Chapter Text
Glass clatters against the wooden bar floor, the scent of whiskey and blood fills the air.
Chuuya picks up the shattered glass bottle and lunges towards the blond man that had smashed the glass in the first place. He has a blade but chooses not to use it.
His partner Akutagawa places his hand on Chuuya’s shoulder, “Lets just go. This scumbag isn’t worth picking a fight over”
Chuuya grabs the man's collar and presses the sharp edge of the broken beer bottle against his throat. “You know it’s a crime to fuck with vampire hunter’s right? You can’t be giving false tips like this. You know a young woman was bled dry just yesterday? Huh?”
The snobby piece of shit who Chuuya has by the neck is now sniffling and crying like a baby, snot running down his face and all.
Akutagawa tenses, he’s new to the job. He can't afford a report like his partner can. He can't afford to be fired
He's fighting the same urge Chuuya is. They are on an important job; Find the vampire that's been terrorizing this town. This ass was trying to pull a prank that it was here and waste time but fighting him is only wasting more time.
The metallic scent of the room stings his nose. He digs his nails into his palm before taking a step back. As Chuuya swings his fist at the man, Aku's ears start ringing. Everything in the room is provoking him too much
He goes out the back entrance of the bar. Maybe he can avoid getting fired off he can claim he wasn't there when Chuuya started the fight
Aku had been removed from his last hunting position for lashing out on a civilian. They moved him to work with the usually calm Chuuya, but it appears the man doesn't live up to that reputation.
He might be hypocritical but Chuuya shouldn't be wasting unnecessary time fighting now.
Aku is broken from his thoughts by the sting of cool air. His breath clouds in front of him like smoke. He's gonna kill Chuuya when he's back out here. For distracting him like this
No, it's unproductive to think like that. He should stay focused on his work
There's been reports of murders in this area. Oddly familiar ones. Young women, a lot of them drained completely of their blood. They've all been found in secluded areas: the forest, alleyways, out back of dingy bars like this one.
Akutagawa walks out closer to the tree line. He's not supposed to be out alone but he's good. 2 months working and he already has 10 kills. He knows he's good. He doesn't need a partner
He just wants to get this job over with and prove he can work on his own
Closer to the forest the air is damper, stiller. It's quieter than a forest should be at night.
Not a single peep from animals or humans alike, even the trees seemed to hold their breaths. That meant something was among the trees, forcing everything to silence.
He pulls his knife from its sheath. Ready to find whatever is causing all of this
A stick breaks deeper in the woods.
He follows its sound deeper. The cool metal on the blunt side of the knife digs into his fingers. He loosens his grip and prepares to lunge at someone.
“Akutagawa!” he hears Chuuya yell for him. He's not gonna look back at that scum bag. He chose to stay and fight someone anyway. Chuuya doesn't deserve to be there and get credit
He walks languidly forward, making sure he's not heard. Chuuya calling for him isn't gonna change his mind, “Akutagawa get back here!”
That's when he hears another stick crack.
Not off in the distance this time. Right behind him. He swivels around. There's no one there.
Chuuya is running towards him from the bar. Aku holds his knife up in front of him, ready to defend himself.
He feels a cold hand grab his wrist and pull his own knife to his throat. Aku struggles and pulls the knife back down to his collar bones, the deathly figure behind wins and digs the knife against skin.
“I told you to get your ass over here Akutagawa,” Chuuya stops 10 or so feet in front of him. He directs his attention to whoever, or whatever, is behind Aku. “Just let the kid go, he wandered off on his own”
The hand holding the blade presses it closer to Akutagawa's neck. It's digging into the skin just above his jugular. “He doesn't seem much like a kid to me, seems like he wanted to kill me.”
A wave of fear goes through Akutagawa that twists his stomach. He recognizes the teasing voice behind him.
It's one he never wanted to hear again; Osamu Dazai.
Chuuya starts walking closer, “are we gonna have a problem? You know how many vampires like you I've ended?”
Akutagawa can scarcely open his mouth before he's cut off by the swift motion of metal across his throat
Cool blood splashes across skin, across the dirt. Akutagawa sees Chuuya rush towards him as his vision turns closer to black.
- - -
Chuuya wakes back up with a savory taste in his mouth. He doesn't quite remember how he got here? Akutagawa died. He thinks he did at least.
They were after a vampire, and it ambushed Akutagawa. Chuuya had tried taking it out after that but he failed miserably. All he really remembers was being knocked out.
It doesn't appear as if he's restrained in any way. He gets to his feet and looks around the room, it appears to be a rather large room, the ceiling is high and the architecture looks Gothic.
The room seems to be missing soul. There's a couch oddly placed in the middle of the room, a fancy looking table shoved off in the corner of the room, and an overly extravagant chandelier hangs from the ceiling.
It doesn't seem like somewhere a human would live.
Well he knows a human doesn't live there. He walks towards the door and nearly reaches it before realizing the vampire that had attacked him earlier is standing in the corner.
The man is pale– deathly so. He's tall, well at least compared to Chuuya. Another prominent feature is how emaciated he looks. For a vampire that's been gorging himself he looks rather sickly.
The thing that sticks out to Chuuya the most is the vampire's eyes. In his experience vampires always have dark eyes but these look soulless. There's no reflection off life from his pupils.
Chuuya spends much too long staring him down before he pulls his knife from his belt and walks straight up to the vampire in front of him, “you act like a big threat but you didn't even think to take my knife while I was knocked out.” Chuuya puts his weapon to the underside of the taller man's throat
As cold blood runs down his neck, Chuuya asks, “Give me one good reason I shouldn't kill you right now.”
“Hmm…” The vampire tilts his head forward a little. The blade digs into flesh, “I was supposed to die in the arms of a beautiful woman but I guess you could serve that purpose.”
Chuuya scoffs, “You really are a sicko,” he looks up into the soulless eyes above him, “That’s really not a good excuse after you killed my partner”
“Oh, Akutagawa, he's just fine”
“I watched you cut his throat open. He didn't exactly seem fine.”
The vampire pushes the blade away from his throat, “If you just follow me to the guest bedroom you'll see he's alive and well.”
Chuuya hesitantly slips his knife back into his belt and follows the other man down the hallway. This hallway is rather empty.
They arrive in a small bedroom where Akutagawa is laying limply on top of a bed. Chuuya stands a few feet back, “he looks pretty pale”
“He’s always pale,” Dazai says as he walks around to the side of the bed he pokes Aku in the ribs repeatedly. He immediately sits up.
“Dazai!” Akutagawa exclaims. He's heavily breathing
Chuuya steps forward, “You’ve seen this vampire before?”
Akutagawa thinks for a few seconds, “Yes. He was a mentor-”
“I turned him into a vampire.”
Akutagawa looks panicked at the words Dazai just told to Chuuya. Chuuya looks back and forth between the two of them.
He's now required by the law to take Akutagawa out. Chuuya deeply inhales, “That explains why you're so pale then.”
It was kind of stupid of Chuuya that he never noticed that. It looks like he doesn't know who's on his side anymore.