around she knows what will happen if I bump into her." Lou picked up her portion of breakfast.
"You're right, well thanks for telling me and sorry Kim, it looks like it brought up some memories." Akira saw Kim tremble a little and couldn't help feeling bad for bringing it up.
"It's okay, Lou saved me so there isn't anything to worry about." Despite it being a terrible situation it was also the moment Kim would devote herself even more to Lou as it showed the lengths she would go for her.
"I'd search every part of the world for you, but before I make this too cheesy we should eat before Reia's glare shoots icicles." Lou could feel Reia's gaze and couldn't help but chuckle as she was sure Reia would be doing the same thing soon.
"Moving on, what's the plan for today." Lou wasn't keen on standing still and even if she can't go out she would like to still do something.
"Me and Reia will be heading out to stock the fridge and freezer with as much food as we can."
"Oh I see, a good idea seeing as a lot of things wouldn't have gone off yet so I guess delaying the problem of food for later will be good." Kim knew sooner or later that food would get scarce so if they had some way to store food it would give them more time to hopefully start cultivating some food.
"Hopefully it can last us for a while, so we will try to somewhat ration it and make sure we don't overeat." Although everyone was used to having food rationed, they still needed to eat proper meals and Reia didn't want to take away having a nice meal completely.
"If we can get more freezers into the bunker and a guy named Echo we might be able to modify this bunker." Lou didn't want to give up her meat so if they managed to store more, then at least they could have a sizable stock.
"I have no idea when we will find Echo and if anything it could take months so don't get your hopes up." There was no real estimation and Reia did not want anyone having false hope.
"Some of the butcher places should have preserved meat, but we would need to be quick to get there and that's if they are not already raided." Akira thought how places still had some power so if they found a place with a large freezer then they could find themselves a nice stockpile of frozen goods.
"Yes! Then you should hit up some restaurants then." Kim's eyes shone with excitement as it seemed like the plan was coming together.
"Alright looks like we have a few spots to check, we should get going soon then as we never know when someone else could come by and snatch it." Reia was finished with her food and wanting to get out as soon as they could, she took everyone's finished plates.
"You two will stay here, we won't be out for long so don't go having any sessions." Reia looked at Lou who had a smirk.
"It's a shame I'm too hurt to do so, but I think you forget that I would do it anyway even if you were here." Lou wrapped her hand around Kim's waist and pulled her in closer.
*Sigh* "Why do I bother?" Reia walked off with the dishes and Akira got up shaking his head.
"Fufu~ I can't wait to hear you shouting for peace and quiet."
"Oh shut up." Reia was not looking forward to it and hoped that she would not be able to hear anything from her room.
"Mmm music to my ears~."
*
Reia and Akira had gotten their gear and emptied their bags so they could carry more. Now standing by the entrance they were just about to leave before Lou called out.
"Don't forget the wine~."
"Get it yourself!" Although Reia wouldn't mind some herself, it was not a priority.
"Tsk." Lou turned her head and went back to patting Kim who had taken refuge on her lap.
"Ready?" Akira put his hand on the scanner opening up the bunker.
"Hopefully." Reia after a good night's sleep was able to reign back her emotions and act normal again around Akira. However, she still felt a swirl of emotions and her heart rate increased when she looked at Akira.
'At least I don't look like a mess.' Reia took a deep breath and tried to focus on the mission they set themselves out to do.
Walking out of the bunker, the street they were on was completely silent. There was still the occasional distant scream as well as gunshots but nothing close that would concern them.
Making sure the bunker closed behind them Reia and Akira were now ready to get going.
"We should get the cold stuff last and if need be, drop some food off here and go back out if we don't think it is enough." Akira considered making multiple trips as their bags were not the biggest and realistic they had the whole day to do it.
"We will have to see along the way, but if need be we can stay out longer." Reia preferred not to be out for too long as she did not want to draw attention and have their location discovered.
"Alright let's get going then." Fueling his rifle with essence they began to walk out of the alley making sure to be as quiet as possible.
***
<Klein POV>
'YES! They are leaving and Lou isn't there.' Klein was ecstatic as she didn't need to wait long for Akira to come out.
'Now I could enter the bunker, but I'm sure Lou would be able to tell it's me before I even walk down the stairs.' Klein considered trying to kill Lou herself, but even if she was injured, Lou would still put up a fight.
'Yeah, let's not bother, if Reia and Akira could separate then that would be perfect.' Klein had started packing some things and went to get on the roof of the building so she could tail them.
Now having the opportunity presented to her she wasn't going to let it down and she had to do it perfectly since she only has one shot at this.
'I lose this last bit of essence, I lose him.'
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om