Sigh, really?
The moment I woke up, I see a fist right in front of my face with the intention to obliterate it. Ethan lied to me, didn’t he? He said that Ai was just chatting with him but no, she was not just chatting with him. Or was she? How would I know, wait, I don’t have the time to think that.
I have a fist approaching my face with the intent to kill. I should focus on that right now and talk to Ethan later. The fist has gotten so close that even if I put all my effort and speed into it, I won’t be able to dodge it. This is a gone game from the beginning.
Let’s close my eyes and take it face first….maybe try to survive.
SLASH
BAM
"Huh?" I said opening one eye and the fist, no, the entire hand that was approaching my face was on the ground right before me. I looked in front of me and between the man with grey old hair and a calm look was someone standing in a t-shirt and pants. And in her hands was a scythe.
"I swear, I can’t even leave you alone for more than a month where I have to come and save you," she said to me while looking at the man.
"Yea, happy to see you again too. I missed you too Natsumi-san," I said jokingly and checked my body just in case to make sure I don’t lose a limb or an organ.
"KAZU-KUN!" Ai shouted and jumped right beside me. Her eyes fell on Natsumi-san and the hand on the ground and her face softened a bit.
Her eyes were bright as ruby and emerald and could act like a source of light on their own. Her fangs were ready to tear anything apart which came in her way and so were her nail. It truly was a scary and majestic form Ai was in right now.
She let out a sigh of relief, "Thank god Natsumi-san was here," she said and stepped back a little and closer to me. She quickly turned to me and started scanning my face and body for any injuries. The worry on her face was immense along with some guilt.
Knowing that I was fine, she hugged me instantly and pulled my body closer to her. She squeezed me tight and pressed my face against her chest.
Soft.
Wait, not the time to think that.
"Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, did he? Why were you sleeping while standing? Do you know how dangerous that is? I got worried sick right now!" she said all of that in the span of two seconds and I could somehow understand that in one go.
"I’m fine. No, Natsumi-san helped right before he could do anything. He put me in a dream. I know it’s dangerous but it isn’t my fault that he did that," I answered all of them and Natsumi-san just turned around and looked at me with widened eyes.
"You understood all of that?" her eyes were saying and I just nod my head.
"I think there are a lot more important things to take care of before," I said.
"Well yep," I heard a voice and Father jumped out of the way but got a scratch on his face while doing so. Right behind him, appeared Iwaguchi-san with his combat axes. "Sigh, good thing we were here tonight or things wouldn’t have ended well for you Kazuki."
"You’re right, thank you," I said and chuckled a bit. Why was I so casual?
Well, I am with these four right now, I know that I have nothing to worry about now.
We all looked at the vampire and he just smirked and his arm quickly regenerated with lightning-fast speed. He reached for his pockets and I activated my katana and got ready to plunge at him. For some reason, we were completely isolated in the crowd and no one was noticing us. Then again, how did they find us?
"Akira, did you bring them here?" I asked and she nodded her head.
"I felt a strong and similar presence out of nowhere so I had to bring them here. I cannot let them hurt my master," she said and I snickered. "Is something wrong with what I said Kazuki-sama?"
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"Haha, not really but that’s interesting coming from you who had betrayed her previous master right before my eyes," I said and then looked at her and she looked a bit sad. Oh no, I think I hit a nerve or something. I shouldn’t have said that.
"That was because my previous mas- the guy treated me horribly. He called me his "family" but all I was to him was just a mere tool. Something he can throw around or use at his disposal any time he wants. For…anything he wants," she said the last part and grabbed her elbow while looking down.
I placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me only to see a few tears in her eyes. That was a look I never expected to be on her face. Grief, loneliness, regret, a mixture of emotions was on Akira’s face right now. I softly smiled at her and rubbed the tears off her eyelid.
"Well, I think I have another thing for you," I said and activated my katana while getting into an offensive stance. "Once we are done with all this, I want to hear your story Akira. Will you tell us that?"
"Your wish is m-"
"This is not an order or a command," I said interrupting Akira. "You will only and only do this if you feel like doing this. If not, you are not going to talk about this. This is an order."
"Okay Kazuki-sama," she said with her lips slightly trembling. "I…I want you to hear it, my story."
"Good then," I said and then looked at Natsumi-san. "On a scale of one to ten, how hard it will be for us?"
"Five, I think," she said. "He was able to sense the presence of Iwaguchi and dodge it meaning he has a lot of experience in fights and has been sneaking up on. He is quite quick and that regeneration was the fastest I have ever seen yet."
"Then why is it not a ten?"
"Kid, do you know who you are talking to?" she said and I suddenly felt everything around me quiet for some reason. Something so quiet that it felt terrifying. No, I could hear it.
I could hear the silence.
As if everything around me just vanished into space.
My eyes tilted to look at the man who was releasing such ominous energy and I gulped a little. He just stood there with a gentle smile on his face but I could almost see the terrifying aura he was emitting. It looked like a monster, bloodthirsty, the fearsome monster was as if standing right behind that person.
"Well, I think I will have to bump it up to an eight-point-five," Natsumi-san said and crouched down.
BOOM
In a blink of an eye, she was already right before the noble with her scythe right against his neck but…it didn’t cut through for some reason.
How?
Upon looking closer, he had his hand grab the scythe she was holding and with a smirk, he snapped the thing in two through the handle. And threw Natsumi-san against the tree with so much force that the entire path Natsumi-san took turned into a big hole. It was as if a plane had just crashed right there.
"Wha…"
I just stood there in complete shock staring at the unbelievable sight I just witnessed. Did I just see him breaking Natsumi-san’s scythe in two? The staff just snapped as if it was a wooden stick in a snap.
"Hmmm, the strongest vampire hunter, was it?" he said in an ominous voice and we all took a step back in fear. "As far as I could tell from my experience of fighting. You are still not giving your all, are you? Kawazuki Natsumi."
Out of the big dust cloud emerged the scythe blade and it went straight for the noble’s head but he ducked down to dodge it only for the blade to come back and take his left leg along with it.
"This is more like what I heard," he said with an ecstatic look on his face and then faced us. His face looked as if he has gone insane and the insanity was radiating from him at this point. "Well, this Kazuki and my dearest Ai. I will be taking my leave. It was fun meeting you."
"As if I’ll let you go!" Iwaguchi-san said jumping at the noble but he dodged him and just jumped high in the sky and then, he disappeared. Iwaguchi-san saw this and was ready to go after him.
"Iwaguchi," we heard a strict voice come out of the dust cloud and we saw Natsumi-san walk out of it having some dust on her clothes and in her hair. He dusted her clothes and we looked at her scythe and it looked completely unscathed.
But it was broken before.
What is going on?
"Looks like that bastard was just here to test us," she said and then looked over to me and started walking closer.
"Nats-"
SLAP
I felt a sharp pain on my right cheek and my face was looking the other way. I touched the cheek and it was bright red with the pain still there. My eyes trailed over to Natsumi-san and her eyes were trembling for a moment.
"You knew, didn’t you," she said and I knew exactly what she was talking about. All I did was nod my head in shame. "And why did you decide to hide it from me?"
"The VEO’s headquarter had been demolished. All the missions for most of the hunters were on hold and you took the job of taking care of all of them. You were very busy s-"
"So, you decided to act so foolishly and put yourself in life-threatening danger, didn’t you?" she said in a cold tone and I looked to the side only for her to hold my face and make me face her again. "I’m talking to you kid. And I know there was another reason, isn’t there?"
I went silent.
"You got too cocky," she said in a bland tone and I just stood there and nod my head. "I’m not asking you just for you to nod your head. Say it."
"I…yes. I got too overconfident in my abilities and that was a reason too," I said.
SLAP
Now the pain was even on the left cheek. I looked down, not being able to look into the eyes of Natsumi-san. What was I even thinking? How could I have been s-
I’m stupid.
Very stupid.
"We don’t know yet what you are capable and we have the most advanced technology in the entire world. I know you have a better grasp over that but I’m sure even you don’t know what you can do completely yet," she said and I grit my teeth holding my words back. "If you want to say something then say it. I am not waiting for you to go with your little teenager’s tantrum and stay quiet. We don’t even know where that noble went which should be our number one priority but here are we waiting for you to give us an answer. So, I would suggest you stop wasting all of our time and speak up."
Silence.
Complete silence.
The words I wanted to say were still in my head but they couldn’t come down to my tongue. Something was holding me back from saying the truth. Something was holding me from letting them know. I trust these people with my life. Then why can’t I say anything?
"We don’t have time for this," Natsumi-san said and turned away. "You disappointed me, Kazuki. I thought you were wiser than that."
With those words that felt like a blade through my heart, she left. Without even looking back one last time.
I….
What am I even thinking anymore?
I don’t know.
I…am an idiot.
A complete, dumb, idiot.
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