FicWad

Chapter 2

However, the evening was not over. Chiyuki chuckled, and did not honestly think that Ren would be interested in her, but it was not as if it mattered. Then, something caught her attention. She stuck her nose in the air again, to smell an unfriendly presence. Chiyuki looked at Yukiko, and said, “Be right back.”
Then, in a flash of red, she was in front of the stranger. Oddly enough, the stranger seemed to take it in stride, as if seeing things like this was normal for him. He smiled at her, let out a laugh, patted her on the head, and said, with a heavy calypso accent, “Undead like you should know their place, especially with that one there. It upsets the balance of things, you know.”
With that, he continued to smile, and kept on walking. Chiyuki gritted her teeth at him, and went to grab his wrist, tightly, almost enough to break the bone, though she did not realize it. “Don’t you dare talk to me like that Childe!" she growled. Oddly again, he did not seem annoyed. He merely laughed again, and said, “My, but you are an amusing one! So many of you have come and gone in my time. I would like to speak again, but not under your current mindset. So...” He reached into his pocket, seemed to drop something on the ground, and the whole street around filled with a dense fog, almost the same kind of fog that accompanies a vampire ward. However, what was different was the smell. It reeked of garlic—heavy garlic. Everyone around, human or vampire, began to choke, especially the vampire! Chiyuki was sure that she was holding his wrist, but it almost seemed that his presence was not there! She let go to jump out of the fog in an attempt to enter a building, coughing hard, being that her sense of smell was much stronger then theirs. That, however, came with its own downfalls. She was on her knees coughing up hard enough to cough up blood, not quite making a building. Soon, the fog was dissipating, and there was that laugh again, but there was no way of knowing where it was coming from. Yukkiko staggered up and asked, “What in the name of common sense was that!”
Chiyuki was still up on the side of the building, in an alley, coughing, and curled up on her side in a fetal position. Kenta had seen the fog, and went out, too late to realize that this was not a normal fog. He was on his knees, hacking and wheezing from the stench. Karin came out as the fog dissipated, and heard the desperate cries of Yukkiko for help. As she collected her fiancé, they both made their way to the cries. Chiyuki bit on her lip and tried to stand up only to collapse again. The three of them were now lifting her up, and Kenta was still hacking a bit. “Smells like a pizzeria out here!” Karin exclaimed, “What happened?”
“Chiyuki smelled someone, told me to wait, and about thirty seconds later, bang!” said Yukkiko.
A flash of white and someone stood next to Chiyuki and helped her off the ground. “Chiyuki-chan, been awhile since you dealt with this type of stuff huh?” she said, teasingly.
Chiyuki’s eyes shot open and she jumped to her feet and hugged the white haired girl. “AI-CHAN!” she screeched, “I thought…I thought he killed you?” she asked, doubt obviously all over her face. Kenta and Karin both snapped back, still not used to these sudden entrances. Once the initial shock had ended, they both had the urge to pull out their eyeballs, rub them, and put them back, just to be certain of what they were seeing. Chiyuki was dressed in her red kimono and shorts and Ai was in a long-sleeved white dress, the dress was rather short though, when they stood together, they stood as one, something that should be recognized and feared, the white devil and the red devil, where now reunited. However, it seemed odd to call Ai a devil, considering her appearance. She had a cherubic face, with thick, long, almost purple-white hair that came down to her calf. She had her hair braided in various places for a beauteous effect. Her thin, light lavender dress that appeared white in the right light was cut just above her knees, had full sleeves, blousing just underneath her endowments, with a lace design to better accent her better features. She seemed a bon vivant, with a bubbly personality, and she rarely had a moment when a smile was not on her face. The two began a teary reunion there in the alley, much to the surprise of all present. After a few minutes of catching up, Yukkiko knew that this woman betrayed a colder nature when the situation called for it. “Would you like to introduce me, sensei,” said Yukkiko, as Karin and Kenta had a look on their faces like they did not know whether or not they had been kissed, shot, power burned, or snake bit. “This is Ai Ito: Elda would know her as the White Devil,” she said smiling.
Hearing the title of “White Devil” really caught Yukkiko by surprise, considering that the personality before her just did not show this. She then looked at the other two staring at them, and Yukkiko said, “Hey, snap out of it!” snapping her fingers before the faces of the couple. She then turned to the new arrival, and said, “They just got engaged tonight. Too much action—they’re kind of new to a lot of stuff, (though they’ve been around it for a bit.)”
She though for another moment, and said, “I wonder of Jean-Claude has heard of you, or you him. Anyway, there's a club down the way a bit. You could come in grab some coffee, the blood of your choice, whatever you want—bottled or fresh! Come on and tell me all about you. I’m always anxious to meet sensei’s friends.”
“Hmm, I’m not really hungry...but thanks for the offer,” Ai said smiling.
“Well...come anyway!” she happily offered, “Welcome to the one place on the face of the earth where what you are is not really a handicap—amongst the right group of people anyway! That Jean-Claude has a dream, and this is where it is starting! Come and meet some of the Clan!”
Ai stared at them and then looked at Chiyuki, “What do you mean dhamphir?” she whispered quietly.
Chiyuki was not sure if the term “dhamphir” had been dropped, but she rolled with it, thinking the thought must have been rolling in someone’s mind when his name was mentioned. Yukkiko then said, “Well, he used to use some French pronunciation—d’amphile—or something like that, as his last name, until he was adopted as a teen by Chief Marker, (that's James’ son)”
Yukkiko’s sudden willingness to share this information began to rattle Karin back into the picture, and said, “Ahem! I think that’s enough for now. Let's all get to the club before someone starts asking questions!”
On their way to the club, Ai was anxious to continue the conversation. “I heard about your recent battle Nee-chan.” Ai said to Chiyuki as they walked back towards the club.
Kenta thought for a moment, and then said, “I was going to say something about ‘recent,’ but I forget that three years for you guys is just a flash in the pan.”
“Well, get used to it, as long as I am able to do what I do with you,” said Karin.
“Let’s hope that is for a long time,” he said, as he gave her a squeeze entering in the club. As they did, a bat began to fly away.

In the club, any vampire that was not up to speed on things who could read auras would be shocked at the sight. They would indeed wonder if everyone knew what everyone was, or if this was a clever ruse to lure in one’s blood type. The decor did have a cave-like effect, and more interesting were the bats hanging on the ceiling. Everyone was worried about guano at first, but for some reason, these bats knew how to be more discreet. What many did not realize was that these were some of Anjou’s bats, many of who had awoken from hibernation. Karin ordered some coffee with Kenta, while Yukkiko went for her vintage chauvinist, properly chilled. Karin then said, “So, what did you hear from where you were?” wondering how much of a shockwave all the actions here caused. She knew that she could not say anything about the twins yet, because, if news came out that two dhamphirs had children, there is no telling what kind of reverbs they would be talking about. Though the situation was better here, their movement was still small, and they needed to properly “fodder the child.” To answer the question, Ai said, “That she had finally got the revenge for my false death,” and shrugged, as she continued, “And that she had gotten friendly with a lot of people...which I thought couldn’t be true,” she said, glancing sideways at Chiyuki. Chiyuki smiled at her, giving her that knowing glance. She knew how well Ai knew her, and it was hard to keep secrets covered, or away from her. Kenta then chimed in, “"But, if this is the first time you two have seen each other for a while, (congratulations, by the way,) how did you find out about things? I mean, I was involved myself. Some undead the elders created tried to get our friend Maki, and Karin here, but somehow, I was able to take care of him, (didn’t know I had it in me to do that!)”
“Huh?” Ai asked, completely lost.
“I think he wants to know how far the news has spread,” said Karin, “because it did get a bit hairy here. And, to explain what he meant, since he receives...” she stopped, not knowing how she would react, “...well, since my blood is in his system, I guess that makes him my g’hul—I think that's the term. He’s been able to take better care of me in that regard.”
“Karin,” said Yukkiko, “I think she's lost on how things are in here as well. Should I rehash things for her, sensei?”
“No...She will figure things out in her own way,” Chiyuki said shrugging.
“Do you think that's safe,” asked Karin, “I mean, she still has to keep things somewhat quiet, lest the baby be killed in the cradle, (I believe that’s the slang term Jean-Claude uses.)”
“I understand what must be kept secret and what can be told—I am not dumb,” Ai said, furrowing her brow.
“Oh! Forgive me,” said Karin, “I didn't want to imply that you are stupid, it’s just we do have to be careful. Wow, you must really keep your ear to the ground, (man, I’m going to have to get on Jean-Claude—too much of his slang is slipping in!)”
Ai giggled, and said, “You all are funny,” wiping away a giggle tear.
“Well, after the hate that we have seen,” said Karin, now becoming a bit more serious about things, “We understand now why Jean-Claude is so cautious about things. He’d be here now, but he's looking after the twins...” and she stopped, getting an “I-kick-myself-profusely” look on her face. “Twins?” she asked, “Wasn’t he with a dhamphir, and isn't he a dhamphir?”
Ai, turned to look curiously at Chiyuki. Chiyuki and Yukkiko looked at Karin with a “good job, blabbermouth” look on their faces. She may be about 19 now, but she was still somewhat of an airhead. Yukkiko then said, “Well, Miss ‘Fountain of Life,’ you let the cat out of the bag, you might as well tell her!”
Karin did not need to silence things much, because everyone in there knew what the deal was. She said, “They sometimes call me the pistis sophia. Because of me, there has been a jump in the vampire population. However, during the battle, Jean-Claude had been captured, and they bled him nearly dry. He was in a bloodlust when I arrived, and they had him chained down, too weak to act. All the unhappiness and misfortune around caused my blood to rise, so, I bit him. That actually had the side effect of making him fertile. Because of that, a month later, his wife asked for help, so I did, and, well, you had sex ed, right?”
Ai stared at her...a giant sweat drop on her head. “I have been around the block a couple of times: I know what sex is, child,” she said, an anime stress mark under her face.
“Sorry,” she said, “A little sarcasm there. Anyway, I must have left a squirt more than normal because she wound up with twins! They are adorable! He named them after his parents. For him, it’s as if they have come back to him. However, we don’t know if they will be human, dhamphir, or pure blood—33.3% chance anyway you slice it. I just hope that our kids turn out that healthy and happy.”
At that, she turned her glance to Kenta, rubbing a tongue on a retracted fang, and smiling a bit. Kenta did not know what she was aiming at, but he did remember that she told him that the experience that he had with her biting would be just the icing on the cake when that “time” came. Ai sighed, and asked, “If only he were here...then you would have a reason for the fountain of fertility, eh Chiyuki-chan?” turning to look up at Chiyuki. Yukkiko looked at her master sadly, knowing that this was a sensitive spot for her. However, Karin and Kenta were surprised that Ai did not have much more of a reaction when she heard about how things went. In their minds, you would have thought that this kind of thing was a common sight through the years. However, another, familiar voice chimed in and said, “Sadly, he is not here, so I guess you’ll have to deal with me.”
Everyone looked over to see the massive form of Jean-Claude coming in the door, with Anjou in tow. The proprietor said, “Great! The rest of the band is here! Do you have time for a set?”
“Not really,” he said, “and we don’t even have our costumes anyway. This is business.”
The two then took a seat, and said, “Anjou’s been watching. She said there were some problems earlier. What happened?”
“I came back from the dead...again!” Ai answered quickly, Chiyuki seemingly unaffected by Ai’s earlier comment. Confused by a bit of the scatterbrained approach of the stranger, Jean-Claude extended a hand with a curious look on his face, saying, “I don't believe I’ve had the privilege.”
She shook hands with him, with a curious look on her face, saying, “You are that father of twins, no?” tilting her head to the side. As a bit of a joke, he suddenly began to sing, “...because, she had, kisses sweeter than wine,” and smiled a warm smile. Ai giggled, and said, “Nee-chan,” turning to Chiyuki, “I wanna stay with you...here!” she said, running to hug her dramatically. Chiyuki smiled softly, truthfully, hugged her back, and said, chuckling warmly, “Not me—you gotta ask Ai-chan!”
Jean-Claude smiled, guessing that it was an inside joke, and then got down to business. He relayed what Anjou had seen, and they filled him in. “So, we have magic, a calypso accent, no fear of the supernatural, and a sharp warning not to upset his fruit cart.”
He rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, and said, “This is gonna sound weird, but we may well be dealing with voodoo here!”
“VOODOO!” shouted everyone else at the table, save for Anjou.
“Yes, voodoo,” he said, “and that may not be good. Oddly enough, it would seem to me that he would not try to harm any of us if he just wanted to talk for now. It seems like he wants to lay down an ultimatum. We have to find this guy and see what he wants. That way, we can go from there.”
“What should we look for?” asked Karin.
“We need to hang here for a few nights,” he told everyone, “I think he’ll find us!”