It was a long day, so everyone decided they'd eat a special dinner. They're ordering from an expensive restaurant that serves both the best seafood and Italian-esque cuisine in District 4. They don't do delivery so Chifuyu and Shinatsu volunteered to pick it up. Fortunately, the B-Line train runs past it so it'll take them less than an hour to get there and back. One of the perks of being a Hunter is free train rides. They were following Shinatsu on foot for the whole day, consequently they don't have Kagura's car so they're walking home. There's no longer any means of getting picked up by a driver in Shioto because many people who requested one went missing in the past. This was over half a century ago.

  Many people use the train for transportation, so it usually has the most passengers in the morning and the early evening. It's currently 9 p.m. and the train is about 55% full, not bad for this hour. Chifuyu has been staring at Shinatsu's new beanie ever since they got on.

  "That beanie really is cute, huh?"

  "I'm gonna punch you."

  "Haha."

  Chifuyu laughs, but he's nervous because he knows the twin-tailed beast will actually punch him if he keeps teasing her. A small price to pay though.

  "Hey, Shinatsu."

  "What is it?"

  "I'm glad you joined Odd Jobs."

  "…Me too." Of course she is. No matter what the reason for joining was, it changed her life for the better.

  "By the way.."

  "Hm?"

  "You're friend Erika is something else. I know you guys are being dramatic, waiting to talk until she and Dakota graduate. But you should know she's making waves over there."

  "Seriously? That's amazing to hear. Did you guys get along?"

  "I guess so."

  "Nice. What about Dakota?"

  "Heh.." Shinatsu smirks, not answering the question.

  He chooses to ignore that. 'I can't wait to see them again.'

  At the next stop, Chifuyu notices a certain person entering the train. He's one of the regulars at Odd Jobs that's gotten close to him.

  "Patrick!"

  "Good evening, Chifuyu. And young lady."

  'What's this rich dude taking the train for?' Suspicions emerge in Shinatsu's mind.

  "I guess even rich people take the train," Chifuyu blurts out. Shinatsu looks at him stupefied wondering why he said that aloud.

  Patrick chuckles, "I suppose so."

  Shinatsu whispers to Chifuyu, "This guy gives me the creeps."

  "What? He's a good guy!"

  "Is Kagura not with you?"

  "Nah, she's headed back to Odd Jobs."

  "Hm. What a shame. I wanted to see her one last time. What about the little one?"

  "Um… Oh, Ariel? She's uh-with the others."

  Chifuyu is thrown off by the words that came out of Patrick's mouth. Something was weird about their last talk too, he realizes this. He gives Shinatsu a quick glance, she also knows something's off. Chifuyu slowly takes steps back.

  "Where are you taking the train to Patrick?" Sweat begins to fall.

  "What's the matter, you seem to be worried about something?"

  "I'm good. I was just…"

  Patrick starts salivating.

  "Dear me, I can't hold back anymore."

  The vampire reveals himself. All the vampire properties he was concealing returned to their original structure, ending with his eyes turning bloodshot. Chifuyu is the only one with his blade, wasting no time he attempts to draw it but is stopped by Patrick who was mere feet away from him. Being held back from drawing his blade, Chifuyu is helpless to the vampire right in front of him. Without saying a word, Shinatsu tackles him off Chifuyu, but he managed to swipe his blade in the process.

  "What's going on?"

  "Is that…?"

  "VAMPIRE!!"

  "AAHHHHH!"

  The rest of the passengers fall into panic as they run into different cars on the train. After managing to get Patrick off Chifuyu, Shinatsu backs away.

  "You okay?"

  "Yeah, he had a death grip on me. Damn it, how did I not figure out he was a vampire."

  "Don't beat yourself up, I know you've gotten close to a few regulars. You'll just be tormenting yourself if you worry about the chance of them being vampires."

  "I guess so. But Patrick's the owner of a company that stretches all over Shioto. How has he blended in to this degree?"

  "Let's worry about that later."

  "She's right, Chifuyu. In this moment, you need only worry about defeating the enemy in front of you. But how will you prevail without a weapon?" As Patrick talks, he takes the blade out and breaks it in half with his knee. Both Chifuyu and Shinatsu are unarmed against a vampire.

  "How long until the next stop?"

  "Just a few minutes."

  "Alright, let's hold out."

  Shinatsu sends a Hunter SOS on her phone without looking. Patrick knows what she's doing, he's not worried in the slightest.

  "I was holding myself back, Chifuyu. I've been endlessly curious about how half-vampire blood tastes. I'll be getting my sample now."

  "Here he comes!"

  The attack begins. Sudden hand-to-hand combat. Patrick goes for Shinatsu first, but she's not to be taken lightly. Each attempt to grab her is thwarted and he receives a vicious left hook smacking him to the seats. Chifuyu comes in with a kick only for it to get grabbed, he twists his body to loosen the vampire's grip and lands a swift 180 kick with his other foot. Jumping on top of the seats and kicking off the windows for greater momentum, Shinatsu lands a staggering kick on him. A barrage of blows ensues as Patrick isn't allowed a moment to breathe. However, this isn't enough. He grabs Chifuyu's arm and tosses him across the car, then giving Shinatsu a heavy punch to the stomach. Vampires have much greater strength than humans, so hits from them are several times harder. Shinatsu needs a few seconds to recover from that.

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  "You guys are great fighters, but you can't damage me. Not with your frail bodies. Now then…"

  "Ah!"

  Patrick bites into Shinatsu's trapezius, tasting her blood.

  "Shinatsu!"

  "Hm.. Not to my liking."

  With immense speed, Chifuyu charges at Patrick. Before the vampire knows it, a fist connects with his face and he gets flung several feet away.

  Blood starts leaking from his nose. Noticing it after a few seconds, he wipes it. "That was a good hit, Chifuyu."

  "Shinatsu, are you.. Eek!" Before Chifuyu can finish asking if Shinatsu's okay, he sees her face overcome with intenseness.

  "Bastard.. Did you just drink my blood?"

  "Yes, I regret doing so. Terrible flavor."

  "Damn. So sorry about that."

  For the next few seconds, there's a brief silence. With a muffled roar, another train passes theirs, its light beaming through the window. About one more minute until they reach the next stop. As soon as the trains pass each other, the fight continues. Shinatsu rushes Patrick with a flurry of swings, a few of which manage to hit. Patrick throws a few swings of his own which are dodged. The train goes down a slope for a few seconds, Chifuyu spins around one of the poles with his arms so it can carry him into a fast attack. Letting go, he flings himself right to Patrick for a dropkick. Noticing this, Shinatsu dodged right in time. As they were going down for a moment, the broken blade slid down to them. She grabs it even though it's cutting into her skin and jumps on top of the vampire. She tries to skewer his head, but he blocks it with his forearm. Blood consequently pours out from the wound as Shinatsu smiles maniacally.

  "I can't hurt you, but this thing sure can!"

  "Ha. You're crazy."

  Suddenly, Patrick's blood solidifies into shards and cuts Shinatsu across her body. Black veins temporarily show on his left eye, this was the power of his curse. She was pushed away by this attack, she attempts to get up but is kicked across her face.

  "Now then."

  Shinatsu is out of commission for at least a few minutes. As they approach their stop, Patrick extracts the broken blade, tossing it aside and fixes his shirt.

  "Crap!"

  He approaches Chifuyu at a speed he can't react to and bites into him. Tasting his blood, his pupils dilate in response.

  When Shinatsu comes to, she's surrounded by people. Looking around, she doesn't see Chifuyu or the vampire.

  "Make way!"

  A few Hunters who responded to the SOS enter the train.

  "Young lady, what happened?"

  Shinatsu slams the floor, not saying a word. She's frustrated she couldn't protect him. After he and the others just saved her.

  Chifuyu has been captured.

  ***

  Immediately after the sudden attack, Shinatsu rushed home to tell everyone what happened. Ariel knew he'd continue to be targeted, she's ashamed she let it happen again. But…

  "I have faith in Chifuyu. He'll hold his own until we get there."

  "Do you even know where he could be?" Diego asks. He's the only one here who doesn't know he's a half-vampire and that Ariel's the Vampire Lord that was sealed here.

  "Yeah. Um… We're tied together by fate," Ariel answers with a serious but unserious face.

  "Uh huh…" Diego has his doubts. He knows there's something he's missing that no one's told him based off what's been going on recently, but he's just going along with it.

  Kagura immediately called to inform Ina of what was going on.

  "I know you and the Vampire Lord can handle yourselves, so protect the others."

  "Will do."

  With that, Kagura hangs up. Ina believes they're capable of overcoming this on their own, so she won't be calling for reinforcements. Beginning to set off, Ariel gets her alter blade.

  "Diego, watch over the shop for us," says Kagura.

  "What? I don't kun why they want Chifuyu, but j can fight."

  "You're not a Hunter. We can't put your life at risk."

  "Please. I know you don't know me that much, but you can trust me. Fighting's the one thing I have going for me." Diego is resolved.

  Ariel can see the determination in his eyes, "Let's bring him. If he says he can fight then I have no reason to doubt him. We're gonna need all of Odd Jobs for this."

  "Ariel…" Diego's relieved someone is vouching for him.

  "I'm sure you could rescue him by yourself," Shinatsu states bluntly, "But I'd still go regardless." The others agree in this regard.

  Everyone is prepared. Kagura gives Shinatsu the alter blade her sister gave them, seeming only natural. Only Special Rank Hunters are allowed to use alter weapons, so just for this upcoming battle, they'll have to break the rules. Just as they were getting ready to leave, the strongest Hunter teleported right in front of them along with another Hunter he's known since his Academy days.

  "Woah.. Shoyo!"

  "He has his hair down."

  Shoyo usually has his hair slicked back, but Ariel and Iris have seen him with his hair down plenty of times, they lived with him for a year after all. Though Iris has known him longer. This is Kagura's first time seeing him like this, so she couldn't help but let out a little comment.

  Ariel recognizes the guy with Shoyo. "Oh, I remember you." He was at the trial and is a relative of Shinatsu and Ina although Shinatsu doesn't know him too well, Dallas Boreas. He's only here right now because he was already with Shoyo when he got the call from Ina. He looks over to Shinatsu and gives her a nod saying hello.

  'Wow, the strongest Hunter in the flesh. This is who trained Chifuyu.' Diego says in his head.

  "So it's true, Chifuyu was captured?"

  "Yeah. We're gonna get him back right now," Ariel responds.

  "Can you tell how far he is?"

  "A rough estimate, I'd say at least 50 miles."

  "Even while using the Hunter siren, that's at least an hour drive."

  Hunters barely use them nowadays, but they're authorized to equip their vehicles with sirens in case of emergency situations.

  "Ariel, you get on top of the car with me and Dallas and tell me the general direction, I can teleport you guys to the closest place."

  "That's a huge help." Kagura gives her thanks.

  "Let's go."

  ***

  Chifuyu opens his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, lying on a king-sized bed. Remembering what happened on the train, he immediately tried to run without looking around but is grabbed by Patrick who had been standing next to him.

  "Have a good nap, dear Chifuyu?"

  "No thanks to you, Patrick. You've been deceiving me this whole time."

  "You should be grateful I'm not like the other Slayers, otherwise you'd already be dead." With those words, Patrick pulls Chifuyu closer to his body and covers his mouth. Inching closer to the half-vampire's neck, he modestly bites into it. Patrick had already gotten a taste of Chifuyu's blood while he was knocked out, but somehow this second taste is even more mouthwatering.

  'Oh my. I must hold myself back.'

  "What's so special about this boy? Nobody's blood can be tastier than yours."

  The voice came from the door. There was a female vampire dressed in gothic clothing with an eye mask on. The 3 are currently in what seems to be a master bedroom.

  "I suppose that is true. Would you like some Chloe?"

  "Would I?"

  Chifuyu is let go as Patrick cuts his arm with a fingernail so Chloe can suck his blood. She struts to him and kneels on one knee. Grabbing his arm, she begins to lick the dripping blood. Chifuyu looks on with an unamused face.

  "Can you two do this in some other room?"

  'That's right. Vampires can't drink each other's blood for sustenance, but they still can for other reasons..'

  "Hm. It seems our guests have shown up, go ahead and greet them with everyone else."

  "Sure~."

  The female vampire exits the room, leaving Patrick and Chifuyu. The captive scans the room, seeing if there's anywhere he can escape. There's a balcony behind some glass doors, he could try to make a run for it but doesn't think he'll be able to outrun the vampire.

  "Where am I?"

  "One of my mansions."

  "Oh. We got along pretty well, didn't we? I would assume I'd get some sort of VIP treatment."

  "I don't have you chained up. Plus it's just the two of us now alone in my bedroom. What better treatment could there be?"

  "Hmph. What'd you do to the girl who was with me?"

  "Don't worry, I kept her alive."

  "Should I give you my thanks? You're a well-known guy y'know. Was it really smart to reveal yourself? How do you think you're gonna get out of this?"

  "I knew the risk. But I just had to taste your blood, no matter what. Besides, there's someone currently amongst my men who's several times stronger than myself. He'll take care of your friends who've just arrived if my fangs can't."

  'Fangs?'

  "You think this guy can beat Ariel?"

  "If he can't, then I have a means to deal with her. But you should worry about yourself."

  Patrick walks to his closest and pulls out a blade which he tosses to Chifuyu who catches it. A sinister countenance comes about on the vampire.

  "I will kill you, and wring every drop of blood from your corpse."

  ***

  The direction Ariel was sensing Chifuyu was about 50-odd miles north of Odd Jobs. There's a major corporation building he's been to about 36 milles North of them so he teleports first to clear the area then goes back for them. Cutting the drive down to at least 14 miles, they were able to get to Chifuyu's location in 19 minutes.

  "He brought Chifuyu to his mansion? Doesn't look like he thought this through."

  "Don't let your guard down. Who knows how many vampires are here."

  "Any plan?"

  "We clobber whoever gets in our way."

  "Pretty straightforward."

  "I'm sensing Chifuyu on the second level towards the back."

  "You guys need help?"

  "Nah. We got this."

  Shoyo smiles knowing he can leave this to them.

  "Don't get caught by any surprises, Ariel. I'll be waiting out here. You have 30 minutes to rescue Chifuyu, Odd Jobs."

  "Got it!" They all say in unison except for the Vampire Lord.

  Ariel forcefully kicks the front gate open and they all run in.

  "You have a lot of faith in those kids, huh?" Dallas who hasn't been saying anything speaks.

  "Yep. These kids are the future of Shioto. I have unwavering trust in them. On top of that, they have a Vampire Lord with them."

  "I suppose you're right."

  'I see you've found a good place, Shinatsu.'

  Augustus Mansion Raid Date: July 13th, 2024

  New Beginnings Arc -End-