Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Fire and blood.

It’s a vague memory, a wisp, when she’s awake; perhaps her dreams remember, but red hair and slit eyes fade to transparency with sunlight, and all she’s left with is a sense of familiarity, almost familial warmth.

It’s not such a bad memory. She’s known worse. She’s felt worse despair. She’d cling to it, if she could remember enough when her eyes are open. Instead, she relives it every other night in her dreams; she sinks to her knees unharmed like the very first time.

What was her name? It’s been lost to time for so long, but among the flames the night is brighter than the sun and she remembers. Her lips voice it silently, disbelieving. 

Himeko tears her hand away from the corpse she was laughing with not an hour ago. A scarlet flame bursts, vanishes it into ashes before it can collapse on the floor. Flaming eyes. Red hair. Red blood on Himeko’s lip, and she licks it hungrily.

Himeko turns to her, not unkindly. Her captain speaks words (an apology, or a threat?) but Fu Hua can’t hear. Whether the roaring in her ears is the pyre or her own heart, she will never know.

Why you..? Fu Hua glimpses a flash of fang, and she’s yanked to her feet by the front of her uniform. Her hands clasp Himeko’s wrist, but it’s no use. She isn’t strong enough to shake off a vampire lord yet.

Himeko leans in. Whispers in her ear. The exact words are hazy, but Fu Hua can’t forget the fangs sinking into her throat. The liquid fire burns through her veins as something is gifted, rather than taken from her, and her mentor cradles her when Fu Hua’s legs give out.

“The pain will ease soon, you’re strong, sugar,” she says. Were those even her words? “I know you’re a good girl.” Fu Hua blacks out; when she wakes up, she is alone, and she, too, is parched. The vampire has escaped, and left her alive…. changed.

“Why did it have to be you?”

The firewytch's little birdie wonders for as long as the fog of time allows her to remember.

Kiana is a master of stealth. 

This claim is only supported by the subject’s declaration, of course, as she sneaks after her class monitor’s brisk footsteps. The corridor is empty save for the both of them.

Fu Hua never eats seconds, even when she says the food is really good. Then she leaves the table in a hurry. It’s more food for Kiana, of course, but the girl believes her senior is hiding something, and has for a while. 

Secret snacks! An insult to her Mei’s cooking! And probably also delicious. So this is going to be Kiana’s super confidential mission… operation uncover the class monitor’s dark secret!

Maybe it sounds a little mean. But. Kiana’s known Fu Hua for a while now. She could just give some away. Those that refuse to share their food stash shall suffer the Kaslana’s wrath! 

It’s not like she’s going to eat all of her snacks anyway. She’s just going to teach her a little lesson about sharing is caring . And also satiate her (literal) devouring curiosity. What could possibly be so delicious that she’d refuse seconds of Mei’s cooking?

Fu Hua is currently busy retrieving a mysterious package. Kiana’s done her homework for once: this happens once a month, like clockwork— mysterious supplies Fu Hua hides in her room, room which she briefly returns to after every meal. In other words. Her secret custom ordered snacks. Probably.

Unfortunately Kiana hasn’t managed to figure out where the stash is being hidden in the room from out the window, so she’s decided on a more straightforward approach: catch the class monitor red handed.

Fu Hua unlocks her door, the package balanced heavily on her arm, and Kiana dashes from behind the corner as soon as she’s gone through the threshold. How is she going to catch Fu Hua, you ask? Well, the windows may be see-through but breaking them would get her in trouble, so the door is the only option. Fu Hua’s door closed behind her, so in theory Kiana would need to ring and be let in to enter. But.

Fu Hua currently has a large refrigerated package in her arms, which means she can’t have re-locked the door yet. This is what Kiana is counting on. It’s a flimsy plan, but well, strategy isn’t her forte, and sometimes dumb luck is on her side. 

Can’t say she’s even trying very hard.

Yet, the handle clicks quietly when Kiana presses on it. Unlocked! The Class Monitor is now trapped within her home, her snacks at Kiana’s mercy! 

Sneak, sneak, she’s never actually been here— there’s a short corridor and then what is probably a bedroom on her right. The layout is different from Himeko’s quarters, but that makes sense. Aunt Himeko’s a teacher and she houses four people. Kiana hears shuffling noises ahead. Kitchen, maybe? Should she startle Fu Hua with a yell or stay hidden until she leaves? Mmm. Kiana didn’t think she’d get this far honestly.

Waiting isn’t her style so she leaps into the kitchen with a yell. “AHA!!! CAUGHT YOU RED HANDED!”

Fu Hua raises an eyebrow. To the attentive guest, there was perhaps the slightest twitch in her demeanor, but Kiana is Not That. Frustration rises in her throat. The least she could do would be pretend to be shocked.

“Do you need something, Kiana?” Fu Hua’s voice is even while Kiana boils, but she’s folding back the half open package as she speaks, as if to hide its contents. That won’t do! Kiana crosses her arms and huffs. 

“Your secret snacks, hand them over!”

Fu Hua closes the box. “...no?”

There is a moment of stillness, and then all hell breaks loose as Kiana dashes for the box and Fu Hua shoves it out of the way. 

Fu Hua and Kiana are both kneeling on the cold floor, contrite. Himeko is not pleased with this new dent in their budget, namely, the window that needs replacing (BULLETPROOF GLASS NOT SO TOUGH AFTER ALL! Unfortunately Kiana was the one thrown through and she’s really feeling it.) and the bits of wall they blew up. Some pavement outside needs replacing from where Kiana fell...

The sorest spot is that Kiana didn’t even get to glimpse at the contents of the box. At least Fu Hua’s also in trouble for responding with violence.

“I am aware I overreacted and caused undue property damage,” the class monitor says placidly. She hangs her head. “I apologize and will accept punishment…”

Urgh why is she being so reasonable. It’d be easy to at least try to wriggle out of trouble, wouldn’t it? For some reason this attitude kind of pisses Kiana off. How overly honest.

Himeko whacks the top of Kiana’s head. “Don’t think I don’t see you pouting! I know you’re the instigator. Puppy eyes don’t work on me.”

“Hey, I got thrown through a window!” Kiana protests. “Don’t you think I’ve been punished enough?”

Himeko pretends to think about it, before shaking her head with a grin. “That’s nothing compared to what Valkyries get through on the battlefield. If you’re whining about this, how is it going to be against vampires—“

“I’m alright,” Kiana grumbles, her pride a little too strong to play into the injured bit.

Fu Hua doesn’t react, waiting for the verdict without even looking at Kiana.

Himeko has a dangerous glint in her eye. 

“Well then. As a punishment, Kiana, you’re going to train until eight tonight.” 

Kiana relaxes just a little. That doesn’t sound so bad. Long , and tiring, but not as horrible as other things she could be doing. Besides, Aunt Teri is busy today, so surely the little terror is not going to be the one beating her up.

“I have to punish both of you for the mess, so— you’ll train with Fu Hua. I saw your grades.” Wait, what? Himeko grins like a red devil. “You’re going to practice math.”

Kiana takes everything back, this wine aunt is a sadist.

When Fu Hua returns, her room has been meticulously cleaned of glass shards and plaster, which she appreciates. The sun is well below the horizon now, the perspective of cleaning it up after tutoring Kiana all of their day off was not one she had been looking forward to making a reality. The broken window has been replaced as well… how efficient.

She finds the box exactly where she left it, in a corner because she shoved it off the table when Kiana dashed for it. She sighs. What a troublesome girl… 

It hasn’t moved, so whoever came in to clean didn’t open the refrigerated box, it seems. 

Wait. She’s been gone all day.

Hua retrieves the box with a frown. 

The box is a refrigerated package, but it doesn’t have a battery; it simply relies on a cold block inside to keep its content fresh. With the box open in a warm room, this is no longer reliable. She only had time to stash a handful of items, so the rest—

...predictable outcome. She can tell right away that the food (because indeed, it is food, at least to her) has already gone bad. 

That may be a problem. 

She checks her fridge; she has enough for a few days, but past that she’s going to have to do without. If she rations them, her stock will last a little longer. 

Should she just contact Otto about it? Fu hua shakes her head, though the gesture should be seen by no one but herself. No. This is the result of her own carelessness— it was childish to get wrapped into roughhousing, even out of fear of being discovered. This will be unpleasant, but she’s seen worse. These are also needed for medical purposes… She doesn’t want to be more of a burden on such resources. She can just ration the remaining ones out.

Now all that's left is to throw the spoiled ones away…

Chapter Text

Fu Hua finds her last meeting with Captain Himeko much harder to forget than the time she was turned. The memory is burned into her mind, and it sinks its claws subtly, even during waking hours.

This dream, however, speaks of earlier details she finds unpleasant.

“How long do you give her?” 

The white haired man’s name is Kevin Kaslana. Fu Hua doesn’t know him well, yet, though this isn’t their first meeting. He stands with his back straight in the cell where Hua has been held for the last few days, but she can hear that he is a little nervous.

She’s probably not supposed to be awake, but the sedative’s heavy fog is already gone from her mind. Cautiously, she pretends that she is still asleep, trying to ignore the unfamiliar shape of her teeth.

“We managed to slow down the physical degeneration,” Dr. Mei answers dispassionately. “At this rate, and paired with her remarkable mental resilience to the infection, she should stay useful a month or two.”

The two stay silent a moment. Hua hears papers shifting, and a couple steps— and, oh so faintly, two distinct heartbeats.

“What have you planned for her then?”

“Mei, I fucked up.”

Kiana is lying down, her head on Mei’s thighs. Her girlfriend pets the white locks of her hair, gently combing from her scalp down. “I know, Kiana.” The couch is comfortable enough that Mei doesn’t mind the weight at all. Rather, it’s soothing, grounding, to be a pillow.

A groan arises from the pile of lesbian on her lap. She chuckles, scratching the top of Kiana’s head lightly. “Class Monitor hasn’t sparred with me since I tried to steal her secret snacks,” Kiana bemoans, “she’s never done that before. She said she’s not mad but...” Kiana grimaces. “She’s stuck up and polite, I bet she’s secretly super mad.”

“She’ll talk to you when she’s ready,” Mei tells her softly. “She’s mature.”

“Are you implying I’m not?!”

Mei sighs, used to her girlfriend’s shenanigans. “You could’ve just asked her to share whatever you think is so delicious… You know I don’t mind if she doesn’t like my cooking.” She lowers her scritching, and Kiana keens, looking about two seconds away from purring. “But if you feel so bad, you should apologize, and then try and make it up to her.”

“But she’s avoiding me…” It feels uncharacteristic of Kiana to look depressed after a fight, but perhaps she remains upbeat only when there is a lack of lasting consequences. It’s not her first squabble with someone at St Freya— she fights with Bronya all the time, and with Fu Hua every other day. This time though… Hua’s been acting off, more distant. Even with Bronya and Mei... refusing invitations, and dashing back to her room after class. Mei is a little worried too, truth be told.

Yet… Above all, it’s adorable to see Kiana caring so much. Mei taps her girlfriend’s forehead. “Mmm, cooking something for her would be inadvisable if it’s you, and she doesn’t want to fight you to work it out. What do?”

“Mmmm…”

“Kiana Idiotka should just buy Class Monitor more snacks.”

Kiana jerked up, screeching in surprise. “Where did you come from, you gremlin?!”

Bronya is standing behind the couch, pose idle and expression neutral as always. She’s holding a... laptop? “The Bronya has been stationed here for the past 157 seconds.”

Kiana pouts, annoyed that her alone time with Mei was interrupted. She gathers herself to snuggle into her girlfriend’s side instead, eliciting a faint chuckle. “Well I can’t do that, Bratnya. I still don’t know what the snacks she likes are.”

A strange glint shines in Bronya’s passive grey eyes. “The Bronya has obtained a recording of your fight from the video camera in her room.”

“...why is there a camera in her room?” Kiana bristles, “did a pervert install it?”

Though there is no rational way for him to have heard that, somewhere else, Otto still sneezes. The camera is a safety measure, but he deserves all the callouts.

“The Bronya does not know. There are no functional cameras in this apartment.”

She sets the laptop in front of the couch, maneuvering herself carefully to kneel without her prosthetics digging uncomfortably into flesh. Kiana leans forward, followed by Mei. The computer whirrs gently under Bronya’s keyboard strokes.

The video— black and white, but decently good quality for a surveillance camera— is paused on the moment Kiana’s body breached glass as Fu Hua executed a masterful defenestration.

“Haha. Ha,” Kiana jibes, “very funny.”

Bronya rewinds the video without answering. They watch Kiana throw and evade blows with abandon, backwards. If Kiana feels like a brawler even in reverse, Fu Hua looks like a dancer; it isn’t often Kiana gets to appreciate the Class Monitor’s footwork while not actively fighting herself, and Kiana finds herself enraptured. She squeezes Mei’s hand. Even with Kiana’s surprise attacks or more chaotic blows, her senior seems to be perfectly in control of the “battlefield”— and perhaps that’s the real reason she can find a rhythm to their battle when Kiana has set none.

They eventually reach the end (the beginning), their weird standstill after she’d burst through the door. Then screen-Kiana retreats outside to plot her revenge, and Fu Hua is left to the peace of her undisturbed room.

The package is now open.

“Can you zoom in on it?” Kiana asks. 

Bronya types something and selects the area; large pixels fill the screen. “The camera has a low resolution,” the hacker explains, “this is the best the Bronya can provide without dedicating processing power to speculating on image content.” 

Well that’s not very helpful. Kiana stands up, regretfully letting go of Mei’s hand, and takes a step back to stand on the couch. If you want to get the full picture, you need some distance…

Bronya presses play again and notes that the mysterious food seems to need refrigeration, because Fu Hua is moving them into the fridge. Okay. It does take out a number of snacks. Kiana bounces on her heels, digging into the couch after each bob. It seems to be in packets, about hand-sized. Fu Hua doesn’t move them all at once, so they might be somewhat fragile. Mmm. What’s so special about these? Why would their Class Monitor want to hide them badly enough to literally kick Kiana out of her room?

Kiana squints at the item between Fu Hua’s hands. The shape is familiar. An old memory of Kiana’s— she can picture small, small hands around a similar object, a pouch filled with…

Suddenly, Kiana’s eyes widen. 

No fucking way.

Kiana is now thinking deeply. This is never a good sign. Then she jumps off the couch onto the floor and dashes out the door. “Gotta go!”

Aaand she’s gone. Mei and Bronya stare at each other. 

“Should the Bronya attempt to track Kiana Idiotka?” 

Mei shrugs. “She’ll be home when she’s hungry.”

Fu Hua is in her room more often than usual. She’s well aware that she’s going to be a liability for the month— less packs means that she has to strain her self control more. Even if she’s fully confident that she won’t slip and accidentally injure someone, it is necessary to limit risks.

So, no sparring. In the heat of the moment— battle against allies is too big a risk. She’s wary even of only watching; she can acutely perceive the increased heartbeat of one who exerts themself, or their rising temperature as they pant out to cool down. It makes her mind sing just a taste, and that’s when she knows she needs to retreat. 

Generally she’s been avoiding meeting people, playing video games in her room instead. She vaguely remembers spending a few centuries all on her own anyway; a month of partial isolation is nothing.

She still hasn’t told Otto about her predicament… maybe she should, but she’s been managing just fine. Fu Hua doesn’t like being overly dependent on that painfully straight man anyway. He may call her an old friend, but he isn’t trustworthy, nor does he have Lesbian Approval™️. 

A sharp knock beats against the door. Uh? She isn’t waiting for any delivery. Is someone looking for her? It might be important…

Hua slides off her couch. “Coming!” Is she presentable? She glances at the mirror. She’s not wearing socks, but her pajamas don’t have stains or anything. She briefly takes her glasses off to comb a hand through her hair, puts them back on, and goes to open the door. If it was work, she would’ve received a message via her glasses. Maybe Bronya wants to play a game with her..? 

“Kiana?”

Now that’s not who she thought she’d see. Kiana pushes her aside to stalk her way to the living room. Wha… not again. “What are you doing?” Fu Hua catches Kiana’s wrist before she can get far.

“Sorry. Need to take out the camera first.” Fu Hua only now realizes Kiana’s cheeks are flushed, and she’s a little out of breath, like she ran here. Oh no. She lets go of her junior’s wrist like it burned her, before the hungry part of her mind can get funny ideas, but Kiana seems to take this as approval and runs off. Wait. Camera?

Fu Hua follows Kiana’s rapid heart to the living room, where she proceeds to climb on a dresser, aiming for a corner of the room that connects to the ceiling. She has to stretch on her tippy toes to reach all the way up. Fu Hua swallows lightly.

“Kiana?” Fu Hua can’t just grab her off there. Restraining a human in this state is tempting the devil. So she crosses her arms and taps her foot, pretending that nothing is going on. “Get down, you’ll fall and hurt yourself.”

“I’ve almooost got it!” Kiana’s braids wobble behind her. Fu Hua keeps her eyes stubbornly fixated on them and not anywhere else, definitely not any lower, and then there’s a metallic crunch . “Gotcha!”

She twirls around and jumps down, something clutched in her first, which she presents to Fu Hua with a grin. “Bratnya realized your room’s bugged.”

Ah. This camera. Otto had it installed as a compromise for letting such a dangerous individual stay on campus. It was only for show, of course. They both know Fu Hua has better self control than most humans in normal circumstances. If Schicksal wanted a real contingency plan, they could have installed a bomb next to her heart.

Unfortunately these are not normal circumstances. “I knew it was there,” Fu Hua answers curtly, a tad late.

Nobody would know now, a voice says in the back of her mind. Why not? Just a taste? but Fu Hua ignores it. She’s used to ignoring it.

Kiana frowns, biting her lip. It reddens. Please don’t do that, Fu Hua pleads internally, but Kiana can’t hear her thoughts, nor should she come to learn of why her class monitor is having them. “That doesn’t make it right!” She huffs, crossing her arms as well. “And besides I need to talk to you in private.”

“...fine.” She waves to the table, and Kiana drops the remains of the camera there, before turning back to Fu Hua, who asks, “What do you need?” Quick and to the point. Make this be over as soon as possible. Move as little as possible.

Kiana stares at her a couple seconds, then steps closer decidedly. Fu Hua steps back, refusing to lessen the distance between them, but Kiana is stubborn and soon Hua’s back hits the wall. Is Kiana trying to attack her again? But Fu Hua doesn’t sense any hostility. Just… stubbornness entwined with the body heat radiating off her. It comes out in short puffs with the warm breath tickling Hua’s cheeks—

Fu Hua mentally slaps herself, heat creeping up her skin. Focus! “Do I need to repeat myself?”

Kiana’s brows are furrowed in concentration. “Don’t move,” the girl commands, and then Kiana cups her cheek and Fu Hua is quite certain that if she had a chip like Bronya does she would be bluescreening. What is she doing what is she doing what is she—

Kiana is a blurry form in front of her face, much too close not close enough . She brushes her thumb over Fu Hua’s lips. Hua must be scarlet right now, her face burning hotter than fire… Bite her, she’s so close, a tiny voice suggests, which Fu Hua viciously stomps down. Another suggests kiss her? And woah where did that one come from. Bad. Kiana is Mei’s girlfriend. Shove her off then. Shove her off on the couch and take your fill. She’s so warm. Doesn’t she smell so sweet? Her throat is burning. She is most certainly not going to do that—

“Open your mouth,” Kiana asks, and Fu Hua obeys mechanically, too busy wrestling with herself to consider refusing. Kiana’s thumb slips into her mouth she’s going to combust. Her finger is soft, a light weight parting her lips. Kiana herself is leaning on Fu Hua, a lukewarm weight is seeping into her, you could have her now Hua’s not going to do anything to her! She still feels her canines tingle, instinctively unsheathing.

Kiana’s thumb slides across Fu Hua’s teeth.

Fu Hua tries to jerk away, but Kiana’s firm hand doesn’t let her move. “You have fangs.”

She can’t speak without risking closing her mouth around Kiana’s fingers, and that’s the last thing she wants to do she really wants to so she doesn’t answer. Her cheeks are blazing hotter than ever, how is steam not rising from her ears by now? She’s been through centuries, but she’d swear another was added to the count during the time Kiana keeps tempting her. 

When finally, finally she withdraws, Fu Hua slips away faster than she should be able to, putting some distance and the couch between them. She doesn’t know how to feel. Hua digs her palms into her cheeks to cool them down;  this girl’s going to be the death of her.

Kiana has the decency to look sheepish. “You were hiding blood bags, right? That’s why you didn’t want me to see?”

Fu Hua nods slowly, not trusting herself to speak yet. Otto already knows, but he’s the only one who does. If Kiana tells Theresa… well, the Principal will probably be contacted by Otto, and he’ll resolve the incident, but Fu Hua would rather not be too closely scrutinized by a vampire hunter who enjoys swinging around a massive cross.

Not that crosses work at all on her. She’s not christian. In her current state it’s just a concerning blunt weapon to be hit by.

“When did you get bitten?” Kiana sounds distraught. Hua can’t afford not to reassure her now. She is parched, her throat dry, but she’s really going to have to talk. 

“A long time ago.” Her voice sounds too rough. She cringes. “Before you met me. It’s stable. Don’t worry about it.”

Kiana stares a moment and sighs. “I’m sorry. I get why you were sneaky now. I shouldn’t have pried.” She looks away, pouting, before getting more animated again. “I’m not gonna tell on you! Even if you can be kind of mean—“

Fu Hua raises an eyebrow. Where is Kiana going with this? She clearly came here with intent to confirm her hunch about Fu Hua’s condition. Did she just not think of what to do next? Actually… that sounds just like her. 

Kiana laughs sheepishly, scratching her cheek.

Fu Hua clears her throat, wishing for some moisture to smoothen her voice. Hopefully by now her flushed cheeks are back to normal. “Thank you. It would be troublesome if you babbled about it.”

Kiana says nothing else for a while, and an awkward silence settles. Kiana shifts her weight from foot to foot. It takes her almost a full thirty seconds to ask what’s on her mind, but it’s not anything Hua expected.

“Are you still mad at us..?”

“Mad?” Fu Hua frowns. She supposes she would have a right to be, but she’s not, so she says as much. Kiana sighs in relief. “Did you think I was more aggravated with you than usual?” Fu Hua resists the tug in the corner of her lips, just barely.

“Oi,” Kiana throws back, “you’ve been avoiding us ever since we fought. You even refused to help Mei with Sunday lunch. What was I supposed to think?”

“Ah.” She has been ostensibly avoiding everyone. It’s for their own good… but they would have no idea. “I apologize then.” She shakes her head, her loose hair swishing behind her back. “I didn’t mean to make any of you think I was angry.”

Kiana takes a step towards her, visibly relieved. “Why were you avoiding us then? Afraid of my sleuthing skills~?” Cheeky.

Fu Hua looks away. “Of course not. Who would fear that from you?” This time she can’t resist the tug of a small smile when Kiana protests. Unfortunately… well, the situation isn’t ideal. “Every month, I am sent blood, to deal with my… condition. That’s what you caught me putting away.”

“Uh uh,” Kiana interjects, confused about where the class monitor is going with this.

“I wasn’t done when we fought... it was my mistake. I forgot to put the rest away, so they went bad.” Kiana’s eyes widen. “There’s no need to worry. As long as I give you all some space, nothing will happen. You just need to let me stay away for the month.”

There may be no need to worry, but worry is now plastered on Kiana’s face. “You’re starving? ”

Fu Hua tries to wave her concern off. “I am rationing what refrigerated blood I do have available, that’s all. It only makes me slightly less reliable than usual.” So please don’t tempt me again. Most vampires would’ve already bitten you three times over.

Irrational as always, Kiana steps closer still. If not for the couch she would be all up in Fu Hua’s space again. Maybe it’s a good thing that she’s explaining everything to her. Might make some instructions stick. “Can’t you just get more?” Kiana asks, brows furrowed.

Fu Hua shakes her head. “I will be perfectly fine. Just help me make sure you aren’t injured and stay six feet away.” Social distancing! “We can spar regularly again in a few weeks.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about…” Kiana bounces on her heels nervously. “Isn’t it uncomfortable? You must be hungry all the time!”

It isn’t exactly uncomfortable, nor hunger. It makes her throat dry and the tempting voice much louder; but at the end of the day, it’s just Fu Hua’s own voice, demanding she take care of herself. She’s used to temporarily ignoring that one when other matters are more important.

“Not drinking as much blood as usual for a month will not kill me or make me sick,” she affirms, she hopes reassuringly. 

Kiana doesn’t look convinced. In fact, she deflates sadly. “It’s my fault…” She hugs herself. 

“I don’t blame you. You couldn’t have known something I was hiding from you all. You just did something impulsive and stupid as usual.”

Instead of reacting to the jab, Kiana’s expression sinks into determination. What is she up to now? “I’ll make it up to you.”

Fu Hua blinks. “There’s really no need for that.” Is she planning to rob a blood bank? Please don’t rob a blood bank.

“What? I wouldn’t rob a blood bank.” Did Hua say that out loud? ...she needs to be more careful. She is not letting Kiana hear the kind of intrusive thoughts she’s been having. “I’ll,” Kiana flushes slightly, and shrugs off her jacket. “I’ll just repay you with my body.”

Fu Hua’s mind blanks out completely.

“This way you can eat properly and stay with everyone,” Kiana rambles on, folding the jacket over her arm, “Bronya misses playing with you, and Mei made food for you because you usually meet up with us but you never showed up, so Aunt Teri and I had to finish it. I mean, I don’t mind, but it sucks that you’re missing out…” 

Something clicks in Fu Hua’s mind (perhaps it is simply that the words took a long time to process?) and she frantically waves her hands as if to push away the suggestion. “No! No. No need for that at all.” Her cheeks are back to overheating. Forbidden mental images flourish in her mind’s eye like invasive flowers.

You should take her up on that offer. She’s willing isn’t she?

Kiana, just like that inner tempter, is not so easily denied. The girl decidedly climbs the couch to make a beeline for Hua. “I’ve done it before! It’ll be fine!” she proclaims, but Fu Hua is not going to give in to that offer. You should. Wouldn’t it be safer overall? Why resist? Hua dodges the bare shouldered girl’s tackle, and rolls to the window. She opens it. If she has to use the roof to escape she will.

In the meantime, Kiana forces herself still mid movement and almost trips to chase after her. For  the moment she is unsteady, Fu Hua paused, in case she needed help; this proves to be a mistake. Kiana recovers almost immediately and dashes forward. 

Fu Hua grabs her by the back of her shirt and uses her momentum to fling Kiana outside.

At least this time she had the courtesy not to throw her through the glass.

While the infirmary doesn’t need to pick her skin for glass shards this time, the falls still dazes Kiana enough to hammer into her thick skull that she needs a less direct approach.

Back to Mei is it. Her girlfriend finds her somewhat frazzled but otherwise unharmed, which lifts a weight off her shoulders— but not for long.

Kiana sweeps her into her bedroom for a “serious talk”. They close the door and sit face to face on the bed, legs crossed. Kiana takes her hands, letting her arms hang forward with their fingers loosely entwined. 

“Our Class Monitor’s a vampire,” she says point blank. Mei blinks, processing the information. She reviews the last few months in her mind— it doesn’t not make sense. Fu Hua is a private person, strong and wise beyond her presumed years.

“Did she tell you?” Mei asks, disentangling their fingers and turning her palms so she can squeeze Kiana’s hands, and her girlfriend nods.

“I saw she had fangs, and then she didn’t deny it.”

Alarmed, Mei straightens. “She tried to bite you?” A presence stirs in the back of her mind, irritated by this perspective. She squeezes harder. Kiana squeezes back, smiling easily. 

“No, of course not. I think it was a reflex, because I was touching her mouth.”

“...why were you touching her mouth?”

“To check if she’s a vampire,” Kiana answers like it’s obvious and straightforward and not at all invasive. Maybe Fu Hua has earned avoiding their little group for a few weeks. If she wasn’t holding hands with her girlfriend, Mei would use them to facepalm. As it stands, she has to make do with a pained sigh.

“Did she give you permission to tell me?”

Kiana freezes up, using all her brain processing power to search up their conversation. Mei waits patiently, until her girlfriend’s expression turns sheepish. “I did say I wouldn’t tell on her…” She looks away. “But I didn’t mean you. Ugh. I hope she’s not going to be mad.” 

Mei smiles indulgently. Her girlfriend… her strong, kind, impulsive girlfriend… may or may not be a himbo. 

“I assume that mysterious package was blood then?” It’s a relief that Fu Hua doesn’t secretly hate her cooking. Mei likes to think of feeding others as a way to show she cares about them… constantly failing to live up to the tastes of a dear friend would be awful.

Kiana nods, snapping to attention again like she suddenly remembered something grave. “Right. Yeah. It was. Mei it’s awful.”

“What is it?”

“ She’s planning to starve herself all month. ”

Kiana quickly catches her up on their Class Monitor’s side of the story. Oh dear. No wonder she couldn’t help but show fangs when Kiana barged into her personal space.

Mei isn’t a full time vampire— the longest she’s spent being a blood drinking menace was back in Nagazora. She’d… given in to the hateful, hungry voice, and most of their classmates had been drained dry by the time she caught herself having regrets. If it wasn’t for Kiana… 

The vampire is still there, curled deep inside her mind. She is satiated for now, she explained once, and though she calls Mei a coward she hasn’t forced her to drink more than her fill. Only when I use up too much of my power, we need to do this again.

Major Himeko explained to her that this is a unique trait of spontaneous, first generation vampires— the most powerful, and most stable of them all. Unlike regular vampires, who degenerate over time and need blood frequently, so long as her power remains dormant, she can live normally, because simply living does not expand it. Regular vampires need to fight and find blood to sustain themselves, just to stay alive. Mei is simply meant to be.

It feels selfish. Mei doesn’t prefer the alternative, of course —she would not want to have to hurt more people than she already has— but she remembers Nagazora, she remembers Kiana selflessly offering her wrist, and she doesn’t wish on anyone to go through the horror show of a vampire’s thirst every day of their life, alone.

Her heart aches for Fu Hua. How long has she been getting by with thawed blood from her fridge? That can’t soothe her thirst completely. Mei has tried drinking from a blood bag once:, it doesn’t nourish well  and it lacks everything that makes drinking from a person appealing.

Mei’s thoughts quickly derail from appealing onwards, and she blushes. Hm. Hmm. She shouldn’t bite Kiana just to hear the sounds her girlfriend makes when she does that. It’s trivializing. Bad horny Mei brain. Bad.

Kiana tugs on Mei’s hands, cocky grin indicating that she suspects the exact kind of thoughts Mei is having. Mei looks away. “We… Class Monitor… at least shouldn’t need to go through that alone…” she mumbles, but the solution is obvious. Now that they know she needs it, it would be easy to feed Fu Hua directly. All they’d need would be some privacy.

“Yeah, I offered to let her drink from me but she threw me out the window again,” Kiana notes like she hasn’t been thrown out the same window twice in about a week.

“She better not touch what’s mine,” Mei growls suddenly.

Kiana tenses, but doesn’t let go of her hands, nor does she stop smiling. “Hello there, vampire Mei.” Pink eyes have taken over purple without warning. They blaze with annoyance. “If she needs help, I should give it, shouldn’t I?”

Mei wrestles to try and regain control of her body, but the vampire persona isn’t done yet. “No. Not on my watch. You are mine.” She pushes Kiana back on the bed. Her adorable yelp is overcome by the sound of Mei shifting to hover over her on all four. “I am not allowing this. A rookie vampire would drain you dry without a second thought.”

“Aww, you’re worried about me?” Kiana asks cheekily. Kiana doesn’t fear her. Never has. The vampire grits her teeth, but doesn’t let her fangs unsheathe. She has no need for Kiana’s blood right now.

Kiana is stubborn, her human self reasons. She has momentarily stopped trying to regain control. Curious. She’s not going to stop trying to help.

Displeased scowl. Unfortunately Mei is right. She knows this. But she doesn’t like losing control of what’s hers. Kiana is… precious. Makes her soft in a way she doesn’t have any right to be. She doesn’t want Kiana to risk her life without permission. 

Fu Hua… the vampire side of Mei hasn’t spent time with her like she has with Kiana, but she’s watched, half asleep in Mei’s mind. Sometimes aloof, but a nice person. Competent. Strong.  An edge of danger that Mei herself doesn’t perceive… only partly explained by this new revelation. 

Kiana wiggles under her hold, but the vampire only tightens it. Not enough to hurt, but enough to still her girlfriend. Not-Quite-Mei lowers herself to whisper in Kiana’s ear.

“You will have to let me watch.” 

Kiana shivers. Mei’s lips smirk. “I will not let what’s mine be taken… but I can lend you out if I so desire.” Kiana’s cheeks contrast deeply with her hair now, a nice pink glow as she watches Mei hungrily. The vampire is satisfied.

Perhaps she is greedy, but this time, Mei doesn’t protest.

Chapter Text

Of course, she’s not allowed to drink from humans.

Hua didn’t try to fight when the rescue team came. She thought of burying the fallen members of her squad— but there was hardly more than ashes left, already scattered by the winds ripping through the newburned wasteland. 

Seeing that she hadn’t lost her mind immediately, instead of ordering her execution, Dr. Mei said “Interesting.” Then she had her locked up in observation. It’s been a week now. 

Dr. Mei told Hua her body isn’t breaking down as quickly as it should. She provides blood bags for Hua to drink from, and she’s still alive, she’s still Hua, not turning into a deformed mindless monster yet, but the blood bags barely help the thirst clawing at her mind. They taste… dead.

Still, Hua won’t let herself fall. She hasn’t attacked anyone, no matter how the strange, mocking voice tempts her, and she won’t.

How would it feel to drink from a human, though?

...Captain Himeko looked like she was enjoying herself.

Fu Hua jolts awake.

The dream disoriented her, but only for a second. She is in her room at St Freya’s. There’s a blanket over her. A heavy weight on her midsection. She feels a pillow against her cheek. The mattress dips under her back.

Hold on. Weight?

Fu Hua struggles to open her eyelids, still groggy from sleep. There is a shape hovering over her. Sitting? On her? 

An attacker?

Hua immediately goes into fight mode and flips them around. A mere human’s weight is nothing to her, no matter how well endowed. She captures the assailant’s wrists and slams them on the mattress.

Only then does Fu Hua recognize Kiana.

She furrows her brows, confused. Tentatively relaxes her grip. “What… are you doing here?”

Kiana looks a little dazed, which is fair, because her world went on its head in about point two seconds when Fu Hua flipped out. 

“Ah— I’m sorry—“ This isn’t Kiana’s voice. It’s not coming from Kiana. It’s coming from somewhere else in the room— Mei. She’s rushing to the bed from the door, dim-lit face darkened with embarrassment. “Kiana, we definitely need more… forethought than this.” She sounds somewhat defeated. 

You have Kiana at your mercy, a smug tempter notes in the back of Hua’s mind. You’re almost there. Just some nibbling left to do. Hua focuses on Mei to ignore it better. “Are we being attacked?” she asks, trying to will the sleep out of her voice, because she can’t find another reason for the two of them to barge into her room at— she glances at the clock— half past one am. 

“No, we’re not.” Mei raises her hand in a calming gesture. “Everything is alright.”

Hua is holding down her girlfriend with her thighs, but if Mei is alright with that, she supposes she’s not going to complain. Then, as if sensing that she is being thought about, Kiana wriggles. “So are you going to drink or nah?”

Hua dashes away like she’s been burned, freeing the white haired girl. “I wouldn’t— I apologize for tackling you. I didn’t recognize you.” At least in the dark her blazing cheeks won’t be as obvious.

“Oh I didn’t mind,” Kiana answers cheekily. She lazily sits up from where Hua had thrown her down on the bed. 

Mei glances between them and sighs. Hold on. Drink?

Ah. Kiana must have told Mei about the vampire thing. She didn’t tick about the drinking comment. Fu Hua files away this new addition to the suddenly growing list of people who know of her condition. Now… why are they here? She rubs her eyes, trying to otherwise analyse the situation. It can’t be official business. Maybe it has something to do with her condition? Despite the wide difference between their circumstances, did Mei want to talk about shared experiences…? No, it doesn’t sound like it. Why would they come by in the middle of the night then.

“Kiana… let’s leave for now,” Mei says softly, but firmly. “We all need to sleep. We have class tomorrow.” (Her cheeks are a bright pink that sometimes matches her eyes, but not tonight.) Kiana looks like she’s about to protest, but a silent conversation Fu Hua can’t perceive takes place and she relents. 

(What do the lovebirds sing with their eyes?)

Kiana hops off Hua’s bed and jokingly salutes her on her way out, giving no explanation. “Till next time, Class Monitor!”

And then they’re gone, leaving Fu Hua incredibly confused in the middle of messed up bed sheets.

Well, that was weird. Hua replays the scene in her head, but a yawn interrupts her thoughts. She might as well sleep. She needs more rest than usual.

Hua will almost forget the entire bizarre encounter, too tired to attempt to make sense of it. Perhaps it was only another dream. 

Still. Even though she had only laid there a few minutes, Hua will catch the ghost of Kiana’s scent on her sheets until she caves in and changes them.

Nagazora is still as Mei left it years ago: in ruins.

Theresa huffs. There are many vampires roaming around still, but they’re no match against an S-rank Valkyrie, even if she came here alone.

She puts the remaining zombies to rest one by one, but that particular crowd has thinned out. There isn’t much prey to be found for the mindless monsters, and without a nearby energy source, or at least a population to help them propagate, their numbers naturally decrease along the degeneration’s progress. Since there is a large quarantine area around Nagazora, there shouldn’t be any new blood in the area, besides, well, herself.

No, the majority of the hostile population, rather, is vampire beasts by now. Small ones, for the most part…

The sky is cloudy today. Heavy. The crumbling buildings are dusty, smashed plaster and concrete crumbs, it feels like the ghost city is slowly diluting into cold ashes.

There have been rumors of an Emperor-class vampire beast lurking in Nagazora— and it’s up to Theresa to find and defeat it.

Vampire beasts are monsters who were human, once. First, bitten, they lost their mind, becoming zombies. Then they lost their body to the corruptive power of the vampire plague.

Emperor-class beasts are those who, over time, consumed enough blood to grow monstrous in size, shape, and power. They always seek more, preying on humans and never even hesitating to cannibalize their fellow infected, whether they be at the zombie stage or also lost their human shape. The stronger they grow, the farther they can be expected to travel, too, which increases the danger they pose… and the one that has been detected in Nagazora appears to be quite powerful.

In short, vampire beasts are bad news, so Teriteri is here to bring good news home!

Her search so far hasn’t been fruitful, though. Every day she runs around the city, watching her supplies dwindle, and yells at the empty sky that she’s terribly bored. She’s sure her favorite manga has already updated, but there isn’t enough signal in the ruined city to load images. Needless to say, her mood has been steadily souring!

She already went back to St Freya once to replenish her food supplies (and eat with her family), but since she still hadn’t found the beast, she couldn’t afford to stay too long. Ah, she misses Himeko’s little pack of feral girls. Life is never boring when there is a Himeko to complain to, a Bronya to play with, a Mei to devour the cooking of, a Fu Hua to rely on, a Kiana to scold for skipping classes while she’s not home … 

Theresa sighs and starts humming a popular tune to kick out the glum thoughts. Beasts are mindless, yet this one must be purposefully avoiding her. Theresa’s found traces, but each time the trail is cold. Chilling. It could be… something more than an Emperor-class. Something both monstrous and sapient is always something worse. 

(It can’t be a ghost right? It can’t be a ghost? Perhaps it’s ridiculous for a vampire hunter to be put off by ghosts, but Theresa can’t help it. She’s the ghost of a long gone girl, after all.)

...

She told everyone she’d handle this beast alone, so that’s what she’s going to do. She’s an S-rank valkyrie! Theresa doesn’t need no help to hunt down a single sneaky monster! 

But still. The empty city is… spooky. There is death everywhere here, and coms frequently cut because of the damaged lines.

Unfortunately… Schicksal can’t afford to risk sending a full search team, so she’s going to have to suck it up. 

See, this was supposed to be a quick and easy job! But now? If the beast is smart enough to avoid Teri, it might also be clever enough to prey and pick off weaker team members… at worse, it could be a Gesegnet posing as a simple beast. Gesegnet, vampire progenitor, vampire lord, whatever you want to call it, that would be above Theresa’s paygrade, but it’s very very unlikely. They’re all accounted for or long dead— she even saw Mei just a few days ago. So this is just a sneaky sneaky mindless beast. Right?

These are all things Theresa repeats to herself over and over, to ward off the chill of dread in her gut. She doesn’t feel like she's being hunted or tricked— it’s more akin to being on the edge of a precipice, about to experience a brutal change in gravity…

“Why did you barge into her room like that?!” 

Initially, Kiana and Mei hadn’t meant to stay up until one am chatting. This happens sometimes, though, it’s no big deal to lose track of time. Mei won’t blame Kiana for it, because it was equally her fault. But.

When Mei suggested to finally sleep, Kiana declared Fu Hua’s thirst issue urgent, saying it like she’d forgotten to brush her teeth before bed, and then she rushed off to burst into the poor class monitor’s bedroom by breaking in through the kitchen window . Mei almost had a heart attack. So she feels vindicated about being a little upset with her girlfriend right now.

Kiana pouts. “It didn’t work before because she was all shy and threw me out the window… I thought she might say yes this time. I mean, I get peckish around midnight a lot.”

They have snuck back to Mei’s room now. Thankfully Himeko is still out drinking. Mei presses her fingers to the bridge of her nose. Heavens help her, her girlfriend is a dumbass. 

Yet Kiana gives a cheeky grin and Mei’s annoyance melts like butter on a pan. She can’t help but smile back. She loves this girl so much.

“We are going to help the class monitor,” Mei affirms, and the vampire’s voice grumbles in the back of her mind. “But we are going to do this safely. We’re doing this right this time.“

Kiana’s expression suddenly changes to a concerned, almost imploring one. “...’right’?” 

“I was going to find you somewhere comfortable to lie down.” Mei frowns in confusion from her girlfriend’s reaction, but she keeps explaining. “I don’t think infection will be an issue but we should keep first aid supply nearby. Something for blood to drip on…” What’s bothering Kiana? Why is her face falling in guilt?

“We never did all that before.” It’s much clearer when Kiana asks in a tiny voice, “is it because you feel bad about how we do things…?” 

“How we do things..?”

Mei has bitten Kiana since the period after they first met… but she hasn’t drunk her blood very much, and only a little if so. With her vampire side contained, there hasn’t been any need for blood. Mei would rather not deprive Kiana carelessly.

...so Kiana must be remembering Nagazora, specifically. 

“Yes?” Mei answers honestly. She takes Kiana’s hands in hers, entwines their fingers. She tries to let softness flow abundantly in her voice. “We couldn’t do anything safe while running for our lives. I caused undue risk to your health. I have to do better now.”

And hearing that, Kiana pours all her love in the hug that suddenly crashes into Mei. “I’m okay,” her girlfriend tells her, “I’m okay , so don’t you dare feel bad for drinking my blood again.”

Mei brings up a hand to pet her girlfriend’s hair. “I know you’re okay. I just want you to stay safe and healthy.” Kiana doesn’t loosen her grip, though. What’s wrong? The question ticks over and over in Mei’s mind like a time bomb.

“What we did wasn’t wrong,” Kiana says fiercely, “it was ours. You needed it. I offered. I never hated it. Don’t you dare feel bad.”

And then Mei remembers: I put you in danger. I’m sorry you had to indulge a monster, but you won’t need to anymore .

This is what Mei had said before she jumped.

And today she could say: You don’t have to worry, that wasn’t me, that was the monster regretting itself for the love of you.

But that would be a lie, because the monster in Mei’s soul speaks with her own voice, and she talks of wants Mei dares not speak of.

Impulses do not a person or a monster make. One should argue that the battle against them demonstrates one’s honor or morality. Mei did not then, but she understands that now, with her feet firmly planted on the ground.

So, though her eyes were pink then, Mei, the “human” Mei, will also take responsibility for this scar. She kisses Kiana’s brow. “Yes,” she says, and she kisses again a little higher. “Anything you want.” She wants to blow the smoke of fear constricting Kiana’s lungs away. “I won’t feel bad.” She wants to tell Kiana she taught Mei how to love herself. How could she not, when she sees the adoration in those blue eyes every day? She wants to tell Kiana that she’s here for her, that she won’t burden her girlfriend with her fears anymore, that she’s going to live fiercely by her side forever, but she doesn’t know how to speak those words, so she peppers kisses on Kiana’s face until they hear Himeko stumble back home.

“I don’t regret a single second I spent with you,” Mei manages to hush before Kiana lets go of her to deal with their guardian. “I love you,” she continues when Kiana is halfway out the door.

Kiana flushes and says it back, appeased.

Chapter Text

“Fascinating.”

Fu Hua stays silent. Himeko’s death replays in her mind constantly. She knows who gave Kevin the order. She seethes against them both.

“After the Gesegnet’s intervention, her degenerescence has slowed. If the blood intake offset is consistent with the previous results...” She mumbles under Kevin’s watchful eye. He doesn’t trust Hua.

Dr. Mei has been poking and prodding at her for the past couple hours. All Hua wants to do is fight or sleep, but she doesn’t let herself fidget. “Will I be able to go back to the battlefield?”

Dr. Mei’s attention slithers off her clipboard a moment. “We will do some adjustments. But yes. At this rate you will be off probation soon. Congratulations.”

Surely it can’t be bile in a vampire’s throat. 

Fu Hua’s feeling more woozy these days. It’s been over a week and a half since she’s started rationing, she’s not halfway to the next shipment yet, but there is a haze weighing on her thoughts, past thirsty right into tired. She’s gone longer without enough blood, she knows it’ll pass, but for now she feels exhausted as her body slowly realizes it should go on low power mode.

She reluctantly puts down her phone, rubbing her eyes. The Whale Killer is going to have to take a break from gaming. Her playstyle is suffering.

Why don’t you go out and look for a snack? Hua flops down on her bed. Hey, hey, go outside, find someone to eat. She’s growing annoyed with staying cooped up in one place with no distractions but the virtual world isn’t helping right now. You know you should find fresh blood. She might as well just rest. You want to sink your fangs in someone’s throat. She could meditate. Don’t you hate it here? She’s already done that today, but there’s no harm in doing it again. At least step outside. Healthy mind in a healthy body.

She doesn’t move from her spot. 

She wants to, but she’s tired. She can’t bring herself to. The nagging voice won’t shut up, and there’s nothing to quiet her thoughts if playing isn’t working. 

Normally she would be fine with staying quiet and calm somewhere. Why isn’t she fine with that anymore? What changed? Is it her injury? Is it the excitement of the modern age? Perhaps she can never come back to only books and fresh air after so much free stimulation. Concerning. She tries to center herself, but the restlessness tugs at her mind with insistence, and all she achieves is failing to drill a hole in the mortar of the ceiling with her glare.

...staring at the ceiling brings back half-remembered unpleasantness. She can’t recall what it’s reminding her of, but it must have been a terrible memory.

She could just go to sleep. That would be reasonable. But the restlessness is why she was trying to play a game in the first place. She never remembers her dreams, but they’re… not fun, either. They leave a forlorn taste in her mouth when she wakes, and she’s having enough depresso having to self quarantine.

Just go outside, a little voice singsongs, it’s late out, chances are you won’t bump into anybody on campus.

...fine.

Hua won’t make a habit of listening to this little voice, but she knows, deep down— someone told her long, long ago— it is not “evil”. 

Wants and needs, unfiltered, that is all the monster with her own voice is. Some of these desires are foreign and unreasonable and must be stomped down; but it is not evil to think or want things. So she gets dressed, keeping an envious eye on the moon. She almost forgets her glasses— she’d taken them off to play in the dark. That wouldn’t do. What if there’s an emergency while she’s out?

You couldn’t do a lot like this. What’s wrong with taking care of your strength so you can save more people?

Hua groans at the mirror (wouldn’t it be really funny if she couldn’t see herself in it?). Why are you only reasonable in times like these? she asks. She doesn’t expect an answer, but it comes anyway.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. There is a distinct smug feeling. Now go outside and touch some grass.

Kiana knows she looks good in the moonlight. How does she know? Mei is looking at her like she’s a cooking show dish on TV, that’s how. Brilliant, hot, and appetizing.

Mei is gorgeous, too. Well, isn’t she always? But she’s particularly beautiful when the lights are low, and the moon threads her fingers through her dark hair. The night gives everything a sense of secrecy.  It makes Kiana want to wrap her arms around her and never let go.

The two of them are definitely not supposed to be outside at this hour, but what could possibly happen? Bumping into a crazy vampire in the middle of St Freya?

Then she notices Fu Hua petting the lawn, and nevermind, she jinxed it.

She puts a finger over her lips, winking at Mei. Her girlfriend rolls her eyes, an indulgent smile on her pink lips, and Kiana wants to kiss them. Later. There will be plenty of time.

A MASTER OF STEALTH. She’s so glad she’s taken her old shoes instead of the newer ones, those would have squeaked. She creeps up behind the vampire, a dark ballerina, a shadow of the night, a class monitor slayer hidden in the twilight roses—

“Good evening, Kiana.”

Dammit. Kiana drops all pretenses of being discreet and pouts. “You take all the fun out of it.”

Fu Hua stands from where she was… caressing the grass. She bumps her glasses up her nose, somehow making them flash like an anime nerd. “I would have heard you even if you weren’t humming the Mission Impossible theme.”

Kiana goes humpf, but Mei chuckles in her fist behind them, so she can’t possibly stay mad.

“Good evening to you too, Mei.” Hua pats down her spotless pants for imaginary dust. She’s neglected to tie her hair again, and it sprays down her back with the memory of her usual hair decoration. “Nevermind this. Why are you two outside?” There goes the Class Monitor they know and love. “It’s past curfew.”

“Why are you ?”

She might have fooled Kiana if she’d been fast enough, but Fu Hua answers a second too late. “...patrolling,” she hazards. Flimsy excuse! Flimsy excuse! “I’ll escort you two back to the dorms.”

“Aww, come on. We’re not done with our date!”

“I’m not planning to report you, but you should still go back inside.” Always so responsible.

And Mei chooses then to step forward and save the day. “Hold on. We needed to talk to you, if that’s alright.” Mei, I love you! Always so dependable.

And it works. Fu Hua pauses. Kiana can just tell what the Class Monitor’s thinking: Mei’s not the crazy one, so this must be important. But who was petting grass? Who?!

“...go on,” the class monitor says cautiously, crossing her arms.

Mei takes Kiana’s wrist to tug her closer, like she’s afraid the wind might hear the three of them speak. “You’re out of blood because of Kiana, yes?”

Fu Hua’s face twists, but Kiana can’t tell why. Her expression’s half hidden by shadows and her glasses. “I don’t blame her. I had plenty of opportunity to fix my oversight before it was too late. It was my mistake.” She tilts her head towards the white-haired girl. “I won’t be losing my mind anytime soon, and I won’t attack anyone. There is no need to be concerned. Please trust me to handle this.”

That flat declaration makes Kiana’s stomach churn. Of course losing one’s mind is a possibility, but that wasn’t what she was thinking of when working the plan out with Mei. She wasn’t thinking Fu Hua will lose control and attack the school. She was thinking she’s in pain and honestly blood drinking’s kinda hot and I want to help her. But now Fu Hua is trying to reassure Kiana. Hua must think… Hua must think Kiana and Mei believe she’s a threat. Did she come to the conclusion that she’d lost their trust? Is this why she never talks about her condition? Because she doesn’t want to be treated as a liability? 

Is she actually risking her sanity because of Kiana’s rashness?

Now Kiana feels terrible. She’s been taking this issue too lightly because Mei was perfectly fine, running from zombies aside. But Mei is special. Mei was never bitten or turned. As a Gesegnet Mei is meant to be what she is. Mei didn’t give up anything, as much as she was driven to take. 

Fu Hua… she was bitten some time ago (how long ago?) and had her humanity stolen from her… her ability to be a person threatened. That must have been awful. That must be awful. Fuck, Kiana’s an asshole. She probably feels terrible about needing to drink blood at all!

She doesn’t know what Hua reads on her face, but her senior steps forward and puts a hand on her shoulder. Squeezes. “Kiana, you’re very kind.” Mei bumps her shoulder with her girlfriend’s, but she doesn’t say anything. “You are reckless, brash, and childish—” Hey! “—but you’re very kind, and I appreciate that you care.” Kiana lifts her gaze, and her eyes land on Fu Hua’s lips. They are smiling slightly. “I’ve made peace with this… state of mine. It’s troublesome, but I’ve had it for a very long time, and I can’t change it. I appreciate that you care, but don’t pity me, and trust me to know how to deal with it.”

Kiana nods slowly. Fu Hua lets go and steps back, a little farther than she normally would, but Kiana figures she doesn’t want to tempt herself.

“...but, Class Monitor,” Kiana mumbles, “can’t you accept help if it’s freely offered?”

Fu Hua crosses her arms. “Only if I need it.”

“Don’t you?”

Hua hesitates. Her hair slips from behind her ear when she looks away, and it covers her face more, blocking Kiana from seeing her expression. “I’ll think about it,” she says at last. “And only if it doesn’t burden you.”

Kiana grins. “No, I always thought it was kinda hot.”

Fu Hua’s full attention snaps back to her. Red creeps up her cheeks. “...what.”

“I said—” Kiana’s voice is muffled by Mei’s warm hand on her mouth.

Mei is vibrating with nervous, embarrassed energy, blushing to the roots of her hair. “Kiana!”

“Hmpf!” Kiana snickers despite the blockade. She cups Mei’s hand with hers and closes her eyes to kiss it. Mei is probably going to combust. Good.

When Kiana opens her eyes again, she gently pries Mei’s censoring hand off her mouth. She’s still flushed, but her purple eyes are smiling, amused and forgiving. This is good, Kiana thinks, and all she ever wants. The people around her, precious to her, smiling and safe and comfortable with her. She doesn’t need anything more than that. She’s overwhelmed by a wave of fondness, and she almost wants to catch Mei’s hand against her face again, to lean into it, sink into it. Maybe later. Mei needs a little bit of space to calm down. She’s slapped her hands on her cheeks to cool them, grumbling.

Kiana’s blue eyes wander away, and land on her class monitor: Fu Hua’s keeping herself at a distance (Kiana’s heart aches briefly), but she’s watching them quietly.

It seems Fu Hua can’t help but beam at this nonsense. Kiana’s heart skips a beat at the gentle expression.

Kiana has wondered before whether Hua secretly hates her, but now she thinks they must be just as attached to each other: The class monitor wears the fond, indulgent smile like it’s a handmade necklace. Though a little roughly put together, it’s homely. How often has Kiana caught her smiling like this…? She can’t remember another time.

To Kiana it’s better than crown jewels or a river of diamonds. Even if it’s just a smile, it’s something rare, precious, and beautiful. Kiana kind of wants to kiss it too, if it’ll make it stick longer. Kiana thinks, Class Monitor deserves to smile with love every day.

...hm. Kiana’s cheeks feel a little warm. She’s going to need to talk to Mei about that.

Somewhere else, far, far above the earth— as if he believed in Heaven, as if he sought it— a blond man attends to his love.

She sleeps peacefully, in a glass box that protects her from harm. Monitors beep a familiar music. He knows that if he stops moving, and strains his ears against the machines, he will hear her slow, oh so slow breathing.

He tells her idly about his day, like every day that he comes to the room with the sleeping girl. He tells her his darling Theresa has been chasing a mysterious and elusive vampire in the Far East for a couple weeks now, and he’s very proud, especially of how kind Theresa is, like her. She’s strong, stronger than a human, he reminds, because in five hundred years of silence you learn to ramble about the same topics to fill the empty space. It took a lot of work, and hundreds of failures, but he’s stripped her clean from the vampiric infection, retaining only benefits. Of course, there’s the issue of her halted aging, but he barely considers it a flaw. His cute granddaughter is doing just fine, even if she will always be quite short. Yes, truly, that success forty-four years ago was one of the most encouraging of his research.

Kallen doesn’t even twitch, but Otto expects that. She cannot hear him. She is dreaming deeply, and has been for the past five hundred years. 

She looks exactly the same as when she fell asleep. His beautiful Kallen, long eyelashes, smooth skin, carefully brushed white hair next to her shoulder. Of course, he has changed her clothes, since those do suffer the passage of time. Kallen wears a modest hospital gown now, but her body has not changed and she has not aged, and so he could pretend that she looked at him gently just yesterday.

Otto is struck with the sudden need to contemplate her, his reason for living. Ah, his chest ached briefly. How curious. “I will find a way to turn you back,” he swears, like he has sworn a hundred times in a hundred days. “I promised that I wouldn’t let you become a monster. You will be human again.”

She doesn’t react to this declaration. She’s heard it before. She knows, and she has faith in him. That is why she sleeps. She always refused to satiate her thirst at all, kind Kallen, foolishly kind Kallen. He would have let her drink from him, given her his whole body and more, but even parched as she was, she refused even a single drop until she collapsed.

Would she have fallen if there had not been people to save..? If she hadn’t exhausted herself to rescue the foolish people who came to cheer for a vampire’s death, an innocent’s murder? Gentle, kind Kallen, always putting others first… 

...could he have convinced her to care for herself with more time? 

Fierce, stubborn Kallen, refusing sustenance even freely offered. Refusing freedom even the day of her execution. Standing together with all her choices, even if it kills her.

Fondness washes over him, but there is more. He refuses to call it anger. He is not angry with her. He admires her dedication, her sense of honor. He loves every facet of her… but he would have loved her even if she had become a monster. 

“Otto. I am still myself… I can still help people, but when I lose my mind, kill me. End my life before I hurt anyone. I would rather die.”

Oh, perhaps this would have been the one promise he could never keep to her. He would have stood by her side even if she set the world ablaze.

The memories wane off until Otto’s mine turns blank. Melancholy. He exhales, to breathe it out of him. Melancholy is unhelpful.

“It’s curious that Theresa’s aging stopped at twelve,” he tells Kallen nonchalantly, finishing his routine check on her vital signs. He could do it in his sleep. “I would have expected her to reach your age and stop. Perhaps blocking the expression of vampire RNA also blocked her puberty?”

Kallen doesn’t answer. She only breathes, and dreams.

“It makes me worry about what other side effects you would suffer,” he continues. His concern is mild, because it is something he has mused hundreds of times, but the perspective of Kallen suffering is always disheartening. She deserves better than the hardships of mortal or even immortal life. She deserves a painless existence.

There have been hundreds of visits and days that have been exactly like this one. Repeating himself bears no consequences. 

“Theresa does need to eat food like a human. I don’t like the idea that you could possibly starve. She heals only slightly faster than a human would, it’s nothing like Fu Hua used to be capable of. You were always so endearingly reckless. I can’t bear the thought of you getting hurt anymore.”

He sighs, a soft smile gracing his implacable lips.

“But I know you, you wouldn’t care about all that.” Does he even remember what she was like anymore? Or is his image of her only constructed from warm dreams? “You never cared about being hurt. You even told the church you were glad that this vampire girl did what she did to you, because it let you save more people.”

It leaves an angry, bitter taste in his mouth.

“You are so kind, Kallen. I could never forgive her.”

Chapter Text

There are many things Hua doesn’t remember when she is awake. 

Major Himeko, the human one, the kind one who looks after Kiana and Bronya and Mei— she’s always been familiar, but the reasons why have been lost to the haze of time. What’s in a name? What’s in a voice? People in her memory survive as concepts and feelings, because everything decays but her beating heart.

Her dreams, though, her dreams remember. A silhouette stands with her back to Hua, loose red hair all the way down her back, not at all how the present Himeko wears it. She wants to speak with her again. Ask her why you and why me and tell her I miss you and I couldn’t be good like you were to me and I’ve lost everything too many times.

Hua reaches out her hand, before her mentor can be swallowed by unreality again.

The dream suddenly swallows Hua whole, dread black and thick, inky. She is surrounded by it. It clings to her body, pours through her nose, burns her eyes— she flails wildly, forgetting how to swim. 

Miraculously, she emerges above the black sea. The sky, too, is dark, but red flames coat the horizon, very far away. She opens her mouth to scream, but the ink flows into her mouth to choke her from the inside, dissolve her in itself, and she sinks again—

She opens her eyes to a different scene, much more familiar. Flaming eyes, red hair, blood coating everything. 

Fu Hua is exhausted. She’s been desperately hanging onto her sanity for weeks— there’s something she needs, something a hungry voice screams for, but she doesn’t know what it is. The packaged blood Dr. Mei gives her isn’t enough.

She’s been carefully monitored by MOTH, constantly parched yet coherent and alive. She hears the specters of beeps even now, when the fire roars. 

Dr Mei lied and told her they might find a way to turn her back into a human, since she is doing so well. Fu Hua knows better, but she understands, she thinks. Dr. Mei wants her to have hope and hang on as long as possible. Hua’s already lucky not to have turned into a blood crazed zombie as soon as she was bitten. Right?

Tonight she is making herself useful. Bait. She stands in a plain of ashes, facing the red haired witch, feeling dazed, though whether it’s from seeing the sky for the first time in weeks, or from seeing Captain Himeko, she’s not quite certain.

“Sugar, what did they do to you?” She doesn’t say “What have I done to you?”, but Hua knows Himeko thinks it.

This Himeko sounds off, the dreamer thinks dimly. Perhaps the flames burnt the Captain’s burdens away, or perhaps Hua’s starting to conflate her with someone else. “Come give mama a kiss.” 

Regardless of the accuracy of this memory— Fu Hua knows she stepped forward, because she finds herself suddenly closer. The voice in her head purrs. 

The Himeko from long, long ago embraces her. “There, there. I’m sorry, I left you behind, didn’t I?” A warm hand pets Hua’s hair, affectionate. She doesn’t remember if that really happened anymore, but this is how she dreams of it. The warmth of the fire molting to a warmth of love before ice-cold shards brutally take it away.

But that is not yet, she knows. She has a few precious minutes where she can pretend everything will be alright. “Captain, you’re still… you?” Her younger voice is surprised, relieved. She hasn’t lost hope yet; she’s still a moth chasing a flame.

“Mhm.” Himeko acquiesces. “It took me some time to regain my mind. I… killed people. I’m so sorry.” Fu Hua no longer feels exhausted, supported by the strongest woman she knows. “Come on. I know you want it. It’ll help.”

“What..?”

“It’s my blood you need, sugar. Just this once.” She tilts her head away, freeing access to her neck. Fu Hua doesn’t have time to think this is wrong. The voice in her head breaks through, and within the very same moment her fangs are burrowed in her maker’s neck.

She expects her captain to taste like the burning pain of her rebirth, but she’s completely wrong. There are no raging flames in Captain Himeko’s blood. There is sorrow and warmth and determination, just like Hua’s always known her. There is some peace, too, and when Himeko gently pushes her away and wipes the dribbling blood from her junior's dazed lip, she smiles gently. “There. All better, yes?”

She’s right. For the first time in weeks, the thirst is gone. Fu Hua nods silently. Even now, disconnected, she feels a gentle warmth, like a hearth in her chest. 

Himeko smiles, and the dream turns to nightmare as it freezes over.

Fu Hua jerks awake.

Her breathing comes in shaking inhales and choking exhales. The ceiling stares, judging her silently, and she forces herself to settle down. Her throat has been hurting terribly, yet the pain pounding in her chest is worse. For an instant she relives the grief like the first day, but the wisps of the dream slip through her fingers, and the next moment she doesn’t know why she’s crying anymore.

A nightmare. Only a nightmare. A particularly vivid one, but only a nightmare.

She sits up, shifting her legs under the soft, fresh sheets. Takes a deep breath. Another. The voice is silent for once. Hua focuses on the waning pain, willing it out of her body with each exhalation, and soon it is gone, just like the dream.

She rubs her sleeve over her eyes to dry the corners of them. What time is it? The clock is a little blurry… it takes her a moment to read that it’s much too early to be awake. Fine then. 

“Am I going to be able to go back to sleep…?” 

She knows from the dull ache in her ribcage that she won’t. She might as well start her day. Throwing her legs off the side of the bed, she mentally picks out clothes to wear. She has class today, so it’s not a difficult choice. Then, she’ll go shower. And then, breakfast.

A few minutes later, she is morosely sucking on a blood bag like it’s a juice box. No straw, though. As usual, while it eases the haze over her thoughts a sliver, it tastes terrible. Maybe she should drink a real juice box after. Human food doesn’t do anything for her, but at least it tastes good. 

When she’s done, she realizes she has well over an hour before everyone is even awake. Hmm… Food. Maybe she could make a real human breakfast? After all, she just ate. The voice is quiet. Since they’re not awake yet, it won’t be as troublesome if she goes to Himeko’s apartment… Kiana did say the little family unit thought she was angry with them… she’s probably cleared it up by now, but actions speak louder than reported words. She can make some food for them. Mei will want to make some as well, but Kiana is voracious enough that a supplementary dish won’t make a difference.

With that decision in mind, she heads off.

Okay, so, maybe Kiana isn’t a master of stealth. 

Besides her failures against Fu Hua (who is a vampire, so maybe that’s just cheating), she ALSO got caught sneaking home last night. Mei said her lucky streak couldn’t last. Himeko said her lucky WHAT, how many times have you done this? and threatened to put a bell collar on her. So maybe. Just maybe. Despite her neko charm, Kiana isn’t a master of stealth. 

She is, however, a master of detecting delicious food smells. She emerges from deep sleep, lured into consciousness by the scent of… something pan fried? Fried dumplings? Yes. She may not be a cook (there is no reason to even specify “good” cook, unless it’s something like toast, if she makes it, it’ll taste awful) but Kiana sure can identify ways to fill her belly.

Her blue eyes snap open with more energy than she truly has. Mouth watering. There’s some noise from the kitchen, the chirr of frying, and a faint roll of drawers opening. Is Mei making fried dumplings? 

It could be Bronya making pelmeni, but Mei is usually the one who cooks around the house. Besides —Kiana strains her ears— Bronya makes more noise when she walks. She’s small, but her steps, supported by metal, are heavier, so if she’s not hearing the cook moving around the kitchen, it must be Mei. 

The thought of Mei in an apron is enough to get her springing out of bed, but what she finds isn’t what she was expecting.

It’s Fu Hua. (Unfortunately not wearing an apron.)

Still unaware of her presence, the class monitor moves to the stove, catching the early morning light from the window. The sun dances on her glasses, which she’s set on her head instead of her nose, and twirls through the edges of her dark hair; she’s smiling again, but it’s an easier, almost domestic smile, and framed by the eastern light, she looks a little like a painting. She’s not frozen in time, though. Her movements around the kitchen are smooth. The various utensils make no noise under her care. Her hands are assured. They lift the cast iron pan off the stove like it weighs nothing at all, pressing a plate over it.

Kiana remains frozen in the threshold, one leg in the air from her interrupted leap forward, until Hua notices her.

“Good morning, Kiana,” she says, low, to avoid waking up any more housemates. The smile fades into something a little more serious, but now that she’s seen it, Kiana still catches its shadow behind the formal mask. It’s… cute. Fu Hua flips the pan so the food she made slides into the plate, and then she sets it down onto the stove again to let it cool down.

Her leg starts aching and Kiana remembers to put her foot back on the floor. It’d be silly to stretch her white pajama shorts. “Hi.”

Hua puts the plate of food down (it is dumplings, there is hope for Kiana’s food detector career yet) and gestures to the table, silently pulling a chair with one hand. “Come here. It’s for you.”

Kiana gasps. “For me?” She almost forgets to keep her voice low, but quiets it in extremis.

“I don’t need to eat food.” Right. Vampire. “Normally, I’d make them for myself… but you’ll enjoy this more than me.”

The fried dumplings look mouth-watering. What a good deal. Kiana is sitting down before she can align another thought, and Hua steps away to lean on the counter, on the other side of the kitchen area.

“How come you know how to cook if you don’t need to then?”

“Someone taught me long ago…” Hua looks at the sky, pensive. “They told me…” She stays silent a long moment, long enough for Kiana to devour two more dumplings. “They told me to keep doing pointless things, if they’ll make me happy.”

“Sho you like cookshing?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” the class monitor chides. Kiana swallows and repeats the question. Tilting it towards the glass of the window, Fu Hua angles her head so she can look at Kiana without dealing with the glare of the sun; she seems to consider the question more deeply than Kiana expected. “The process is tedious, but it can be soothing, too. Besides, I can still taste what I make… blood isn’t always very good. If it’s been infected, or if it's old.” 

Kiana encourages her with a quiet “Oh?” as she polishes the plate. If she’s honest, her memory of the taste of Hua’s dish is a delicious blur, with how focused she’s been on their conversation, but she doesn’t terribly mind.

Hua smiles, just a little. Is it just Kiana or has the class monitor been smiling more, recently? She keeps getting blinded by it. Was she not paying attention? Or is the class monitor just less guarded because she’s hungry?

“How was it?” Hua asks instead of continuing. She retrieves the empty plate and the pan to wash them. She keeps the water flow low, to not make too much noise.

Kiana slips a hand under her pajamas and rubs her belly, an expression of bliss complementing her words. “It was delicious!” Her voice is a stage whisper, because she’d rather not wake Mei before her alarm, but it’s a near thing again. Ah, she should do something nice for Hua now. She slips off the chair just as the class monitor sets everything to dry.

“Do you want to drink somethi—” Fu Hua turns around and almost bumps into Kiana, who stepped much closer than she expected apparently. Aha! 

Does she want to drink something? “Do you ~?” Kiana grins, leaning towards the vampire with no fear. Hua inhales sharply and scrambles to get away, but Kiana has her trapped against the counter. “You made me breakfast, I can be your breakfast.” She winks and lifts a hand to cup Hua’s cheek. It’s reddening at an alarming rate.

“I already ate breakfast,” Fu Hua mumbles, but Kiana notices unsheathed fangs when she speaks.

“Dinner then.” Smooth. Kiana inwardly pats herself on her back. She’s turned the class monitor into an adorable tomato. It would be nice, she thinks, to guide Hua’s head to her neck, feel the class monitor’s nose bump into her skin before her fangs tear into it. It’d be nice to hold her close and safe while she’s desperate, wrap an arm around her waist, and maybe throw a hand over her own mouth so she doesn’t wake anybody with the sounds she’d want to make.

Then Hua pushes her away with surprising strength, and Kiana stumbles backwards. Alright, alright. The fantasy can wait. Mei wanted to watch, anyway, and she’s not up yet.

So Kiana doesn’t try to approach Hua again while she regains her composure. The class monitor coughs into her fist. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Teasing me.” She breathes deep and deliberate, takes another step away. “You’re being reckless. I could actually bite you.”

Kiana blinks. “But I want you to bite me.”

Another rush of red washes over Fu Hua. “I still have spare blood bags. I don’t need to feed on you.”

Kiana pouts. “Don’t lie, they taste like crap. I wouldn’t. It’s just like your old friend said. You should do pointless things that make you happy.” 

Fu Hua crosses her arms, shaking her head. She’s still crimson. “Just… go get ready for class. You’re not dressed.” For a brief moment, Hua sways on her feet, but she recovers quickly.

“Mmm.” Kiana throws her a glance that says this is not over. Fu Hua rolls her eyes. Kiana winks. The class monitor looks away, flushed. Hehe, a victory for Kiana Kaslana.

Fu Hua is gone when Kiana steps back out of her room, but Mei has woken up and gotten ready in the meantime. Kiana hops over to her and kisses her cheek, wrapping her arms around her middle. “Good morning Mei!” She’s chipper, for all that it began early, her morning is starting great.

“Good morning, Kiana.” Mei’s voice is full of fondness, but then it drops lower. “The class monitor was here, wasn’t she?”

“Oh, yep.” Kiana nods. “She made some breakfast but I still have space for what you’re making.”

“Of course you ate it all…” Mei chuckles just as Bronya stumbles through the door, yawning. “Did you talk then?”

“Mhm, yeah. Mostly about food.”

Kiana knows Mei can read between the lines of that one. Bronya’s smart, she’ll probably figure out Hua soonish if she hasn’t already, but Kiana has no reason to make it easier for her. She said she’d keep the secret after all.

Himeko walks in last. “Ohh, that smells great, Mei.” They eat breakfast together, but Kiana finishes her food first. Thirds of Mei’s cooking after already having eaten dumplings would be a little much, even for a Kaslana, so she zones out instead.

Her thoughts soon wander back to vampire Mei’s words when they first discussed the possible arrangement with Fu Hua.

“You will have to let me watch. I will not let what’s mine be taken… but I can lend you out if I so desire.” 

Mei profusely apologized for her vampire persona’s assertiveness afterwards, but Kiana really didn’t mind. It did things to her. Just like how she’d held her down on the bed. Now that she thinks of it, Fu Hua pinned her down on her own bed that one time she snuck into her room. Is that a vampire thing? Pinning prey would be more practical to drink from them so... maybe. It could also just be a dealing-with-Kiana response. 

Would be nice to get pinned again , her brain throws nonchalantly. She can’t help but agree with this particular assessment. It was really nice. Oh, the class monitor will probably do it whenever she actually agrees to drink Kiana’s blood. She doesn’t look like she’d like Kiana squirming. 

“Kiana Idiotka should stop thinking dirty thoughts and go put her shoes on.”

She curls tighter on the cold concrete floor and sighs.

Is there any sense in being here, other than easy prey? 

Easy prey is a good reason. You use up less power to replenish your strength.

She ignores that reasoning. “Better than feeding on innocent humans,” she says aloud. “She would’ve hated that.”

She may be disillusioned with humanity, but for the sake of her love she can hold onto that thought.

...she’s getting thirsty again. Slowly, ever so slowly, she feels some strength return, but it is meager progress.

She stands carefully, wary of having blood rush away from her head all at once to make her dizzy. Alright. Secure and on both feet. 

She first came here because she was inexorably drawn to a burst of energy nearby. Of course, the source is gone now. She knows just enough about her own species to figure out what happened.

The birth of a new “sister” killed almost everything, and replenished much of her own strength all at once, from miles and miles away… enough that she could seek out the source. Heal. Regain more and more power. 

Though… what a grim picture this place paints. All, either dead or contaminated… Was it going to be as bad when she…?

...recently, a short girl has been terrorizing the neighborhood.

She makes large detours to avoid the intruder. There’s no need to confront, though the stranger is slaughtering the monsters in the area with extreme efficiency.

If anything… because it’s been a while… the issue is that this newcomer hasn’t left yet. That may become a problem. Even avoiding getting bitten, the area is still heavy from the energy of a progenitor vampire being born. That's how she is regaining her strength, after all. The short girl could become infected through repeated exposure instead… just from being around her…

...none of her business.

For now it is time to hunt; hunt she will. 

Before, she lured her prey through the stalks of a bamboo forest, or green plains, rocky mountain paths, barely more than a ghastly trap. This place has made her very different, and it is very different too. The abandoned city offers refuge given that you can pry open a lock or bust through a wall, but not much cover in close range, and no real greenery. How strange, truly, have human ways of life become.

This house is not intact; a large hole opens into the street on one side of the room. This is where she snuck in from, and through which she’ll walk back out. The walls are much smoother and compact than they used to build them, somehow. Wood must have fallen out of style in this part of the country.

She hops out onto a terrace and then climbs up to the roof. It will be a good vantage point. Then it’s only a matter of finding and defeating her next meal.

Drinking from a monster isn’t as great as drinking from a human. It works, and it satiates the thirst enough, but it’s nothing compared to…

You remember her taste, and you yearn for her warmth in your arms, even if you know you’ll never feel it again. 

…hunting, she’s hunting. Not pining. Not digging a painful hole into her scars. Her ears twitch.

A noise. Movement. Something large. Close by.

Subconsciously, Yae Sakura licks her lips, and then she leaps into the street onto the back of a giant beast.

Chapter Text

Kevin yanks her off. “What are you doing?!”

Hua almost hisses at him, but she doesn’t. Instead she rubs the blood off her face with her wrist. The zombies taste only a little less dead than what “food” Dr. Mei gives her.

“...”

She doesn’t want to answer him. In fact she doesn’t want to see him at all. But they are comrades in arms, and he was doing his duty. She won’t forgive him or Dr.Mei, but Hua will set aside her anger for the sake of humanity, and work together. So fine. She will answer him.

But what can she say?

This zombie suddenly looked like a snack?

That sounds ridiculous, yet a sliver of extra power courses through her body.

She knows he’s only ever been bitten by syringes. He doesn’t understand. Who does? She’s the only one who was turned properly. She refuses to think of it as loneliness.

“Maybe you should try,” she croaks curtly, licking her lips.

Fu Hua gets cornered by the two girls after class this time. Mei waves at her, and they hang by the door, waiting for everyone else to leave first. 

As the class monitor, Hua sometimes stays behind, to clean up something in the room or talk with the teacher. Not today, though. She’s stalling on purpose, but she’s not naive enough to believe these two aren’t just waiting for her.

“What do you want?” she finally asks when she runs out of things to pretend to be doing. Mei looks up from her phone.

Kiana crosses her arms, grinning widely. “I invited you to dinner didn't I?” She winks. “It’s a date!”

Oh. Oh. Fu Hua’s cheeks redden and she glances at Mei instinctively— is she okay with Kiana’s behavior? 

Mei seems… mildly embarrassed, but Hua can’t detect any hostility. She supposed they’ve talked about it. That reassures her somewhat. The voice in her head is fainter than at the height of thirst, but she hears a smug purr.

“The other night… I said I would think about it,” Hua points out. “Why insist?” She wants to say if you want to get bitten so badly your girlfriend’s right here, isn’t she? but she’s not crude enough for that.

“‘Cause you look like crap.” Kiana points at her with her arms still crossed, unamused. She’s not wrong. Hua struggles to stay awake during morning classes, and her movements are more sluggish, her reflexes slower. “We won’t force you, but…”

Hua shakes her head. “I’m not as tired today.” She’s not lying, but that’s because she gave in and drank one more blood bag than she should today— she went back to her room after visiting. The voice had been begging too loud when Kiana got close. 

This would be a lot easier if she could find some vampires to fight… she could just feed on them… but Otto would get suspicious if she suddenly left St Freya, especially without the people she’s supposed to keep an eye on. She can just endure. Or you could accept their help, foolish girl.

“Class Monitor…” Mei starts, but then she pauses, like she’s not sure what to say to the stubborn line of Fu Hua’s lips. Kiana nudges her in gentle encouragement, and she steps forward. “I would like to help you as well. If you would rather not feed on a human...”

Fu Hua turns her head away. “That makes no difference.” They’ll give up eventually. She wonders if Mei feels misplaced responsibility towards her. They have no way of knowing exactly how long ago Fu Hua was turned… To her knowledge, the Gesegnet hasn’t voluntarily turned anyone who survived, but she could . If she wanted to. 

“...you dare refuse a favor from me, little ant?”

Fu Hua jerks to attention, Mei’s voice having taken a foreign disdainful tone. Her eyes… are slit, and pink.

That’s not good, but nothing she can’t handle.

“It appears so,” Hua answers coolly. The prime vampire’s expression twists, and Kiana puts a hand on Mei’s arm to hold her back. 

Not-Quite-Mei doesn’t mind the gesture at all. She stalks forward, intruding on Hua’s personal space, and grabs the class monitor’s shoulders. “I should teach you your place,” she hisses in Hua’s ear. “If your queen offers you a gift, you should accept it.”

Fu Hua can’t help a dry chuckle. “You call yourself my queen, now?” Her stomach is twisting unpleasantly. She knows she is playing with fire, but nonchalance is a better defense than deference against this controlling entity. 

Kiana is of no help. It seems she doesn’t find anything worth intervening for with what is currently happening. She’s biting her lip, shifting her weight back and forth between her feet, and looking to the side evasively. She might start pretend-innocently hum a tune soon.

Fu Hua pushes against Mei’s chest lightly, but the vampire refuses to budge. If she attacks Mei alone in her injured and weakened state… better talk herself out of this. “Who died and made you queen of my anything?” 

(She knows who died, deep in her heart, but her head doesn’t know anymore, and the words leave her mouth with their wings unhindered by sorrow.)

“I don’t need to kill to teach you manners.” Now Kiana is watching them intently, unable to tear her blue eyes away. Hua feels them burn her skin, just like her cheeks are burning, and then Mei leans against her neck and bites sharply.

Hua didn’t expect her to do that. She makes a strangled noise and pushes Mei away more violently than before, this time successfully, and Mei stumbles back, but she’s smiling. There’s red on her lips. Instead of licking them clean, she passes a thumb over them, spreads the blood like lipstick.

You should take that blood back. Hua slaps a hand over the wound. It stings, pushing away Mei’s fangs tore her skin, but it should heal shortly. It’d take less time if you took what’s offered. Her hand will still come back stained with her own blood, however. She can feel warm liquid dribbling down her neck.

To this, Kiana does react. “Mei stop! Don’t hurt her!” she flails, “she’s already missing blood, you, you shouldn’t drink more…” Mei shushes her by pressing a finger to her mouth. Kiana makes a throaty sound and meets Hua’s eyes helplessly.

Not-Quite-Mei is also watching her. Gauging her. What is she looking for? Somehow it doesn’t feel like she wants Fu Hua to submit. She’s butting heads on purpose, provoking her… Testing Hua’s self-control? Or does she want a fight? Here?

You know it’s not a fight she wants.

“I— need some fresh air,” Hua interrupts curtly. After a second of contemplation the other vampire nods, and Mei’s eyes fade back to purple.

She immediately blushes to the roots of her hair and bows. “I’m so sorry!”

Hua relaxes. Alright. No zombie apocalypse. Mei is back in control. “It’s alright,” she shrugs, and wastes no time booking it for the corridor, but she still hears Kiana’s words—

“Aw, don’t worry, Mei.” Her voice turns cheeky. “That was hot.” Hua buries her face in her clean palm.

Fresh wind washes the uncomfortable warmth from Hua’s face. The sky is bright today. Blue painted with streaks of white, a peaceful sky like she’s seen a thousand thousand times. She stops a moment at the exit of the school building to watch it, let it calm her.

She breathes slowly to center herself. Take the world in, breathe it out. But there are people in the world, you sweet, dangerous thing.

Mei and Kiana are quick to catch up to Fu Hua. She was just going to head outside, but they ask her to come to Himeko’s apartment instead. 

“What for?” You know why. 

“We have first aid supplies,” Mei points out. “We can patch you up and talk…”

They want to take care of you. It’s sweet, a sweet thought, like the flowers’ scents tickling the wind. “Fine.”

The walk back to the dorms is… awkward. Kiana keeps stealing glances, but she doesn’t say anything, and Mei’s shame keeps her mouth shut as well. Hua isn’t upset with her. She’s already accepted her apology.

“What made her angry?” Hua finally asks, deciding that the awkwardness isn’t worth the potential disaster of Mei’s Gesegnet personality deciding to wreck havoc.

“She wasn’t really angry…” Mei answers evasively, a returning pink tint to her cheeks. “Frustrated.”

“Are you also frustrated?” 

“Concerned,” Mei tells her point blank. 

“Me too! You didn’t even break free from Mei right away!” Kiana interjects, sounding like she’s been about to burst. “Usually you’d just suplex whoever pushes you around.”

Fu Hua huffs when she mentally pictures herself suplexing Mei. “You’d let me do that to your girlfriend?”

Kiana pouts and crosses her arms, gaze focused, thinking hard. Uh oh. “As long as she’s okay with it, nothing wrong with a little tussling between friends,” she decretes, “but I’d rather you do it to me. You’d mess up her hair.”

Mei’s puff of laughter almost breaks apart her composure entirely. “Kiana, your hair would also get messed up!”

“She’s right,” Hua agrees, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. “I don’t suplex people half-heartedly.”

“Nu-huh, my braids have seen worse. They’ve lived through Aunt Teri’s training.”

The atmosphere is more relaxed after that, to the point that Hua obediently sits on Mei’s bed to let the girls treat her neck wound without protest. And only then, only then, does she remember why she didn’t want to come here.

The mingling of Kiana and Mei’s scents in this place doesn’t surprise her, but she expected a more orderly state from the room. Mei keeps the place clean, but there are more than a few extra blankets and pillows piled up on her bed, a med kit on the floor, tucked near the wall, and several cheap bath towels like those you might find in a hotel strewn about. The items remind Hua sharply of what these girls have proposed to her. We’re here, might as well take them up on it, right?

She’s certain that Kiana is going to hound her, or Mei is going to remark on the opportunity as she dabs cotton over the cut on her neck, but neither girl says anything but idle chatter.

(It’s a struggle to let Mei lean so close now that the smell of blood hangs in the air, even if it’s her own. But Hua has the patience and control. She won’t bite. She won’t.)

When she’s done, Mei lightly pats Hua’s hair twice. “There. Again… I’m so sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s nothing,” Hua dismisses. She should leave now. The room is cozy. She should leave… Kiana sunk into the pillows next to Hua a few minutes ago, and the vampire thinks she might be taking an impromptu nap until the white haired girl lifts herself on her elbow. 

Hua really should leave now… but she doesn’t move, letting the light aftertouch of Mei’s fingers linger.

“It’s really, really comfy here, really wouldn’t mind getting sucked here,” Kiana says with a smile and wink, unknowingly echoing Hua’s thoughts, before her expression sobers up. “But it’s your choice.”

Fu Hua looks to Mei, who is rearranging the medkit supplies after using them. She meets Hua’s eyes and beams. Though she’s neglected to lick all the blood off her lips, the smile is not aggressive like her vampire personality’s. It’s gentle and warm. She nods, agreeing with Kiana’s words.

This once the voice remains silent. You don’t have anything to say? Hua asks herself, and she hears an echo, something she already knows— in the end it’s your choice. Everyone has made their position clear.

She could simply go on the rest of the month, she realizes. At this point, if she backs off, the two girls will stop insisting about it. If bringing her all the way here doesn’t convince her— nothing will, short of forcing her outright.

Hua passes her tongue behind her teeth. Her canines are partly unsheathed. There’s a dull pain in her neck. It’s as if she’s on the edge of some precipice, toeing the line between stone and sky.

...pointless things that make her happy, uh. 

It’s not the perspective of drinking blood. It’s the service itself that’s making her feel warm. It’s the soft smiles Kiana sends her way. And so she relents. 

“Fine. I’ll drink your blood, Kiana.”

Kiana shoots up, suddenly sporting a large grin. “Really?!”

Recoiling a little, Hua still musters a firm yes.

If Fu Hua didn’t know better she would assume she just gave Kiana her birthday present months in advance. She leaps off the bed and grabs a towel while Mei crawls over to fluff up the nest of pillows she’s prepared. The mattress creaks under the three’s combined weights.

Soon Kiana is lying down, a towel under her head to prevent staining the sheets or her hair (smart, must be Mei’s idea). She’s propped up at a hundred and twenty degree angle, which means Hua is going to have to straddle her.

...who is she kidding, Kiana must be counting on that.

Mei makes no move to leave the room, settling in a plush chair next to the bed instead. Good. Fu Hua asks her, “do you have a way to keep the time?”

Mei nods, waving her phone.

“Don’t let me drink longer than a couple minutes. I will likely lose track of time, so shake my shoulder and I will know to pull away.” Hua takes off her glasses and sets them aside. For now, she’s sitting next to Kiana, their half extended legs parallel to each other. “Shake me if anything seems to go wrong as well. And should I somehow refuse to pull away, you have full permission to hit me until I do.”

“Awww, you care so much,” Kiana coos. She’s really making herself comfortable, snuggling into pillows and blankets like she’s trying to melt into their soft masses.

Mei voices her agreement. “Ready when you are,” she says, finger hovering over her screen to start the timer. Kiana gives a thumbs up as well.

Kiana looks so happy… Hua knows, rationally, she’s done this before, and, ah, visibly enjoyed the experience very much. It’s not like she’s tricking Kiana into something she doesn’t know about, but she still feels kind of bad. Old habits die hard… 

Hua can still back off if she wants. She knows this. She takes a deep breath. She can leave… but she doesn’t want to. Not really. Never really wanted to refuse. Just didn’t think she was allowed to agree… ashamed. 

But even now, she could back away. The knowledge that she can leave makes the experience more appealing, somehow, so she tentatively throws an arm over Kiana’s body and crawls on top of her.

The white haired girl is right underneath now. She’s watching Hua serenely, a grin dancing on her lips, blue eyes playfully enticing her into leaning closer. The vampire isn’t certain about whether she finds her next victim’s complete lack of fear concerning or reassuring.

Fu Hua shuffles her legs over Kiana’s so she’s not twisting awkwardly, and then she lowers her body, leaning on her forearms instead of her hands. Yes, good. Kiana is pleasantly warm against her chest, her belly, her legs— even just this feels somewhat intense, she doesn’t remember the last time she was in such close quarters with someone. She dips her head in the crook of Kiana’s neck. Distantly, she notices Kiana’s breath hitching, a twitch in her chest, but Hua’s getting extremely distracted by her scent, the proximity of her heartbeat. It’s just a little quicker than normal, anticipation but not fear. Unconsciously, she wets her lips. Now bite her. Almost there.

...almost. “Are you still alright with this?” Hua finds her own voice sounds rough, but she needs to ask, who knows how many years of habit tell her even desiring such contact is wrong. Just one last time.

“Yep.” Kiana sounds a little breathless. They’re huddled against one another, Hua can feel the word ripple intimately from where their chests touch.

Alright. Alright.

Hua pushes away her thoughts and nuzzles against Kiana’s neck. Her lips make contact, and it’s… electric, that’s one way to put it. There is slight scarring, she realizes, from having been bitten in the past— nothing that would be visible to the naked eye, but her senses are heightened by her own anticipation and she can feel the irregularity through the lingering kiss to Kiana’s pulse. In truth, she has only stopped moving for a second, but the hyperfocus seems to stretch the moment to thousands of years. 

After millenia, it takes only a split second to dare bite.

Hua’s fangs unsheathed on their own a while ago, and they sink into the pale skin easily, wedging themselves solidly into the pulsing vein. She moves her head slightly to widen the puncture wounds and, when she tastes the first drops of nectar, she retracts her fangs. 

Blood gushes into her welcoming mouth. She drinks like thirst itself, a wanderer stumbling into an oasis after a lost journey through the desert; she drinks and drinks and doesn’t taste metal.

Kiana tastes like strength, like kindness and tenderness, like rage and grief and guilt, and then she tastes like love all over again. It warms Hua through her mouth, sorrow and all, through her own throat, a comfortable heat spreading all throughout her limbs and she presses herself closer to share it. Dimly, she realizes Kiana is holding her, too, grasping just under her shoulders, clutching her closer. Hua’s tongue laps at the wounds and Kiana trembles. There are sounds, but the vampire can’t listen, doesn’t register any of them even as Kiana’s legs tangle with hers.

Then something presses against Fu Hua’s shoulder, shakes it roughly. Her first instinct is to growl. Her first thought is that this must be Mei, and it might have been two minutes already, but it could also be that Kiana’s not doing well and that tears her from the blood haze.

Hua lifts her head to look at Kiana’s face, concern racing with her heart, but Kiana doesn’t look like she’s in pain. Sweat pearls on her forehead, and her cheeks are bright pink, but there’s no pain and no fear and relief crashes into Hua so hard she sags down again. She doesn’t feel like drinking more, but blood beads on Kiana’s neck, so she licks it off. 

Kiana moans and Fu Hua shoots up, suddenly crimson.

“You did great,” Kiana tells her, flushed and panting slightly. Their legs are tangled when Hua helps her sit up, she’s kneeling with one of Kiana’s limbs between her thighs, but Kiana makes no move to free herself on her own. Instead the white haired girl leans forward, still holding the back of Hua’s shirt, and she’s smiling with so much fondness the expression brands itself in Hua’s retinas, she’s smiling so good and her hands trail up Hua’s back and she cups Hua’s face and oh .

Kiana, that’s your own blood you’re going to taste, Hua thinks. The touch of the Kaslana’s lips is soft, and brief, but there’s the ghost of something wet and warm before Kiana pulls away, glancing at something behind Hua.

A weight with Mei’s scent suddenly leans against Hua’s back, a chin settling on her shoulder. The vampire tenses. She feels warm air tickle her throat where the Gesegnet leans, but there is no attack.

Kiana smiles with neither guilt nor fear, and she brings Mei’s hand up against Hua’s chest, twines their fingers together, kisses her knuckles. The soft in-and-out rhythm against Hua’s throat changes, quickens briefly as Mei leans forward, pushing against Hua’s shoulders. What is she…? 

Mei kisses Kiana’s bloodstained lips.

Hua doesn’t have the resolve to look away when Mei’s tongue licks red off her girlfriend inches from her face; she is fascinated. Trapped between the two young women, she feels their movements acutely, their every shudder, like she’s part of what they have, just for now. 

And when Mei is satisfied, fuschia eyes glance to the side to meet Hua’s blue (red?) head on. There is no anger, nor jealousy. Smugness, perhaps. The Gesegnet smirks when she pulls back. She leans her chin on Hua’s shoulder once more, and it suddenly dawns on the dazed girl: Mei knew this might happen. 

The realization stumbles on Hua, the weight of it almost making her dizzy. They’ve talked about it , she remembers thinking faintly. They’ve talked about… me?

It’s surreal. The buzz of drinking blood, the warm bodies on either side of her, she feels completely boneless but very slow, as well. Like the world’s so bright her brain takes some time to process.

Hua realizes she should probably give some kind of reaction, so she leans her forehead against Kiana’s, closing her eyes. That’s about all she can handle right now. Then she hears Kiana chuckle, and the white haired girl leans forward, with equal force, to meet her halfway.

“Thank you,” Hua says, her voice a murmur because she dares not shatter the silence. Mei’s hands reach past her to hold Kiana, trapping Hua between them for good. 

“It’s no problem,” Kiana says.

“Are you feeling alright?” Mei’s voice is low, as well, a little worried.

“Yes.” Kiana sounds suspiciously giddy, but Hua isn’t sure whether it’s the blood loss or… something else that being bitten… or kissed… could have done. “It was really good.” She nuzzles against Hua’s cheek.

Hua is going to catch fucking fire.

“Glad to hear it,” Mei says, and from her voice Hua can tell she must be smiling. “But I could tell.”

“You’re the one who told me not to muffle myself, Mei~”

Mei tenses into Hua’s back, “Only because I was worried you might choke—!”

Hua would very much like to catch on fire now please.

There’s a nasty side of her brain that suggests Kiana is only using her for pleasure, as a prop of play with her girlfriend.

But if Kiana is many things, deceptive is not one of them. It must be wrong. It must be. Hua can’t silence the cruel thought, but she can ignore the unease, at least tonight.

“We should make dinner…” Hua suggests, because Kiana is going to need some proteins and her appetite is already monstrous in normal circumstances.

Mei hums. “Himeko said she wouldn’t be home until late tonight. Kiana, what do you want to eat?”

And Fu Hua floats through the rest of the afternoon and the evening, and she stays for dinner. Bronya throws them looks that make her wonder how much the stoic girl has guessed, but none of them speak their minds outright, and she is left wondering up until Bronya deadpans that the soundproofing only works when the door is closed properly.

“I should— go back to my room,” Hua finally says when the sun’s disappeared behind the horizon. Kiana is sprawled on the sofa, her head lying in Fu Hua’s lap while Mei holds her legs over her own. She’s pretexting fatigue but neither of them are duped.

“You could stay over, Class Monitor,” Kiana says with a smirk. 

Actually, Hua would love to just get up and leave, but a sprawling “cat” is keeping her trapped. “I don’t want to impose.” 

“You’re really not.”

Hua buries her face in her palm and sighs. “Kiana… I have things to do too.” Like get back on her gacha game now that she doesn’t have the focus of a dry peanut. The Whale Killer’s return shall be glorious.

Thankfully, Kiana relents with a pout. She slides her legs off Mei’s, and then she lifts her head off Hua’s lap, and she props herself between them. “Fiiine.” Hua stands and Kiana decides to full body snuggle Mei.

“See you tomorrow,” Mei calls with a smile. “Next time you make breakfast, you can stay with us to eat it, alright?”

“Oh. Right. Sure.”

She walks past her, waving, but Mei roughly grabs her arm.

Her eyes flash pink. “Do not believe this is over,” she says, and then she lets go. Uh?

The human Mei doesn’t give any reaction. Hua’s so confused by the interaction she almost forgets to retrieve her glasses.

She doesn’t need them to see —they are a communication device— all this time she completely forgot about them. They should be in the bedroom… yes. Sunk between pillows, but thankfully not broken. She puts them back on. A message blinks to her attention. A meeting? It’s scheduled for… five minutes from now. She can make it if she hurries. It would have been a stain on her record to miss a work call by hours. What is it about?

...oh.

Hua bursts back into the living room with a livid expression.

“Principal Theresa’s been kidnapped.”

Chapter Text

This dream feels fresher, somehow.

It takes a moment for her surroundings to settle, but once they do she recognizes this place: 

It is a battlefield, in 1475, and she has single-handedly defeated european forces.

A young woman has collapsed in front of her. She is human, but she could be much stronger. She is held back by what she is being made to do, and Fu Hua says as much… 

But before the phoenix can leave, the woman (a Kaslana, of course she is a Kaslana) catches a flash of fang. Hua can tell, because her expression changes. Shock. Incomprehension. Confusion. Unlike most, the woman dares to ask the question.

“Yes. I was turned a long time ago,” Hua answers, unwavering.

“Why do you protect humans, then?”

Why?

Hua doesn’t look down on humans. She has lived thousands of years, but though their lives are brief, she protects them, and she will always protect the ever-growing branches of human civilisation, she will look after Shenzhou…

“Who I am doesn’t matter. This is my life’s duty.”

This isn’t a great matchup for Theresa.

She’s finally found a sizable vampire beast, but it’s probably not what’s been leaving the marks Theresa found. There is a very simple reason for this deduction. 

The marks she found were somewhat claw-like, or at least caused by something thin and razor sharp. This fucking thing breathes acid. Acid! Green, repulsive bile that melts concrete and flesh alike. It drools it everywhere, leaving disgusting danger puddles in Theresa’s way while she tries to fight it. 

She’s not in terrible danger from the beast’s everything else, because it’s quite slow. Heavy in the way it moves, it looks a bit elephant-like, now that she thinks of it; but that would be if elephants had veined carapaces, and fangs instead of tusks.

Additionally, elephants do not drool flesh eating green goo. 

Theresa huffs, out of breath. She’s not making much progress killing this thing. The carapace is tough, good against blunt weapons or thrown spears or even explosions, and the vile corrosive substance prevents Theresa from getting close… Judah’s chains could immobilize it, but with how slow it’s already moving, and how little being mobile matters to its ability, it would be pretty much useless. And so she spends most of her time running instead of hitting the monster. How annoying.

She’s there in her reflection when her fight is interrupted—

Sakura leaps into the street onto the back of a giant beast.

It is quite big, though not otherwise an impressive or powerful creature. It’s difficult to imagine that it was human once. It’s slow, about two floors tall, shielded by a carapace coursed with pulsing magenta veins, and to Sakura’s distaste, large fangs drool nasty acid green bile on the already damaged road. You are doing this monstrosity a favor by killing it, the voice in her head says, but she doesn’t believe it. She knows it lies. She knows better.

Yet she is hungry.

Sakura is pink hair and sharp edges and graceful predator, hacking at the beast until it can only writhe, hamstrung. Then she just needs to give the killing blow— a flash of pink, and the beast collapses.

“Woah~” a small Valkyrie blurts out, and Sakura freezes just as she’s about to partake in her meal.

The little intruder was watching?!

Sakura whips around, on guard, but the short nun claps and steps closer. “That was really cool! I thought you stepped right out of an anime!” she proclaims. She’s light on her feet, trotting despite the weight of something large and familiar behind her back. Her hair is white, and her eyes are big and blue, and she screams Kallen so hard that Sakura must be making it all up in her head.

Kallen is crying silently, the twin wounds just above her shoulder bleeding sluggishly. Sakura can’t move— doesn’t have the strength to. Kallen’s weapon saps her power, and Sakura’s love does the rest, keeping her limbs still even as the voice rages at her, demanding she defend herself. But she won’t. Not anymore.

Stab.

She’s hurt Kallen enough. 

Stab.

She’s hurt everyone enough. 

Stab.

Even Rin.

It hurts. Kallen’s arms are trembling. If it took turning Kallen into a monster to stop Sakura’s own rampage, was it worth it?

Stab.

No, of course not. Kallen deserved good things. Kisses and moonlight, dances and flowers, good food and a good partner.

Kallen doesn’t stab her again. The spear— it had come from that heavy cross she brought— the spear falls from her hands, and she collapses to her knees next to Sakura. She’s sobbing now. Sakura would love to kiss those tears away, but she’s pretty sure her limbs have turned into dust, because she can’t feel them anymore. There won’t be anything to burn or bury.

Good.

Sakura shakes her head violently to clear the memories. She should run. She should run. Like a deer in the headlights, she remains frozen in place. The Kallen clone speaks. 

“My name,” please don’t say Kallen “is Theresa.” 

Sakura relaxes just a little. Only enough to breathe. “...Yae Sakura.”

The white haired girl holds out a hand, still smiling. Does she think Sakura is a human? Or at least an ally? Well… the pink woman defeated a beast just now. That would be a reasonable assumption.

Sakura cautiously takes the hand to shake it. It’s extremely tiny. Kallen wasn’t particularly tall, but she was much taller than this. This is child sized. Is this a child? She holds herself like an adult, and Sakura’s seen her fight expertedly from afar, but there is roundness to her features and smallness to her stature. Curious.

So Sakura shakes once and withdraws. She shouldn’t interact too long. Misfortune follows her. Humans can be corrupted easily. The girl doesn’t deserve bad things to happen to her.

...but now Sakura can’t eat her meal. There is someone watching. Should she wait until the girl is gone? If she waits too long, the blood won’t be good anymore…

Sakura’s musings are interrupted when her interlocutor tilts her head to ask, “Have you seen a ghost?”

“Uh?”

The white haired girl crosses her arms. “When you saw me, you looked like you just saw a ghost. I’d like a warning if this place is haunted.”

Sakura feels a foreign tug at the corner of her mouth. One of her pink ears twitches. “Are you not… a vampire hunter?”

“Nothing’s afraid of crosses in the far east!” The Valkyrie throws her hands in the air with a groan. “And even rocket launchers don’t work on ghosts. Vampires I can stab until they stop moving...” She shudders, arms wrapping tight around herself.

Sakura can’t help it. She chuckles in her hand. The other pouts cutely, but Sakura can tell she’s acting more annoyed than she is.

Then the Valkyrie clears her throat. “Thanks for killing this beast just now. Its acid attacks were… irritating.”

“It was no trouble.” I didn’t do it for you. “I… should leave now.” She can just… hunt another one. Further away from this innocent white haired, blue eyed girl.

You keep seeing “her”. Sakura doesn’t like that the voice is right. The stranger looks much too familiar. Yet. This isn’t her . So she closes her eyes and wipes the ghost of Kallen from her mind once more. This is not her love. Nobody else can be Kallen… 

When she reopens her eyelids, she smiles gently at Theresa. “You should leave this city. There is nothing of interest here.”

“Then why are you here?” Theresa challenges, cheeky. Sakura doesn’t miss the way her legs are bent, ready to leap at the first sign of aggression, despite the apparent casual demeanor. She doesn’t let any fear show, but… she must already know what Sakura is. 

She seems to be an experienced vampire hunter. Shows confidence, but not stupid enough to lower her guard. Fine, then. No deception. It’s not like Sakura fools anyone. 

So the monster turns away from the human, leans over her fallen prey, and unsheathes her fangs.

It’s a messy affair. It doesn’t taste good, just barely alive after the vampire plague corrupted it so thoroughly, but it’s enough.

When Sakura lifts her head and wipes her mouth, she notices Theresa hasn’t moved. She doesn’t seem shocked, displaying the same amount of confidence as before. But she could have tried to attack Sakura while her back was turned.

(That wouldn’t have worked. Even injured and weakened, Sakura is much more dangerous than she likes to be. But Theresa could have tried.)

“You…” Sakura doesn’t know what to say now. “You could have left or attacked me just now. Are you not afraid of me?”

“Aha!” Theresa clicks her tongue. “You’d rather drink from a beast than me although it tastes yucky, so you’re not an enemy.”

That’s weird logic. Sakura’s not blind to the large cross-like weapon Theresa is carrying, which she personally knows is more than that and also hurts a lot. Especially swung into your face. It’s heavy.

Aren’t you being soft because she reminds you of— No, she isn’t. She knows Theresa isn’t Kallen. She won’t paint ghosts on little girls.

“If you don’t think of me as an enemy, leave me alone.” Sakura’s voice is soft, but final. She frowns. “You should know it’s dangerous for humans to be around us. Even if I don’t bite you… my presence will corrode your mind.”

“Is that so…?” Theresa’s smile turns just a little febrile. “Are you a Gesegnet?”

Sakura tilts her head, not understanding the German word. The memory of it is shrouded in painful cobwebs.

“It means blessed, ” Sakura remembers. Kallen taught it to her. Gesegnetes Wesen, it’s an ironic name, isn’t it? Sakura doesn’t remember the context, nor does she feel blessed.

“It is a term we use to refer to special vampires,” Theresa explains.“An… originator? Progenitor? Spontaneous vampire?” As she keeps talking, she flicks her fingers to count the different synonyms.

“You mean that no one has bitten me. That the corruption came from within.” She holds a hand to her chest, where her broken heart used to be. Theresa nods slowly, but Sakura hesitates. “I… suppose.” She passes her hand through her pink bangs. “I can’t remember clearly.”

Rin’s blood on her face on her arms in her hair, liquid eyes glinting dead under the moon. Despair, but Rin’s last gift is the certainty that she must carry on, and there is brief pain in her throat.

“That’s alright!” Theresa exclaims, “You don’t need to remember.” Then, lower… “I guess I need to bring you in,” she mumbles, trailing off.

Sakura staggers back before she can think of not giving her wariness away. 

“Wait!” Theresa doesn’t dare touch her, but she takes a step forward. “I— you could come to St Freya with me. There’s another of you there already. The one who caused the eruption here…”

Sakura doesn’t move away again, eyes fixated on Theresa. Another? Like her?

“You’re not hostile. We can take you in too.” Theresa raises her hands, as if to say, look, I’m not threatening . “Regardless of what you’ve done in the past, if you want to help humanity now, we want the same thing, yes?”

Take her in. Theresa wants her to come with? The possibility is overwhelming. She must be lying. The past five hundred years, Sakura has been nothing more than a plague, barely subsisting on unfortunate travelers. Redemption doesn’t come so easily. Does she even want it? Has she forgiven anyone at all, or is she just indulging a doppelgänger?

Still, Theresa insists. She must be picking up on Sakura’s hesitation and wariness, but she speaks just as confidently as before. “You hunt vampires over humans. I don’t know you yet, but something tells me I can trust you… your good intentions. So… you could come with me. Join Schicksal.”

“Schicksal..?” Schicksal. 

Kallen spoke of Schicksal. 

The organisation from the West. The one Kallen and her family had spent her life fighting for. Vampire hunters, so-called protectors of humanity; they were the reason she had come to the Far East, searching for Shenzhou’s Celestial, clutching a box of papers. All… all because they were cruel. Because they hurt children and innocents and Kallen could not bear it. Because they betrayed her. If not for them… If not… 

Sakura’s head swims with sudden rage. Perhaps there is no ghost here. Resentment alone haunts this place. The specter of a massive fox materializes behind Sakura, solid yet translucent to the tips of its tails; for a moment it keeps warping in and out of sight, and then it roars . 

Theresa staggers back, startled. The fox is made of mist, something shimmering, something deadly . It moves independently from Sakura. The girl herself is trembling, fists tight and unsteady. The fox is watching with insatiable hunger.

It doesn’t attack. 

“I…” No no no. This is wrong. She shouldn’t… not just for an old name. Kallen… Kallen wouldn’t… she’s not going to kill Kallen’s kin—

Something hurts sharply in Sakura’s neck, and then her limbs lose all strength. The fox vanishes. She crumples to the floor. What..? She doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. She can’t move. 

She can’t move. She can’t move like she wants anymore, the slightest breeze stronger than her will’s wishes. Any second now, she’ll disperse for good, disappear forever.

She thinks this for a hundred years, perhaps more, and then she comes to, with a tenuous body for the first time in a century, on a mountain of monstrous corpses. 

Sakura forces herself out of her memories, back into the present. There is but one corpse here. She was… forcefully immobilized. A trap? Was this a trap after all? She didn’t hear anyone come, focused as she was on Theresa…

“I don’t think we can let you take her, Schicksal vermin.” Step. Step. Sakura struggles to look at the attacker. They must know what they’re dealing with… she can’t call on her powers. Some kind of nullifier? “Thanks for distracting her, by the way. We need a clear shot for these since we can’t make that many.”

“Anti-Entropy—” Theresa calls unfamiliar words, but she sounds angry. This must be… different sides fighting over her. Sakura… shouldn’t have come out of hiding… after all. “You’re bold to show yourself in front of me!” Sakura can’t move her head, but she hears Theresa’s voice get closer. Get away , she wants to say, but her tongue feels heavy. 

A loud shock makes the earth tremble, like many heavy objects suddenly dropped from inexistence. “Ah? Is that so?” The cocky attacker walks into the range of Sakura’s vision. “We came here to fight a Gesegnet, Schicksal.” That’s a different voice. A man. “You think a single little Valk will stop us?” Loud whirring and clicks. The shadows grow darker. A smug teen, with short pink and purple hair, a few paces away, and a young blue-haired man whose closeup face suddenly intrudes into her vision— he hoists her up, and she feels something cold dig into her throat. 

Sakura loses consciousness.

Chapter Text

This dream is recent. A second away, in the abyss of time that she has survived through. She would remember it awake, if she cared to.

“Kaslana?”

Through the screen, Fu Hua levels an unimpressed glance at her “friend”. She knows his obsession for that family. She was surprised when she heard he let Siegfried leave Schicksal a couple decades ago, even. She’d thought he had grown, or that the obsession was simply narrowed to a very specific individual of Kevin’s bloodline, but here he goes again: 

Hawking over a Kaslana.

Having nothing more to report, she doesn’t elaborate. Go figure he’d only be interested in hearing how “Kiana” is behaving even with a Gesegnet in the same room.

“We lost K-423 to Siegfried the year before St Freya was founded. Since she wasn’t with Kiana’s father, she wandered around for the last few years, I’d assume,” Otto says, twirling red wine in his fancy crystal glass. She wonders if he’s trying to make himself look like a movie vampire viscount. He’s not above it, in the past half millenia she’s been made well aware he loves being dramatic. “I didn’t expect to find her in Nagazora being the Gesegnet’s toy of all things.”

Fu Hua clicks her tongue. She doesn’t like that phrasing. “They seem to get along well,” she notes, understating the lesbian aura the two exuded in class. Otto can be blind to this kind of thing.

He ignores her. 

“Anything else to report?” he finally asks, and she details Mei and Bronya’s behavior at last. Nothing alarming, but if he doesn’t want his plans to fail, he needs to not be an absolute creep about white-haired blue-eyed girls.

“I see. They seem to be integrating well.” Hua’s already had to suplex Kiana away from a jeering classmate but she supposes there could have been guns to the altercation. “Thank you, old friend. Just call if something unusual happens, and I’ll keep loose tabs on you via the camera in your room. I don’t think you’ll need to make regular reports like this. ”

She nods. Doesn’t know how to feel about that. She doesn’t know anyone here. She had never even met his granddaughter personally before.

Fu Hua’s “friendship” with Otto Apocalypse is a pact of mutual services. She knows it is not founded on understanding, nor does he carry soft feelings for her. Perhaps they would protect each other’s life, but with him, where does the usefulness end and the heart begin?

Maybe there’s no beating in Otto’s chest at all. Maybe he is long dead with the person he wanted to protect, the girl who won’t ever wake up. She doesn’t know, and she supposes it’s none of her business, so long as he keeps his word and protects Shenzhou. 

She trusts him at least to keep his end of the bargain. They are allies.

Otto Apocalypse takes a distinguished sip of the red liquid. “Is something wrong, old friend?” 

No matter who she meets, she always becomes alone again, in the end.

“No. Nothing at all.”

“Class Monitor! You can’t just say Aunt Teri was kidnapped and leave without explanation!” 

Kiana’s grip would be strong enough to break a normal person’s bone, but she’s lost quite a bit of blood earlier, and most importantly, she lost it to Fu Hua. She is thus shrugged off easily enough.

The uproar in the living room kept her from immediately running off, but she has been called to report in. Fu Hua really needs to be going. 

“It’s useless to speculate before the meeting,” she points out.

“Class monitor… you’ll tell us what they say about Aunt Teri?”

Can Fu Hua resist those pleading blue eyes?

“I will.” She lingers by the threshold just a moment longer. “Don’t get in trouble in the meantime.”

Perhaps the warning is useless. She figures Kiana’s already planning to get into trouble.

Himeko wonders if Anti-Entropy thinks this is a joke.

Communications with Nagazora are… spotty. This is part of why it took so long to find her poor girls a couple years ago. Electronic devices still sometimes stop functioning, signals are randomly lost, and there is a lot of noise over the communication channels. It’s likely the lingering influence of Mei’s awakening, but it makes evaluating the situation there difficult.

After the disaster struck, and because 90% of the city’s population was infected in a matter of hours, the city was quarantined. Schicksal adopted a simple strategy: isolate and wait for the overall vampire population to weaken. Guard the borders, bomb periodically, snipe anything stronger than is safe to let live, and let them rot until the city is easy to reclaim.

But for the poor girls surviving in there… Himeko could claim their survival a miracle, but she knows to attribute it to their resourcefulness. Up until Mei made enough noise to warrant a personal intervention, they were stranded there, desperately trying to build a radio to signal their survival despite the busted electronics.

Anything getting through from Nagazora intact? A rare, lucky occurrence.

Which is why, the selfie of two Anti-Entropy idiots is a particularly enraging sight on the briefing’s hastily yet expertly thrown together powerpoint presentation.

They’re both grinning at the camera. There’s a purple and pink haired teenager with sharp teeth, making a rude sign to the viewer. The other has blue hair, and he looks older, maybe twenty-five, but the lewd gesture he’s making with his fingers is extremely immature.

The picture is labeled communication received from Theresa’s device and the exact time it went through. The words “We got your little valk, suckers” are overlaid on the picture itself.

Fucking hell… Then, the door slams open, interrupting Himeko’s thoughts.

A slightly out of breath A-rank Valkyrie bursts in. The door trembles on its hinges from the strength of its opener, but bravely holds on. 

“Thank you for joining us,” Rita says smoothly, and then she continues her summary of the situation. She reached St Freya under an hour ago but she could have had days to set this up… the presentation is clear and straight to the point, perfect , as expected from her. Maybe Himeko should ask her to tutor Kiana on those. She can rely on Bronya and Fu Hua for many tutoring matters but effective human communication isn’t one of them.

Fu Hua pads over to stand behind Himeko. She’s rarely late to anything. Maybe she’d been taking an evening bath?

There are few other Valkyries in the room. Besides Rita, they were all already in St Freya— the highest ranked teachers, in fact. Fu Hua is the youngest here. Initially, Himeko had assumed she simply hadn’t been invited, but clearly that isn’t the case.

...why did the Overseer send Rita to personally carry out his orders out of all people? 

“...so this is the situation. The Overseer has decided to wait for… clear revendication before making an overt move, but you must be ready. Do not let the students be disturbed, but stay aware that infiltration by Anti-Entropy is a strong possibility.”

And once she’s done with her presentation, the beautiful maid dutifully pockets her USB key, leaving no trace of the meeting on the computer. 

“Fu Hua, if you would stay behind a moment.” Ohhh someone’s in trouble.

Himeko had been about to ask her junior what the delay had been about, but she can wait. “I’ll wait for you outside,” she says, and leaves to hover by the door.

The Major doesn’t try to listen in. She could, if she wanted to, but there is no reason to suspect anything important is holding the two Valkyries— Fu Hua was late, that’s all. She is much more worried for Theresa. What little data Schicksal has about the kidnappers is extremely nonreassuring— the man has the reputation of being… unsavory, while “Sin Mal” is a murderous and sadistic individual. A little girl who doesn’t look any older than Bronya. Who in Anti-Entropy isn’t raising these children? 

Somewhere else, in a bunker quite far from the school, Cocolia chokes on tea. But we shall get back to that in time, because at this moment, Himeko spots a creeping white ahoge, unhidden by the corner of the corridor. There is only one white-haired girl she knows to be simple enough to think she’s properly hidden right now.

“Kiana?”

The young girl startles and jumps. “Aunt Himeko!” She sounds sheepish, but doesn’t try to escape, rubbing her arm instead. The major mentally notes that she has a bandage around her neck.

Himeko walks over and crosses her arms, frowning. “I told you to stop sneaking out. Do you really want me to put a bell on you?” 

“No…” Kiana pouts, tapping her index fingers together as she looks away. “I just couldn’t wait for Class Monitor to come back.” Her gaze hardens. “I wanna go save Aunt Teri!”

Oh wow, news travel fast. Wait… Fu Hua was going to— Himeko is piecing together what happened here. She crosses her arms, a smile floating on her lips. “You were the one who made her late?” she teases, and her girl flushes slightly, realization sparking in her blue eyes.

“Ehhh…” Kiana doesn’t want to admit to it, but it is pretty undeniable by now. “So she was late…”

Himeko restrains a giggle, but her teasing smile balloons. “She’s being scolded by Rita right now, you know?”

“What?! Oh no!” Kiana straightens and rushes past a dumbstruck Himeko into the room, slamming the door open— “IT WASN’T CLASS MONITOR’S FAULT! I ASKED HER TO SUCK ME—”

All hell breaks loose.“YOU WHAT?” Himeko yells, but Kiana doesn’t get another word out because Fu Hua was startled by her bursting in and the yelling and reflexively punched her in the face.

Kiana is thrown back out into the corridor wall, through it, in fact, and stays down where she lies. There is now a Kiana’s head shaped hole in it, which should probably have made more of an empty sound.

Fu Hua pales. “...I’m so sorry.” There’s plaster dust everywhere, and crumbs of it litter the floor. It’s a miracle, and a testimony to how hard-headed she is, that Kiana didn’t just crack her head open instead.

Rita whistles, seemingly impressed, and then claps once— “I will take care of the mess. Take her to the infirmary.”

Himeko gently lifts the knocked out Kiana into her arms, and pins Fu Hua with a glare. Sweetly she speaks: “You’ll explain what happened on the way.”

Someone’s in trouble.

“The Principal is very strong,” Bronya comments to Mei. “If she was really taken out, rookies are not going to be sent to rescue her.”

“If?”

“Da. She is powerful and experienced.” Bronya’s stoic eyes meet Mei’s own. “The Class Monitor said ‘kidnapped’ and not MIA or KIA. There are few organizations or individuals that could kidnap a Valkyrie. If it was not a Gesegnet who captured her, she might have followed those ‘kidnappers’ willingly.” Bronya finishes readjusting her left prosthetic before skillfully swinging herself off the couch through sheer arm strength. Once she’s walking, they work just fine, but because they are heavy some maneuvers are better with a little extra strength to them, or so has Bronya told Mei. “The Bronya is going to bed.”

“You’re not waiting for Kiana and the Class Monitor to come back?”

Bronya picks up her Homu plushie from the couch where it had been huddling next to her. “Nyet. The Bronya can be woken up if relevant intel is gathered.” She walks away, to her room, leaving Mei alone to hear the metal clanks that usher along her footsteps.

Maybe Mei should’ve gone with Kiana. Something tells her the silver-haired girl’s going to get herself into trouble again. (Of course, she’s right, but she doesn’t have confirmation yet.) But now she’s here, now she’s stuck, just waiting for news.

The principal was in Nagazora. We should have devoured everything in that cursed place.

Mei shakes her head violently, as if to get rid of the thought. 

They need a mech to lift the Oath of Judah, which Theresa finds derisively hilarious. The blue-haired asshole boasts gravity powers, but it seems he doesn’t want to (or can’t) sustain them to carry the heavy cross. 

Of course, they can only take away Theresa’s weapon because the blade threatens the pink-haired vampire girl’s life.

Not that she calls their bluff. It’s very likely that they need the Gesegnet alive. The cutest Valkyrie in the world isn’t scared of their robots, either. She’d wreck them if they fought. However… it would be much too easy to delay Theresa by throwing robots at her and escape with the vampire, and there’s no way she’s letting them. 

Surrender and follow is it.

The two “kidnappers” bicker in Russian, likely assuming she doesn’t understand their argument. Which she does, but she quickly realizes they’re not saying anything useful, instead talking about ransom, congratulating each other for their “catch”, taking selfies, even fighting about which pictures have the best angle. What are they, children?

They at least had the braincells to blindfold her while they lead her back to their temporary Japanese base, so she’s not entirely sure where the airship is taking them. Sakura is sleeping soundly, passed out from the drug shot into her bloodstream, but Theresa has been assured it’s not deadly— incapacitating, is all. They mentioned Dr. Magi in passing… So Anti-Entropy is where the traitorous scientist has gone…

There’s shuffling about the room. Theresa’s pretending to doze off, hoping to lower the two’s guard.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” The girl kidnapper yells suddenly, startling Theresa out of her thoughts. She can’t see what’s going on, but she hears something that sounds like a smack. Infighting?

“I can’t have a little fun?” The man’s voice is closer than Theresa thought it would be. She scoots away. “C’mon, the hot one’s off limits.”

“No! What is wrong with you?! I’m going to tell Matushka.” Another smacking sound. “Use your fucking brain!”

“You don’t care about us kidnapping or killing people,” the young man drawls, “why are you mad now ? You’re a hypocrite.”

The girl splutters. “I, I— You make me wanna barf, you fucking manwhore.” Their fighting devolves into insults, but it seems they don’t come to any more blows.

Confused and vaguely uncomfortable, Theresa decides to ignore them, and returns to her musings.

Dr. Magi…

For the sake of ending the vampire plague once and for all, Schicksal performs human experimentation to find a way to turn vampires back into humans— or at the very least, create a vaccine to allow the infection to only benefit the human race. The current formula that grants Valkyries their abilities does give them strength, but it always carries the risk to infect those who take it, and shortens one’s lifespan. A far cry from the ideal. To allow humans to be free from vampirism as a man-eating, sanity-sapping disease— that is her grandpa’s stated goal, and Theresa believes him.

She is the fruit of such research after all. 

But to do such a thing… test subjects are required. By artificially generating the mysterious energy vampires spread their corruption with, it is easy enough to voluntarily turn a human into a zombie, the first stage of vampirification. The perfect way to test whether the drug works is to simply turn volunteers on the spot, and see if their bodies stabilize into true vampires without blood intake— at the intensity they’re working with, most humans will simply rot on the spot, desperately seeking something to sustain them before they break down for good in a few minutes. 

From what Theresa heard of the incident report, Dr.Magi was the lead scientist, up until his own granddaughter decided to take part in the experiment, died… and subsequently he defected.

So he is still alive? Or perhaps his work has simply been stolen off his corpse? Either way, now Schicksal will know Anti-Entropy is who stole him away. Not that there were many possible culprits… 

That’s a hell of a mystery no one thought was a mystery, and didn’t even really need solving, but damn if it didn’t just get solved.

Mei is finally heading to her bedroom when she hears a mumble in Bronya’s.

She stops, tilting her head. Is Bronya playing a video game? It’s getting quite late… but no, that’s the younger girl’s voice, not a recording. She says… "...с Матушкой?" (... with Matushka?)

Matushka? Mei is quite sure that means mother. Mei and Kiana’s mothers are dead… blood family is a sad, bitter affair for most Valkyries. Besides, they have Himeko. 

Because of this… Bronya doesn’t talk about her family very much… now that Mei thinks of it, all she knows of Bronya’s Matushka is that she took her in when the young girl was eleven or so. She doesn’t even know how they were separated.

After a pause, Bronya speaks again. "Бронья все понимает." ( The Bronya understands.) Another pause. "Директор всегда был добр. "( The principal was always kind.) What in the world is she talking about? She’s speaking too fast for Mei’s rudimentary Russian skills.

"Да. Бронья будет с нетерпением ждать встречи с Сили."

(Da. The Bronya looks forward to seeing Seele again.)

Chapter Text

Blood, too, holds memories. Fu Hua finds herself in a dream unfamiliar.

This is a contemporary city she doesn’t recognize. It’s… abandoned. Concrete walls crumble and moss overgrows the infrastructure. Broken glass everywhere. Yet, it is a beautiful day. 

She looks at her blurry self, expecting something foreboding, but all she finds is that her hair has turned white.

The weather is pleasantly warm. The sky is bright and blue; wisps of clouds break the azure monotony, but they look like soap foam in the clean overhead. Why is she here?

Fu Hua starts to walk in the empty town. Is this a place she has forgotten? No… her dreams remember.

There is a sudden crashing noise in the building to her left. Glass shattering. She tenses immediately, but instead of a monster, she finds three kids. The shortest is hovering placidly out of range of the glass shards with the tallest, holding a plushie with one arm, and the black-haired girl’s hand with the other. The third girl, whose white hair flings wildly despite the two large braids, is holding a baseball bat, with which she just shattered a shop’s display. If she squints, Fu Hua can make out a bolt on the door, evidently the main reason for the forceful access point.

“Told ya the, the— the alarm wouldn’t ring. Everything’s busted!” The white-haired girl starts to proclaim in accented japanese before switching to english halfway, because she’s missing a word in the former language. The black-haired girl only answers with nervous laughter. She is clearly uncomfortable with the wreckage. The grey-haired one seems to say something too, but Fu Hua is too far to hear.

Carefully, the white-haired girl uses her bat to clear the remaining glass shards so they can step in.

“Do you need help, Kiana?” “Nu-huh I got it!”

Should Hua step closer? (The dream warps and stops.) She’s intruding. (The sky flashes red.) She doesn’t belong here. She was never here. She is tricking them— 

“Oh! Class monitor!”

Fu Hua jolts. The white-haired girl is waving largely at her, jumping up and down. “Come on! Come on! We’re looting!”

Hua’s feet move without her input, and she hears herself say something disapproving. She doesn’t stop anyone from carefully stepping inside the building, though. In fact, she enters with the girls. 

It’s dark inside, mostly untouched, but from the smell, the AC of the store must have stopped working a good week ago. There are old drip-bloodstains on the floor, which they give a wide berth to, but otherwise the supplies seem mostly intact despite the pungent scent. Some food can be shelf-kept for a fairly long time, even without refrigeration— Fu Hua assumes that’s what their little group is here for. 

“If Kiana Idiotka weren’t so hungry all the time,” Bronya deadpans in perfect Japanese, “we wouldn’t need to break into a new store every few days. She is a drain on our resources.”

Kiana stills, frowns, needs is a minute to make out what exactly Bronya is saying. Though her speaking skills aren’t there yet, Fu Hua makes note that the white-haired member of the trio seems to have a working understanding of what she’s hearing, as she reacts with the appropriate petty outrage after her little pause.

Bronya mumbles another grumpy comment, in Russian this time, which Mei tilts her head at, clearly not understanding what she says. Kiana does, though, snapping back in the same language with a natural accent. Switching between English, Japanese and Russian, the back-and-forth goes on the whole time they navigate the broken glass into a safer zone of the darkened room, the exit shrinking into a smaller and smaller blue square.

Fu Hua almost forgets she’s here at all. Almost, until Kiana elbows her, demanding she tell Bronya off. “I suppose you can’t help being hungry,” Hua asserts in English, which she’s now certain everyone more or less knows. Kiana beams. “But, you could also stop complaining that you’re starving between meals. Not much that can be done about it.” 

“Hey!” Kiana tries to bop her with her bat in retaliation, but Fu Hua dodges easily, and Kiana almost crashes into a shelf. Nobody sees Bronya snicker, but if it was in her habits, she would definitely be snickering.

Kiana’s appetite is infamous at St.Freya… no, will be. This is the past. This is Nagazora, Fu Hua realizes. A memory… just not her own. She was never here. The dream wraps itself around her to let her in.

“Now, now,” Mei says in Japanese, hands up in surrender, “everyone, please calm down.” The loud scuffle goes on maybe five more seconds before a crashing noise startles all of them.

They freeze, not daring to breathe a noise.

“Where did it come from?” Kiana finally hushes when nothing lunges at them. Bronya scans the darkened store and points to a locked back room.

The crashing sounds repeats, and they see the door wobble. Something in there is stuck. Something in there is trying to get out.

“We should lea—” Mei suggests, but the crashing sound interrupts her once more, this time accompanied by a distinctly human voice. “助けて！” Tasukete?

Help, it begs. The voice is dry and more throaty than is healthy or normal, but the word is unmistakable. Cautiously, Kiana pads forward, examining the door, soon followed by Bronya. 

The voice hazards a more complicated string of words. “巫女は去りましたか？” When Mei tries to answer positively, she gets the same sentence back, like the trapped victim can’t hear them. Kiana and Bronya glance at Japanese girl, but she shakes her head and shrugs. 

 “...is it locked from the outside?” Mei asks. Fu Hua isn’t quite sure of what they’re thinking. 

Bronya inspects the door handle. “Da.” She gives a cautious jolt to the handle, but the door doesn’t budge. Kiana kicks it, eliciting a whimper on the other side.

“ごめんなさい！” (Sorry!) Kiana says. “I’ll try and find the key.” She starts to rummage around, but the other girls stand still, uneasy. 

“What? That’s a person in danger! They talked! Who knows how long they’ve been stuck in there?”

More silence from her friends. Bronya crosses both her arms over her Homu plush. Mei’s expression has become crestfallen. The voice has given up on complex communication, instead muttering “tasukete” over and over and over with growing desperation.

“...maybe they had food and water,” Kiana suggests. “There could be a sink. They can talk. They’re not necessarily a zombie. There’s a chance it’s just another survivor. They, they got stuck in there, away from the zombies and the monsters, that’s all.”

Zombies aren’t smart enough to lock doors to trap someone, though. A person must have done so on purpose.

Kiana doesn’t heed everyone’s reluctance, and starts moving about the room instead. The putrid smell is weighing heavier and heavier on the atmosphere as she flits around fruitlessly. No one helps her. Bronya starts perusing the shelves for transportable salvageables instead, prompting Mei to start scavenging, but unlike the younger girl, Mei can’t help but glance at what Kiana’s doing.

“Aha! That must be the staff room,” Kiana calls out triumphantly from the other side of the store. They hear a click, then silence. Uncharacteristic silence.

Fu Hua remembers she has agency in this dream and heads to where Kiana disappeared. The entrance to the staff room is pitch black, unnaturally so, like it’s full of ink beyond the threshold. There is no noise from Kiana. The locked victim whimpers and moans every few seconds, the only break from the oppressive absence of sound.

Resolutely, Fu Hua walks in. The darkness absorbs her, cutting all light briefly, before she is delivered to a new scene: 

The staff room is dimly illuminated through the door’s opening. It takes only a second for her eyes to adjust. There are metal chairs strewn around a large meeting table, a couple of high cupboards off to the side. A clean, forgotten lunch box in a small sink. Papers and pens strewn about on the table like the eruption interrupted someone’s tax calculations. A head separated from its body in the middle of the floor, a splash of long-dry blood the last link between the parts. The smell of decomposition is overpowering.

Kiana stands with both her hands pressed against her mouth not to scream, not to throw up, eyes as wide as they can go. Her breathing has quickened with panic, but slowly, so slowly, she calms again, and she reluctantly pries her hands away from her mouth, a little green. She refuses to look at the fetid body.

Kiana finds the key on the table and leaves immediately, but Fu Hua lingers. 

What could have produced this injury?

The store’s door was bolted from the inside, and until Kiana broke through the glass, there was no sufficient opening for a person to enter the store from the front. Considering the staff room and the locked room are the only accessible spaces through the shop, that the staff room has a single exit, and that someone appears to be stuck in the locked room, there must be no back entrance. 

Decapitation could not be easily self-inflicted in such a small, bare area, either, the makeshift guillotine would have stayed right where it was. Yet the only weapon she can spot is a knife, forgotten on the table next to the body. While it is bloody, the blade is much too small to slice off someone’s neck completely…

This kind of injury couldn’t have been dealt by a beast here. There isn’t enough space. Besides, it would have eaten the body and licked off the blood on the off chance that it was small enough to break in and leave again somehow. 

Fu Hua kneels down to examine the injury, but the rot and the dark aren’t helping. All she can tell is that, evidently, the head was chopped off very quickly, in a single strike of something very sharp, like a sword. Could it have been Mei on her rampage? No… how could she have gotten back out? The only exit was locked, preventing anyone from going in or out. Besides, she would likely have recognized the place and stopped Kiana.

There was a humanoid murderer here, who, for some reason, killed this person. Could they be the helpless storage room victim..? No… they’re locked in from the outside. Was it this murderer who locked the other survivor in, then? But why kill one and leave the other to rot? Could it be… did the murder victim lock the other in a storage closet to hide them from their attacker?

Fu Hua peruses through the room, but discovers nothing else of interest to her investigation. When she walks back out, she finds the three girls standing apprehensively in front of the moaning door, the key in Kiana’s hand. Project Bunny stands ready to blast the threshold. Mei has a hand on her weapon when Kiana inserts the key and turns it. She whips the door open, moving with it so it stays between her and whatever’s going to come out.

It is, in fact, a storage room. It’s small, very small, the only opening a vasistas too small to let anything larger than a cat through, and it’s been absolutely wrecked. 

A gangly person staggers out of the room. They are emaciated, their black hair falling off in clumps on their shoulders. Their nails are too long, long like claws, but chipped in several places. Their clothes are mostly intact, but they’re stained from the rampage through the supplies of their prison. Their skin is patchy, bleached white in several places. As soon as they spot Mei, they leap forward, but she easily dodges, and they stumble over their own half-dusted feet.

“助けて. 助けて. 助けて.” It is very clear, when it meets the girls’ eyes, that this ‘person’ is a goner. “巫女は去りましたか？” It is still capable of speech, just barely, but whether it understands a word of what it says… It repeats the same two phrases in random order, soon cutting the syllables into each other like the nonsense jigsaw will give it the means to convince the young girls to spare it.

Kiana looks away, pained. Nods.

Bronya fires her canon, sending the barely cognizant zombie flying backwards. It’s very weak, likely hasn’t been able to feed on living things at all since being turned. Considering it was contaminated, whether through another zombie’s bite or the ambient levels of corrupting energy, it is admirable that it held on so long. It must have truly wanted to live.

“助けて...”

But it is doomed and gone.

“助けて..!”

Mei slashes its throat, almost severing the head off. Project Bunny finishes the job, crushing what remains of its broken down brain, and throws it in the storage room. 

They lock it again.

“Look. Fu Hua. Kiana and you are adults now,” Himeko starts. She carries Kiana effortlessly on her back. The walk to the infirmary isn’t a long one anyway. 

It appears, from Fu Hua’s evasive answers and Kiana’s earlier words, that Kiana made Fu Hua late because they were… together at the time the message was sent. Himeko is not exactly jealous . That would be silly, they’re high schoolers. But she’s not feeling extremely charitable either. The clock’s keeper is unforgiving. The end ticks closer. “You are adults so you can’t let your activities get in the way of duty. Alright?”

Fu Hua looks like she wants to disappear into a hole. Good. The Shenzhou girl looks away, which, however, is a little uncharacteristic of her. Himeko is used to a more confident model student. She heard from Bronya Hua’s not been feeling well lately. She’s seen her nodding off in class, too. 

There was that incident where Kiana broke into her room and fought with her… she’d been off ever since…

“Have you been doing alright?” Himeko frowns. “Kiana hasn’t been harassing you, has she?” It’s true she can get a little… assertive. And considering what apparently happened between them… that would paint a concerning picture, but Fu Hua reassures her.

“I am going to be alright,” Fu Hua answers placidly. “I was… indisposed these past two weeks or so. After today I already feel better. I will be back to full capacity by tomorrow.”

After today.

Himeko can’t help but ask. “Was it the sex or—”

“PURE COINCIDENCE.” Fu Hua punches the wall, leaving a dent on it. Himeko doesn’t inquire further.

“So you do have manners.” Theresa isn’t going to drink this tea but at least Cocolia was polite enough to serve some and banish her horrible gremlin subordinates somewhere else.

She is currently in what appears to be the most luxurious area of a bunker, which isn’t saying much. There are couches and armchairs, a low table, snacks and tea. Nothing else. The walls are bare, the air is cold, the occupant of the room even more so.

Yae Sakura is unfortunately somewhere out of sight now, which Theresa feels mildly nervous about. No doubt that Anti-Entropy intends to experiment on her. Being separated will make breaking them both out harder. “Quite reckless of you to meet me alone and not restrain me,” Theresa continues when she gets no answer to her taunt. “I could break you apart,” she notes casually.

“Aw, I know you could, but you wouldn’t do that, Theresa Apocalypse.” Cocolia smiles like a stone statue, her purple eyes dead. “I’m sure you’ll find that we have very good reasons to take the Gesegnet with us. You’ll find no cause to fight us for her.”

“Bold assumption. I seriously doubt that.” Theresa crosses her arms. The chair is comfortable, but it dwarfs her, and her feet don’t touch the floor. “She seemed fully sapient and of sane mind at that. Your founder is a Gesegnet, and don’t lie, the two I saw earlier definitely have some level of sustained vampirism. Species is not a problem. You hunted her like an animal. She deserves better than being your test subject.”

“So protective! I have been told that she summoned a ‘giant ass fox’ to fight you,” Cocolia points out.

“She was angered, but she refused to attack. That is a greater show of inner strength than remaining calm throughout the conversation would have been.”

Cocolia lets the words hang in the air as she sips her tea. Then, she puts the cup down between them, on the marbled low table. “I am aware you, ah… disapprove of our retrieval method, but I have no intention to keep my purpose secret from her. Should you agree to cooperate with us, you can be informed and watch, rather than be kept in a cell until we ship you back to Schicksal.”

Theresa snorts. “You’re really counting on a ransom?”

“There are no small profits. We can always use extra funding. Besides, it is no secret that the Overseer of Schicksal treasures his granddaughter. Or would you rather we investigate your fascinating biological makeup?”

As faithful in her own strength as Theresa is, these people brought her to their base with full confidence. Cocolia, who Theresa isn’t certain even has the capability to fight a Valkyrie one on one, is meeting her alone with zero fear. Theresa has also witnessed that they have a suppressant that could knock out a Gesegnet. She is acutely aware of the fact that if it could take out Sakura, it’s within the realm of possibility that they could use it to make her powerless as well. Maybe this is what they’re counting on— for Theresa to resist and justify the ultimate test of their acquisition. Which means… agreeing to play nice is the easy, least-casualties-on-both-sides way out, not counting whatever ‘cooperation’ Cocolia has in mind.

“I suppose I can at least hear you out,” Theresa states neutrally. “What do you need this vampire for?”

Himeko closes the door behind her. She doesn’t lock it, not expecting Kiana to have thought to take her keys. She’d rather not be woken up at three am by a wailing hungry girl. She let Fu Hua look after her, since they’ve been, ah, intimate lately, apparently. Himeko can’t believe her eighteen years old surrogate daughter is getting more game than her. World’s unfair.

Still, it’s good to be home. She’s been so busy lately, and now Theresa… urgh. Himeko wants nothing more than to collapse into her bed.

Twin pink lights glow softly in the dark living room. Himeko freezes. 

The vampire is lounging on the couch, eyes fixed on her. 

“Shouldn’t you already be in bed?” Himeko smiles. “If you’re waiting for Kiana, don’t. Fu Hua accidentally knocked her out—” ohhh shit does Mei know Kiana was flirting with another girl? Himeko doesn’t want to mess with her kids’ social dynamics. They’re complicated enough without her interfering. But if Kiana is cheating… no, she wouldn’t do that. She loves Mei with all her heart, it’s obvious. Damn kids and their fulfilling love lives.

More silence. It’s a little unnerving. The twin lights disappear briefly whenever Mei blinks. When they don’t reappear, Himeko feels air against her cheek. 

Mei is now directly in front of her.

“Woah there. Are you alright?”

“...is Kiana?”

“I’ve been told she will be. We’ve both seen her get back up from worse scrapes just fine.” She pets the top of Mei’s head. The girl’s a little taller than her, but she seems to like it. “Go to bed, alright honey?”

The pink glow dims. “What about Principal Theresa?”

“I’m not supposed to tell you about that.” Himeko presses her free fingers against the bridge of her nose. “The Overseer hasn’t planned any operation yet. Rita didn’t look too worried, she just gave a briefing so St Freya could go on as usual without its principal.”

Mei hums, thoughtful. “So Bronya might be right…”

...what has Bronya guessed of the situation already. “Hm?”

“She said the Principal might have let herself be captured for some reason.”

“Oh.” That hadn’t occurred to Himeko, but… it would make a decent amount of sense. “I… Leave it to the adults, alright? She’ll be fine.” Himeko’s fingers get caught in a rare knot, and she gently untangles Mei’s hair. “There. Now, do go to your room, okay? It’s getting late.”

Mei’s eyes flare pink once more. “Fine,” she says, and stalks away, but Himeko is pretty sure she’s not going to sleep anytime soon.

Chapter Text

Fu Hua finds herself flying. 

For all that she’s been called the bird Jingwei for centuries, flying freely isn’t something she’s capable of. She concludes that she is dreaming once more. 

Underneath her is a ruined city, only marginally familiar. A white-haired girl walks down the road gingerly. Her trusty baseball bat swings back and forth after each step, which her companion, taller and black-haired, avoids by walking at her other side. Ah, yes. She knows them.

“I think we’re almost there!” Kiana grins. Mei gives a hesitant smile. Her eyes are no longer alight with a pink tint of violence, at least for now. The sun blares down on them, blinding on the shattered glass that litters the street. 

Hua lets the wind bring her higher, and she catches a glimpse of where they’re headed: 

Ahead is a razed field. Shicksal’s sign has been emblazoned on steel constructs that look right out of a tower defense video game, which are spread a few hundreds of meters apart from each other. A faint crackle of energy hints at some kind of forcefield. This is… the quarantine enforcing system that was deployed around Nagazora. Fu Hua knows this was developed in response to the utter disaster of the 2000 eruption. The means to contain the beasts to the smallest possible area and avoid mass zombification. 

She grows concerned.

Of course she knows that they survived, so surely they are not going to attempt crossing through the No Man’s Land. Anything within range will be shot without discrimination, assumed infected. 

But, how would these lone survivors know this?

The wind lets her feet back to the ground. They’re a block away from the danger zone when they are stopped by the sound of another set of steps (slow, somewhat heavy, weaved with clanks). Kiana raises her hand in front of Mei, ever the protector; Mei puts a soothing hand on Kiana’s shoulder, ever the caretaker.

The newcomer slows to a halt when she notices the two of them. They observe each other.

From the way she relaxes after scanning the small, silver-haired girl, Fu Hua guesses Kiana believes the short girl is healthy. Despite her lack of expression, she is clearly aware of the people in front of her, scanning their forms with cognizance than the undead lack. 

Bronya is carrying a plushie with both arms, and a bag of chips hangs from her hand. “If you proceed to the open field you will die,” she states placidly in nearly perfect Japanese.

Kiana blinks. “What?” 

She speaks English in her confusion, and the newcomer answers in kind. “The Bronya invites the slow subject to attempt survival against anti-tank ammunition herself, if she is not convinced that the town borders have been destroyed for a reason.”

And Kiana’s wary again, but not for zombie reasons this time. “What the hell are you talking about?” Kiana gestures wildly, unsettled. “We’re almost out of here!”

“Surprisingly, a correct assessment. However. The city area is quarantined. All moving subjects, alive or undead, are forbidden from leaving under threat of annihilation.”

Kiana glances at the strange steel towers in the distance. The sun is blinding, glinting off scary-looking canons. “We just need to show we’re not infected…” 

“Nyet. The canons will fire on anything moving. No risks are taken.”

Mei looks lost behind Kiana. The rapid-fire, complicated English must still be above her skill to understand. “What’s happening?” she asks in her native tongue.

Bronya repeats herself succinctly in Japanese. “I see…” Mei nods. Her voice is carefully void of worry when she asks, “how do you know all this? Are you staying with other survivors?” She speaks softly, to not frighten Bronya, but the little girl doesn’t seem to care at all.

“Nyet. The Bronya is currently stranded alone.” She watches Mei’s movements carefully, dismissing the louder Kiana as unimportant. “It is impossible for the Bronya to request extraction as all the Bronya’s communication devices have been disrupted by the EMP released during the initial eruption. Construction of a new radio device is underway.”

It’s Kiana’s sky-blue eyes’ turn to glaze over. Mei pays it no mind and steps forward. She takes Bronya by the shoulders. “Do you want to stay with us? You shouldn’t be by yourself… You’ve found food,” she gestures to the bag of chips, “but you can’t just eat this. Besides… there could be more zombies around. What if you get hurt…” You shouldn’t stay alone in case you’re bitten, Hua thinks, so that someone is there to see you off to the other side, but perhaps time has made her somewhat cynical.

“Wait hold up Mei you want to take the brat with us?” Kiana butts back into the conversation with a displeased groan.

Mei takes her severe voice. “Kiana, we are not leaving a child alone to fend for herself.” Kiana hesitates under Bronya’s watchful eye, which has been sticking to Mei’s form the whole time.

Fu Hua, the spy, is reminded of herself.

“The Bronya is perfectly capable of sustaining herself alone.” A distinctly zombie-like growl is heard behind Mei and Kiana, but before either of them can move to defend themselves, a robotic contraption manifests itself from thin air above Bronya. The cannon shoots just when they’ve turned around to pinpoint the attacker.

Headshot. It’s bloody, and would make most stomachs churn, but it gets the job done.

“The Bronya has failed to find any other survivors. The Bronya is amenable to undertaking protection of subject Mei and subject Kiana until an escape is possible,” she states to the absolutely dumbstruck older girls.

Kiana’s voice is a mix of awe and utter betrayal. “You have a robot?!”

Hua finds herself smiling. If she was this young again, she would be laughing into her fist, struggling not to let mirthful hiccups show. Now, though, after thousands of years, all she can manage when she feels warm is a smile.

Why is she here? Is this scene something she needs to know? Or something she needs to feel?

The dream stutters, and Kiana turns to her, her eyes blazing. “Class Monitor! You’ve got to check out Bratnya’s robot!” Hua steps forward into their circle. She was never here. It’s only a dream that Kiana shoves her forward, palm searing on the small of her back, it’s only a dream that Mei apologizes and guides Hua’s hand to Project Bunny’s hull, it’s only a dream to take a break from the horrors they’ll go through every day to marvel at a miracle.

She wakes with a lingering sense of peace and melancholy. 

When Kiana finally emerges in the infirmary, she can immediately recognize the disagreeable smell of disinfectant, the white wall, the glare of neons. Urgh. She hates this place. She can’t remember ever landing in an infirmary before St.Freya, but it was instant hatred, loathing at first sight.

She sits up, wary of pain but finding none. Oh. There is a mop of dark hair next to her.

Gasp. She briefly thinks back to a dozen of anime where this exact thing happens— the Class Monitor is asleep next to her, her head in her arms. Awww.

The infirmary is kind of a mess. Seems like the nurse was in a hurry on the way out, like they looked for something and didn’t care to clean up behind them. There’s even an IV next to Kiana, but it’s empty. Uh… that’s weird. They must have removed the needle from someone and then forgotten to throw it away? Recycling time!

She’s dropping it in the bin when she notices Fu Hua stir. She looks a little groggy, her hair all ruffled like someone vengefully passed a hand through it. “Kiana…?” The class monitor stares blankly for a minute as her mind reboots for wakefulness, during which Kiana gets to ogle her adorable sleepy face. “Kiana! You shouldn’t move around yet.” She stands and rushes to her like she’s afraid Kiana’s going to fall over. Joke’s on you, Class Monitor, I feel great! Hua takes Kiana’s hands in hers, pressing them together with concern. She meets Kiana’s eyes head on, full of her characteristic seriousness. “You have lost somewhere between half and a liter of blood and then were knocked into a wall. You need to rest.”

Kiana shrugs. “I feel completely recovered already.” Fu Hua’s hands are particularly warm. They must be really nice to hold by cold weather. “Thank you though. For staying to look after me.” She leans in and kisses her cheek, which has the wonderful effect of tinting Fu Hua’s cheeks pink.

“I— Major Himeko asked me to. Considering I punched you into a wall.” She looks away, glasses having slipped down her nose a bit, only letting go of Kiana’s hands to slide them back up. “Please lie down some more.”

“I’d rather do that in my own bed.” She winks. “Or Mei’s. Or yours.”

Someday she’ll successfully combust Fu Hua with her words alone.

...but the class monitor shakes her head. “The nurse attached an IV on you for a reason— wait, where is it? Did you tear it off?”

Kiana waves vaguely, the stiff air of the room less disturbed than the fretting vampire. “It was empty and out of me by the time I woke up. I guess the nurse must have taken it off while we were both out of it? I’m good to leave.”

Fu Hua frowns, not finding this to make much sense at all, but she nods slowly. “I suppose...” 

“So!” Kiana spots her jacket folded on the back of the chair Fu Hua used and retrieves it. “Let’s go home. I bet Mei’s all worried, and I didn’t take my phone so I can’t text her.” Finger guns. It’s an invitation, too.

Hua stares, unimpressed. “If she is awake, the Major will have told her what happened.”

“Oh right! Great.” Kiana clicks her tongue. “What did you tell Aunt Himeko? Uh… crap, did you have to reveal, uh…” Kiana gestures to her neck, though… what? There’s no bandage but she doesn’t feel the sting of the delicious bite anymore. Must have healed already. Vampires are awesome.

The pink creeps to the tips of Fu Hua’s ears. Oh this is going to be juicy. “I… did not tell her about my identity. I’m not allowed to. You only know I’m a vampire because you guessed.” Giving in on Kiana’s pleas to go home, or perhaps eager to escape the topic, she heads to the door, and Kiana follows her out. “I told the nurse you lost some blood, but I gave the Major an excuse for what you said instead.”

Oh. She’s not meeting Kiana’s eyes. She’s blushing. That’s a light flush on her cheeks. It’s so fun to see the confident class monitor embarrassed. It’s rare , but this whole affair gave Kiana delightful food of this kind. It’s like Fu Hua’s afraid of letting herself be close with others. She barely ever lets loose to relax. That’s not also how she’s going to handle their “““college””” years is it? Why is she blushing this time though—

“You made it sound like a sex thing,” Kiana realizes, grinning ear to ear. It’s not exactly a lie, Kiana found it really… enticing. Hm. Perhaps it’s not surprising to have a biting kink after living months as a vampire’s main snack.

Hua burrows her face into her hands. Touché. “...I’m so sorry.” She sounds so mentally exhausted in these three words.

Kiana shrugs. “Hardly a lie.” She hadn’t explicitly meant for it to turn out this sexual, but it was a predictable outcome. It’d been like that with Mei most of the times they’d done it, too. She’s not sure what makes the act cross the platonic line in some cases but not others. Mood? Attraction? General horniness?

Oh , she thinks, suddenly noticing Class Monitor’s face, it’s like she’s turned into a tomato. “It really doesn’t bother you,” Hua notes, unamused, “that it was… intimate.”

Kiana doesn’t want to make her feel bad. She’s not sure whether Fu Hua is attracted to her, or if she just gets embarrassed, but she doesn’t want to be a bad memory. Time to play up the brattiness some. “Why would I be bothered?” Kiana rolls her eyes extra dramatically to emphasize her point. “It was my idea!”

“Doesn’t it bother Mei?”

Kiana’s eyebrows crunch as she tries to figure out how to formulate her thoughts. “In the beginning kind of? Maybe? But we talked about it and she really liked the idea of lending me out like a t—” A hand slaps Kiana’s mouth to muffle the next words to come out of her. “Hmpf.”

Sadly, Fu Hua must have remembered Kiana’s stunt from a few nights ago, because she tears her hand away before Kiana can kiss or nibble on it. Tragic. But it’s alright, she has other tricks.

Fu Hua clears her throat before Kiana can speak again. “We’re here. Get back to your girlfriend.”

The door to Himeko’s apartment has been left unlocked. Great. Kiana snatches her Class Monitor’s wrist and drags her inside, making a beeline for Mei’s room. It’s the perfect crime. Fu Hua can’t protest or fight unless she wants to wake someone. The class monitor makes some displeased faces but ultimately doesn’t resist. She’s promised to give a recap of the meeting anyway.

Mei’s door creaks ever so softly, and Kiana is greeted with a dark bedroom, the only light two glowing pink eyes. “Welcome back,” the vampire says neutrally. “You’re both here. Good.”

Kiana waves with a grin, closing the door behind the two of them, but Fu Hua stiffens.

“Is she supposed to be out so often?” she asks Kiana, whispering. It makes no difference to whisper, Mei is definitely still going to hear them, but the Gesegnet plays nice and pretends she doesn’t.

Kiana hums. “She comes out a lot when we’re alone. Don’t worry, it’s still just Mei.”

“She bit me,” Hua points out, arms crossed. 

“Ah. Yeah.” Kiana turns to the Gesegnet. “You should apologize for that.”

“I see no need for apologies. The cause was her own stubbornness.” Not-Quite-Mei huffs. 

Kiana crawls on the bed to meet her and boops her nose. “It was still rude. Probably hurt too.” The Gesegnet glares. Kiana throws a look back at the class monitor.

Fu Hua hasn’t moved, so Kiana beckons her, taps the mattress. “Come on here.”

“I need to get up early tomorrow. I’ve fallen behind on my training schedule,” Fu Hua pretexts stiffly. She stays rooted in her spot. 

Kiana opens her mouth to call out to her, but before she can speak a single word, Mei is behind Fu Hua, between her and the door, herding her to their little nest of pillows by the shoulders. Kiana didn’t hear her move. Kiana didn’t even see her move.

The Class Monitor goes along with the movement. At least she doesn’t look nervous, but there’s something wary, almost icy to her gaze. “What do you want now?”

Kiana feels like there’s sparks between her girlfriend and the class monitor. Zap, zap. Big sparks like metal rods with high tension between them. Appropriate, considering Mei can control electricity. Um. They wouldn’t fight, right?

“You were going to tell us about the meeting!” Kiana quickly points out, hoping to alleviate the sudden hostility. “I know you knocking me into a wall side-tracked us, but Aunt Teri is still kidnapped!”

Fu Hua sits down next to Kiana, and Mei sits on the white-haired girl’s other side. The bed doesn’t like that there’s three people on it, but they’d need to move a lot more than this to break it. For the night’s activities (potentially planning a rogue rescue), they’re fine.

“Speak,” Mei commands, wrapping an arm around Kiana’s shoulders. 

Fu Hua watches them a moment, then indeed starts speaking. “Principal Theresa is MIA. She has been captured by Anti-Entropy, an organisation that opposes Schicksal. No rescue has been planned yet that I know of, but the Overseer wants to keep her absence discreet. It is unclear how they managed to overpower her. There might not even have been a fight— neither operative we have visuals on were injured or even dusty.”

Mei and Kiana welcome this professional summary with knit eyebrows. That is pretty strange. It reeks of conspiracy.

“Please don’t try to rescue her by yourself,” Fu Hua adds with a tad of (metaphorical) bite. “You have no way to locate Anti-Entropy anyway.”

The door clicks open. “The Bronya can.”

Bronya shuffles in, yawning, and climbs on the bed. It creaks in protest. Nobody cares. It’s so hard being a bed. “It was closed properly, Bratnya! Of course it’s not going to work if you open it yourself—” Kiana blinks. “Wait hold up what did you say? You can find Aunt Teri?”

“Give the Bronya three days.”

"Matushka, do you have sharp scissors?"

Cocolia doesn't lift her gaze from the report she's reading. She waves her hand towards the pot of office supplies on her desk. There's some clinks and clanks as Sin retrieves the scissors among the pens and pencils and then tap tap tap, clunk, the door closes behind her.

Cocolia takes a sip from her coffee. Mm. Could use some vodka, but better not be drunk around children.

Children. 

Cocolia leaps off her chair and bumps painfully into the table, but she doesn't stop, only swearing under her breath. Her coffee spilled all over the floor. Fuck. She'll deal with that later. She makes a mad dash out of her office, almost slips as she turns the corner. "SIN WAIT!"

The shoulder-length mop of pink hair stops trotting away. "Matushka?" The little girl turns around and waits for her to catch up.

Cocolia heaves, less from physical exertion and more from the receding fear. "What... do you need the scissors for."

"I wanna cut my hair. It's too long." Sin transfers the scissors to her left hand and grabs a fistful of hair with her right, making a pigtail. Her yellow eye stares distastefully. "Doesn't look like me anymore."

Alright... alright. She's not going to hurt herself or anybody else. Okay. Cocolia sighs in relief, and then gently pries the scissors from the child's hand. "Come back with me to my off—" she spilled the coffee. "No, we'll go to a bathroom. I'll cut your hair for you."

Sin looks surprised, and then she grins widely, her fangs so sharp they make Cocolia's stomach twist against her will. "Okay."

Cocolia makes it back to her office half an hour later. Cutting the child's hair was thankfully uneventful, besides her fidgeting. She ran off immediately after they were done to show off her new haircut. The scissors are back into Cocolia's hands. Everything is fine. Absolutely fine. Now she just has to deal with those papers... 

She finds Seele in her office. She's on all fours on the floor, with a rag, wiping the last of the spilled coffee. "AH!" The door opening startles her, and she almost bumps her head on the desk.

"Are you cleaning this up for me?" Cocolia kneels down and yanks her up, then pats her hair. "Thank you Seele. You're a good girl but you didn't have to, alright?"

"O-Okay... I just saw the door open and the coffee spilled..." Cocolia smiles, threading her fingers through her daughter's hair. Seele looks down, shy. 

Seele, you're a kind, lovely child, she thinks.

Chapter Text

This must be a basement, Hua concludes. The ceiling is low, and there’s no windows. The smell is unmistakable. 

Her red eyes take a moment to get used to the low light.

Three figures are huddled under a large table, sitting on a blanket. Two of them share another over their shoulders, while the third appears to be dozing off, her back propped against the tallest girl. She clutches a plush bunny against her chest.

The table looks quite banged up— it probably wasn’t originally here. They have flashlights, Hua notices, but they're turned off, perhaps to spare the battery. There is canned food and bottles stored in a shelf next to them, and even a plastic bag that seems to be used for trash. It’s mostly full of junk food packaging.

Hua steps closer. She recognizes these girls. They look younger than she knows. A memory again. Is this hers at last?

No. She was never here. Her dream would remember.

Explains the unfamiliarity of the scene. Reassuring, somewhat, that this isn’t something she’s forgotten.

Mei rubs soothing circles in Kiana’s back, her eyes faintly glowing pink. Every breath, Bronya’s body shifts against her side, but she doesn’t slip or fall over, secured by the Gesegnet’s watchful eyes. She’s their anchor, Hua realizes. Mei holds them together against whichever terrible nightmare has Kiana whimpering in her arms.

Pink makes direct eye contact with red. Fu Hua almost shudders. That is a gaze that would not hesitate to kill.

An unnatural thunderclap booms somewhere far outside. Kiana screams, jolting Bronya awake, but Mei tugs her closer like she’s been expecting it. Kiana is holding onto Mei’s shoulders like it’s the last thing she’ll ever do. “Shush.” Another explosion. Louder. Closer. The room trembles slightly, despite being underground. Bronya shows no fear, but she crawls closer to Mei, navigating the mess of blankets with some difficulty.

Wordlessly, the Gesegnet passes an arm around her too. “The Bronya isn’t scared,” the little girl protests, but she doesn’t shrug off the embrace, either. The disturbance continues, Kiana growing more tense each deflagration.

On top of the explosions outside, Hua recognizes the sound of an incredibly loud engine. Planes? Hm… there are ways for vampire beasts to set off loud noises, but this doesn’t sound like it. This must be… bombing? 

Hua’s eyes widen in the dark, hopeless for kinder lighting. She knows where and when she is. This is Nagazora in 2014. Schicksal quarantined the area, hoping that the vampires would simply exterminate each other. Then, when the detected number of beasts was evaluated to be too high… carpet bombing was authorized, on the assumption that there would be no human survivors after a few weeks of quarantine.

“The Bronya’s Matushka almost got caught in the 2000s tundra bombing,” Bronya says conversationally. Her words are almost covered by a new explosion towards the end, but Kiana’s stopped screaming. Instead, she’s just trembling, huddled onto herself in Mei’s arms. It’s disturbing. Fu Hua hates it.

“Is that so,” the Gesegnet answers. Perhaps it’s meant as an encouragement towards the distraction. The vampire’s tone is cold, but Bronya pays it no mind and goes on talking. 

“Da. She was fighting off hordes alone with a defenseless pregnant woman. Only a car and guns and snow, against zombies and beasts.”

“Her wife?” Mei hazards, propping Kiana up so she can rest her forehead on Mei’s shoulder.

“Nyet. The Bronya’s Matushka does not have biological children. She took the Bronya in two years ago.” Bronya offers no other detail on her background. Instead, she goes on with her story, ignoring the louder and louder explosions that make the table rattle above their heads. “She was almost out of bullets, but a silver-haired foreign woman saved her life.”

Kiana has stilled. She doesn’t speak, but she is no longer trembling. Is it because she is listening? Or is she simply too terrified to move? Hua can’t tell. Their Class Monitor is rooted into place, crouched next to the three girls under the table, hoping with all her frantic heart that their precautions pay off. She hears static in her ears, distantly.

If Bronya speaks again, Fu Hua can’t tell. There is too much noise outside. She feels like her head is going to burst. The table is vibrating. She wonders if this is really what the bombing was like, or if the creeping dread of it is a distorted echo of trauma. Until now she’s been detached, too far from the scene to act on it. Dissociated. Now she sees snow flutter into the basement, stark snowflakes in the darkened room of the memory. They’re beautiful, in a terrible way, just like the taste of love on her tongue and the red on her clothes and on her skin and on her soul and the missiles approaching like stars, brighter and brighter, and their terrible noise and their terrible heat and her terrible teeth sinking into her neck lost so neither of them feel their flesh burn and how terrible those bombs are in how they tear two lives apart.

For a split second, Fu Hua sees something else, much too familiar. She grasps at the wisps of the dream as she wakes up, but they evaporate like snowflakes, leaving only a chilling impression behind.

A few days earlier…

Blood stains the snow like a lovely abstract painting, Sin thinks distractedly, a large grin plastered on her face without her input. There are good things about the color red. Breaks the monotony! Makes her blood sing, manic hunger inside her demanding she spill more, but she quiets it, because the Valkyrie's stopped moving, and because she’s not alone here. Stuck babysitting again, but it’s alright, she got to work out some energy. Matushka’s going to be proud of her for getting the job done so quickly.

For the dead, she feels nothing. They’re dead. The Valk’s friend isn't even recognizable as a person anymore, crushed into almost nothing by the clone's gravity powers. Still a mess of blood and bits though. Yeah, it’s oddly pretty, congealed blood on snow.

A faint memory attempts to breach the surface of Sin's mind. Her young voice. Be gone, and a splash of blood before it, too, disappeared . She frowns, bares her sharp teeth, willing the vision away. Someone else’s voice. Monster. She shakes her head, her pensive good mood evaporated, and stomps into ice. Satisfying crunch.

“The hell you doing?” The clone drawls, and Sin turns her anger to him, raising her pike. “What are you snarling like an animal for?”

His hand crackles. The weight of the world makes itself known, a threat rather than an attack, but present all the same. He smirks. “Papa thinks you should smile more.”

She’s not scared of him. She’s not. She can totally take the asshole.

“Tch. Let’s go home,” she growls. She turns away and makes a note to call him more names later.

Sakura, too, dreams of old things.

Kallen’s taste. She refuses to commit it to memory. She’s not worthy of remembering it. Instead she leaps backwards to give her defiled lover some space. The world feels very small, very far away, like it’s on the palm of her hand, a grotesque theater of puppets.

“Hng… Sakura…” Kallen is struggling to stand, a hand slapped over her neck to lessen the blood flow. 

Sakura grins, feels fangs against her own lips. “You still think I’m a good person?” She can’t help but laugh, laugh out the madness, but there’s always more coiling in her chest, and all she does is spread it into the air. “Kallen, I’ve never been a good person! I’ve always hated every single one of them!” She spreads her arms. All the strings have been cut, and eaten, the puppets faceless features of the grim decor now. “You’re the only one I have left, and now, soon, you’re going to be gone, too.” She taps the side of her neck, where she spread her poison into the white-haired woman. “Then I’ll really have nothing left. Just like the gods intended.”

Kallen drags herself upright. She’s in pain, on the verge of passing out, but she holds on. “My family’s fought vampires for generations. I’m not going down so easily,” she declares, but Sakura knows she’s going to turn into a monster. Sakura corrupts everything she touches after all.

“Good.” The mad fox grins. “Then stop me. Destroy me before everything Rin loved crumbles. We can end this madness together.”

Yae Sakura wakes up violently, her breath coming in with violent shakes. She shoots up, and needs a moment to register the scream and metal chair screech her sudden movement elicits.

A semi-familiar teenager was startled just now— her arms are raised in defense of her face. She has short pink and purple hair, mismatched eyes, sharp fangs. A very unusual appearance. One of her kidnappers… a fellow vampire?

Sakura tries to call on her powers, but as expected, nothing happens. No mist slithers into the air. She feels a little wobbly, as well, but it seems that her body’s stability isn’t affected. That, at least, is a relief. Unfortunately, that means she can’t turn into mist to escape, either.

The teen remains frozen in place for a moment, and then straightens up, faking up some confidence and crossing her arms. “So you’re awake,” she says haughtily, like she didn’t just scream like an arachnophobic maiden spotting a spider. She clicks a button on a small device, then pockets it.

It’s… only the two of them in this room. A very small room. “Where is that girl who was with me?”

The teenager frowns, confused. “What.” It’s a dismissive, confrontational noise, almost a warning.

The pink-haired fox straightens up, taking advantage of her height (ears included). This kid may put up a tough front, but… maybe she can be intimidated. “I said, where is Theresa? The girl that was with me?” She speaks slower, lets her fangs show.

“Oh, she’s talking with Matushka,” the girl answers easily, relaxing. “She didn’t try to fight back. Short bitch’s totally fine.”

Sakura’s ear twitches. This was answered much more smoothly than anticipated. Did she misunderstand the aggression in the girl’s tone? She needs a better read on the situation, so she looks around the room.

It’s small, and bare. The walls are gray and smooth, like often in the city she was in before. There is no window, just a single door that looks quite heavy. The bed she was lying on looks cheap and metallic. The teenager was presumably sitting on the same foldable chair she dropped back onto, before she was startled. No other furniture. A small vent near the ceiling. Sakura’s sword has been confiscated.

Sakura isn’t tied up to anything, nor is there any evidence that an attempt was made on her life beyond the kidnapping itself. Mmm. Maybe… she needs a peaceful approach. If this teenager isn’t going to behave in a completely hostile manner… “How are you called?”

“My name’s Sin Mal,” the teenager answers, finding no reason to withhold that. Regardless of her confidence, if she’s been on sleeping prisoner guard duty, she must be an underling of some kind. Sakura can’t beat her while her strength hasn’t returned, but perhaps, if Sakura prods, she’ll spill whatever the fox wants to know. She doesn’t seem to mind answering so far after all.

First off… Why are they alone? “Your companion isn’t around?” Sin didn’t ask for her own name, Sakura isn’t volunteering information.

More confusion on the teen’s part. “My what— Oh, you mean…” Sin’s face twists into a mix of disgust and annoyance. “He’s in straight baby jail.” She has an accent, and Sakura thinks for a second she’s misunderstood.

…jail? Like a prison? “Excuse me?”

“He’s grounded. Fucker can’t keep his hands to himself.” Sin waves vaguely at the air, as if to fan a bad smell, and grits her teeth. Sakura notices one of her front fangs is missing. “I thought he was behaving better but I don’t know what screw he’s got loose,” the teen chatters on, “the moment he thinks he’s not being watched by someone who can beat his ass he…” She hesitates. “Urgh. Forget it.” Moodily, she slumps back on a metal chair and crosses her arms.

Sakura’s own confusion isn’t alleviated, but it seems complicated, so she drops the matter. All she needs to know is that he’s out of the way. One less enemy to worry about.

“Where are we?”

“Eh. Just some random base.”

Well that’s not very helpful. “How long did I sleep?” Sakura hazards.

Sin shrugs. “Didn’t count. Few hours?” 

Mmm. Sakura gathers her legs to sit facing Sin, to get a little more comfortable. “Are there a lot of people here?” She remembers the odd objects she saw just before passing out. “What about those… armor giants?” How much does she need to fight through to escape?

Sin looks like she’s thinking about it with mild bemusement (she mutters, armor what? ), but before she answers, she frowns and stands abruptly again. How energetic. “Hold the fuck up. What’s with all the questions? You trying to start shit?” Dang. She’s getting defensive.

“I should be asking that,” Sakura points out coldly. “You kidnapped me.”

Sin lifts a finger to counter, but finds nothing. Her face reads, you got me there, and she relents. This time she sits on the bed instead. “We’re just waiting for Matushka. I’m making sure you don’t get attacked or run off. She’ll talk to you and shit.” Her voice sinks into a growl. “Don’t even try to attack her.”

“Is Matushka your leader?”

“Uh.” Sin stares weirdly. “Just call her Cocolia.” She didn’t deny it, so Sakura’s guess is probably correct. There’s a pause in their conversation. 

Sin is just short enough to make her legs swing back and forth, so she does. Her shoes scrape the floor every once in a while.

It seems Sakura isn’t meant to die. That much is good. If she’s going to be talked with, they might want something from her that can’t be forcefully taken, which gives her leverage—

“I’m soooo bored,” Sin groans. They’ve only stopped talking for about a minute… “Let’s play a game.”

“A game?”

“Yeah. If you win, I’ll answer more questions. If I win…” She grins largely, her sharp teeth in full display. “You’ll see~”

Mm. Sakura would be helpless in a fight right now. This kind of fight, she has a chance at; so she nods. “Alright.”

Sin’s toothy grin gets wider still. She rubs her chin thoughtfully. “Do you know… fuck what do Japanese people play? Do you at least know камень-ножницы-бумага?” (Rock-Scissor-Paper?) Sakura shakes her head, not recognizing the words. “Urgh. Okay, I’ll teach you. So there’s three hand signs. You go цу-е-фа (tsu-ye-fa) and then you hold out your hand with one of them. This one is—” 

Sakura lifts a hand to interrupt. “Is this not a kind of 三すくみ拳” (Sansukumi-ken)  ?

Sin’s mismatched eyes glaze over. Her japanese is decent but perhaps not that good. “Three…?” she mumbles under her breath, unsubtle.

“It seems we have different names for similar games,” Sakura explains. She is reminded of her conversations with Kallen, and subconsciously, a smile finds its way to her lips. “I know the rules, but teach me your hand signs anyway.”

It’s like Sakura hit a switch. Sin waves her forearms back and forth excitedly, physically vibrating. She reminds Sakura of a puppy right now. If she had a tail, surely, she would be wagging it. “Hell yeah. I’m going to destroy you.”

Sakura doubts that. She has five hundred more years of bad decision making under her belt after all. “We shall see.”

Snuggles… good.

A very intelligent thought of one Kiana Kaslana. A very sincere one, too. Kiana is a notable snuggles enjoyer. Especially if what she gets to snuggle into is her girlfriend’s bosom.

Sleeping people, however, hardly have thoughts. The reason Kiana can be having thoughts is that she is no longer asleep. Her pillow is stirring. “Nooo…” Kiana whines, capturing Mei’s middle in her arms.

“It’s already nine. Even if it’s the weekend, we need to get up.” 

“No we don’t. Time’s a liar and a coward.” A chuckle, but Mei still pulls away. Cold. Nooo.

Kiana pouts, struggling to hold onto Mei’s pajama shirt when she’s already half out of the bed. “At least kiss me.”

Kiana refuses to open her eyes even when she’s pushed back onto the bed for balance, even when her cheeks are cupped by loving hands, even when she grapples for Mei when she feels soft lips against her own. Kiana kisses hungrily, but the moment passes all too quickly, and Mei lets her drop on her back into the mattress.

“Eww, morning breath,” Kiana snickers with a large smile. She gets whacked with a pillow. Worth it.

“Kiana Idiotka designation updated to Noisyka,” a purposefully robotic voice deadpans. Uh? Bronya is here? Why is Bronya here? Kiana struggles to open her eyes. A blurry ceiling comes into focus, and so do judgemental grey eyes, framed by tousled, curly silver hair.

Bronya is indeed here, here being what Kiana recognizes as Mei’s room. Fragments of the previous night flutter into Kiana’s consciousness. Right. They stayed up to talk Plans. They must all have fallen asleep in Mei’s bedroom. It’s nostalgic. They used to share the bed in Nagazora, too, since there was no power in most of their hideouts. Warmer that way when nights got cold…

There are two flavors to sharing a bed with Bronya when she doesn’t take her prosthetics off. Either you risk getting kicked by metal, or she doesn’t move at all, and you might stub your toe in your sleep. Ow. There was also that one time Kiana woke up to very heavy metal directly on her face and then got scolded for drooling. Rationally, Kiana’s never been a fan. 

Irrationally, her chest is filled with warmth, and she pounces on Bronya to hug her. There are mild protests. “Update mitigated. Request for Kiana Idiotka to unhand the Bronya.” 

The young knight pays it no mind and tucks the shorter girl under her chin, smiling. “Nope. Mei’s gone off to make breakfast. You’re my emotional support hug pillow until she gets back.” Kiana scans the room, but finds no trace of the class monitor. Fu Hua must have sneaked away already. Makes sense. She has the aura of someone who wakes up at 4:30 am for no goddamn reason, even on the weekend. (Little does she know, the reason is to get both training and video games done every day.) 

To Kiana’s surprise, arms snake around her middle. Her heart stutters. Bronya is hugging her back? Oh my. What a treasured occasion. She could purr. She rubs her cheek on the soft silver hair, ruffling it further.

Bronya’s arms squeeze tighter. Tighter. Tighter. Uh. Uncomfortably tight. “Bratnya I can’t breathe—”

“Unhand the Bronya.”

Having washed her face in her very own bathroom, Fu Hua sits on a stool and props her chin on her joined hands. She stares intensely at her own reflection in the mirror. 

On one hand, she looks a lot healthier than before, that’s for sure. She feels leagues better too. She’ll be able to train regularly again, and she’s already back on the top of the numeric leaderboards.

On the other, she is in deep shit.

The task Otto has given her is to oversee the troublesome little gang from Nagazora… well. Mostly Kiana. That includes reporting anomalous activity, and just generally keeping them alive and out of trouble. 

She has recently been inducted into the core of their group due to Kiana trying to rival a vampire in thirst, which is good for Fu Hua’s job, because that means they will trust her more, and make it easier to track their movements or dissuade them from doing stupid things. That’s the theory: In practice, she is in deep shit, because she’s learned of their little plan to rescue Theresa and technically she’s supposed to stop them.

The thing is, if she betrays them when they believe the life of a loved one is at stake, they will never trust her again. Furthermore, Fu Hua herself believes that snitching is a dick move.

So she stares intensely at the mirror, hoping to find magical answers. 

Her only saving grace is that she’s pretty sure Otto would find a rescue raid by a little team of B and A rank Valkyries to be absolutely hysterical.

This isn’t even touching upon the fact that Hua is already lying to them. About everything. Kiana has kissed her once (she feels her cheeks warm at the memory), Kiana has kissed her once but she has no idea who Fu Hua really is. Mei embraced her and trusted her with her girlfriend but she has no idea who Fu Hua really is. Even smart little Bronya remains dutifully clueless to the phoenix, Jingwei, the Celestial of Shenzhou whose purifying flames purged the impure hunger of the plague for millennia.

She should probably bring that up at some point. That seems like something at least Kiana and Mei absolutely need to know. 

Fu Hua lets her forehead bonk against the mirror. 

Chapter Text

This dream is more confusing than the previous one. Chaotic. A memory filled with adrenaline, bashing skulls and running. Blood and sweat drip down her arm. Her muscles are sore, and she’s out of breath, much more than she would be, if she was truly herself. 

Now that she knows whose memories she’s seeing, Fu Hua will be able to keep enough distance to not be overwhelmed, she thinks. She remembers where she is. She knows this is a dream. Surely, the red dream of snow won’t get her again.

Mei isn’t here. Kiana is alone, baseball bat in hand. Hua figures this time it’s the eruption in Nagazora, the beginning of it. She doesn’t know the specifics of her meeting with Mei, but she guesses this is what she is going to witness.

“Fuck…” Kiana gasps for breath, back propped against the wall. “Let’s continue. We’re close to the source.” Hua was never here, but these dreams yearn to include her. She finds herself addressed and subsequently forgotten when the memories grow clearer. 

Is this something Kiana’s blood does, or is it Hua’s wish?

The dream speeds up again. Kiana runs up a flight of stairs. Hua finds herself following whether she wants to or not, and they burst onto the school’s rooftop.

The sky is clear, for now. The smoke rising from various parts of the city is an ill omen of the upcoming mass destruction. There aren’t any beasts yet, but soon, there will be behemoths roaming the streets, crushing buildings as they hunt down the next meal they need not to rot and die. “Somewhere around here—”

There is nothing living on the rooftop, zombie or no. “Where is it?” Kiana quickly locks the door again, so nothing undead crawls up the stairs, and shields her eyes from the sun with one hand. 

“You’re not dead.”

Fu Hua recognizes this voice. Kiana doesn’t. 

A girl is lounging on the railing. She has long, dark hair, tied into a ponytail. The sun above glimmers into it, draws cool shadows on her school uniform. She’s beautiful, Hua thinks, and she’s not quite sure whether it’s the blood or the dreamer thinking so. She watches Kiana gape. Mei observes the newcomer with disinterested curiosity for a moment, and then hops off the railing to approach. 

Kiana clears her throat and holds out her hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Kiana Kaslana.” Fu Hua realizes she’s switched to an unsteady Japanese to match Mei. “I’ll uh… take you to safety.” Mei stares for a moment longer before taking the hand, finally meeting Kiana’s sky-blue gaze. “Raiden Mei.”

Her pink eyes are slit vertically, blazing with hatred, but not rage. Maybe not yet. Maybe not anymore. Hua can feel ghost pain in her own hand when Mei squeezes too hard. Kiana winces, and then Mei flings her. Not off the rooftop, thankfully, but harshly enough on the roof’s concrete floor that Kiana makes a pained noise. 

“Foolish.” Purple energy crackles around Mei. 

Kiana rises to her feet, eyes wide. “You’re…” She checks her phone, confirming the source is in front of her, and steels herself. “You… you’re still conscious?”

“So what if I am.”

“You need to fight it! You need to fight the hunger. You’re hurting people—”

“I have nothing worth fighting myself for, foolish girl. This power is what I wanted.” Mei expression is severe, but hollow. “Nothing can touch me now. Nothing will ever trouble your Queen, for all bow before her and die.”

“No! No.” Kiana seems extremely distressed by this speech. “It doesn’t need to end like this. I’ll save you!”

“Save me?” The voice becomes distorted. Something is wrong. The roof glitches around the three, no, the two of them. Something is very wrong, Fu Hua thinks, when she sees snow in the clear sky, snow instead of rain falling from the newborn thunderclouds, and blood-soaked flowers at her feet, and something brilliant glimmers like a dying star, and she can’t breathe, there’s no strength in her limbs at all, just, just enough to be holding on, wet on her cheeks, a wish on her bloodied lips, a regret—

The roof flickers back into focus; Hua finds herself on her knees. The infant storm tantrums around them, and the beating rain is so loud, so loud , but it doesn’t touch the rooftop. 

Mei pins a helpless and beaten Kiana against the wall. Her baseball bat has been discarded. There’s perhaps some hair out of place, but it seems the Kaslana has done no damage to the Gesegnet.

Lightning flashes, sparking a glimmer on Mei’s fangs just before they bury into Kiana’s neck for the first time. Like Hua’s own did not long ago. There’s a flicker of pain in Kiana’s expression, but then, just then, instead of flinching away, she lets her head bump gently against Mei’s. She whispers words Fu Hua doesn’t catch, taken by the kindness of the sky in eyes unhindered by Mei’s raging thunderclouds.

The vision blurs. Hua’s body feels hot and cold at the same time. It’s hard to move, not just because Kiana’s been beaten to a pulp. Is she dying? Gasps of air still get to her lungs, but it feels like her strength is being sapped, peeled away. Slender fingers dig between the quarters of an orange, plucking them one by one, sliding them between wet lips. A tongue darts to lick pearling juice. 

Fu Hua wakes up drenched in sweat.

Dr. Tesla is coughing blood. Her short body trembles each time she hacks up, her face scrunched in pain when she bends in two. 

This would be very concerning, if the situation was any different. 

“Arkh… you can’t just say things like that when I’m drinking, Mophead!”

Mophead, err, Dr. Einstein seems perfectly fine despite the blood sluggishly dripping along her wrist. She’s holding a tablet with her free hand, reading reports. 

Tesla, having recovered from her coughing fit, wipes her mouth. 

“Are you done?” Einstein asks, sounding disinterested, but she watches her red-haired friend from the corner of her eye. Tesla pouts.

“I’ll be fine…” she mumbles, “let me just bandage that.” The first aid kit is open and ready. She takes cotton to dab the blood away, holding onto the scraps of her dignity too hard to lick it off even though she’s still hungry. “What was that about Cocolia?”

Einstein lowers the screen to the table. “I thought you swallowed wrong because you heard me, Dr. Tesla. Is the sound of my voice enough to give you hiccups?” She pushes the cotton away from her wrist. Tesla makes a confused huh? sound, but then bloody skin is pressed to her lips, and Einstein chides her. “Stop fussing. You’ve been holed up in here for weeks. I’ll repeat, so don’t choke this time.”

Tesla’s tongue cleans a neat line up Einstein’s arm. The blue-haired woman doesn’t react beyond tensing a little, but she’s watching the gesture almost fondly. “For the last few days, Cocolia’s forces have been deployed into Nagazora. An insider let them through the blockade for unknown purposes. We initially supposed that she was scavenging before Schicksal decided the area is safe to reclaim, but…” Tesla lifts her head, licks her reddened lips, and grabs disinfectant, repurposing the cotton ball. “Yesterday all her forces withdrew. She found what she was looking for… but we’ve noticed her goons left with Theresa Apocalypse in tow.”

Tesla dabs the cotton on Einstein’s twin wounds. “That’s suspicious as hell. Theresa went toe to toe against her . If Cocolia has anyone strong enough to win against the Oath of Judah, she’s been hiding them.”

Einstein doesn’t pick up the conversation, so the redhead sighs and continues morosely. “We did hear she replaced that clone. It could be him.” The gauze is soon wrapped tightly around Einstein’s wrist, almost as tight as Einstein has tensed to this speculation.

“No way.” She turns away, retrieving her bandaged wrist. “These imitations are barely held together.”

“What else then? One of those kids she’s raising?”

“Either that… or they took a hostage. Theresa is a good enough person to surrender over a civilian life.”

Tesla’s eyebrows furrow. “But there shouldn’t be any humans left in Nagazora. It’s been two years. Bait then?” She hums. “The only ones who didn’t succumb after the first few months were with the vampire who caused the eruption in the first place.”

“And they remained undetected for months thanks to her interference field,” Einstein points out. “There could have been more, human or vampire—” but she’s already lost her companion. 

“She shot down Otto’s bombing airplanes with an EMP,” Tesla says dreamily. She got to see surveillance footage of those explosions. It’s really too bad Schicksal got ahold of her first… if they ever meet Tesla will compliment her warmly.

Einstein rolls her eyes. “Focus.” She snaps her fingers in front of Tesla’s red eyes. “A vampire would be able to survive in that environment. It’s not impossible that a few more of us were created during the incident.”

“That’s true…” Tesla nods. “Schicksal doesn’t usually employ vampires, but they did take in Mei Raiden. You think Theresa tried to save that hypothetical vampire then?”

 “Well, it’s too early to tell… Cocolia’s interest is just worrying. I thought she would give up her reckless plan since we refused to let Joachim help her, but if she’s found a replacement…”

Tesla chews on her lip, frowning. “If she’s found a way to work without us, what now?”

“No! Another round!” Sin appears to be a sore loser. She is fuming like a child. Perhaps Yae Sakura should have expected this development. She looks pretty young.

“You would need to win thirteen times in a row.” She's lost count of how many games they’ve played. Over twenty, for sure, but now that she knows Sin’s patterns she’s been winning over and over. 

Every once in a while, she checks whether her powers are coming back. So far, nothing has changed. She doubts she is permanently impaired, but for now, there is nothing better to do than wait and play round after round of teenage girl ego-shattering, err, ”rock-paper-scissors”.

“You must be cheating,” the fanged girl growls.  It’s strange, really. Most vampires only have two fangs; all her teeth are sharp, though Sakura supposes the missing tooth could have been normal. Did something go wrong with her..? 

“How about you answer a few questions,” Sakura suggests, ”and we can reset the score.”

Sin pouts and crosses her arms. “Fine! Shoot your questions!” She makes a show of turning away, but sneaks glances towards Sakura anyway.

“Why am I here?” Sakura asks. Since Sin agreed to answer, there’s no need to skirt around what she wants to know.

“Eh? That’s all?” Sin groans and gathers her legs into her arms, curling up on the end of Sakura’s bed where she’s been sitting. She keeps her booted feet on the metal edge to not dirty the covers and pops her chin between her knees. “You’re gonna help take that crybaby Seele back.”

Sakura frowns, confused. “I have no idea what that means or entails.”

“Piss off, I don’t know the details. Alone I couldn’t do it. The pervert clone couldn’t either. You’ve got a much better chance, and you’ll probably get some extra help too.” She plays with her short hair. Seems like it’s a sore topic. Considering she didn’t take losing a trivial game well, of course failure in what seems to be an important matter would sting.

“Who is this ‘Seele’ person?”

“Eh. She’s just some freak.” Sakura tilts her head. Sin’s shifty, and her fists tighten briefly. That’s… a dishonest answer, but it seems too personal for Sakura to pry into. “Any other questions?” the teen drawls, “you have like. Eleven more.”

“Why are you involved?”

Sin perks up a little. “That’s ‘cause I’m helping Matushka. I’m an Anti-Entropy enforcer,” she preens, and again Sakura doesn’t understand the implications this may have.

“What is Anti-Entropy?”

“It’s us!” That’s not very helpful either. “We hate Schicksal and uh… dying from the vampire plague. Yeah. We hunt valkyries on our territory, ‘cause Schicksal sucks. There’s some humans like Matushka but vampires founded AE.” Sakura keeps questioning her, but gets few useful answers. Though Sin keeps peppering in swear words from a different tongue, Sakura doesn’t think Sin minds answering the questions at all; it just so happens that there is much that Sakura doesn’t know, which Sin either doesn’t know either, or finds so fundamental that it becomes difficult to explain, especially in a language that is evidently not her own.

“One more,” Sin grins. She has relaxed. One of her legs dangles off the bed’s edge. 

Unfortunately, Sakura’s run out of question ideas, so instead, she asks, “Could you open the door?”

Sin blinks. “You get to ask questions, not requests!” She snorts, amused. “Also I literally can’t. It only opens from the outside. We’re locked in together.”

...what? “Why?”

She waves her finger, as if she’s playfully lecturing a child. “Duh. So you can’t force me to open the door before Matushka gets here.” Sin swings her leg back and forth, pouts. She’s very animated, Sakura finds. “Not that you could. I do whatever the hell I want.”

Is that normal? It sounds risky. Sakura could have taken her hostage, somehow. Does Sin’s Matushka not care about her life? Or does she trust her that much? She just can’t tell… maybe it’s on Sakura. It is strange, to deal with people again.

Sakura just hasn’t talked to others very much in the last few hundred years. Out of necessity, her powers had lured humans to her, but they had usually lost their sanity by the time they reached her, and then killing them was the only mercy she could muster… that burst of energy in “Nagazora” changed everything. And now…

First Theresa, now Sin… it’s odd. She feels fake and inadequate. Caught up in her own thoughts, tangled. Incapable of sincerity…

“Let’s play again,” Sakura says, her own voice distant to her own ears, and the teen grins with renewed bloodlust. Sin picks scissors, as she usually starts with. Sakura picks paper.

“Haha! I won!!!” Sin pumps her fist up in the air, and Sakura snorts. “Now… you must submit to my wish.” Sin grabs Sakura’s shoulder and tugs.

Uh oh. Maybe that was one too many bad decisions. The girl’s evil grin bodes nothing good. There’s a disturbing glint of overly attentive interest in her one visible eye, and Sakura instinctively huddles her arms over her chest—

Despite being much shorter, Sin looks down on Sakura smugly, soaring over her from the heights of her arbitrary superiority. “Bend over a bit and lemme touch your ears.”

Eh? 

“That’s it?” Sakura raises both eyebrows. 

“Oi. You won’t let me?” Sin huffed. “I respected my side of the deal when you won!” 

“No, no… you can.” That’s much more trivial than what she’d been wary of. “Just don’t pull on them.” Uh… If Rin hadn’t been sick, would she have been this lively?

Gingerly, the teen crawls forward and wraps a hand around Sakura’s left ear, using Sakura’s shoulder as leverage for stability. 

“Uh. Feels warm. Very alive.” Sin carefully hides the wonder in her voice and runs her thumb up and down the short pink fur. “They almost look like props you know.” It’s tingly to have her ears be touched. Sakura can’t help but twitch them. “Why do you have bunny ears if you’ve got a fox?”

“They are fox ears.”

“No fucking way. They’re longer than my old rabbit plush’s ears.”

“A doll doesn’t have to be realistic,” Sakura points out. “And even real rabbits don’t have ears that long.”

Sin sticks out her tongue childishly and keeps petting.

“Have you never seen a rabbit up close?”

“Nah, Matushka doesn’t let me hold real animals. I was going off that bunny plush from when I was a kid. Or Bronya’s Homu.” A Homu? What’s a Homu? 

The idle conversation feels unreal. Sakura wonders again, is this allowed? Perhaps these impressions are normal. Being kidnapped by a vampire-run, vampire-hunting organisation is a brutal reintroduction to the ways of society.

They both freeze when a loud bang sounds at the door.

It opens, revealing a very short girl. Theresa. Behind her is an unknown blond woman with a carefully neutral expression. As soon as she appears, Sin abandons the petting and rushes to her. “Matushka! That took so long!” 

She jumps and wraps her arms around the woman. Sakura’s eyes widen slightly. 

Cocolia pets Sin’s hair and loosely returns the hug, but soon enough she’s shushing her and pushing her away. Are they close? Then Theresa stops right in front of Sakura, and her lilac eyes focus on the tiny girl. She’s so short, she’s still shorter even when Sakura is sitting down. 

Her familiar blue eyes sweep the fox’s form. Relaxing almost imperceptibly she asks “how are you feeling?”

I still can’t use my powers to get us out of here. “There is no pain.” Sakura doesn’t see any injuries on Theresa, either. It seems Sin didn’t lie. She seemed eager to interact, but it’s nice to receive confirmation.

“That’s good…” Theresa smiles and turns to Cocolia. “Come on. It’s what we agreed on.” Smugness. Is that a short girl thing?

Cocolia makes a face for a split second before stepping forward and smiling at Sakura. “I formally apologize for our… rude introduction.”

Sakura doesn’t answer, waiting for her to continue. She’s not sure she likes this woman at all.

“We… observed you for a while. You were extremely difficult to track down, and cut down all creatures that approached you before today. Please understand that fighting and capturing you directly seemed like the only option in order to contact you.”

That… would explain why they’d send someone like Sin to find her. Sakura crosses her arms. “If you will excuse me, I believe I will hold off on accepting your apology until after I know why you wanted to contact me.”

“Of course.” Cocolia nods with the indulgence of a politician. “To put it simply, we need your help for a certain task. Miss Theresa here has already agreed to cooperate with us.” What?! Weren’t they enemies? Sin looks surprised as well, but doesn’t pipe up about it. “We will compensate you however you wish, so long as it is within our capabilities.”

Sakura decides that no, she doesn’t like this woman.

“I’m listening…” Sakura still says, doubtful. “What are you asking me this for?” She doesn’t trust Cocolia. However, she tentatively trusts Theresa, because she only attempted to talk to her, not coerce her into coming along, and Theresa agreed with that woman. (Theresa almost has Kallen’s eyes, and instinctively, Sakura wants to protect them.) 

By extension, she’ll at least hear Cocolia out, even if she doubts anything she can say could sway her— yet, what Cocolia does next surprises her. 

“Please.” Cocolia bows deeply at the waist, carefully controlled body language swaying. There is strategic reverence, but also an edge of desperation. “Please help me save my daughter, Seele.”

Mei and Kiana find themselves quite busy this Saturday. Bronya disappears into her room to figure out where poor Theresa has been taken; it is up to them to prepare rescue supplies (mostly Mei’s job) and distract Himeko from what they’re doing (Kiana’s calling.)

Kiana indeed is very good at hogging attention, and looking innocent while doing so. It’s a skill she learned in her younger years, when she realized her dad could in fact pay attention to her. She just couldn’t get enough of it, so she got louder and louder so he’d always be looking at her— joking around or asking things, mimicking his funny, coverup bragging.

Maybe, looking back, it was a little selfish. But it’s going to be useful now.

“Hey Aunt Himeko!” She jumps her guardian just when she walks into the kitchen around noon, subtly angling her body so that they both swivel away from Mei, which should give her the time to pretend she’s not stashing food somewhere they're not supposed to be stashing food. 

Himeko stabilizes them both after a second. But it was a long enough second that Kiana’s pretty sure Mei is safe. “Aren’t you full of energy? You were knocked into a wall yesterday.”

“I’m all recovered already!” Kiana boasts, puffing up like a proud bird. She glances behind her. Mei has hidden the duffel bag behind an open cupboard door, and she’s pretending to be looking for something, but it’ll be suspicious if she doesn’t close it again soon. “It’s Saturday, let’s go out!” She hangs on Himeko’s arm and starts to tug her away, throwing a wink over her shoulder.

Mei rolls her eyes, likely thinking she’s being over the top, but her indulgent smile almost overwhelms Kiana with warmth.

Ahh, focus, focus. “Didn’t you want to go shopping, Aunt Himeko? Let’s go now~”

Himeko pats her silver hair with her free hand. “What are you hiding?’’ She’s smiling.

Ah shit. Quick, an excuse. “Uhhh. Well there waaaas…” Mei still isn’t out of the kitchen yet. She’s sneaking away with the duffel bag, she only needs a few more seconds… “that math test last week…” 

The disappointment on Himeko’s face hurts, but the woman is not surprised. Kiana has immediate regrets about her choice of distraction though. Stupid stupid stupid. “Is it because you got distracted with Fu Hua? She usually manages to help you pass.” Almost there Mei! You’re amazing! Just look natural! Wait what did Aunt Himeko say. Distracte-

Oh yeah that . Well technically she’s not wrong. “Class Monitor was avoiding Mei and me lately.”

Himeko frowns and crosses her arms, shaking herself free of her surrogate daughter’s grip. “Kiana… I don’t want to get involved in your teenage drama—” “Oi,  we’re adults now!” “—in your young adult drama, but you didn’t harass Hua did you?”

Oh the disapproval in the air… Kiana shudders. She can’t explain it to Himeko. She already spilled the secret to Mei without asking. “...nnnno?” Himeko’s face tells her she isn’t convincing at all.

Ah she hates this! She hates this so much! She can’t explain it and Himeko is thinking she’s been horrible to Hua now! Kiana twists her fingers into tight fists, frustrated. Too much energy. Not enough movement. She’s going to explode. “I didn’t do anything wrong!” Ah, that came out louder than intended. 

An arm wraps around her shoulders, and tugs her against a warm person. “Shhh.” Another arm, on the small of her back, and she’s huddled into something strong and safe. “Sugar, it’s between you and her, so make sure you check with her whether you’re crossing her boundaries or not. Okay?”

Kiana leans her weight on Himeko. Her perfume inexplicably reminds her of a hearth, gently burning pine wood to hold off the cold, though it’s sweeter than that, something not too expensive but meant to be a little fancy. “Okay… but I think it’s okay… I promise I didn’t force her…” Her voice is muffled by Himeko’s shoulder. Himeko feels so strong, like she’s a pillar of reassurance she can rely on forever.

The frustration bleeds out of Kiana, soothing her back to earth. 

“Alright. I believe you.” Himeko kisses her forehead. “You’re a good girl, just a little too hot-headed sometimes, hm?”

“Haha, I guess so.” She doesn’t want to let go of the hug. It’s irrational, but it feels like if she lets go, Himeko might leave her alone in the snow.

Snow? There’s no snow here. Why is she thinking about snow?

Himeko lets go while she’s confused, and Kiana suddenly remembers her task. She swivels around to the kitchen—

Mei has left safely. Kiana won.

A tongue darts to lick pearling juice—

On Sunday, Fu Hua wakes up drenched in sweat.

The dream slips through her fingers, like they always do, but the sensations linger. Fu Hua’s mouth feels dry, so she swallows, licking her dry lips.

She sits up.

It takes her a moment to regain control of her breathing. Her heart beats hard, but she doesn’t feel awful. It wasn’t a nightmare. She can’t quite remember what she saw (Mei and Kiana interlaced flash in her mind, almost too fast to make out), but it wasn’t a nightmare… in fact, pleasant heat pools in her belly, the sensation almost foreign. 

Oh… it was that kind of dream? “Tch.” She shakes her head.

This… doesn’t happen to her often, but with how Kiana’s been acting, it was probably a foregone conclusion. She facepalms. Ahh… was she able to handle this kind of feeling better before she lost her memories? She feels childish. The last seventeen years feel so short compared to the abyss she’s lost over the centuries. So old yet so young at the same time… the unexplainable déjà-vus unending. 

She rubs her thigh. The feeling will go away soon. She can wait out being mildly horny. It’s fine. Just annoying. Her body is stuck at seventeen, teenage hormones and all. Nothing to be surprised about.

...if she’s been dreaming of it, does this mean she’s actually attracted to Kiana or Mei? Is this what this kind of dream means? Kiana has been relentlessly flirting with her for a couple weeks now. Is this because her advances are working? Is Hua being successfully seduced? She can’t even tell.

…Hua didn’t hate their… encounter, at least. She would be lying if she said so. She would be lying if she denied yearning when the two girls kissed, their bodies embracing Hua on either side. She would be less embarrassed about it though. Childish, it’s childish of her to wish to be part of these things.

Hua’s not about relationships very much, or at least not that she remembers. She always has a million other things to do, like protecting Shenzhou or saving the world.

She has too much free time in St Freya, clearly…

(…is this the kind of person she should be? Is she even the same as she was before the year 2000? She doesn’t know, and she never will. She loses bits of herself with each memory gone, and all that she can do is carry on; what is built anew she can only hope is someone she can proudly call “Fu Hua”...)

Chapter Text

This is a precious, untouched moment. 

The storm rages overhead, but it feels muted somehow. No rain reaches the rooftop. A girl with hair of moonlight silver is sleeping, laid down on the floor, and a vampire clad in dark thoughts sits besides her, looking through the obscured horizon.

Kiana stirs. Moving seems to bring her battered body pain, but she struggles to sit up, blinking the exhaustion away. Mei makes no move to help her, but her bright pink eyes have settled on their prey.

“I’m still alive…?” Kiana hazards. Her voice is rough, like her throat is dry. Mei offers a water bottle without a word.

Kiana takes it gratefully, and downs half of it, before realizing who is besides her. She grins from ear to ear. “You didn’t kill me!” 

“Tch. You taste better than I thought you would. Much better than those zombies. This is the sole reason I will bother keeping you alive.”

Kiana’s smug smile tells the invisible observer that she doesn’t believe Mei at all. “Sure.” She struggles to her feet. Her balance isn’t steady, so Mei grabs her arm to prevent her from falling. Kiana beams.

The image fractures and shatters and Fu Hua finds herself in darkness once more. “Has the dream ended already…? Is this all you wanted to show me?” 

The darkness shifts, and a square of light cuts through it, illuminating a dusty corridor. They seem to still be inside the school, Hua thinks, but a lower floor. Perhaps they camp here to take advantage of the school walls around it? If all the zombies inside have been taken care of, it would be decently reliable.

The scene gains in precision. She can make out a form, two girls almost like one against the wall. One is clutching Mei, who drinks hungrily, face burrowed into her neck. No longer does Kiana seem to fear any pain; her face is blissed out, and could Hua tear her eyes away, she would give them some privacy. Mei’s hands wander along Kiana’s chest, and when she backs away, licking red off her lips, she hooks a finger in Kiana’s collar. “Aren’t you a good little pet?” She croons, and Kiana keens, unsteady. Mei nestles herself between her legs. She starts to undo the buttons of Kiana’s school uniform, slowly revealing pale, bruised skin. 

Fu Hua should not be watching this memory. She really shouldn’t be here. She isn’t part of this intimacy. She was never in this place…  

The dream flashes red. Mei’s slit eyes meet Hua’s directly. She was never here; yet the Gesegnet smirks at her, and extends her free hand, beckoning Hua closer.

“The Queen has decided you may join us,” she says.

Before Hua can take a single step forward, the vision shatters again.

Hua knows this is a dream, but she still feels her cheeks burn with what she almost witnessed. The darkness gives her a moment to catch her breath. “I don’t think I should be seeing this,” she says. 

Her red eyes can’t pierce the darkness. Instead, the roof wraps a clear evening sky around her.

Bronya is here, this time. Project Bunny is out and about, but the robot looks equally helpless, hovering over Kiana as Bronya unsuccessfully attempts to lead her away by her shoulders. Kiana is prostrated on the ground; she’s screaming, whether fear or pain, Fu Hua can’t tell. Mei stands tall nearby, glaring at the sky.

Planes streak through the rapidly darkening heavens. They’re Schicksal’s bombing planes, Hua recognizes. This time, the girls are too late to reach a shelter. Perhaps the schedule was changed on them. She remembers Kiana’s extreme reaction in basement dream. Is this incident why she was screaming then? Or did the basement memory happen earlier? 

If Hua isn’t wrong, Mei and her little group were only spotted because—

The Gesegnet’s fury is a cold thing. She lifts a hand, and the air crackles, making a whip out of the smell of ozone. Mei faces away from the two younger girls, glaring at the planes like she can shoot them out of the sky; 

And then she does.

The deflagration must be deafening, but it is oddly distant. A purple shield brooded the three girls at the last second. The sky erupts into blazing fireworks on hit, shells going off simultaneously. It’s the New Year’s, Hua muses, and Mei is trying to scare old demons away.

When silence returns, the vampire queen kneels down. “They are gone, Kiana.” Her voice is firm.

Kiana lifts her head, guided by a hand under her chin, and looks at her without seeing her. “They’re gone?” She repeats it with a voice that sounds younger somehow, lost.

“Yes. It’s over.”

Tears drag the pad of their fingers down Kiana’s face, pulling at her seams. “I know it’s over. I didn’t— I think I wanted to give you a chance.” She sobs, babbling nonsense, and Hua sees a flicker of hesitation in Mei’s pink eyes. Slowly, the anger drains, fading into soft purple.

Mei, the human side of Mei, takes Kiana in her arms. “Shhh. Everything is going to be okay.” Of course, she’s lying, but we sometimes tell gentle lies to the mourning ones. 

Bronya slowly kneels next to them, unsure of what to do. She’s wary, only taking her attention off the sky when a particularly severe hiccup violently shakes Kiana’s shoulders, and then the grey eyes snap back to the large overhead.

Hua knows, somewhere else, Schicksal is in uproar.

Hua knows, soon, the Hyperion will rush here to deal with the new threat, and after months of silence in the deserted town the wheels of time will be set into motion once again.

Hua knows when the dream shatters that there is more to this, but when she wakes she is only left with dust.

“Bronya said we’re leaving tomorrow as planned,” Kiana mumbles.

She has spent more time in Mei’s room than her own since her eighteenth birthday. Not every night, but most nights, and especially the nights she feels lost. Mei gently threads her fingers through Kiana’s hair, combing the anxiety away.

“Are you nervous?” Mei places a kiss on Kiana’s forehead. The young knight is bundled in her arms, half-curled half-clinging.

Kiana nods, her chin rubbing at Mei’s skin. “What if we can’t save Aunt Teri?”

She finds herself squeezed tighter. “We will,” Mei lies firmly. “The plan’s solid, and the Class Monitor is coming along. She’s an A-rank Valkyrie.”

“Mmm…” Kiana can’t help but be worried. She runs her hand along Mei’s side. “Do you wanna sleep in with me? It’s Sunday.” She grins and nibbles a kiss on Mei’s collarbone.

“Sleep in? You know, I think I’ll be bored if we only sleep,” Mei flirts back after a second of silence. Her eyes don’t glow; her cheeks do, dusted with pink faintly visible in the dark. The room’s only light filters through the blinds. Mei is too kind.

Kiana hoists herself up on her forearms and kisses Mei on the mouth. Soon enough, hands weave into her heavy white curls, clutching her head closer. She gingerly spreads her lips; anything for Mei, her precious Mei. They share breath and warmth and something coils in Kiana’s belly, tingles in yearning when they part, panting lightly.

Kiana gently takes Mei’s hand out of her hair and rolls onto her back. She’s smiling, hoping to convey her meaning when she spreads her arms above her head, wrists in display.  

Mei snorts indulgently. Ah, it seems she’s gotten her message. She climbs on top of her, unable to tear her eyes off Kiana. A thrill of adrenaline shudders down Kiana’s spine when she cups her face.

“What do you want me to do to you?” Mei asks, but her voice is husky, and Kiana knows this is a game. They both know what she wants. They both know what they both want.

“Whatever you wanna do, my liege,” Kiana taunts, “my body is yours to amuse yourself with.”

“A dangerous gift.” Mei’s trimmed nail runs down her cheek, her throat, her collarbone, and hooks on the collar of Kiana’s pajama shirt. “I need to examine it before I make a decision.”

Kiana immediately starts to take off her shirt, but Mei clacks her tongue, and her palm slaps Kiana’s middle back down on the mattress. “Wait for my orders.”

Kiana gulps and nods, flushing. After a moment of stillness Mei beckons her, scooting back to give her the space to sit up, and sneaks her hands under Kiana’s white shirt. Kiana shudders at the contact. It tingles, both because the warm hands make contact with usually untouched places, and in anticipation of what’s to come.

Kiana isn’t wearing a bra to bed, so when Mei’s thumb runs over her breast, she has to bite her lip. It seems her girlfriend’s examination is one of touch rather than sight today. She keens into it, eager for more, but unwilling to rush the game. 

Mei pinches her and Kiana moans, cutting herself short only because she suddenly has a nagging doubt about whether they closed the door or not.

She signals to Mei to wait a second, and tilts herself to the side to check past Mei’s very distracting body. Alright. “It’s closed. All clear.”

“Pffft— you were checking the door?” Mei breaks character to chuckle. “I made sure to close it last night.”

Contaminated by laughter, Kiana buries her nose into Mei’s shoulder to snicker. She doesn’t really need to muffle it, but her own voice seems too loud somehow. “Wouldn’t want to scar Bronya again.”

Mei sighs. “I think she’s made it clear she’s been thoroughly traumatized about this before even meeting us…” Specifically, Bronya had been keen on “protecting” Mei when they first met. She burst in on them voluntarily to state that they didn’t particularly need to risk their safety to “find a different room to have sexual intercourse in”, but neither Mei nor Kiana were comfortable doing anything around her so they’d kept trying to get away regardless. At least, Bronya eventually gave up on keeping them directly in her line of sight.

Well that’s a sour thought. Kind of killed Kiana’s mood. Quick, something hot to distract her back on track. “What about the Class Monitor?” Kiana points out. “She’s supposed to drop by for updates.” Mei wrangles her out of her shirt and pushes her back down. “I can just picture it, she’s deep in thought and doesn’t think about why the door’s closed, and she walks in on me moaning your name~”

Mei blushes. “Ah. Mmm.” It seems like she’s at loss for words, so she kisses Kiana again instead, sliding a hand down her shorts. This is a very effective way of muting Kiana, as well.

Mei has tired of taking things slow, or perhaps she’s more enticed by the class monitor idea than she shows. Well, Kiana wouldn’t blame her. Hua has a lot of charm. She’s intense and serious, but that only adds to how cute she is when she breaks and gets flustered… would be pretty hot if she got comfortable enough to take the lead too… Kiana ponders as much aloud, and Mei smiles, tracing arabesques on her inner thighs. “Mhm, if she wanted, she wouldn’t need to only watch,” she whispers, “maybe I could see that face of yours in a new angle?” Kiana swallows audibly, the flirtation effective.

Kiana and Mei are both very aware they can just pick their clothes off the floor later. Mei presses Kiana back down into the mattress, now that they’re both bare, and Kiana hooks a leg over Mei’s hip, the other still trapped by Mei’s own. She feels like she’s sinking, dragged down by Mei’s tongue and teeth; her thoughts quiet in favor of lust, but soon Mei pulls away with a smile.

She’s gorgeous, Kiana thinks dreamily. Her black hair spills over her shoulders, like extra shadows over her sweat-glistening skin. Her purple eyes are focused on her, devouring her in a way that involves no fang. She leans forward and whispers another thought that makes Kiana’s vivid imagination burst. Oh. Oh, mmm.

“You think she’d agree to that?” Kiana asks, unable to keep the husk out of her voice. Mei shrugs, caressing her girlfriend’s chest again, and plants a kiss on her neck. “Maybe she’s a bit too sh-shy.” That’s going to leave a hickey, Kiana thinks dimly. 

“Keep talking,” Mei orders again her lover’s skin, so Kiana does.

“I think sh-she’d need more time.” It’s hard to focus on talking, with Mei’s ministrations. She’s being played like an instrument, her voice modulated by music Mei’s teeth and tongue play on her body. Her cheeks burn. “I don’t think she r- I don’t think she realizes. That we d-do like her. The v- you gave her mixed messages.”

“Mmhm.” Mei hums and takes a nipple into her mouth, sucking lightly. Kiana completely loses track of what she’s talking about up until Mei pulls away with a disapproving look. “You were saying?”

Kiana pulls up a blank.

“Fu Hua,” Mei provides helpfully. She sets her chin between Kiana’s breasts, smirk floating on her lips.

Kiana nods, squinting. “Right. Hot class monitor.” What the hell was she rambling about? “Oh yeah. Why’d you fight?”

Mei licks her lips. “She seems suspicious to her .” Mei traces lines on Kiana’s chest while she talks, to tease her. “I’m not sure. Hua’s wary of that part of me right back.”

“She’ll get used to you,” Kiana reassures. She wraps her arms around Mei’s neck to go back to making out. Mei lets her, and when they part the sour topic has been dropped. “She’s nice an-and she tries so h-hard. It’s cute.”

Mei nods, puffs of air teasing Kiana’s face. Unlike her lover, she attempts to catch her breath before speaking, but just as she opens her mouth to reply:

“Kiana, Mei,” a sour voice interrupts, opening the door firmly, “we need to talk—“

Fu Hua freezes on the threshold, eyes like saucers when they land on entwined naked bodies. Whoops.

“Oh hi Class Monitor,” Kiana says, not minding being ogled in disbelief at all, “we were just talking about you!”

Mei whacks her, an arm over her chest, though those can’t physically do much to hide anything. “Kiana!”

“What? It’s true—” Perhaps Fu Hua has stopped breathing entirely. It appears that her mind has crashed like Bronya’s computer when she tried to open two honkai impact clients on the same laptop to co-op by herself. “We didn’t say anything mean!”

Mei facepalms. Is that not what Hua would be worried about? “Give us— ten minutes.”

“You underestimate me!” Kiana pouts. “Fifteen”.

Mei glances at her through her fingers, and smiles, of her lips, only the corner visible behind her palm. “Ten, and I’ll make it a challenge.”

O-Oh. 

The door slams closed.

“Good morning.” Himeko finds a flustered Hua rummaging through her cabinets. “You looking for something?”

Hua clears her throat. She’s blushing quite a bit. Oh, sounds juicy. “I thought you might keep beer in here. I need to forget something.” Ah, the wrong kind of juicy.

Himeko pats her shoulder with sympathy. “Beer isn’t going to cut it for that. I’d offer vodka but Kiana has banned all alcohol from the house.”

Fu Hua raises an eyebrow, confused behind her red glasses. “She did? Why?”

Himeko’s smile drops. “I’m not sure why, but Bronya got drunk on a bottle I bought. Kiana threw a fit about it so I've been drinking out in bars instead.” She pouts. That’s part of why she’s rarely been coming home early, lately. “I can bring you next time.”

“There— will be no need.” Fu Hua closes the cabinet door. “I’ll just drink some water.”

“We have cranberry juice, if you’d like.”

“Water will suffice.” She grabs a glass and walks over to the sink. “Thank you.”

Himeko sits at the kitchen table, now aware of the risky gambit that is venturing near Mei’s room. Hua takes the seat opposite to hers and sets the water glass down. It’s shimmery, translucent shadows and prism-lights reflecting on the wooden table like the most inconspicuous jewel in the world.

“Did you drop by for a reason?” Himeko hazards, sometimes Hua comes over to play, but the mood in the house has been a little sourer since the Terinapping. Kiana’s been more evasive than usual, Mei quieter, and Bronya holed herself up in her room the entire Saturday. Their surrogate mother would be worried about their mental health, but the nurse seems to have gone on an impromptu trip home for the weekend. Honestly she’s a little more worried that they’re planning something stupid, what with the groceries levels going down suspiciously fast. It could be Kiana’s midnight snacks, of course, or Bronya hoarding food again, but she’s a little wary of her kids’ resourcefulness.

Because of this, Fu Hua’s presence is both a reassurance and extra worry. On one hand, she has a good head on solid shoulders, and if someone can keep the rest of them out of trouble, she’s a good candidate. On the other hand, if she’s not here to play games with Bronya or to borrow Kiana’s gacha luck, they’re definitely planning something reckless.

Hua downs her water. “I needed to have a serious talk.” She’s still a little flustered, Himeko notices, but she’s hiding it pretty well. When she spots Himeko’s knowing eyes on her, however, she stands abruptly. “I will— come back later.”

“I won’t pry if you don’t want to talk about it.”

Hua shakes her head. “I just remembered there is a call I need to make.”

“Alright… You can come over for dinner if you’d like.”

Hua gives an evasive answer as she leaves, her mind already busy with another mysterious matter.

As Rita promised, the camera in Hua’s room has been replaced.

The guardian of Shenzhou was pleasantly surprised that he’d noticed something happened to it, even if it took a couple weeks. He does find her missing eventually… even if it takes time… 

It’s better that it took this long. She doesn’t want this to be a high priority item. It’s already creepy as is to keep tabs on her this way.

Hua slips her glasses off. Contemplates them. 

They’re quite expensive; the tiny screens are capable of displaying complex information, performing long distance calls, and many more things. Truly impressive, even by her high technological standards.

She can’t snitch on the girls. It feels wrong and gross. They just want family back. 

She can’t let Otto track them through her.

Unlike her living room, there’s no camera in the bathroom. She cleanly snaps the glasses in two and lays the pieces in her palm. Is that enough? With a regret for her wallet she closes her fists, crunching the spying instruments with a metallic screech of agony. 

The deformed glasses sigh a single dying spark and give up.

Satisfied, Hua heads back out. She stands below the new camera, hoisting herself up on her toes to hit a hidden button on the underside of it.

She waits, glasses in hand. As expected, they don’t work anymore, so her phone rings instead.

“Otto,” she greets. It’s a video call. He’s not sipping wine this time, but he’s also not wearing a shirt for some damn reason. Please put on a shirt.

He wastes no time with greetings, but his voice is cheerful. “Master Jingwei broke her glasses, I see? So soon after the camera?”

“Yes. Regrettable accident,” she lies point blank.

He checks something off frame. “You had them intact and on your nose five minutes ago.” Ah, the camera footage.

“I slipped in the bathroom,” she lies again.

He raises an eyebrow. She doesn’t take the bait. “You slipped?”

“Yes,” she lies.

“ You slipped?”

“Indeed.” Her voice is cool and even. He seems confused, but beyond that, extremely amused.

“It’ll take some time for you to receive a replacement,” he says. “You’ll have to do without at least tomorrow.”

“Understood.” That’s what she’s counting on. “...any news on Theresa?”

The principal is his granddaughter after all. Surely, he must be worried too. Maybe breaking the glasses was a stupid idea. He might support the spirit of a rescue attempt. She’s ensuring they get in trouble on the way back by voluntarily hiding important things from him—

“None,” he shrugs, unbothered. “There hasn’t been any ransom request.”

…

“I see. It was a pleasure,” she blatantly lies. She hangs up. He won’t mind, it’s within her habits. 

This “old friend” of hers is exhausting.

Seele isn’t dreaming. She hasn’t dreamed for years, she thinks. Hidden from sunlight, she hasn’t even slept. She wanders the shade, floating between reality and delusion, herself as her only company.

“Bronya…” 

She’s hungry. She dances with the illusion of moonlight, the crescent of her scythe the only partner she has, somewhere so far away.

“I wish you were here…”

She reaches out, but there is nothing for her to touch.

“No. I wish I was there with you.”

She’s out of her head, she thinks. Out of her heart. Her own voice speaks back to her in a half-mocking, half-gentle tone. Yes, Seele must be out of her mind. 

“I’ll come back, Bronya. I’m not making you do all the work.”

She tightens her grip on the handle of her weapon, so tight she trembles.

“I-I’ll hear your call. And when I do…”

So tight she trembles— her words are lost to the sea.

Chapter Text

Hua’s dream feels more lucid this time. The Hua of the present stands in a clearing among pine trees. Snow is scattered on the dry grass and moss; two people are teasing one another. 

She watches a young white-haired teen run after her father. Kiana fails to jumpscare him. Instead, he ruffles her hair, laughing, and she protests, trying to bat away his hand. 

Hua can’t help but smile at the cute family scene. She thinks… she thinks she had a father once— 

Siegfried Kaslana suddenly pulls the younger Kiana close. She’s violently crushed against his chest and then he shoots at something that was hiding between the trees. 

The thing is not deterred. It roars, it roars and then it bursts out of the snowy forest, and the homely view breaks. All that remains is the utter terror of a happy moment being torn away; 

You are never safe. What you have can be taken at any moment.

The vision shatters. Hua doesn’t have time to catch her breath. She finds herself in new surroundings. Later, she doesn’t know how much later— Siegfried wields the fiercest flames in the world against his own daughter. Kiana’s fear is a lance of rage, orange eyes blazing just as bright.

The vision shatters. Kiana’s a little older. She’s alone in a car, too young to drive it, but clearly the sole occupant. She’s cold, eating food out of a takeout box. Did she buy it or steal it? She wipes a tear with her forearm, refusing to sob. 

The vision shatters. “Why are you showing me this?” Hua pleads. In this dream, faintly, she remembers; she could intervene before. Can’t she comfort this Kiana? She tries to call the flash of red back. Her chest aches with the girl’s suffering, but Hua’s own pain is trivial. She should be there, at least in a dream. In a dream, she can be for Kiana the person Hua needed when she—

The darkness shatters, and she falls. 

Kiana younger again. She’s trying to nudge her father awake, but he’s passed out drunk, dead to the world. A child’s pain is all they’ve ever suffered. It’s immense in the way that it’s a first, and it stabs Hua through the chest more surely than lances.

Kiana, smaller still. Burns and bruises all over her small body. Her pain is a gaping hole of confusion and fear. She looks at Siegfried without understanding why his face twists in horror. He says “You’re not—”

Kiana, smaller still. She’s wearing something like a hospital gown, but a hospital minds the well-being of a child. Her tiny fists are squeezed tight on her knees. She doesn’t scream. The needle empties itself slowly, and she grits her teeth, because she knows, with a painful wisdom older than her bones, she knows that they won’t care even if she coughs her lungs out crying.

Kiana, younger and younger, so very small in a sea of lab coats as men poke and prod and she bares her blunt teeth. Kiana, restrained like an animal before a blond man who wields golden feathers to make her forget again and again.

Hua is falling, falling through the memories, and then she hits the ground. It’s a violent shock, resounding all the way through her bones to her teeth.

Kiana, taking her very first breath of air. She coughs, but unlike most newborns, she doesn’t cry even when tears well up in her golden eyes. She struggles to pick herself off the floor, but her muscles are underdeveloped for her size— eight, perhaps nine years old? She can barely hold herself on her hands and knees.

“Fascinating,” Otto says. He makes no move to help the child when her arms give in to gravity and she crumples. 

An abyss of helplessness engulfs Hua’s mind.

Otto did that to her. Is it Hua’s fault too? She wants to be there. She needs— Kiana deserves better. She searches her soul for the flash of red that lets her interfere, but the scene keeps playing out without her input. She’s helpless when Otto grabs Kiana’s arm, examining it like he’d appraise an animal on sale. She’s helpless when Kiana weakly tries to defend herself— she tries to bite, but she is defanged and human, and though that instinct could have once saved her, he laughs now, shrugging off her pitiful attack.

“Oh, no, no. I’m the one who brought you back. You have no power now.” He smirks. “You need to play nice.” 

Hua boils. She has disagreed with many things Otto has done. How many more would there be, if she kept better track of what he does? She should have kept him in check. She should have stopped him from doing this. He calls her an old friend— nobody else could have reigned him in, even if only through sheer temporality. He’s— He’s insane, he must be insane… no. She always knew, deep down, that he doesn’t care about people's lives—  did she not simply turn her eyes away?

Nevermind. This isn't the time for regrets. There’s someone right in front of her, who needs help. She’s failed many times. The present matters more.

Her fists connect with the invisible glass wall keeping her from the scene. They bounce off harmlessly. This is a painful memory, a terror-ridden, crystal-clear cut in a soul. Kiana’s powerlessness beats in Hua’s chest like it’s her own, but it isn’t. She isn't here to cry. She’s a guardian of humanity.

Hua pulls her fist back. She’s here to get things done. She hurls her knuckles forward and punches through the crystal obstacle, but the vision shatters with it. 

She falls once more. The darkness tints itself with hints of violet, ignorance turned to bitter night.

A white-clad woman pleads with a purple-haired teenager who’s gasping for air. The youth is heavily injured, but she’s still guarded, even with a missing arm, baring her fangs despite her trembling legs. Cecilia, too, is injured, the snow and the flowers around them more blood than water, but she has her arms open for an embrace, her weapon discarded. 

“Sirin…” Cecilia’s voice is soft. The girl flinches when she hears her name. Betrayal. Yearning. The maelstrom is torture in her agitated mind. “I didn’t lie, Sirin.”

Sirin snarls and stomps forward, anger momentarily overcoming her exhaustion, and just as the sky lights up, reflecting off her shining eyes, she drives her teeth into Cecilia’s throat.

The vision shatters.

Sirin is pierced and burned by a raging beast. Siegfried is relentless, mindlessly turning into a monster. Screaming, she has to cut off her arm when his fangs drive into her flesh. 

The vision shatters.

Theresa takes her power away. Suddenly, she’s a helpless little girl again. Desperately, she fights to move her limbs, to find power in her blood when the spear misses her heart just barely. 

The vision shatters. Time rewinds through a war Hua only barely remembers, skipping and stopping as the burden of the girl’s pain leans heavier and heavier on the immortal’s shoulders.

It’s okay. She can endure it. She’s been through worse. Kiana, Sirin hasn’t; but Hua’s been through all the tribulations in the world. Perhaps pain is a constant, and reprieve the exception, but people always fight for what they believe in—

Sirin ghosts through the tower of Babylon, picking off the scientists one by one. A wicked will has changed her overnight, giving her power. She is deeply hungry. She feels like she’s going to die, craving to restore the balance of her body before she collapses from the toll heavenly blessings take on her, and so she drinks each of them dry, ignoring their cries just like they did hers. She’s going to survive the senseless evil in the world— if not because there is hope, then because there could be revenge, even when pain radiates through her whole body.

The vision shatters. Hua falls to her knees, burning alive.

Sirin is going to die. She’s tied to the operation table, and her insides burn relentlessly. Her organs must be melting. Tears roll down her cheeks but none of the adults care to wipe them, only taking notes occasionally. Eventually they tire of her screaming. They gag her. Please. Perhaps she’s finally going to die. They’ll bury her without a word. Avrora. Galina. Agata. No, they won’t even bury her, they’ll dissect her. There’s no one left to bury Sirin. Bella. There’s no one left to bury her or care about her, only relentless pain, because isn’t pain and anger and fear what living is for? Isn’t it? Isn’t life senseless punishment? Aren’t all gods cruel? What’s the point of endless suffering?

Hasn’t Hua suffered enough? Hasn’t she been fighting for thousands and thousands of years? She’s been betrayed and left alone over and over, beaten and stabbed and crushed, killed. She’s witnessed the most horrible things humanity has to offer. Her duty is thankless, because there’s always new evil people and new ways to suffer. Despair is crushing and eternal, and spots of hope only let her fall harder. Deep down, she must know she won’t ever be free. She’ll die in battle, and humanity will lose and die out. They’ll destroy themselves. They won’t even care, all humans care about is themselves, fruitlessly running from their own pain until it slaps them across the face, because there is no escape. They’ll inflict pain because it gives them the illusion of control, because cruelty is the only way not to drown, isn’t it? She’s naive, that’s all she is, protecting an ungrateful, violent people. One day she will die for good, she will die alone in unimaginable pain, when the weight of the evil in the world finally crushes her.

Hua’s knuckles are white. Her nails dig into her palms, the sharp pain minuscule when faced with the magnitude of the universe. Vision blurred with tears, shaking, she stands.

Why keep fighting for a thankless world?

She braces herself, the familiar stance the only steadiness she can muster.

Why keep living in a world that doesn’t love her back?

Hua raises her fist. 

Why doesn’t she just let herself die?

Hua was never here. She smashes through the vision, lets the shattered pieces of Sirin’s past tears fall in a flash of crimson. 

“We both know that’s not all there is!”

The darkness is quiet. Ragingly, Hua wipes her eyes with her forearm and starts walking forward. It hurts, even for her, it hurts so much, but she can take it, one breath at a time. That’s how you have to take life. Endure it one second after the next.

“We both… know it. There’s more to life than pain.” She can’t remember what it is anymore, but she keeps going, she always keeps going. She inhales and exhales and she keeps on breathing. The red on the edge of her vision fades.

There’s a little girl with purple hair and bright golden eyes. Her mama holds her gently, hoists her into the air and then crushes her against her chest. Sirin giggles and wraps her arms around her mother’s shoulders, nuzzling into her neck. 

Hua stops walking right in front of them, taking a moment to catch her breath, and the weight of the pain fades.

The entwined forms blur. Sirin stands, older, alone. “Why are you seeing this?”

Hua doesn’t know. She has no answer to give. She’s been wondering too. “Did you bring me here?” Hua asks. Is this entity what lurks in Kiana’s blood? Is this who has been showing her these memories? “Why?” 

Hua receives no answer. It’s Kiana in front of Hua now. “Why did you want to be there?”

The painful, repressed memories flash through her mind’s eye, settling on the one who made Hua want to act; little Kiana abandoned in the car, alone. “You looked cold,” she answers numbly.

“You’re kind. It’ll destroy you someday,” Kiana says, as if to her own mirror image. 

The girl wraps her arms around Hua, the embrace lukewarm and immaterial. “Maybe so.” This isn’t the real Kiana, Hua realizes. Kiana was never here. There is only a shadow of her. Perhaps a fragment of soul, an imprint in her blood, but Kiana was never here. Hua is alone.

Now only Hua stands entwined with Hua. “It wasn’t the blood,” she tells herself. “It was you. You wanted to be there.” The world bathed in red. “It was you, yearning for warmth and kindness, to give and to receive. You’re faithful to your duty, but you hate being alone, Hua.”

“Why Kiana’s memories, then?” she asks herself, but she already knows the answer. Her past has faded, and—

The Hua in her arms fades away. She is in Himeko’s living room. Theresa and Bronya are engaged in video game warfare on the floor, at the foot of the sofa. On one end, Himeko laughs about something on TV, glass in hand (it’s cranberry juice). Mei and Kiana cuddle on the other, half-swallowed by pillows. Mei is focused on the screen, but it’s the family she’s found Kiana watches.

Hua could see it then, and she can see it now. Kiana is an overly straightforward person. Perhaps she was different once, or she voluntarily cuts down the nonsense, but she doesn’t hide what she wants. To love and be loved, that’s about it.

How very simple. Hua can’t help but smile indulgently. 

She wakes, almost sore from the phantom pain. She stays still under the cozy blanket. She knows today is a big day, but she lets herself bask in the journey, the reminder of precious things, the bashful knowledge that she’s less aloof than she admits.

This dream, she doesn’t forget.

On Monday, the girls meet up at noon under an oak tree in the courtyard. Bronya’s idea— hiding all day would be more suspicious than sneaking off at lunch.

Bronya is holding a heavy box open on her knees. “Phone in. Or leave it in your room.”

Kiana drops her phone into it, and so does Mei, after a moment of hesitation. “For tracing?” Hua asks, mildly reluctant. She knows, rationally, that none of her accounts are threatened by potentially breaking her phone, but still. 

“Da. And turn it off.”

Hua sighs, does so, and drops it in. Otto is going to think she’s cutting him off on purpose… Well, he wouldn’t be so wrong, she thinks bitterly with Kiana in the corner of her eye.

In the end… she couldn’t talk to her or Mei. After they rescue Theresa… yes, after that’s done, she will. And Hua also needs to apologize for those memories she saw. She’s not entirely sure how that happened, or whether it happens often, as she usually forgets her dreams immediately, but it would feel intrusive to learn the vampire you kindly lent your blood to poked into your past…

(They’re things about her past Kiana herself doesn’t know, but Hua isn’t allowed to tell her about that.)

“We all good on the plan?!” Kiana seems quite pumped, but it’s entirely possible she’s playing it up to cover up her anxiety. Mei bumps shoulders with her.

Hua shakes her head. “I don’t know what you’re planning yet.” Three pairs of judgmental eyes glare at her. “What?”

“That’s your own fault, Class Monitor.” Kiana huffs. “You were supposed to pop by yesterday.”

Seriously? “I did.” Hua’s flat stare is daggers, as well. “You were busy.”

“We told you it’d only take fifteen minutes,” Kiana pouts. “We hurried and everything.”

“Ten,” Mei interjects unhelpfully. “Major Himeko told us you left because of an urgent call?”

Before they can question or judge her further, Bronya claps once. She’s put the box with their phones away… somewhere. “The Bronya will go over the upcoming operation now. Pay attention.” She’s the only one of them who still has a screen, so she pulls up a map. “The Bronya has a car parked ten minutes from the school, here. Memorize the location. To avoid suspicion we will head to it in separate groups. Supplies are already in the trunk.” Kiana flexes her biceps. Hua figures she’s the one who moved them in. “We have a second pickup approximately an hour away. Exact directions will be given dynamically.”

Hua frowns. “Why not just tell us that destination?”

“The Bronya has memorized it in order not to leave paper evidence, and to avoid tracing or discovery, GPS must not be used.” Bronya’s cool eyes don’t flicker even when Hua crosses her arms, doubtful. “Additionally, there is no street address. Giving the coordinates to Kiana Idiotka, who will drive, would be useless, because they are longitude and latitude numbers.”

“Oi.” Kiana pouts, but she doesn’t doesn’t protest further to the inescapable truth.

“Alright.” Hua nods. “And when we reach the second location?”

“Further briefing will be held there, away from any potential stray ear.” Bronya checks the time, turns her phone off and pockets it. “We need to leave now. The Bronya will go first. We must be ready to drive away in twenty minutes.”

“Next left,” Bronya instructs monotonically from the front seat.

Fortunately, Kiana’s driving is competent. Unfortunately, she is aware of this, which means she will cut any corner she can while technically respecting driving laws.

“Why do you even bother to respect the speed limit?” Hua grits out, having almost been thrown into Mei by Kiana’s last stunt despite the empty seat between them at the back. Clearly the Kaslana believes road courtesy and safety to be mere suggestions.

“Old habit. You don’t want to get stopped by cops when you’re underage driving,” Kiana points out sagely. “I may be legal now but we’re on a schedule. Don’t worry, I’ll drive faster when we reach the countryside.”

“That’s not what I meant!”

Mei offers her a long-suffering look of sympathy. By the time Hua staggers out of the car, she regrets not insisting to take the wheel… but here they are. The last stretch was a dirt road in a forest. There’s not been a house for miles. Makes sense for a base Bronya discovered… of course such a thing would be isolated away from civilization.

...still, she is uneasy. If it was so quick to discover, why hasn’t Schicksal done something about it? Is it another of the Overseer’s games? There’s no way Bronya alone is more capable than all of his resources, is there?

“Where’s the other car, Bratnya?” Kiana drawls, faking disinterest. They’re going to have to carry their luggage, but she’s right, there’s nothing in sight. Whatever favor Bronya called in to have this arranged, its executor better not have bailed on the girls. 

“It is not a car. Follow the Bronya.” The Russian girl waits for them on the edge of the trees, on a faint trail. She found it right away. Does she know this area well?

“What about this car?”

“The next location must be reached first. We will come back for the luggage once it has been found.”

Kiana locks the car. Mei laughs uneasily. “Kiana… there’s been nobody for miles. You really think someone would try to steal our things?”

“Don’t want some kinda bear to get into the trunk,” Kiana shrugs.

They head off in silence. Bronya leads. She can’t float, the branches are tangled too low, breaking into the path, so Mei follows her and watches her steps like she’s afraid she’ll stumble on the uneven path. Kiana is next, deep in thought. She keeps glancing around the trees. Recalling the dream, Hua wonders if she’s afraid a monster will burst out from the greenery.

Fu Hua walks last, closing their little procession. She is also the first to hear rustling that doesn’t sound like the work of the wind. “Wait.”

Everyone stills, except Bronya, who walks three more steps before noticing the others aren’t following.

“Class Monitor?”

Hua scans the wood and the leaves and the moss. Hmm. Mei, who also has above average senses, scrutinizes their surroundings without spotting anything either. “Did you see something?” Kiana asks, confused. Hua hesitates, but shakes her head. Perhaps she was mistaken.

Cautiously they keep walking. Bronya quickens the pace best she can.

They emerge in a new clearing. Their only warning is bent grass the Celestial takes notice of immediately. “TAKE COVER!”

Mei goes “uh?”, not understanding, but Kiana tackles her to the floor. Project Bunny materializes, though Bronya doesn’t move. 

There is silence for a second, a single second, before, discovered, all hell breaks loose. Five robots materialize in the clearing, bursting directly into the air thanks to AE’s quantum state application technology. Hua jumps backwards, twists around and throws a fist into one of the mechs. The metal bends, and the machine staggers backwards, but it’s not down yet. That’s quite alright. She can punch it again—

Kiana had been feeling uneasy since they got out of the car. There’s something uncanny about this forest , she thought, and it turns out she was right. 

She throws herself and Mei into the grass, unsure of what Hua spotted, but trusting both her and her own instincts. The roar of engines and metallic bangs that tear through the clearing’s silence prove both of them right.

Now that she can see the threat, Kiana stands and pulls out her guns. There’s got to be a yet-unseen someone controlling the bots. From the corner of her eye, she sees Hua go at a robot with her bare fists and win. Hot. One taken care of, four to go.

Mei gets back to her feet and unsheathes her sword, which crackles with electricity. Good. Her sexy zappy-zappy will be much more effective than guns on the thick-plated robots—

Kiana dives into the battle, keeping an eye on the others. Bronya seems to be doing fine. The little space between the machines makes its usage dangerous, so Project Bunny shoots calculated shells that keep the attackers away from her without turning into friendly fire.

Kiana frowns when a mech obstructs her visual contact with the Russian girl. Hua and Mei are behind her, besides Bronya it seems they’re being herded to the center of the circle of robots. Alright then. Kiana attempts to escape by clinging to a metallic arm, which swings her into the air; she lands on the shoulder, gaining the high ground. She tries to shoot point blank, but no luck. The metal is too thick; she only leaves dents.

Thrusting her sword between the plating and administering a strong shock, Mei takes out another robot. Two down, three to go.

Kiana jumps up and down on metal. “Hey!! Here!” Maybe she can bait the bots into punching each other? Below her, the melee continues. Dodging in different directions, Hua and Mei almost crash, but like dancers, they weave around each other; Hua dives under Mei’s blade and, once past it, leaps, boosted by an offered arm. She punches another massive dent into plating. Woah.

Suddenly ceasing its wide but ineffective swings at the girls, one of the robots stills. A panel on its arm clicks. Opens. A cannon. Uh oh. “Watch out!” Kiana yells, and both Mei and Hua turn to where she’s pointing at the same time— unfortunately.

It’s not a missile, the three realize too late. It’s a flashbang grenade, the kind they use to disorient vampire beasts. Humans can be affected too, of course, but beings with better hearing and keener sight feel it much worse.

It explodes with a deafening, albeit mostly harmless deflagration, blinding all of them. Dimly Kiana makes out that Mei staggers back, clutching her head, and Hua’s lapse in concentration gets her hit by another mech’s swing. Oh no no no— she’s pinned to the ground. Kiana jumps off to rush to her despite the swimming spots in her vision, but she’s forced back by yet another robot that blocks her path. Fuck. Who’s controlling them? She needs to take them out.

“FUCK OFF!” She shoots the nearest mech blindly, running past just in time to see that Mei, too, went limp in another robot’s grip. Nononono— 

Where’s Bronya. Taken by sudden fear, Kiana feels a burst of energy. “WHOEVER YOU ARE, COME OUT YOU COWARD!” She shoots a robot seemingly right in the battery, setting off a small explosion. It collapses. Three down. Two to go. They need to regroup. Where the FUCK is Bronya—

Kiana rolls forward between the legs of the failing machine. Getting to her feet, she finds the missing member of her team floating, engaged in combat with a very human member of Anti-Entropy, a few strides away from the chaotic robot party. The enemy’s short, and she’s got bicolor hair and eyes, sharp teeth. The odd appearance is familiar.

The evil girl glances at Kiana and grins. “HAHAHA! I’LL KILL YOU, BRONYA!” she proclaims, a hand on her puffed chest, completely disregarding her target as if to gauge Kiana’s reaction to her boast. A pike is hanging loosely from her fist, shaped like a fancy, oversized clock hand. Addressing Kiana with a sneer, she asks, “Don’t you know evil people maim cute bunnies like her?”

Now Kiana recognizes her. They met a few years ago. No clue what her name is, but she’d gotten swallowed by Chiyou along with Kiana’s group. 

“Sin Mal, the Bronya will not let herself be killed so easily,” Bronya deadpans. She readies Project Bunny’s weapon and the girl’s attention snaps back to her. Unfortunately, she dodges the shot in the nick of time, by a wider margin than Kiana would’ve liked.

Kiana aims for the center of mass.

“AH! Don’t shoot bitch! I’ve got your girlfriends!” She gestures for her two remaining robots. The limp, passed out bodies of Mei and Hua are thrust forward in display, and Kiana can’t help but still, her fingers hovering over the triggers. “If you shoot I’ll crush them!!” She can’t risk it. Those metal claws can snap spines.

Kiana glares coldly. “Let. Them. Go.”

“Fuck no! I’m too evil to let them go! Right Bronya?” She briefly turns to Bronya again. Bronya nods, weapon trained on Sin, but not shooting, either, and Sin focuses back on Kiana. “Hahaha! You can’t do shit! Throw your guns away or I’ll snap all your fingers and make them swallow your bloody nails!”

What is Bronya waiting for? A lapse in focus? She’s smart, she must have their enemy all figured out. Maybe if Kiana distracts Sin long enough for Bronya to get a good shot? Kiana drops her guns as requested. “Hehe. Good girl,” Sin sneers. “Now hands up—” Kiana closes the distance, aiming to knock decency into Sin with her fist rather than the power of gun. “Kyaa!” Sin stumbles out of the way, redirecting Kiana with a blunt slap of her weapon. “Stay away from me— I’ll kill you! I’ll fucking peel off your skin!!”

“Bold claim for someone in kicking range,” Kiana notes, pressing on, and proceeds to do just that. Close combat she can do. She’s not nearly as good as the Class Monitor, but they’ve trained together for the past couple years, she can pack a much better punch than she did when she’d just gotten to St Freya. She swipes to Sin’s left and the girl reacts a second too late— she staggers from the blow to her jaw, but jumps out of the way of Kiana’s following kick.

With Sin focusing on dodging, her robots have returned to standby. She shouldn’t be able to tell them to hurt Mei and Hua. Maybe Bronya is hacking the mechs? She did that back during the Chiyou incident, even if Sin has gotten a better password than gummy bear , it shouldn’t take that long right?

Yet Bronya witnesses their song and dance without moving— passively watching Kiana’s blows and Sin’s expletives as she’s kept on the defensive.

Sin growls. “Alright, you’re starting to piss me off.” Her fangs showing, sharper than should be allowed in a humanoid mouth, Sin disengages mid-swing. What is she planning now?

Kiana braces herself, eyes narrowed. Sin has retreated a few steps towards the trees for some breathing space. She makes no move towards her robots; instead she raises her weapon. “I might really kill you!”

Something somewhere breaks. Kiana is on guard, of course she’s on guard, but Sin’s next move comes much faster than she expects and she gets elbowed hard in the stomach. Kiana bends in two, almost in slow motion, and the blunt side of Sin’s weapon clocks Kiana in the temple before she can react— there’s simply no time. 

Sin sweeps her legs while she’s stunned by the blow to her head, and Kiana drops into the grass. “Ack!” Her ears are ringing. She sees Sin’s heeled boot hover over her face, but instead of stomping down, the girl freezes up.

“Tch.” 

Her foot drops back down to the grass harmlessly, confusing Kiana. What? She needs to get up. What is Bronya doing? Her vision swims. Does she have a concussion? That’d be bad. She needs to fight. Mei and Hua are in danger— Bronya—

“Just hold still for a minute,” Sin grumbles. She pulls the blue tip off a pen-like object and kneels next to her— she grabs Kiana's leg with one hand to hold it still, and without further ado she swings the tube orange side first into Kiana’s outer thigh, holding it there. Kiana winces. There’s a needle in there. Sin counts to three under her breath, lingers a moment before pulling away. What did Sin do to her? What’s in there? Sin pockets her device and turns back to Bronya, who still hasn’t shot her for some reason.

Kiana’s thigh feels numb. In fact, the numbness is spreading, tugging her towards unconsciousness. Bronya’s voice bubbles up, but by the time she manages to focus on sounds, she’s missed her words. Instead she hears Sin’s voice— “Tsk. Relax, it’s a tranq.” 

Kiana strains her hearing, battling against her drowning mind. Bronya’s voice. “The other two?”

“They’ll be fine. Unless they’re allergic or something stupidly ironic like that.”

Kiana can’t seem to reconcile the words she’s hearing with reality. Her head is swimming. Numbness washes over her, unrelenting like the tide coming in. Who are Sin and Bronya talking to? 

...each other?

Nothing makes sense. Why isn’t Bronya attacking Sin? She’s the one who got them all the way here. She’s—

Kiana’s thoughts drown for good, swallowed up by the azure waters.

A scream almost startles the coffee out of Himeko’s hands.

Are they being attacked? Really? During lunch break? Couldn’t wait for class time? Dumping the bitter liquid in the sink, she rushes to the source of the noise, almost crashing into a brown-haired professor on the way.

“Oh god…” What they find is a cleaning lady, the source of the scream. She has both hands thrown over her face in horror. She seems unhurt… must have fallen to the floor from shock at what she has found:

Limply fallen out of a supply closet, what looks like a pallid corpse. Coagulated red on its arm, old blood from what seems to be a deep, infected wound. It seems crude first aid was given a while ago, but this person looks nothing less than dead.

Himeko’s fellow teacher keeps his calm. He kneels next to this person, turning them around to feel for a pulse. “She’s alive,” he breathes, relieved, “but she needs immediate medical attention. Seems to be severely dehydrated.” As the head lolls back, Himeko recognizes her.

The nurse… that’s the nurse, whom she last saw three days ago, when she left Hua in charge of looking after Kiana in the infirmary…

Chapter Text

Oh, she’s melting, isn’t she?

Hua struggles to regain consciousness. How uncomfortable, to feel her insides slowly disintegrate. Hm? There’s something next to her mouth. Reflexively, she chomps down on it, and something warm rushes down her throat. Ah! That’s good, it’s helping. It’s clearing her head. The pain in her chest slows—

“Rah! Bitch bit me! Get off!!”

Pain in her cheek when she’s smacked away. She bit someone? Oh. That must have been what she was just doing. She feels her teeth retract. There’s blood on her tongue, burning slightly. It tastes like fear and hatred, like a carefully constructed artifice. It tastes human.

“Do not hit the Class Monitor.” …? This voice… Who..? It’s familiar… She racks her brain for the name. “The Bronya does not care. Do not hurt the Bronya’s guests.”

Bronya… she knows Bronya. A blurry face appears in her mind’s eye. Silver hair and eyes, a stern demeanor, which hides softness. Bronya is her youngest friend. Quiet. Fierce, when she or hers is threatened. A worthy opponent.

“Urgh. Whatever. I get why we can’t hurt Raiden Mei but what about the other two? The white haired bitch looked like she wanted to kill me!”

Raiden… Mei. Long dark hair, purple eyes. That’s Mei… and a white haired..? Another face pops up in her muddled mind. White hair, yes. Blue eyes like a cloudless sky. Yes. Mei and— a name follows. Kiana. 

Right… Mei and Kiana and Bronya. She remembers them. Why are they here? She can’t feel her body right, like she’s drowning in cotton, but her mind gets clearer and clearer thanks to the blood.

Mei and Kiana and Bronya… they wanted to rescue Theresa. And Hua came with them… but they were ambushed. And Bronya… Bronya is speaking with someone she doesn’t recognize. Bronya is… the only one who knew where they were going. She was so careful not to be followed… she had a car ready on such short notice… knew exactly where it is they were, despite having just discovered the base… Bronya… 

“Schicksal is just a ragtag band of losers.”

Bronya sold them out. Bronya is a traitor, perhaps has been for a long time.

Perhaps Hua is stirring too much. Something pricks her arm. Numbness spreads outward, and her grip on her thoughts slips. She loses consciousness once more, feels herself drowning in darkness; but she wants to understand.

Why would Bronya betray them? Was her friendship with the other girls not sincere..? 

Mei wakes up alone.

It’s a tough affair. She emerges weighted down, like she’s a plush animal that’s been stuffed with the heaviest fluff you can imagine.

Get up.

She’s dizzy. Everything is heavy, including her eyelids, and she’s a little cold; wouldn’t it be simpler to go back to sleep?

Get up, Kiana’s scent is gone.

Nevermind. Mei shoots up, the heaviness torn to shreds. Where’s Kiana? Kiana was with her just a moment ago— they were— There was a flashbang, they were—

“Oh, Mei. You’re awake.”

Mei takes in her surroundings. Plain concrete walls. A cabinet and a table, on which a few bottles are laid out. Teal screens block her vision of the rest of the room. An infirmary? There are no windows, and the sky feels far away; they must be underground. 

There is a blond woman at her bedside. She’s smiling. Mei doesn’t trust that. Then she notices there’s someone else— sitting on a stool some distance away, just outside of the space delimited by the screens between beds, is a young woman with pink hair. She has odd props on her head..? No that’s not important.

“Where’s Kiana?” The words rush out of her mouth, more growl than human voice, but the stranger isn’t perturbed. 

“She is perfectly fine.” The woman is smiling. “Just like you’ve been doing. She is sleeping with your other friend.”

Mei doesn’t trust that. If Kiana was in the room… she would smell it.

“My name is Cocolia,” the woman introduces herself. “You’re my daughter’s friend, though I believe we’ve met once before. Do you remember?”

Daughter— hold up. They’ve met before? Still wary, Mei racks her brain. If they’ve met before, Cocolia didn’t leave a strong impression… she shakes her head, trying to guess which way the door is, but something tells her the cosplayer girl would stop her. She seems uninterested, but something curled at the back of her mind whispers that she’s the dangerous one.

“It’s alright that you don’t remember,” Cocolia continues. “We didn’t meet on the best terms, but I’m happy to see you healthy, mhm?”

“I cannot say likewise until you tell me where my friends are.”

Cocolia nods easily. “I suppose that is fair. It wouldn’t be good to disturb them in their sleep, but I can show you camera feed once we’re done talking, how about that?”

Camera..? Creep. “What do you want?”

The pink girl sighs at these words, like she’s heard that song and dance before.

Cocolia continues. “I want— no, Bronya needs you to help her.” What?! Bronya..? The woman said… my daughter’s friend… “The means to bring you here weren’t ideal, but it’s very important to her, and to me as well.”

Mei heard Bronya talk to someone about her Matushka the night they learned Theresa— did Bronya plan this? All of this? Since then? Since before then? Was Theresa an excuse, a lie to get Mei to follow her away from St Freya?

Cocolia picks up on the reeling state of Mei’s mind, and pauses her speech to give her time to process. She wears a practiced look of sympathy.

“Where’s… the principal? Even if it was a trap… We were attacked by Anti-Entropy robots. You’re with them, right? She was captured by you .”

Cocolia smiles. “What a sharp mind! Yes, that’s right, we’re AE.”

“So Bronya…” How long has Bronya been a spy? The whole time?

Cocolia shakes her head. “I think I should let her speak for herself. Our doctor is finishing up her health check-up, she’ll be here soon. And to answer your question, your school principal is quite alright. I believe she is currently raiding our stock of bitter melon juice.” At least that’s a relief.

And… it sounds just like the Principal.

As if on cue, Mei hears a door unlock out of sight. “You’re free to go,” a woman’s voice says joyfully, and of her, Mei can only see wavy black hair peeking above one of the infirmary’s screens. Seconds later, Bronya appears.

She doesn’t look hurt, nor changed by the betrayal. She isn’t wearing an evil face. In fact, she looks exactly the same, her expression a faint mix of sadness and determination. “Mei is awake…”

“Bronya…” Mei doesn’t know what to say. The Russian girl is like a little sister to her. They've been sticking together for two years now, both in hell and in St Freya. Mei thought, after everything they’d been through, that there was undeniable loyalty between them… 

Traitor, the hurt, territorial part of her whispers, but Mei ignores it. At least Bronya does look sorry.

Cocolia rises. She beckons Bronya closer and, when she stops next to Mei’s bed, pats her hair. “I’ll leave you girls to talk in peace, alright? She wanted to check on the other two, take her to the control room later.”

“Da, Matushka.”

The pink-haired girl rises after Cocolia, waving at them as she leaves. She wears a calculating gaze, but it isn’t directed at Mei; it is entirely on the suspicious woman.

Clack! Mei knows which way the exit is, now.

Mei stays silent, hoping Bronya will talk first, but the sixteen-years-old looks away. Mei sighs. “What do you need my help for?” Bronya’s eyes snap to her, widened in surprise. “I know you wouldn’t act like this if it wasn’t important. What is so important that you’d let Anti-Entropy kidnap us?”

Bronya hesitates. She opens her mouth and closes it without a sound, twice, before carefully picked words drip out of her mouth. “...three years ago, the Bronya made a promise. The Bronya needs Mei’s help to find Seele.”

Three years ago was a year before they met. And Seele… she heard that name the other night. At the time, she wasn’t certain it was a name, her shaky grip on Bronya’s native tongue throwing doubt. “Who is Seele?”

Bronya flushes ever so slightly. “The Bronya and Seele were growing up together at the orphanage.”

...oh. “She’s important to you?”

Bronya nods. “I see…” Would Mei betray someone for Kiana’s sake..? Of course. Of course she would. If it’s to keep Kiana safe, she’d do anything. She can’t find it in her to be mad at the little girl, but…

“Bronya. Why didn’t you just ask us for help? We’re family. We would’ve gone with you in a heartbeat. I don’t know why my help is necessary, but I would’ve gladly helped you find your Seele.”

Bronya looks downcast at these words. She smiles quite sadly. “The Principal was not supposed to become involved, but the Bronya thought claiming to be rescuing her would be safer for the Bronya’s cover. Once Schicksal becomes aware that the Bronya is a spy, the Bronya will need to leave. The Bronya did not want to leave St Freya forever… The Bronya wants to graduate together with Mei and Kiana.”

...oh. Something violent, fiercely protective surges in Mei's heart. She opens up her arms, and Bronya leans against her chest, agreeing to be wrapped in a hug.

Mei keeps it loose, like Bronya likes them, and rubs circles in her back. “Have you been working with Anti-Entropy this whole time, Bronya?”

“...da.”

“When we met, too?”

“Da.”

That’s a lot to unpack. Schiscksal does not exactly depict AE as… friendly. They’re taught these people are violent dissenters, corrupted ex-members of Schicksal who turned the North American branch into a vampire organization sixty years ago. Valkyries who wander into AE territory are often killed, too, or so has Mei been warned. 

But Mei doesn’t think AE has killed any member of their little group so far. Bronya would be acting much different if things were broken beyond repair between them. They were just put to sleep. Generalized mercy, or a favor?

“...the Bronya apologizes for lying to Mei.”

“Apology accepted,” Mei answers softly, “and… I do still want to help you find your girl, but you’re going to have to tell me everything. Okay?”

“Da. The Bronya will explain right away.”

Mei’s voice grows more severe. “And you will show me how Kiana and the class monitor are doing now.”

“...da.”

(She chooses to forgive because they are alike; she wonders what Kiana will think.)

Earlier, in the morning, Theresa sits in one of Cocolia’s oversized chairs, which she’s made a comfortable nest of. By now she has explored just about the whole base.

She still doesn’t have Judah back, but with her promise to cooperate, she’s been left… mostly alone. Cocolia’s goons hover in her path, and have politely told her that she’s heading to a forbidden area a couple times, but she’s otherwise free to wander. Well, even bare-handed she could wreck their faces, so it makes sense.

If Cocolia is lying about her objective, she’s lying to everyone. Sakura confirmed for her that Sin also believes that they’re going to save that Seele kid. 

If she’s not lying… well, she is a person too, not just an operative of Anti-Entropy. She can have personal goals and feelings. Theresa can empathize with wanting to rescue a child from some hostile place…

Kiana… Theresa is hoping Kiana isn’t too worried about her. It’s troublesome that she can’t send word out that she’s fine, but Cocolia was quick to point out that broadcasting that she’s agreed to work together with them is nothing but asking for trouble.

At least Sakura is good company! The Gesegnet has been a little lost, and she seems to be dealing with a lot of grief, but she’s a good person. She brought up helping Theresa escape once her powers came back to her, but Theresa declined.

She wants to see this to the end. If there’s a kid to find, she’ll see to that; if it’s a trap she will face it head on. Fleeing would just be leaving Cocolia to her own devices.

The Russian woman at least looks sincere.

“Theresa.”

Ah! Theresa, who has been half-buried in pillows up until now, startles. One of the soft cushioning objects falls off the plush chair, revealing the colorful cover of a manga she’d gotten distracted from reading. 

Thankfully, Sakura probably doesn’t know what manga is yet. There’s a surprising amount of things she doesn’t know about. “Good morning! Did you sleep well?” Theresa throws as a distraction.

“I did.” The woman passes a hand through her pink hair. “What are you reading?”

Theresa manages to keep her smile steady. “Nothing important.”

The fox nods. “I see…” Her ear twitches. There’s something she must want to say, but they both know they’re being spied on; instead she sits next to Theresa, scooting close because of the little space. 

Theresa hides the manga behind her back, in case someone else comes in. Out of sight, out of Sakura’s mind!

Sakura doesn’t speak. She leans close. Something wriggles in Theresa’s tummy. Um. Yes, they need to be close to lower the possibility of being overhead by a listening device (which Theresa had to explain the concept of). But this close? Is that necessary?

Yae Sakura cups Theresa’s cheek, and the Valkyrie feels her face skin heating, much like a volcano about to erupt. Um. Ummm—

A strange sensation spreads over her cheek. Where there was a hand, now there is still pressure, but the texture has become… different. Like a cloud of flour, something almost-gaseous-but-not-quite. 

“My powers are coming back,” Sakura whispers, her lips against Theresa’s forehead.

Right. That’s what this is about. Yeah. Theresa’s brain feels strangely sluggish. She nods, and Sakura pulls away, like nothing happened just now.

Which! Nothing did! Nothing at all!!!!

Ahem.

Three days or so… Sakura’s powers were disabled for three days or so. The effects of the formula Dr. Magi left Schicksal with weren’t so potent. He must be alive somewhere, Theresa decides. 

Regardless, that substance is worrying. No doubt if Cocolia uses this on her, she’ll be taken out for good… 

“That Sin kid’s not with you today?” Theresa asks, using something less suspicious to unobstruct the flow of conversation.

Sakura shakes her head. “I was told she headed out to pick up the last items needed to open the gate. She left a couple hours ago.”

Ah.

“...we are leaving as soon as she’s back. You should pack your belongings.” Sakura rises. “You can show me that book later.”

Fuck. Theresa had hoped she’d forgotten. “Y-Yeah, sure.”

Sakura waves and leaves, and Theresa deflates. Urgh.

She doesn’t get to rest long, however. Tick-tick-tick, a light tap breaks the silence, metal on concrete. What? Theresa looks left… nothing. Right… still nothing. The room is quite small, anyway. Hm. Above..? 

Above her, on the ceiling, is a huge spider. Theresa stares at it. The spider stares back. The spider lets go of the ceiling and its horrible spidery body drops down on her. 

“KYAAA!!”

Bonk. It’s heavy on her arm, much heavier than she imagines a real spider to be. On second thought, maybe it’s not made of spider?

She peers closer to the shiny metal, and the robot’s speaker crackles to life.

The clock ticks like a pacemaker.

“Hey. Bronya.”

The door creaks when it opens, and Sin grits her teeth. Noisy.

Bronya looks at her when she hears it. She says nothing. Matushka promised prosthetics, but they’re not ready yet. Plus, Bronya’s badly banged up after the X-10 experiment, so she firmly told her daughter to rest in bed while she heals. 

There’s a wheelchair next to her anyway, because early on a couple weeks ago Bronya tried to use her new freaky robot thing to move around on her own, and of course she almost broke something else. Practice later, dumbass, heal first. That’s what Sin wants to say, but she’s the cause of this mess, isn’t she? It feels hypocritical to say anything like that.

“Happy birthday,” Sin says after a moment. She didn’t bring a gift. Bronya doesn’t want gifts. She wants Seele back, and not much else.

“Thank you,” Bronya states. 

Bronya’s answer lacks any kind of interest, as Sin was expecting. Today isn’t important, unlike last year. When Bronya turned twelve, they all threw a party for her. Sin spent most of the time glowering, but the cake Seele made was okay.

“How’s your…” Legs? Head? Broken heart now that Seele’s gone? “D’you want to go somewhere?”

“Da.” There’s no emotion in Bronya’s voice. She was never terribly expressive, but there was more inflection before. Just a bit more of a spark. Sin can’t tell if it’s her injuries or the shock of sleeping alone in Seele’s room for the first time since she got here.

Bronya sets aside her Japanese homework. Sin tries to help Bronya get to the wheelchair, but it quickly becomes clear that she barely needs any help anymore. She’s not helpless, and Sin’s not needed. Insurance, at best.

Bronya doesn’t wait for Sin, wheeling past her into the corridor as soon as she’s able.

What is Sin even doing here? There’s nothing she can help. Everything’s fucked beyond repair. She can’t rewind it better. She follows Bronya out without another word. 

There’s nothing between them until they reach the courtyard, and Bronya wheels to a stop. She asks it with mild curiosity, like she’s just thought of it. “Is Sin visiting the Bronya because of a misplaced sense of guilt?”

Sin flinches. She hadn’t expected Bronya to interact voluntarily with her. “Tsk. Misplaced? I pushed you down the stairs didn’t I?”

And I hurt Seele. And she found out about the experiment because of me. And now she’s gone. It’s all my fault. Misplaced who? Bullshit.

“The Bronya’s leg was not broken from the fall. It was broken when her leg was repeatedly stepped on violently.” Bronya’s voice is factual, bearing neither grief nor hatred. It’s unnerving. Bronya should be screaming at her, something.

“Don’t try to make it sound like this isn’t my fucking fault. I also did that.”

“Nyet. The Bronya could have easily subdued Sin,” Bronya points out. Sin lets her singular gaze wander away, fists tightening and loosening in rapid succession. “She was perfectly capable of defending herself. The Bronya chose not to.”

Sin clicks her tongue. She’s not sure what she was hoping for, but it wasn’t this conversation. “And why the fuck would you ever do that?”

“Seele does not wish for people to be hurt on her behalf.”

The nearby tree, had it possessed sentience, would have gasped at its new wound. As it stands, it is content with broken bark, though Sin’s own fist pulses with biting pain. “That’s the stupidest crap I’ve ever heard! You count as a people! Are you fucking crazy?”

Bronya doesn’t react to the outburst. 

“You—”  For all the blood on her hand, Bronya’s a better person than Sin’ll ever be; barely wicked enough to be a human being. “—never had any sense of self-preservation.” The anger simmers into a boil, sizzling until the burn of the water splashes all over her tongue. “No wonder Seele didn’t trust you to take that test first,” Sin spits.

Bronya doesn’t yell back. She stares coldly, and Sin’s skin starts crawling, as if the boils of the burns coiled and slithered under her skin like snakes.

“Sin looks like she ate something bitter,” Bronya observes. “An apple that wasn’t as sweet as she hoped it would be.”

The entire ocean is boiling, steaming like it’s been acidified by the bile in Sin’s throat. She’s too small to contain the sea no matter what she does. The weight of the water swings her frame back and forth, slowly but surely unrooting the foundations of a terribly young person. A scream bubbles over, foam of the deep, barely contained.

Back inside, a few minutes later, a pair of twins almost crash into Sin. “Don’t run inside,” Lili reminds, but Sin tells her to piss off.

“Rude,” Roza says as the horrible girl stalks off. That’s not going to end well, Lili thinks. “What’s got your panties in a twist? You fight with someone again?”

“Keep talking and I’ll kill you,” Sin growls, throwing the sharpened words over her right shoulder. Her single yellow eye is shiny with hatred.

Roza huffs. “Nyet. You say that every day.”

Sin stomps her foot. Oh she’s in a fouler mood than usual. “Ah? Yeah? Then maybe today’s the day I make it happen. Stay away from me and shut your trap!”

Roza sighs, shaking her head dramatically. “Bronya’s never gonna like you with that attitude you kn—” Roza may not be the brightest, but she’s smart enough to stop talking to duck under Sin’s blow.

Lili sighs. “Oh dear. They’re fighting again.” She does nothing to stop this. This has become almost a routine lately. There are grabs and shoves and then just a step away from her, Roza dives to Sin’s left, guessing she’ll earn an extra second by going for her blind side, but Sin’s savvier than that and Roza gets smacked right in the nose. 

“Owww,” Roza whines, “ow ow ow. I yield, foul beast.” 

“You think I’m done with you?” Sin challenges, but blood flecks the back of Roza’s hand when she pulls it away. Okay, time to intervene.

“Sin wins first blood,” Lili deadpans. “Stop now.”

“Traitor sister of mine!! Whose side are you on?” Roza is easy to distract. Sin less so, but she drops the fight and storms off. Figures she was serious about being left alone.

After a second of silence, Lili’s oblivious, troublesome sister stage-whispers something to her. “Didn’t she look like she was gonna cry..?”

“Rah! Bitch bit me! Get off!!”

“Do not hit the Class Monitor.”

“How is she waking up already?! That woman said it’d keep a fucking elephant down—”

“The Bronya does not care. Do not hurt the Bronya’s guests.”

“Urgh. Whatever. I get why we can’t hurt Raiden Mei but what about the other two? The white haired bitch looked like she wanted to kill me!”

“Sin threatened the life of her family.”

“That’s not family! Schicksal is just a ragtag band of losers.”

“Raiden Mei, Fu Hua and Kiana Kaslana are all the Bronya’s family.”

“...”

“Is the Bronya not clear?”

“You’re just saying that ‘coz you’ve never met your parents.”

“Is Matushka not Sin’s family?”

“That— That’s different!”

“No. It is not.”

Chapter Text

Bronya doesn’t seem familiar with the place they are currently staying at.

She doesn’t need directions, but Mei finds she observes their strange surroundings with curiosity, her eyes almost twinkling. Mei can’t fault her for this. This place— “the Deep”, as Bronya called it— is beautiful . 

It’s almost like an underwater amusement park, Mei thinks. If the circumstances were different, if Kiana was visiting with her, they would be having a lot of fun. The architecture looks right out of a movie, and there’s even schools of fish swimming outside… it’d make for a romantic date.

But Kiana is a prisoner, Fu Hua is a prisoner,  Bronya is a traitor who finally revealed her true colors and Mei is a free-roaming captive at best. Cocolia told neither Mei nor Bronya where Theresa is, so she has to believe her claim that their principal is safe…

“Matushka can’t trust you yet,” Bronya explains, “but she promised she won’t hurt the Bronya’s friends. Mei just has to help and everyone will be freed.”

That’s still blackmail, and it’s not okay, Mei wants to say, but Bronya looks torn enough as is, and Mei really wants to check on Kiana. Thankfully, it seems the control room is close by.

Indeed, a yelling voice can be heard: “—you peeping pervert! That’s it, get off there. Nobody needs to watch that. And buckle your damn pants!”

...sounds gross. Mei checks on her friend; Bronya is frowning slightly. Who’s talking to who..? The voice guides them to a room that has visibly been augmented with current-era surveillance technology. Cables flood out of it along with the angry voice.

Bronya signs at Mei to wait, and peeks inside. The yelling stops. “Bronya!” Nevermind.

“Sin.” Bronya gestures at Mei again. All clear but keep quiet. “Tell the Bronya what is happening.”

“Uhhh…” Mei peeks inside as well, finding a very odd sight. There are monitors all over the room, and two people. One of them is an adult, with blue hair in a ponytail, and he’s sitting in a swivel chair. The ponytail is being pulled by a girl around Bronya’s age, whose expression is shared between anger, guilt, and frustration. “Stuff.”

Sin tugs on the ponytail one more time and the man bothers to rise. He growls with a wickedly sharp smile, and the short girl lets go like she’s been burnt. Mei decides she doesn’t like him at all.

“Papa’ll go see if Cocolia needs anything,” he says. He leans over. Mei isn’t sure what he tries to do, because Sin slaps his hand away like she knew he’d try something. Sin looks a little bit green. 

He stalks off with a sneer, staring uncomfortably at Mei on his way out.

Once he’s gone Sin groans. “I hate dealing with this guy. I’ve been trying to tell him to not act like such a wanker but he never fuckin’ listens.” Bronya slides into the room, scanning the screens. Mei follows silently. Focused on Mei’s companion, Sin pays her no mind. 

“The Bronya was unaware Sin could care for people.” 

“Eww. I don’t care about him!” Sin passes a hand through her hair, her expression frustrated. “He’s just… he can be okay sometimes, but most of the time he’s being gross on purpose. Like it’s a game. It’s annoying.” Bronya does not look impressed. Sin shrinks and looks away, arms crossed. Is Sin someone Bronya has known for a long time? It sounds that way. “Whatever. Uh. What’d the doctor say.”

“All clear.” Bronya thumbs up, and Mei notices the line of Sin’s tense shoulders relax slightly.

“Good, that means I can beat your ass without feeling like I’m bullying the weak uh?”

Bronya raises an eyebrow ever so slightly. “You’ve never once cared who it was you were bullying.” 

“Ugh..! Fuck off.” She pouts, and even with a mouth full of teeth sharper than Mei’s sword it’s almost cute. This young girl is a bit like a cactus, Mei decides. Prickly, but there’s a softer side to her, full of… water.

Bronya seems to remember why they’re here just then. “Which monitor shows the Bronya’s family?”

...Sin is now blushing furiously. She points at a screen currently hidden by the abandoned swivel chair. “Uh… they woke up a few minutes ago. Are these people always… like that ?”

Mei feels a manner of dread creep up her spine. She peers at the screen.

Hua and Kiana look… intact? Awake. Very awake. Awake enough to… Ah. Hm. Mei grabs Bronya by the shoulders and pivots her around, away from the screen. Sin makes a noise halfway between a groan and a squeak, but Mei pays it no mind.

Mei leans further towards the screen, decrypting the pixelated picture. 

Hmm… Wait. Hold on.

Kiana is… 

“It’s the super secret technique of the Kaslana family, passed down for over twenty generations! Maybe my dad made the film!”

“Kiana… pretending to make out as a distraction is a classic spy movie trope at this point…”

“Seriously? No way! Dad lied about that too?!”

Kiana’s hands are sagely roaming on top of Hua’s clothes. There is no mistaking it— the purposeful angle hides their faces from the camera, the tangle of their bodies the perfect cover for mischief.

Oh dear. They must be planning an escape already.

Unfortunately Mei doesn’t have any information on the location of this camera. Rescuing her Kiana and Hua is still going to be difficult… and there’s Bronya’s request, too.

Can she let Kiana and Hua escape? The more people know about Bronya’s betrayal… Mei would trust Kiana with the secret, but the ongoing lie will break her heart. As for Hua, for all that Mei likes her, she’s not sure can trust her fully yet. She tends to stick to the rules… what if she tells on Bronya?

Mei’s loyalty to Schicksal only goes as far as her family does. Kiana is her most precious person, but she’s not in immediate danger within the cell. 

Bronya is family, and that Seele girl is Bronya’s family. That makes her a priority to Mei too, for Bronya’s sake…

Grey curls peek at the screen, interrupting Mei’s train of thoughts. “Ah. Kiana Idiotka does not waste a single idle moment.”

Sin’s aggravation cuts through whatever remained of Mei’s concentration like clock hands devour seconds. “They are usually like this?!”

Hua emerges on a surprisingly comfortable platform.

It’s not the floor. Too soft. It’s not ticklish like grass, either— after a second she identifies that it’s a bed, maybe not a good one, but she’s slept in many worse places than beds.

After another second she opens her eyes. There’s a glow to the ceiling, odd shapes interspersed on blue, oh, and beige walls that glow faintly too. She realizes there are no lightbulbs in sight, but there is light. That is odd.

It’s when she sits up that she grows alarmed. Where is it? Where— Something is missing. What’s missing? Something almost like a limb. Something’s been taken…

Fenghuang Down’s gone, her gauntlets are gone, and— there is a strange echo in her head, in her spine, her ribcage. Empty space where something warm should be, and her whole body feels uncomfortable and feverish instead, combating an invisible enemy.

She doesn’t remember ever getting sick anymore. Is she… injured? Is this what this is? She knows serious wounds can keep her down, but not very much else. 

Except… she can’t see any injury anywhere. Something internal..?

Well this isn’t getting anywhere. Her self-inspection as complete as it’s going to get, Hua turns her attention to the room.

It’d be nostalgic if she’d ever lived here.

It’s clearly a cell, but this isn’t current-era architecture. The walls are smooth and beige, luminescent. The ceiling has been decorated with fake seashells and fish. There is a single door to the side, though no clear seam is visible between wall and door, and there’s a thin, horizontal window near the ceiling on the opposite wall. The bars imitate coral. Through it Hua only sees deep ocean-blue. 

She’s heard of this place, though she hasn’t visited in a very long time. This must be the Deep… but how did she get here..?

The furniture, especially the beds, clash with the decor. They’re clearly from the current era. So is the very obvious camera up near the ceiling, a sight that is eerily, annoyingly familiar.

Hua tries to remember. She must have been captured… oh. 

It comes back to her suddenly. The Anti-Entropy ambush. The flashbang grenade, the weight of metal, the surprising bite of a needle. The strength melting out of her body.

The bed next to Hua’s stirs. Ah, there’s a person. Despite her unease, Hua approaches, feeling a little wobbly. 

A mop of white hair groans. Sky-blue eyes flutter open. “Class monitor…?” Kiana tries to sit up, but she falls back into bed with an oof. “I’m dizzy…”

Hua kneels next to her. This, too, is familiar, but last time it was Hua’s fault that Kiana was bedbound. “Did you hit your head?” Hua asks, softly.

“Noo… that brat did. Ow.”

“Do you have a headache?” 

“Yeah… ‘n the room started going ‘round and ‘round when I tried to get up…”

Hua passes a hand through Kiana’s hair. She doesn’t seem to have a fever. “I think you actually have a concussion this time. That kid must have hit you hard.”

“Mmmn. Almost got her.”

Hua hums. This is inconvenient. They are prisoners in enemy territory. Mei is nowhere to be found and Hua isn’t feeling great, either. “I need you to be functional so we can get out of here, so I’m going to heal you. Don’t move.”

“Waaah? Heal me how?” Kiana giggles. “You’re gonna kiss my booboo away?”

Hua snorts. “Not quite.” She doesn’t find any sharp object in sight. Hmmm. Her teeth is it. 

Blood drips on Kiana’s lips. “Open up, dork.”

Kiana does, confused. Red drips and drips and runs down her tongue into her throat, and Kiana’s eyes widen. “‘s that blood?!”

“Yes. Vampires can heal themselves or others by using blood as a medium. I’m sorry it tastes bad to you.”

Kiana licks her lips. “It works on humans too?” 

“Blood is only a vector,” the class monitor explains, “all you need to heal is know how, as well as understanding how to manipulate the energy stored in it.”

“Blood stores energy?”

“Mhm. Many different kinds. Blood carries nourishment and oxygen to your human muscles, but vampires instinctively perceive that it can vehicle a different kind of energy. That’s why even zombies crave human blood, or that of others of their kind if no human is available. They can’t produce that kind of energy anymore. Without it to balance out the infection, they rot and die.”

This seems to go over the concussed patient’s head, as Kiana’s eyes glaze over. It’s endearing, though. “You too, Class Monitor?”

“Yes, but my body has already stabilized. I only need blood to maintain the balance, or replenish my powers if I’ve used them up too much. A zombie is scrambling to find this balance and needs a lot more blood to survive.”

This much blood should be enough. Hua removes her hand, feeling for the seed she’s sown in Kiana’s body. “Woah,” Kiana says just before they take root, and then she winces. The process isn’t painless, but— yes, Hua can feel the swelling. It’s not too bad, easy enough to heal. She’s healed worse injuries— Lixue—

Who?

Hua blinks. What was she just thinking about? Oh, right. “You’d know all this if you listened in class, Kiana.” She's almost done with the healing. They need to get out of here as soon as—

Someone bangs at the door. 

“Oi!” Hua freezes. She doesn’t recognize the voice. A male voice. She doesn’t know many male voiced people, so she’s probably not forgetting. A guard…? “What do you think you’re doing?” The camera!

“My friend was injured,” Hua answers steadily. “Concussions can kill. I was healing her.”

“Hm. The boss said you could be left together, but you better believe it’s a favor for the little miss. I don’t care what you do but if it’s anything suspicious again— you’ll be separated, got it? I’m not risking my paycheck for this.”

“Got it,” Kiana groans. Hua should be done, but she can’t do anything for any lingering pain. At least, when the guard’s steps fade and Kiana tries to sit up again, she does so much more steadily. “Wow. Impressive. The room’s not spinning anymore.”

Hua nods. “Good,” she whispers. “We need to find a way to get out of here before the guard gets susp—”

But Kiana smiles brightly, and Hua has to look away. You can look at the moon without being blinded, but when you have things to do, if you stare at the sky too much, you’ll trip and fall.

“Hey… Class Monitor.” Kiana’s voice is gentle, lower than usual; she grabs Hua’s collar, pulling her close over the bed. “Since we’re stuck here…”

Hua splutters. “What are you—” Kiana pulls their faces flush together, and flesh to flesh her lips form words on the corner of Hua’s own.

Trust me.

Hua swallows audibly. The atmosphere has changed so fast; she doubts this cycle could be one of genuine gratitude. Could it?

“I need to thank you,” Kiana says a little loudly. She stares past Hua for a second, but soon the vampire has her full attention again. “Come here.”

Kiana’s just recovered. She’s too pale still, her lips too still, just slightly unwell-looking in the instinctive way you’ll find someone when you’ve known their smile when they were healthy. 

Hua finds this worrying, but no less beautiful. There’s a lot about Kiana. Good or bad, it’s unfair to classify, but there is a lot about her and the lot of it is crashing down, like the strange empty in Hua’s chest is a landfill reserved just for that purpose. Hua’s knees still feel wobbly.

The empty is gaping. So are Kiana’s arms. Hua scrambles onto the mattress, and Kiana makes space for her between her thighs. She brushes hair out of Hua’s flushed face; the bird expects her to stop at a caress, but Kiana grabs at the root and pulls, yanking Hua into her.

Seed to soil to harvest; the kiss is brief, like ripping a heart right open. Hua knows someone’s done that to her, once, a long time ago.

“Pretend with me,” Kiana whispers, “for the guard, like this, he won’t hear.” Kiana lies back, onto the pillow, and Hua follows with a smile, pretending the empty in her ribcage hasn’t further broken. This is fine.

“Of course,” Hua speaks with what suaveness she can muster, for the spectators. The flame next to her lungs has been snuffed out somehow; Kiana’s hands roam on her back, leaving trails of new fire. For Kiana it is ash-cool words that she murmurs. 

“Always delighted to be of use.”

“Matushka! You’re letting Bronya work with you?”

Cocolia is busy, these days, she’s always busy and she has no time for her daughters, but she still stops for her most troublesome child.

Sin is tightly wounded, like a coil about to break. She doesn’t look quite angry, not yet, but definitely tense. Cocolia smiles gently. 

“Yes. So we can… recover Seele faster.” 

Sin frowns at this answer. Ah… right, Bronya and her… and she never did get along with Seele, did she? Cocolia remembers a couple spats between them. Mmm… or maybe it’s just because Bronya is getting to do something she can’t?

Predictably, Sin continues with “Let me help, too!”

Cocolia shakes her head. “You’re too young.”

“What?! Bronya’s only a month older than me! I’m almost thirteen! I’m old enough to help!” Sin grabs onto her clothes. Cocolia hadn’t expected her to beg. Perhaps she’s restless, in the orphanage. These four walls are a small world for a growing tween. “You were going to let both of us help in the X-10 experiment!”

That experiment… Cocolia breaks free of the young girl’s grip. Seele, gone. She shouldn’t have risked her daughter’s life like this. Shouldn’t have let the experiments continue failure after failure, even in the name of the greater good.

“It was a mistake,” Cocolia says firmly. 

She expected this to placate Sin somewhat, but she deflates into a blaze instead, anger prickling her tone until it bleeds. “Then why does Bronya still get to help?”

Because I’m concerned for her health if I lock her in the orphanage doing nothing any longer, Cocolia doesn’t say. Bronya is stubborn, determined, and in pain. She’s already threatened suicide if Cocolia didn’t let her help Seele; there’s no way she’s going to successfully keep her away from AE’s operations. 

“She has professional training,” Cocolia lies. “You don’t. Maybe when you’re older, if you still want to.”

“Is it because she’s killed people?” Sin’s anger manifests in small ways, little twitches through her small frame, twisting her face. “We both know I’ve done that too. I’m not helpless!”

Cocolia’s phone vibrates with a reminder. She has another meeting soon. With X-10 discontinued, alternatives are being explored. She’s very busy.

“Sin. How about this? You can tag along on the supply run tomorrow.” It shouldn’t be dangerous. In fact it should be incredibly boring. Should put her off asking again. “If you promise to be quiet and follow orders.”

“I— okay.” Small arms wrap around Cocolia once more. She’s busy, she needs to go. “It’ll help you and Bronya?”

Cocolia pats Sin’s hair. “Of course. Every little help counts.”

Cocolia is pacing. They’re late. The loyalty of these people is already shaky at best, so she really hopes that Sin isn’t the cause of the lateness; really she should’ve known better than to send that child out to “help”. 

This is going to be used against her to get her children to step into danger more. She doesn’t want that for them. She shouldn’t have given in…

The stubbornly silent communication device crackles to life. 

“Matushka?” It’s Sin’s voice. Relief fills Cocolia’s veins, before freezing solid again. Why is Sin the one contacting her? What happened to the operator? She didn’t steal the device did she?

“Yes. It’s me,” Cocolia confirms after a short delay. “What is your status?”

“m’okay.” Sin’s voice is a little strange. More lifeless than Cocolia is used to. “And they’re dead…”

“...dead?”

“They’re dead but their car is broken.” They’re dead? Who’s dead? AE’s people? Is Sin the only one alive?

Cocolia remembers the odd stories. How Sin was found with her parents dead— murder the only explanation, even though she was so young. The police squad that went inexplicably missing on her estate. The manor she spent most of her life in burned down, self-admittedly from her own hand, an influential magnate and what was left of her family already still when the flames devoured them. Did Sin kill—

Perhaps Cocolia should learn. "Schicksal tried to attack us."

They treat her like a brat. Of course they do. It’s to be expected, really, they don’t know her and she doesn’t know them and she’s by far the shortest here.

“Get out of the way!” She almost gets crushed when the boxes are moved into the truck, and then she’s directed back to a nondescript grey car by some no-name goon complaining about babysitting.  

Sin really wants to get mad, but she promised Matushka that she’d be good, and she’s out of the orphanage for the first time in years like this. Has she even stepped out of the city before? She can’t remember. Her childhood is blurry, gone in places and crystal clear in sparse, sharp moments.

Still, she’s bored as hell, a frown baring her fangs.

She stares out the window. The AE truck follows a few paces behind the unassuming car. Nothing happened on the trip to the warehouse. Now they’re already going home. She doesn’t feel like she was any help at all. She may be small, but she looks too unique to play the innocent kid lookout, plus she zones out sometimes. Really not the kind of job she should be doing. She should be kicking ass. That she knows she can do… if it’s not Seele.

Sin throws that thought away. Seele’s gone.

Whatever. She’d say she’s been doing good keeping quiet and still. She used to be really good at that, before the anger kept boiling out of her skin. 

“Here. You can have the phone, play a game on it or something.” Sin taps at the item’s screen. It’s barely a phone. More like a glorified walkie-talkie. There’s no game on those. Tsk.

Thus, with nothing else to do, she’s staring out the window. She’s the first to notice the car that has been following them, always a lane and a vehicle away.

“Is that one of ours?” she asks, but they don’t listen to her. Maybe it’s not important. It could be a coincidence. It’s not a coincidence. The barrel of a cannon struggles out of its rolled down window. 

At least this is something she’s good at.

They were small fry. She didn’t even notice she jumped until she was halfway up in the air, the thrill plastering a grin across her teeth. She reached for the blade she didn’t make yet; her fingers closed around cold metal. She landed on the roof of the car. It shuddered from the shock, but she planted the weapon into the roof and it failed to shrug her off.

Then, the gun. She needed to get rid of it. She tore through the roof like it was paper, grabbed the weapon by the barrel and threw it off on the road. Maybe a car was going to roll over it. Maybe there was going to be an accident. Didn’t know, didn’t care. The three Valkyries were recovering from the surprise of a preteen gremlin ripping their car roof in half, so she had to act fast. 

She killed the one in the back first, because she was closer. The blood splatter made one of the two in front scream, and the other at the wheel swerved violently off the road. Sin fell into the backseat when the car crashed into the trees. 

She wasn’t hurt. Honestly, she got lucky, but she’d noticed her body has been more sturdy since she got to the orphanage for some reason. Maybe it was also why she could jump so high?

The two remaining Valkyries drew their weapons, the fools losing time detangling themselves from their seatbelts. Sin should have felt fear; yet there was only some kind of hunger, some kind of rage that put a smile on her face, like she wasn’t really there. She rose to her feet on the backseat and slashed across the pink-haired one’s face, and the woman shrilled again, clutching her eyes. It was easy. It felt obvious. It made Sin feel powerful. The other, the driver, became paralyzed with fear, her sword trembling in her grip; and Sin thought she must not have been a fighter, or maybe she had only expected a child to be a monster.

Had she not known that humans like Sin are a thousand times worse?

And so now Sin leans against a tree, gore and wrecked car hidden from the main road just barely. The hand that holds the communicator falls. Matushka is coming to get her. She’s not sure whether the others looked for her or not. She didn’t have time to tell them why she leapt out the window.

Sin examines the clock-hand-shaped pike in her hand with curiosity. It’s flecked with blood from when she pierced the young women’s bodies. It feels familiar, but she’s certain that she’s not seen or held this object before.

Eh. It doesn’t matter. Only the result matters— the pretty red splashed on the bark, the boiling sea in her chest finally settling with the exertion. Yeah, at least this is something she’s good at—

She gets to go on real missions, after that.

Chapter Text

Bronya’s always looking at Seele.

It’s been like this since the second time they met. There’s memories that have phased out of her mind completely, but Sin won’t forget Bronya’s words, during that conversation after three years of silence: “You’re a monster, not human.” 

And most importantly, “Stay away from Seele.”

Sin hadn’t known how to hate people for a very long time. She was floating, days ticking twacks against her skin. It hurt just a little bit at a time. But when she saw Seele hiding behind Bronya again, when she was eleven years old and burnt hair, anger and hurt leaking out of her eyes— she thought oh, okay.

That night everything she’d known burned down, something broke. 

After she moved in with Bronya at the orphanage, whenever she saw the idiotka, always hanging off Bronya’s arm, always making her smile softly— it just put Sin in a horrible mood, more violently than she’d ever felt before. It felt like boiling alive. It made her want to claw off that stupid silky skin and tear all her weird blue-and-black hair off. Bronya tolerates Sin at best. Bronya doesn’t outright tell her to keep away anymore, but she sure as hell doesn’t want Sin to stay. What did Seele do to be different..? Didn’t Sin also help Bronya when they met?

But of course it’s very simple. Sin is a monster, not a human. So in Bronya’s eyes, Seele has to be a human, not a monster.

In the orphanage, Bronya is happy, and she isn’t running away from Sin anymore, so Sin puts up with it. She likes Cocolia, Cocolia reminds Sin of her first mom. She has a face to smile with and pats her hair or hugs her if she asks, even when she’s busy. The doctor comes by every once in a while, and she’s a weirdo, but she’s actually checking on Sin’s health instead of telling her to go to bed. Most of the other children are okay too. Lili’s too quiet to be annoying, Roza’s at least a bit fun to scuffle with, even if she pranks Sin, Sin can prank her right back. It’s easy, and she likes when the younger kids look at her all impressed, with a mouth like an о .

It’s much better than her old house. She had good memories there, when she was really little, but she realizes now that once her parents were gone and that aunt adopted her she was just lonely. She didn’t have any friends, that woman never took her outside so she never went to the park anymore. They had employees to clean and cook in the beginning, but Sin didn’t even realize they left until they were all gone. Sin never went to school, so she had tutors for a time, but she can’t even make out what their faces looked like or what their voices sounded like. She can barely recall any of her life after her parents were killed— it’s all gone in a blur of impressions and a disgusting feeling that makes her wash her hands when she thinks of it.

The house is gone anyway. The fire destroyed most of it. 

The routine at the orphanage is more lively. The broken thing that makes her want to yell or punch people anchors her. She’s no longer floating all the time. When she gets angry her life feels more real. Maybe she’s not broken. Maybe she’s finally bad enough to be a human being. Maybe she was broken before, when she was only a monster. Maybe it was like being frozen in ice, and the heat from the fire mollified it until it broke apart. Sin’s much happier, much happier, but…

Bronya only looks at Seele.

Seele clings to Bronya, and Bronya smiles, and Seele smiles, and Sin grumbles or sneers, calls the stupid girl whatever condescending thing she can think of, and sometimes Seele’s smile falls. It gives Sin a twisted sense of satisfaction, but Bronya’s eyes are always cold after that, making the victory sour.

Seele never confronts her on it. She’s not like Roza, who fights back when Sin’s mean. Seele’s actually scared of Sin, but the idiotka still never takes the hint. She cowers and hides behind Bronya. Clings to her even more, and does nothing else. Sin gets bolder.

Matushka makes them take a test. Of course, Seele fails, because she’s an idiot, and Sin succeeds, because she’s good at stuff. It’s in her blood, monster or no monster. She puffs up her chest. Bronya saw that, right?

Bronya succeeds, she makes a cute Homu that has the whole ensemble of the kids make ooohs and aaahs. Bronya’s very smart. Sin wants to be happy she did it, too, but of course Seele ruins it. She ruins everything she touches. She clings to Bronya. She’s smiling, and Bronya’s smiling, and the broken thing beats alongside her heart, hurting worse than ever.

She’s still seething when Matushka calls both of them to her office. Right before she goes through the door, when Bronya tells Seele to wait downstairs, Sin grimaces in Seele’s direction because she’s failed, so of course she’s excluded, but it’s too petty to make Sin feel better.

“Congratulations,” their Matushka says, and the rest of it almost drains the color from Sin’s face. She’s still angry, though, so she desperately holds onto Seele’s detestable eyes instead of showing fear. Bronya isn’t scared. Sin shouldn’t be looking scared either, even if they might die. Even if everyone who took the test before died.

“This is for the good of the world, but you can refuse,” Cocolia says gravely, handing out a form for them to sign. She pens her own signature down on each one, then slides the papers to the other side of her desk. “I won’t be mad at you.”

But Bronya signs with only a moment’s hesitation, so Sin follows, too. She’s not a coward like Seele. She’s good at things. Even Bronya’s not scared. Sin spots Seele’s photo on Matushka’s paper— she had expected Seele to succeed, it seems, but the idiotka blew it. Good!

When Bronya leaves silently, Sin follows. She still has annoying little Seele on the brain. The way Bronya gets softer when they touch. 

...there’s a good chance they’ll both die tomorrow, won’t they.

“Hey, Bronya…”

“What is it, Sin?”

It’s the only thing that makes sense. She already knows, deep down, but Sin’s taken so long to formulate it, and they might die tomorrow—

“Bronya… you… you like the stupid little idiot Seele, right?”

“Da. Bronya will always be with Seele.”

Of course.

“Tsk.” Of course. Of course it’s like that. Of course— Bronya never had eyes for anyone else. Only that incapable idiot. Maybe something is wrong with Bronya’s vision, and that’s saying something, coming from someone who only has one functioning eye. Of all people to like-like, it’s the useless, powerless coward. “How disgusting.”

“If you’ve nothing else to say,” Bronya replies, voice like ice, “I’ll be going back to my room.” 

Seele’s room. Her room, Seele’s room, her skin, is it Seele’s too? What do they do in their room? There’s things she knows people who “like” each other do in their rooms together, but it just makes Sin feel even sicker to remember.

Sin’s hand lands on Bronya’s back just before the stairs. She’s warm, even through the fabric. It would be so easy. It is so easy. She has her guard completely down. Oh so she likes Seele!

Bronya falls forward, and Sin hops down, a manic grin stuck on her face. Bronya’s right there, at her mercy, with her horrible little decisions about horrible little girls. So they’re going to die tomorrow? Sin raises her foot. “Nyet!” She stomps down on Bronya’s thigh. The ex-soldier doesn’t even cry out. “I will not let you like her!” She stomps down again, and again, thump thump like a pounding heart, and she’s vomiting the words with each strike, and even when there’s a sickening crunch she doesn’t stop. “You. Can. Not. Like. Her!”

Kiana has to put her doubts behind.

The plan is simple. Get out of the cell, run like hell into the “streets” of the Deep— there are more buildings and corals and seashells, plenty of places to hide like a sneaky little clownfish— then figure out where Mei and Bronya are.

Hua shared a vaguely remembered conversation, heard just before she passed out again. Mei had been singled out, which would explain why she’s not with them, and Bronya…

Bronya might be pretending to have betrayed them? Kiana holds onto that thought faithlessly. If doing nothing while Kiana fought Sin wasn’t enough— her sister figure was peacefully talking with their kidnapper, even badmouthing Schicksal. Bronya betrayed them. Bronya’s a traitor. How else could she have found Anti-Entropy so surely and quickly? Why else would she have confiscated their phones? Kiana was naive.

Maybe… maybe there’s a good explanation. Just like there’s a good explanation for her dad just leaving one day. 

It still hurts. 

It hurts a lot, but she has to get out of here, grab Mei, grab Aunt Teri if her being here wasn’t a lie... maybe grab Bronya too. Get her to tell them where all their stuff is. And then they have to escape. There should be a submarine. Fu Hua said she knew how to pilot one (isn’t she amazingly resourceful?) so they all just need to regroup and find it. If there’s only one, then the AE members will be stuck in the Deep like that, so if the rest of the organization doesn’t come pick them up fast enough they could even be arrested by Schicksal successfully.

Hua is snuggled up to her. They’re pretending to be tired after extremely sexy activities, which is the perfect cover for master plans. Of course they didn’t actually do anything, so they’re not tired. While Hua’s chin against her shoulder and her warm, toned body against Kiana’s are a treat, they’re here for business, and the comfort the gesture brings is secondary. 

Kiana still appreciates it, though. Maybe they can cuddle again when this is over. It helps calm the raging storm of worry and betrayal threatening to spill into her lungs. Soothes it somewhat. Anchors her. She loves being held.

Ahem. Less mushy thoughts, more let’s-get-going thoughts. The plan is simple. Escape, hide, regroup, leave the place. They only need to wait for the opportunity now…

She gently pats Hua’s side, and snuggles her face into her hair. Kiana’s head still hurts, but it’s just a little sore, not intense and dizzying like before.

Kiana is also super hungry. Hopefully that means they’ll bring food soon. This is when they’ll act. They’ll need to be fast, and avoid fighting as much as possible in their weakened state, but two against one they have a good chance. 

Any minute now… right?

As if on cue, someone knocks on the door. “It’s food, sleepyheads.” It’s a different voice from before, but it’s the perfect chance.

Kiana and Hua rise slowly, letting the blanket fall from their huddle. They need to knock the guard out as soon as the door is open. It slides up, revealing a man—

They act as one.

The class monitor dives from the bed, attacking his left, while Kiana goes for his right, lower. The asymmetrical attack should make it difficult for him to block. It’s just one guard, even nerfed they totally got this. It’s the easy part, it’s running away that’s going to be—

Kiana collapses to the ground with a pained cry. Everything is suddenly heavy. Her heart’s beating like crazy, fighting against the sudden increase in gravity. She can’t move at all. It feels like time is slowing down. The man grins. 

“You think you’re soooo smart, uh, little valks.” He passes a hand through his blue hair. Kiana glances to the side— Hua is struggling similarly. In normal circumstances, perhaps she’d break free, but between healing Kiana and whatever they did to her… “Papa saw right through you.”

Dammit. AE knew they’d try to escape! 

He kneels down and lifts Kiana’s chin. “Well? Do I need to hand feed rowdy little valks? I don’t mind, but ah, I’m needed elsewhere. I’d have to leave you all tied up like an early birthday present.” He winks, the sneer not budging an iota from his lips. Kiana would love to throttle him. How is he making everything heavy? Is there a way to break the gravity control..?

“Don’t touch Kiana!” Hua’s voice carries with more strength than she can currently hit the enemy with, but it does get his attention. He drops the young knight. Her chin hits the floor painfully, rattling her teeth. Ow.

“Oh? You’re worried about your little classmate? Is it because you’re supposed to be the responsible one? You’re their class monitor, was it? Is that how she called you?” He snorts. “I know all about you two. Raiden’s been quite… talkative.”

Raiden..? He saw Mei! “Bastard! What’d you do with Mei?”

He rolls his eyes. “Ah? Don’t be rude. I didn’t do anything to Ryoma’s little girl. I have no such qualms for you, though.” He kicks Hua’s side, and she hisses in pain. He kneels down next to her. Kiana can only see his back, but there’s a rustle of fabric. “Since you tried to escape, this can be our little secret, don’t you think?”

What. What is he doing. No! “Stay away from her!” Kiana struggles to her hands and knees. The air is so heavy. But Hua’s in danger. Even if her arms are trembling she can’t—

He throws her an amused glance over his shoulder. “Ah, you’re just as stubborn as your girlfriend let me know.” Eh? They talked? “Raiden was quite certain you two would try to escape. Tsk, tsk. You’re not as smart as you think you are.”

Is… Mei also a traitor..?

“Dammit. I’m feeling scared.” 

Sin’s too anxious to sleep. She couldn’t put down that paper with her signature on it— the promise that she’ll die for a cause after all. For a moment she thought it’d be okay because Bronya would be there, but there’s no helping it. The possibility that she’s going to stop existing— or that she’ll drown in darkness, be thrown in hellfire— it is terrifying. Cold sweat rolls down her back. She can’t let this weakness show. Not now. 

“I can’t look bad in front of Bronya…”

The decision has already been taken.

Should she ask to go first? She doesn’t want to see Bronya die. But maybe Bronya’ll succeed, and Sin would die in vain. She doesn’t want to die…

“Sin Mal!” A voice startles her out of her thoughts. She turns around— Seele walked up to her on her blind side, and with how absorbed in her thoughts Sin was, she didn’t hear her come.

Did she hear Sin’s admission?

“Tsk, it’s the crybaby…” Just play it cool and prickly. She’ll just run away. “Get lost, Seele, I’m not very happy today.”

But then the unthinkable happens: Seele grows a spine.

Well, a little bit. It seems terribly difficult for the shy girl to finally speak her mind. What a timing. Sin didn’t want to deal with her, but the images that Bronya summoned in her mind— Bronya and Seele, as a pair, and not a host and parasite— they fill her with something cold as ice. 

It’s different from her usual. She’s not boiling. She feels very calm. She feels very cold, so cold it burns all the same, but she doesn’t raise her voice. Rather, she almost wants to throw up. “Two orphans who never met their parents cozying up to each other?” Seele is panting from the miserable effort of speaking her mind once in her worthless life, her face is even flushed. Old memories claw at Sin’s consciousness. That’s how people look when they do that. She swallows the bile rising in her throat. Is this how Seele looks like when she’s alone with Bronya? “You disgust me.”

“The sight of you makes me sick, Seele.”

She’s thought that for a long time. The broken thing that makes her angry has frozen over. Touching the ice would burn her fingers clean off, strip them off flesh to bare the cruel bones. 

“You’re a useless crybaby and you’re always asking Bronya for help. But...”

Sin smiles. She often smiles, when she’s feeling this much, a big toothy grin like the first time she broke out of relentless apathy. What does it feel like to be on the other side?

She grabs Seele’s wrists and slams her down to the floor, licks her lips. Isn’t this supposed to be fun? Would it make the ice hurt more or less? Either way, it doesn’t matter. It’s what her mother wanted from Sin isn’t it? It’s what that disgusting pig was going to do to her wasn’t it?

Sin’s run out of time. Tonight she’s going to be a human being. Maybe the sinful apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all.

There’s a sing-song quality to her voice when she speaks again. “It turns out that you’re pretty good looking up close.” Sin feels disgusting, just like all those people crawling all over her past. Her lips spread wider, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth.

“I’ll make you my toy before I go to hell.”

Sin pulls Seele’s blouse open. Gone is her bravado from before. She’s so pathetic. Hm? There’s some kind of red circle on her chest. “What the hell is this? A birth mark? The red color looks so unnatural, like a witch’s brand.” Seele’s eyes are shiny. The sight of it only showers Sin with sadistic glee. She could do or say anything to her, eh. “It’s like a demonic curse. No wonder your parents threw you away.” Does it hurt, Seele?

Seele whines at her to stop, tears leaking out of her blue eyes. She hasn’t even tried to break out of Sin’s grip. Pathetic. Sin killed that man. Begging doesn’t fucking help even when the monsters are human—

The next second, Sin is violently thrown off Seele. 

“What the hell?” Some kind of blue mist wraps around her, but it feels solid. It’s some kind of magic. Sin’s anger almost collapses back into fear.

Seele rises to her feet and grabs her hair. “Sin, you’re pretty cute up close as well.” She’s Seele, but she sounds completely different from Seele. “But I don’t like it when you call me a crybaby.”

“You… you’re not Seele!” Gone is the cowardice or the kindness. There’s an uncanny sadistic, genuinely gleeful note in her voice. “Who are you? What are you? A demon?”

“You’re so rude,” not-quite-Seele says. “I’ll have to teach you some manners.” She forces Sin’s jaw open and thrusts her hand into her mouth. Sin chokes, but Seele doesn’t care. She grabs one of her front teeth and rips it off. Sin can’t help but scream, tears welling up in her eyes. She hasn’t cried in a long time.

“Oh dear, I’m so sorry. Did that hurt? I simply can’t resist the sound of you screaming in pain.” Seele’s drooling, the sicko, holding the bloody tooth pinched between her fingers. She gives it a lick, revealing white under the red. “I think I’ll keep this, Sin.”

Sin is trying to catch her breath, but Seele isn’t done. “Come to think of it… playing with Sin was fun and all… but I shouldn’t forget that I’m here to punish this little creep for Bronya.” She grabs Sin’s hair again, and the tween tenses. Her jaw pulses with pain.

“Let’s go! To the Revenge Staircase Super Ride, Sin. Time for us to have some fun!”

Blinding pain rings through her skull, and Sin sinks into darkness. She expects to pass out, but then she realizes that she’s thinking too much to have passed out. Then she finds herself… on top of a dark staircase, in the middle of nowhere.

“What is this place?” She's alone. “Seele? Where are you? What are you trying to do?” The pain isn’t as bright here. She can’t hear her frantic heartbeat. She wants answers.

“This is the Revenge Staircase Super Ride. Revenge for pushing Bronya down the stairs.” 

Behind her…! The voice is—

Seele looks huge. Or maybe… maybe it’s Sin who is suddenly very small. She can’t move her feet. She’s just a toy. A giant finger pokes her back, and she falls forward, right into the flight of stairs. At the last second she manages to move her arms, wrench them in front of her face, but it hurts still, the edges of the steps digging into her skin each tumble. She screams herself raw, but nobody can hear her here, aside from her tormentor.

Then suddenly the staircase ends. It’s just the void after that. She was supposed to die tomorrow, not tonight— Sin narrowly manages to grab the last of the floating stairs.

“Oh dear.” Sin hears Seele, but she can’t see her. She only hears steps, coming closer and closer. Isn’t Seele’s kindness what Bronya liked about her?

“Please help. I don’t want to die.” Sin’s arm is burning. She’s going to slip and fall into the abyss at this rate. She raises her eyes— Seele is directly above her now, wielding a silver scythe. 

She’s not going to help. 

“Please! Seele! Don’t kill me!” Seele smiles, all teeth. Her canines are too long, too sharp. “What are you trying to do? Save me!” I don’t want to die! I don’t— Seele raises her scythe and swings down, severing Sin’s fingers.

Sin falls, blood spilling out of her hand. The last thing sees is the damned smirk of the vampire.

“What is Mei looking at?”

Mei’s purple eyes snap back to Bronya. The odd object floating in the middle of the room isn’t what captured her attention. It’s the only man in the room, the blue haired guy she’s never directly talked to, who just walked back in. He gives her a bad feeling.

“Nothing,” Mei replies. She feels a bit nervous— she’s pretty sure her eyes are on the edge of shifting to pink, but the personality change would be somewhat troublesome, so she represses it. 

I might need to stop repressing my powers regardless, she acknowledges, but I’ll hold off as long as I can.

As it turned out, that was not long at all.

The last person needed just strolled in, so they can start. 

Start what… or how… Mei only has a vague idea, but Bronya seems confident. It’s her and not Cocolia directing them— the doctor and the mother are behind a glass pane above them, safely shielded from whatever radiation the odd machine might emit. The fact that neither Sin nor Bronya have protective equipment is mildly worrying.

Mei glances up. She spies white hair— Kiana?!

No. It’s too short. It must be Principal Theresa. Mei’s guess is confirmed when the short woman approaches the glass and waves at her— her hairstyle is distinctive. She’s too high up for her expression to be decryptable, but she seems alright.

“Let’s start,” Bronya says. The man is smirking creepily. Mei stands between her and him, just in case. The pink-haired cosplayer from before walks closer— she’d isolated herself towards the back of the room so far, observing silently. Mei doesn’t know her name either but despite the ominous feeling, she doesn’t seem to be evil, just… sad.

She’ll be dangerous if she wants to be. Watch out.

Finally, Sin crosses her arms. She’s been standing there looking bored for a while, but her irritation feels like an obvious cover up for nervousness.

“The three of you,” Bronya waves to Mei, the pink woman, and the man, “are Gesegnet. Your power will serve as the battery. The Bronya and Sin will control the machine. Do not worry about it. Lending your strength to it is the only task you need to perform, but the required threshold is very high.”

All three of them are..? It’s Mei’s first time meeting another. How powerful is Cocolia to assemble three?! No wonder the pink woman feels dangerous…

Though for some reason, she’s getting a completely different feeling from the man. Not caution, but… disgust. Should she just chalk it up to being a lesbian…? 

Bronya gives her instructions swiftly, and they form a triangle around the machine. They don’t speak anymore after that. It’s surprisingly boring— just standing there, in a group, extending power into the construct. 

Soon the odd machine starts to spin on itself notably faster. A low rumble can be heard. Bronya and Sin appear to be keeping it stable, eyes glued to the metal. Sin’s hands occasionally move like she’s sculpting something, and the spinning straightens. In fact, the spinning object hardly wobbles, they’re good at this.

It’s odd to part with the stored energy without turning it into anything. Mei is fine, merely growing slightly hungrier, but the man runs out first, and while the pink woman seems to find no obvious difficulty in the task, she appears to be in mild pain. She says nothing, but her expression is strained for a few minutes until she has to stop as well, out of breath.

“Can Mei go on a while longer?” Bronya asks, her eyes steady steel. Mei nods. “Please do… Seele…” Sin’s face is tight with concentration, too, but she’s silent.

There is sound, a low rumbling like the sea and then suddenly a hissing like a giant snake, electrifying the air without Mei’s input. She tastes ozone and death. The spinning of the machine gets faster and faster and faster and faster until something— tears.

There’s no other word for it. The air itself tears, vertically from top to bottom, like it’s been sliced open by something sharp. 

The wound in their world’s fabric is incredibly bright. It remains hypnotically inert for a full second before giving a white flash, and the sound of hissing suddenly stops all at once while the sea gets so much louder, crashing like a wave over them.

Mei almost stops feeding the machine. It’s starting to strain even her. The other two have long quit, but Bronya calls for her girl’s name again, and so Mei grits her teeth. Deep down she knows there’s no way calling Seele like this will suffice. She won’t hear, the pragmatic side of Mei thinks, there is a whole sea to search through isn’t it? Who knows what’s out there? She’s surprised no enemy has come out at all.

Are they going to need to go through the portal? How long can Mei keep this thing going?

The waves crash once more, bringing another sound as Mei’s legs start trembling. Step. Step. Blue mist comes out of the wound.

A shadowed silhouette appears. It’s a short girl with black and blue hair. She carries an unusual weapon with her— a scythe. Is this what opened the…? She gives off a strange feeling.

“Seele!” Bronya’s voice has never contained more emotion, not in a single word. It’s really her?! Isn’t this too easy?

Seele seems a little haggard, blinking hard and fast as if to get used to the light, but her eyes snap to Bronya when she hears the name. 

Time seems to stop as their eyes meet, and then Seele smiles widely, opens her arms wide. “I’m home!”

Bronya abandons the machine, running towards the long-haired girl who just stumbled out of the Sea of Quanta. She throws herself into her arms. She’s sobbing, Mei realizes, they both are, clutching each other tightly.

Mei stops feeding the machine, but it continues to spin just the same. The portal doesn’t close. She’s not sure how long the momentum will keep it open after all, she expected it to snap closed already. But… she can rest now, can’t she? She glances at the other two. The pink woman is smiling softly, seated on the floor to rest, but watching those two strangers meet once more with obvious nostalgia.

“I can leave now can’t I?” the man drawls. No one stops him. Good riddance, Mei thinks. Who knows where he’s going off to.

Bronya and Seele pull away from each other. Seele’s devouring her, touching her hair and face like she can’t get enough of it. Bronya’s being a little shy, but she passes a hand through Seele’s silky hair. “Seele is taller than the Bronya now,” she smiles.

“Haha…” The laugh is hitched, but joyful all the same. Seele has a pretty voice. “We have a lot to catch up on, uh…”

“Da.” Bronya looks over her shoulder, up. “Matushka is waiting to see Seele again.” Mei doesn’t spot anyone at the glass window, the older women must’ve gone down to wait outside the door. Cocolia has got to be excited to see Seele again. “We should—” Seele’s tummy rumbles, and the scythe-wielding girl blushes. “The Bronya will find food for Seele.”

“Ah! No, there’s no need!” Seele waves her hand. “Don’t bother. You look tired, I’ll be fine.” Now with more breathing space, she sweeps the room. It’s just the pink woman, Mei, and Sin now. Sin is looking a bit pale, not stepping forward to greet Seele at all. Hm? Aren’t they old acquaintances too?

“Ah…” There. Seele finally spotted Sin’s. Seele twirls her scythe, and Sin flinches. “You. Why are you here?”

Bronya is quick to step between them. “Sin helped bring Seele back. Seele doesn’t have to worry. Sin didn’t hurt the Bronya again.”

“I see…” Seele’s blue eyes soften. “Good. I guess it’s good timing.”

Bronya tilts her head, her curls bouncing on her shoulder. “Timing?”

“Mhm. Bronya, just sit down. It won’t take long.” She tugs a confused Bronya to the floor with her. Now on her knees, Seele hugs her again. “I missed you so much…”

The next blink— Seele is six steps away, her scythe held high in front of Sin. She’s still smiling, but her canines are too long, slithering free out of her mouth. “You, you’ll have to do. Good riddance, you creep.”

“Look at what I bought, Sin!”

It’s her new mother. Her new mother is related to her, an auntie, a cousin of her first mother, but she told Sin to call her mother anyway. She came here only last week to live with her in their house that is almost a princess’s castle. Sin’s parents are gone, but she said she’ll take care of her instead. It was nice of her. She said she didn’t really believe Sin killed Mom and Dad, unlike the other adults, which was nice too. 

Sin turns her head in the direction of the voice:

The wad of cash that her new mother has for a face is grinning, almost tearing the paper. Sin’s vaguely aware that’s not what people are supposed to look like, but that consideration is distant, just like that of the disgusting coating dripping over the walls, the eyes growing across the windows, the slithering stains on her bedsheets. 

“It’s called a river of diamond! I bought it thanks to you— Mother is very happy!” 

Sin’s eyes widen. She can’t see with the left one anymore, but she’s not naive, she knows how much broken glass hurts when you grab onto it— she slaps the glittering, broken object out of the woman’s hand. The clear sharp angles feel smooth in the brief moment she touches the necklace, but then it shatters into a million pieces on the floor, little bits of glass rolling everywhere. There. See? It’s broken, like she knew it was.

Sin’s new mother is no longer smiling. Slowly, like the tide, the dream recedes, and Sin groggily opens her eyes.

She is very cold when she comes to. It’s two thirty am, and her mouth really hurts, and she feels gross. She cried. Her eyes feel puffy. She drooled on the floor. The drool is mixed with blood. Blood? It’s her own this time. It came from her mouth. It’s sore. She wipes her chin best she can. She can’t leave this gross puddle here. Everyone will know. Seele—

She freezes up. Checks, because she’s suddenly certain that Seele is right behind her, ready to torture her some more, but she’s not. She’s gone. She didn’t kill Sin. Just pretended. It felt real. It felt real, and her fingers still pulse with pain where Seele’s scythe sliced them off.

Yet Seele’s oppressive presence is gone. Sin wills her breathing back to normal. She’s gone. The puddle of gross blood and saliva is gone too. It’s gone. Back to how it was before anything happened at all. She’s going to go to bed. She has her room all to herself to warm up and freak out in. She’s cold, but at least her tooth stopped bleeding. It just feels really sore. She’s just going to go to bed—

There’s a flight of stairs between her and her room. She’s never had a problem with stairs before. 

She knows how much it hurts to fall down the stairs quite intimately , now.

What if she falls again? No. She didn’t fall for real. It was Seele. What if she falls and can’t catch herself and crashes all the way down? What if— 

Sin’s body seizes up without her input and she stays frozen on top of the stairs for a full minute before grabbing the railing, tight. She’s not going to fall if she’s holding on for dear life. It’s the longest flight of stairs in her whole life, a mere handful of steps she’s outright jumped before. She feels sick.

Sin collapses on her bed as soon she’s blocked the door. She’s exhausted. She only takes off her shoes and curls under the covers and doesn’t move again.

She falls asleep at some point, because suddenly when she blinks her eyes open the sun is up. Nobody came looking for her. She’s hungry. Wasn’t she supposed to go with Matushka? ...maybe it’s been delayed. Matushka will come find her. It’s probably not time to go yet. 

(Maybe Seele told her everything. Maybe they locked the room from the outside. Maybe Seele is going to stop by again, make sure she learned her lesson.)

Sin doesn’t move from bed. Oh, she curls and uncurls her toes. She thinks about Bronya. She tries to remember a pleasant dream. She listens to the thunderstorm. The shadows move and laugh at her, but she ignores them. She falls asleep again, lulled by the soft bedsheets. Still, nobody comes to find her. She feels empty. Maybe she should go eat something.

It must have been a full day when Sin finally steps out of her room properly. Nobody came to check up on her. She feels somewhat betrayed, but she can’t let it show. She doesn’t need anyone to check up on her. She’s not a baby.

Matushka is the one who tells her. Seele’s gone, and Bronya’s terribly wounded— she’s being treated right now, Matushka says, but she might never walk again.

Home crashes down. It’s all Sin’s fault.

Chapter Text

The first time Sin meets Seele, she’s with Bronya already.

Sin was following behind her mother, who was doing small talk, trying to win over that powerful woman, Cocolia. To do so, Sin has been instructed to befriend the children who live in the orphanage. Some are around her age, even though most are younger. She’s been told to say these words— “Hello, my name is Sin. Can we be friends?” But of course, it’s her adoptive mother’s wish, to facilitate getting into Cocolia’s good graces. The fortune of her new parents has dwindled over the last three years. They didn’t really care to maintain the estate. Sin knows that they are greedy people. They threw parties and did whatever they wanted until there was nothing left.

She doesn’t care that much, though. Parents care for their children, right? Even if these are more… distant. She said “Yes, mother” with a smile, and prepared herself to do her task. She hasn’t spoken with other children in a while, but she can do this much for them.

So Sin was standing there, behind her mother, with a fake smile, until she spotted that mysterious girl from three years ago.

The one who protected her, with the beautiful curly hair, and the determined eyes. For the first time in an eternity, the rhythm of Sin’s heart quickens, tick tick tickticktick faster than she remembers it being capable of. A genuine smile spreads on her face.

She’s found her again! That beautiful girl. She’s right there in the courtyard, with a dark haired friend hanging on her arm. 

They’re both smiling happily. Can Sin join? Before she can think about it, she’s already run up to them. With a bright grin, Sin asks, “Do you remember me?”

It’s true it’s been about three years. It’s okay if the girl forgot all about her. They can start over. Sin just wants to be friends… 

But there’s wariness in these beautiful eyes, now. The girl grabs her shorter friend protectively, not taking her eyes off Sin.

“Bronya…” The other girl with the short black and blue hair teaches Sin the pretty girl’s name. It’s Bronya. Bronya, that’s a pretty name, but Sin would have rather Bronya introduce herself.

They slowly back away. “Stay away from Seele…” is what Bronya says. Seele must be the name of her friend.

Stay away..?

This encounter is falling apart. No no no no. Don’t... Remembering her practiced speech, Sin tries to keep it together. “Can… we be friends?”

“Sorry…” It’s like Bronya’s lips move in slow motion. “You’re a monster, not a human.”

“A monster?”

One second Sin is standing there, in front of these girls who just rejected her; the next her cheek burns, and she crashes into the mirror in her bedroom. It breaks into a million pieces from her momentum.

Oh. She was slapped.

Her mother yells at her. She wasn’t able to befriend the girls, after all. In fact, it seems from her yelling that they made a terrible impression in the end. That’s not going to solve the money problems.

Sin doesn’t even remember getting home, though.

There’s only one thing going through her mind, and it’s another person’s voice, distorted to sound like her own.

“You’re not human.”

So she’s not human. Everyone around her, though, is a human. Her mother, whose face she doesn’t even know (she only sees her face distorted by greed) is a human. The servants that used to work here (they looked like marionettes, tools with no spines) were humans.

Bronya is a human.

Sin picks up her tattered blush bunny. Its dress looks like hers. It’s been made that way. It was supposed to be a soft little Sin, an old birthday present, but it got damaged three years ago. It’s been a wreck ever since, barely stitched together. The left eye was torn, so it was replaced, but it’s the wrong color. It just can’t ever be like it was before.

“Then what the hell am I?”

Of course it is very simple. Bronya said it herself. She must be a monster.

A few days later, it all becomes even simpler.

It’s a hand in her back pushing her towards someone she can only describe as a gross pig.

It’s a voice that sing-songs “Serve your future husband well tonight.”

It’s a very sharp smile, and clockworks that pierces his brain in one fell swoop.

“Mother, I don’t want to be a monster,” is what she says, and her eye pulses with light pain, lighter than it’s ever been. Maybe it’s because she’s older, now, and she can handle it better.

“I want to be human.”

She leaves her bunny in the flames. The clock ticks like a pacemaker.

“You, you’ll have to do. Good riddance, you creep.”

This. This isn’t happening. 

Bronya can’t move at all. Not when her Seele has moved so suddenly, in the same way Bronya’s seen only Mei do. 

(What is Seele to her now, years after they last met? It’s been four years. Is sixteen-years-old Bronya the same person she was at twelve?)

(Is Seele?)

Seele, her sweet, skittish Seele, is about to kill someone. She’s about to kill Sin, someone they both know, someone Bronya feels responsibility towards. 

Bronya can’t move. It must be shock. But she has to stop this madness. It must be a mistake. She hasn’t kissed Seele back yet, not in front of everyone. She promised. Seele can’t be an enemy. She’s worked so hard to bring her back, betrayed her new family for her.

Bronya can’t move. Thankfully, for Sin’s sake, Mei and that Sakura woman do.

Neither of them should have weapons, but mist swirls into their hands and turns into glimmering swords, blocking the scythe just in time.

Sin is frozen in place, too. The expression on her face tells Bronya that the shock is also bad for her. 

Well, she’s the one someone is trying to kill right now. That is what Bronya reasons in a detached manner.

Yeah. Definitely shock.

While the weapons are in a deadlock, the mist appears again and pushes Seele back violently. Bronya realizes this must be Sakura’s power. It’s very different from Mei’s lightning powers. The mist is quite thin— Sakura is breathing hard. Ah, right. Both Mei and she used up most of their power to help Seele here. 

Seele leaps to them again, and the fight starts for real. Seele wields the scythe like it’s an extension of herself— only a little bit clumsy, maybe her swings have a little too much power to be fully controlled. Did she learn to use it during these four years apart? This endeavor is backfiring splendidly. Why is Seele even fighting?

She’s trying to slip past Mei and Sakura to get to Sin.

Seele… hasn’t forgiven Sin, for her bullying. Is that it? Is this revenge for twelve years old Sin’s behavior? To Bronya’s knowledge, beyond mean words Sin never dared to hurt Seele.

It’s not like punishment or revenge is unearned, but it’s Bronya’s own problem that her leg was broken, and Bronya has forgiven Sin for that. 

It’s been so long, and it felt more like Bronya’s own choices than Sin’s. She could have stopped that attack any time. She chose not to. It felt like the right thing at the time— it felt like a small price to pay to hold her promise. Almost deserved. Bronya only knew how to kill after all. Bronya at the time thought she was a monster, a wolf barely concealed by a sheep’s clothing. It felt deserved to feel a little pain.

On Principal Theresa’s advice she went to therapy and now she knows better. That wasn’t healthy. But even if she had to choose now, Bronya would forgive Sin.

They were both going to risk their life for that dangerous test. She can guess now how stressed Sin was about it. Bronya isn’t sure why Sin snapped so badly, why it mattered to her that Bronya loved Seele, but that violence Bronya always knew about was never turned against Bronya before and it never struck Bronya again. 

Even when they met again shortly after Bronya joined Schicksal, despite claiming she was going to kill Bronya, Sin didn’t fight her seriously, and dropped the act the second they entered a private conversation. Sin pushed her wheelchair gently back when Bronya had one, and stopped touching it as soon as Bronya asked. Even if their past is tainted with violence Sin is firmly on Bronya’s side now.

Sin even apologized in her own way— maybe it wasn’t a real apology, but Sin got angry at herself on Bronya's behalf. She is a prideful person, so apologizing is difficult, especially back when she was only twelve years old, but the intention was there. Sin who never liked Seele even threw herself into the task of bringing her back earnestly.

So, Bronya does not find usefulness in a grudge. Bronya chose not to stop Sin back then, so by the same own choice that belongs only to her, Bronya has forgiven Sin a long time ago, even if Sin isn’t a good person, she’s not… evil, either. If it’s because of the staircase incident, there is no reason for them to fight. Especially with how one-sided this is.

Furthermore, Bronya cannot let Seele hurt someone in anger, especially not in Bronya’s name. Seele, kind and gentle Seele, she will regret it.

If her legs won’t budge then she will force her lips to move. “Seele… stop!” Bronya’s voice is faint. She can’t seem to make her legs move at all, but at least she can still speak.

Thankfully, Seele freezes. Sakura and Mei do, as well, but they retreat in front of the frozen Sin to guard her, still wary.

“Seele… the Bronya has forgiven Sin for breaking her leg. There is no need for revenge for the Bronya’s sake.” It’s a plea, but there is no shame in pleading to the love of Bronya’s life.

Seele turns to her, and for the first time Bronya realizes her eyes are blazing red right now. “Bronya…”

Ah. She moved so fast, like Bronya has only seen Mei do. Her eye color has changed to a warmer color, like Bronya has only seen Mei’s do. There are long canines protruding out of Seele’s mouth, that Bronya had not seen before.

Seele is next to her again; she cups Bronya’s cheeks with watery eyes. “I’m sorry you have to see this unsightly side of me,” Seele says. Something is thick and heavy in Bronya’s throat. Seele has been turned into a vampire somehow. She’s— she’s going to need to drink a lot of blood isn’t she? She will be in pain if she doesn’t. That level of strength, is she a Gesegnet like Mei? Or did she get bitten while Bronya wasn’t with her? Is this the real reason Matushka let Seele take the test before Bronya? Or did the test turn her?

Is kind, gentle Seele trying to drink Sin’s blood because she doesn’t want to hurt Bronya? Because it’s the lesser evil? Yes, it would match up with the Seele that Bronya knows better. Seele is a nice girl. She wouldn’t care about revenge too much. Seele kisses her forehead in comfort. 

“Bronya, please close your eyes until I’m done,” she pleads. But Bronya still can’t let her kill an innocent person. She doesn’t need the scythe. Bronya would gladly lend her own blood willingly. She catches Seele’s wrist, but before she can speak, Sakura goes on the offensive.

“Vampire. Get away from these innocent children,” Sakura hisses. She is the one who knows about Bronya and Seele the least. Of course, she wouldn’t understand that Seele would never hurt Bronya. Seele has to pull away to dodge, easily breaking out of Bronya’s grip.

This is bad. Bronya wants to tell Sakura she was safe, but speaking is difficult, and Seele starts making a strange expression. The next moment, she is laughing.

“Innocent children?” It seems that this is very funny for Seele, but this isn’t Seele’s nice laugh. It sounds almost deranged. Is it the vampire influence? “Sin isn’t innocent.”

Behind her, hidden behind Mei, Sin flinches.

“The Bronya has forgiven Sin for hurting her,” Bronya insists.

But perhaps this wasn’t what Seele was angry about, after all. “She’s tried to rape me you know?”

W...what?

Sin’s fear has worsened. Bronya can almost smell it. “I—” She can’t formulate a defense, and guilt is plain on her face, too. Seele… must not be lying. But how..? Why? When? Seele disappeared four years ago. Back when they were so young? Seele didn’t say anything.

Even though they’re mostly unrelated, Mei and Sakura’s shock is real. Seele takes advantage of it and slips past them in an instant. Sin is grabbed by the collar just as blue mist appears in a circle around the both of them. Mei hisses in pain when it touches her sleeve, and she has to dash away, ripping away the cloth as it rots into nothing.

They can’t get close to the two teenagers anymore.

“I already took revenge for Bronya,” Seele says sweetly. Sin lies limp in her grip. She doesn’t try to defend herself— her weapon is nowhere to be seen. “I’ve been learning that I should take revenge for myself, bitch.”

...did Seele just swear? Bronya has never heard her swear before. Is this really Seele? She looks like Seele, but she doesn’t act quite like Seele… yet, in her heart she knows there is no mistake. It’s not that Seele has been replaced with a different soul. It’s simply that maybe Bronya didn’t know everything about Seele.

“Your blood will be a sufficient compensation,” Seele claims, and she drives her fangs into—

Bang.

Bullets can go through that corrosive mist just fine. Bullets are not organic matter. Bullets do not rot away. Seele drops her concentration, staggering, and the mist scatters. Sin falls to the ground. Sakura dashes forward, snatching Sin away into her arms. Mei moves in front to protect her and her armful of terrified teenager.

Project Bunny can move, even if Bronya can’t bring herself to. 

“The Seele that the Bronya knows does not wish for anyone to be hurt for her sake.” She’s been so careful. She even asked Sin a favor, to prepare sedatives and pretend to fight, pretend to be an evil enemy, and to knock Bronya’s family and friends out carefully, even though it would have been faster and safer for her to injure them. She’s been so careful, so she won’t let Seele betray herself in her blood madness. Even if this has become ugly without Bronya being aware of it, they can sort it out peacefully.

“Bronya..? You shot me?” Enforcing peace with violence, perhaps that is absurd. Seele looks betrayed. Thankfully, she doesn’t seem to be injured. Bronya doesn’t want her to be hurt either. This was the weakest shot she could manage.

“Seele is going too far. If the Bronya is not done bringing Seele home, she is willing to fight…” Bronya doesn’t want to fight Seele. Not in a million years. “But there is no need to take blood by force. Seele can drink the Bronya’s blood instead. It is freely offered.”

“Bronya—” Mei interrupts, but Bronya raises a hand and shakes her head. Ah, she can move now. 

Seele doesn’t, entire attention caught onto her. “Bronya, you don’t understand. I need to—”

Bronya stands and floats up to the shocked Seele. “The Bronya brought Seele home. The Bronya will not let Seele hurt anybody. Seele is the Bronya’s responsibility.”

Ah, it seems Bronya’s heart is beating very fast. “Sin, please run away.”

Bronya runs as fast as her small feet can take her. The shotgun is heavy on her young shoulder, but even a nine years old girl knows slowing down means probably-death.

The party went so wrong. She shot down her target alright, but the moment this happened, the police were on her. Maybe it was a trap. She had to shoot a man in the head, and there was so much blood that splattered on the wall, maybe they’ll only need to paint what little left there the color she left it.

Her escape route was compromised so she had to jump out the window into a tree.

There was a moment, earlier that evening. When she placed the bombs under the stage, she thought maybe she should just hide in there, in the dark, listening to the music. Wait until everything became fire and light and then hopefully it would be dark.

She didn’t stay, though. She doesn’t actually want to die. So she went to complete her job. There is no choice for the one who would later be known as the Silver Wolf of the Urals.

She’s still being chased now. It’s raining and storming. She’s tired. Of course, she killed one of the policemen on top of a rich guest, so it’s personal now. She’s tried to hide, and they walked past her, so she jumped into a neighboring property and is currently racing through the garden. There will be food in such a big house.

She’s hungry. Her limbs are losing strength. If she ran away would the people who raised her think she was dead? Would they also give chase or would she be free?

Maybe if she runs straight in the night instead of trying to go home, she could be free of this weapon in her hands, but…

There is nowhere for her to go, except “home” that isn’t a home at all.

She knows how harsh the environment is for a lone child. She’d probably end up a real sex worker this time. If she doesn’t die before that.

...there, a row of large windows. She hops over the balcony, and, using the momentum, crashes right into the room. She’s drenched and cold and hungry, out of breath, but her boots are sturdy enough that broken glass is trivial.

In a second she analyzes the room. This is… a bedroom. It’s huge, almost as big as the ones in the mansion she killed someone in. There’s a lot of space but not many toys. A huge bed, with some kind of curtain things, nothing like the mattress Bronya sleeps on. 

There’s a person on the bed. A small child about her age.

She calls Bronya beautiful. “Are you here to play with sin?” The little girl has to be taunting her. Bronya gathers her shivering forces and aims for a headshot.

She may be just a pink-haired kid in a princess dress, but there’s an ominous aura to her that gives Bronya goosebumps, entirely unrelated to how wet her hair and clothes are, or how the thunder startles her every couple minutes.

She tackles the kid, but she keeps smiling, unseeing of the weapon. Let’s play together, she demands, smiling brightly. One of her irises looks strange, like it’s damaged. She doesn’t look like she has natural heterochromia. 

The longer this unsettling encounter goes on, the more Bronya is convinced there must be something wrong with this girl. She needs to find food and go.

“Give me your food!” Bronya asks, letting the barrel rest against the kid’s forehead.

There is no reaction, besides the girl’s expression growing more distant. Is that fear? No, she doesn’t look scared. Just… apathetic.

...the threat isn’t working. What can Bronya do? She’s so hungry. Does she just… ask for directions to the kitchen? Try to find it herself and ignore the kid? What if the kid alerts some kind of bodyguard?

Glass shatters further. Bronya whips around. The police caught up with her! And they’re… pointing their guns at the both of them.

“Drop your weapon!” they order.

The little princess is going to get caught in the crossfire.Ominous aura or not, humans can’t survive being turned into swiss cheese. Endangering herself is one thing, but… 

Bronya doesn’t even think. She lets go of her own weapon, giving up her one means of defense, and jumps off the bed, spreading her arms wide to shield the other girl. She’s not letting a civilian get caught up in this.

“You’re after me, she has nothing to do with me!” Bronya pleads, because she knows what these men are capable of when there’s defenseless little girls within reach, but they don’t care that she’s given in. Some of them grin. Another hits her with the cross of his weapon, anger dripping like blood on his face.

It hurts.

Bronya’s only nine. If an adult hits her, especially in the temple, she’s going down. She loses balance and crashes to the floor painfully. She can’t muster the strength to stand. The room is starting to spin and darken. 

“Don’t… hurt her…” Bronya chokes out anyway. The kid’s going to be alone with them, surely she doesn’t know how to use a gun even if she grabs Bronya’s discarded weapon. The little princess is going to be defenseless. “She…”

The last thing Bronya sees before she passes out, is the kid, barefooted, calmly walking to the center of the room. Sound feels muffled, but the men are angry, about to close in on her, and…

The clock ticks like a pacemaker. Bronya wakes on the bed.

Uh? 

Her head doesn’t hurt anymore. In fact, it’s being petted gently. Someone is hugging her from behind, letting her rest half on the fluffy pillow, half against their own shoulder. Her clothes… uh, they’re not full of holes, either. But they’re the same. They don’t feel itchy and stitched up. They just feel… good as new, like her head wound.

Like the damage was only a dream.

“Good girl…” a voice whispers in her ear. It’s gentle and quiet, as if afraid to wake her. Having regained awareness of her body, Bronya instinctively turns to it, confirming who it belongs to.

It’s the little princess from before.

“Don’t be afraid,” she said, continuously petting Bronya’s hair. She kisses it gently, as if to reinforce her point. Bronya… feels strange. Is this affection? Why? There’s no reason for it. Even though she may have fruitlessly jumped in the girl’s defense, Bronya threatened to kill her the minute before.

Jumped in her— where did those men go?!

In sync with this thought, the girl speaks again, and Bronya’s eyes finally land beyond the foot of the bed.

“The nightmare is over,” the princess lies.

There are bodies all over the floor, shredded to pieces, blood and guts and limbs and terrified half-destroyed faces. 

Sin has never run so fast in her life.