Ryu – Heeeeey everyone… So, I know it's been a while, but I do have a life to live. I did have the majority of this chapter and its extras written up before I suddenly had many things to do. I didn't really want to rush things, but I decided you all waited long enough for something. So here it is.

Einsberg – Thanks, and no, questions are welcome ^_^. As for the Triangulum arc and Miyako, I have not decided yet whether I will do those. We'll just have to see XD.

J.S.H. – XD Ha. That's good to know, and also, only some are partially close to what I had in mind ^_^.

Junoan – Thanks, and that kind of sucks that you'll have to wait till later to play it. As for Tico-Tico, I couldn't find a right place to include them, but I may do so if the opportunity presents itself. And as for Hibiki's parents, yes I based it off of Anime!MC because it worked for this story, because in game, even though it's like a line or two, Game!MC is implied to have a better relationship with his parents by showing care for them.

KagerouHaze - ^_^ It's not really the "talk" per se, but it's still an awkward topic to talk about. And yes! Praise the bat burritos!

UnderdogHero – I'm glad you enjoyed it all.

Kanrei - Thanks! And as for the voice actors, yes for the Japanese version, but no for the English version.

S.– Glad that you like mostly everything so far, and while some things aren't entirely obvious, they're there, or will be worked upon more in the future. As for the death thing, it's the latter.

UragiriNoTeme – Thank you!

Nightmare Black-Rose – Thank you, and here is an update! ^_^

Dragon Silhouette – Good that you like everything, as for the Anguished One….you will find out later. XD

Note: Document still won't let me type out your full Usernames. Just remember I repond to reviews in the order that they come.

Relationship – Awkward Hesitance

The summer passed by in the blink of an eye, and to say that everything returned back to normal would be a complete and utter lie.

Somehow the rumor that he and Yamato were together now had spread like wildfire, there was also the fact that the lower vampires were no longer addressing him as "Kuze-sama", but now "Kuze-Hotsuin".

Sure he was happy they weren't using the honorary suffix any more, but the transition to that title made it seem like they were married. Not like there was anything wrong with that, but same-sex marriage wasn't exactly legal in Japan.

Moreover, they couldn't jump straight to marriage when they hadn't even had a first date yet-

Wait, did those times he went out with Yamato to go get takoyaki count as dates? They did do that quite a bit after Yamato discovered takoyaki, but now he wasn't sure.

Although that didn't concern him as much compared to when Yamato all but demanded that they sleep in the same (bed) room together now that they were…. Bonded. He still didn't know what it meant exactly, but it didn't sound bad.

Of course the change in his room arrangement merely fueled the fires. His friends still referred to him as either "Hibiki" or "Kuze", but they did occasionally give him odd looks when he and Yamato were in the vicinity of each other.

Overall, life returned back to relative normalcy. Normal ghoul missions did pop up as the weeks flew by, but those were easily handled. The only problem being was that the gap between the last abnormal ghoul sighting and the next was growing ever wider. It was only a matter of time before the next one showed up, and each passing day increased the overall anxiety.

They couldn't even estimate a possible day that an abnormal ghoul might show itself, as their sightings were either far or few in between, and there was no pattern to work off of. It was as if something tested the waters by throwing the first few at moderate intervals, then decided to overwhelm them, before deciding to consider its options.

The Anguished One's cryptic messages only furthered the implications that there was something else behind the appearance of the abnormal ghouls.

Unfortunately, he could never get more answers than questions, and he also had to make sure that they didn't accidentally brush shoulders or any other action that would result in the Anguished One's scent to rub off on him.

Makoto could attest to the fact that Yamato had little hissy fits whenever the other caught whiff of the Anguished One's scent on him.

Her habit of not knocking when entering a room also cemented the rumor she had been dubious about, as she had walked in on them when Yamato was attempting to rip off the offending clothing.

Needless to say, she had dashed from the room after giving a quick apology at interrupting them. Later, Otome would suggest that they consider less strenuous foreplay so that they could recover faster.

As for him, he made every attempt to not get the Anguished One's scent on him while not being obvious about. Yamato seemed so focused on him not having any whiff of the Anguished One's scent, instead of the fact that he would occasionally talk with the Anguished One. That was understandable, as the Anguished One would come and go, with neither of them having no control over it. That left Yamato to try to rectify the things there were manageable.

He just wished Yamato wouldn't ruin his clothes (although arguably some of the clothing belonged to Yamato).

…..

School resumed as normal, as the rest of September blurred into October. The weather grew colder, so he had taken to wearing his school uniform over his hoodie to keep warm. The teachers hadn't seemed to mind since his hoodie wasn't flashy, and he was keeping with dress code by wearing his uniform properly.

Not like it mattered today, as the school had decided to celebrate Halloween to let the students relax a little for the upcoming studies and exams. (1)

Everyone was in some sort of costume, maids, butlers, nurses, you name it. Daichi chose to dress up as a jester (although it kind of looked like one of the Jacks), Io was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and he had chosen….

"Dude, really? A vampire?" Daichi said with an incredulous face when he saw what Hibiki was wearing.

He smiled, his (real) fangs glinting in the light. It really wasn't much of a costume though, as it comprised of one of Yamato's old coats (minus the ornaments and official patches), Yamato's pants and shirt that he had managed to salvage after one of the hissy fits, and a messenger bat he had convinced to act like a doll for the day, which wasn't hard as it was mainly nestled in his hair and sleeping.

"It works." Was his reply.

Io laughed. "I think it suits him."

"Of course it does." Daichi said with a sigh, but then smiled. "Better not let Yamato get at your clothing."

Hibiki rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me. I'm lucky it doesn't happen much anymore."

"But why does he do it?" Io said with a mild look of confusion.

Hibiki stilled for a bit. They were a part of the majority that did not have a sensitive sense of smell, and as a result could not detect the scent of death among other things. So the few times they encountered the Anguished One, they did not know about the scent.

Telling them wouldn't really benefit them, so… "Sometimes I come back to headquarters with scents lingering on me that he doesn't like." A partial truth, he wasn't lying anymore.

"Huh, really? Guess that explains why he's always telling me to wash my scarf. Joe always seems to tug on it whenever he gets the chance, and he spends a lot of time with Ronaldo, who I noticed Yamato doesn't really like."

"Yeah…" Hibiki said as he absentmindedly readjusted the bat on his head. "It's complicated."

"When is it not complicated?" Daichi said with slight exasperation.

"I'm sure he has his reasons. I mean, when we… changed, we started noticing smells we didn't before." Io said.

"Yeah, I suppose- hey, why is everyone gathered around the window?" Daichi said, but cut off mid-sentence when he noticed the other students looking out their classroom window.

At that, the three of them walked to the window to see what everyone was seeing. Upon seeing it, Hibiki froze. For in their school courtyard was a purple, humanoid like figure, its "limbs" made up of linked spheres, and its torso one entire sphere.

It looked to be about half a story tall, before it suddenly began to shudder and then grow bigger, reaching a story in height. It turned, and while it didn't have a head, Hibiki knew it was directing it's attention at them, when it swung it's "arm" and off came a sphere hurtling toward their window.

The other students flinched while he reflexively cast up a shield. If only a few students noticed the ghoul before, everyone was sure to have noticed now as several windows were shattered from the blast. Everyone behind his shield were safe, but he wasn't sure about the other floors.

"What the hell was that?!"

"It's a monster!"

"How did he do that!?"

"W-We need to get a teacher!"

Hibiki's heart was racing, while he had pretty much blown his secret out, he was more worried about everyone's safety. "Everyone!" Hibiki shouted, getting all the students to look at him. "Ju-Just listen to me and get somewhere safe!"

At once, the students straightened up and nodded mechanically. Then they all began to stiffly walk out the room.

"Dude! When did you get voodoo mind powers?!" Daichi said with a surprised expression as he watched the students go.

"I-I don't know, but we should really focus on the ghoul right now." Hibiki said as he shook his head and blinked several times. His pupils had contracted, and his eyes were giving off a faint glow.

"Right. We should probably tell headquarters." Io said as she began to remove her red hood.

"I don't think I should break my focus on the Mind ability, so I can't use my telepathy right now, and you guys can't connect at this distance so- the bat!" Hibiki said, grabbing the bat from his head and poking it awake. It gave an indignant squeak at being woken up, but stopped once it saw Hibiki's expression.

"I need you to deliver this as quickly as you can." Hibiki said to the bat as he tore a piece of notebook paper and hastily wrote a message. Then he rolled it up and gave it to the messenger bat, who took it and then flew out the shattered window. Upon looking out the window, the ghoul was no longer in the courtyard.

"Where did it go?!" Daichi said as he stuck his head out, and was mindful of the sharp glass.

"I don't know." He responded with shock. "It doesn't matter right now, so could you guys look for it and distract it? I need to direct everyone somewhere safe." Hibiki said as he took out his flask and took a swig from it. Yamato said using Mind abilities was mentally draining, and he was already feeling the effects. The gulp of blood helped to soothe his growing headache a little.

"We'll do that." Io said as she Shifted and then flew out the window.

"What –Io! Wait up." Daichi said to the brown bat just hovering outside the window. The he turned o Hibiki. "Be careful man." He said, getting a nod in response. Then he Shifted and turned into a darker brown bat and followed Io to scour the school grounds.

In hindsight, it was kind of interesting to see the entire faculty and student body robotically walking in sync, but now he was focusing on maintaining control. He found it easier if he supplied a strong Reason first, the target would be more easily follow his orders.

He had managed to get practically everyone off the school grounds, and went back to see if there was anyone left when a voice rang out.

"Look out!"

So focused on trying to see if there were any more civilians, he wasn't able to react quickly enough as something barreled into him through the school gym walls.

He had enough sense to get some distance, and when he looked up, he saw the ghoul. Before he could react, it began to shudder, and then rapidly grow. Before it reached about one story high, now it was about two stories high and nearly filled up most of the gym.

The change in size limited the ghoul's movements, but Hibiki didn't think that would last long as support beams and other debris were breaking off every time it swung its limbs, but that was the least of his problems as parts of its own limbs were breaking off.

That would have been fine and all, had those parts not shuddered and become smaller versions of the ghoul. Hibiki had a feeling that they wouldn't stay small for long, if the "mother" ghoul was any indication.

Deciding to get out of there quickly, Hibiki moved to stand up, but stumbled from pain. 'Of course getting tackled through a concrete wall would break a few bones.' Hibiki thought to himself while checking for where the breaks were.

He had a couple broken ribs and a broken arm. They would eventually heal in a few hours if he set the bones back, but he didn't really have that luxury right now as the smaller ghouls moved to attack, and they had enough room to move around.

He couldn't move quickly, as that would cause pain to flare up, and risk jarring the breaks even more, so he threw up a shield with his good arm. Unfortunately, it was only able to block one attack before shattering. Even without broken bones, he wouldn't be able to get out of this assault unscathed.

Time seemed to slow as the ghouls closed in. In one breathe, he heard what seemed like…whispers from the ghouls. In another breathe he noticed a black bat fly in through the hole in the wall and Shift into Yamato, who reached out to him.

If only he could- a moving sensation much like using the terminals overcame him- grab Yamato's hand, which he found himself suddenly grasping.

Yamato took no time bringing Hibiki closer to him, while also using his other hand to summon up golden light which surrounded the ghouls and solidified, effectively trapping them.

Silence washed over the scene, broken only by the sound of wind blowing through the open wall, and the pounding on the golden barrier that Yamato set up. Hibiki was oddly content to remain in his position, but figured he probably shouldn't as he (reluctantly) pulled away.

Yamato was the first to speak up. "Hibiki, what in the world are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" Hibiki said with a slight gesture. "It's- ow." The movement had jarred his injuries, sending a jolt of pain.

A look Hibiki had never seen Yamato express crossed the other's face. It was gone before he could contemplate it, to be replaced by mild exasperation.

"For someone so strong, you are still fragile." Yamato said with a soft smile, and then proceeded to unbutton Hibiki's shirt.

"Uh, what-?" Hibiki said with a small jerk, causing him to grimace in response.

"I'm looking for the breaks, now hold still." Yamato said as he finished unbuttoning the shirt, and softly placed a gloved hand on Hibiki's side. Then he lightly slid the hand over Hibiki's skin, looking for any abnormalities.

Hibiki did as he was told, but he was having trouble figuring out where to keep his gaze. If he fixed it on the hand that was moving over his chest, he started having thoughts on how nice it would be to feel Yamato's hand brushing over his-

He snapped his eyes upward and suddenly made eye contact with Yamato, who had also decided to look up as well. Neither of them broke the eye contact, and Hibiki's thoughts started going astray.

'I wonder if we should kis- no, that would be silly. Haha.' Hibiki thought to himself, although he neither smiling nor laughing. Although the urge to kiss Yamato was growing, and he made to lean in when a cough cut in.

"Uhh. Should we come back later?" Hibiki looked over to see that it was Daichi, who was standing next to a blushing Io.

Hibiki then decided to take note of their positions. He and Yamato were almost pressed up against each other, Yamato had a hand around his waist, and the other was brushing over the scar near his heart. Although Io and Daichi probably didn't see the scar, and it probably just looked like Yamato had a hand on his chest, and it may have seemed like they were "longingly staring into each other's' eyes."

Fortunately, Hibiki was saved from talking as Yamato spoke up. "Yes. You aren't needed here right now."

Okay, maybe he wasn't saved, as that statement seemed to make things worse as both Io and Daichi took that the wrong way and floundered to hurry away, instead they just bumped into each other, making Yamato raise an eyebrow.

A giggle got all their attention then. Hibiki turned to see Otome carefully navigating through the debris that was littering the grounds. They were still in their position, although Yamato had since dropped his hand to his side.

"As much as you'd like to have him all to yourself, Chief, we should probably get his injuries treated." Otome said as she finally reached them.

At first Yamato was confused, but then it dawned on him once he realized what Otome was implying. "I was merely checking for his injuries. Don't insinuate such things."

Otome smiled. "Well then, what needs looking at?"

Yamato let go of his waist, and seemed to pause before taking a step back. "Two rib fractures on his left, one on his right, right arm is broken, and a possible clavicle fracture." Yamato said, tone back to normal as he listed the injuries.

"Oh, we may need to do an operation-" Otome said before a banging sound interrupted her.

Everyone turned to see the ghouls hitting the barrier walls, which rippled every time it was hit. Fortunately, the barrier seemed to hold.

"We may not even have time for an operation. Chief, how long will the barrier hold up?" Otome said as she looked away from the ghouls, and turned toward Yamato.

"A few hours a most. Even then, we still have to deal with its propagation ability." Yamato said while summoning more energy to reinforce the barrier walls.

"Then we'll just have to settle for a quick fix and sling for now. We'll still need you to help out since the majority of our manpower will probably be used to do Clean-up." Otome said while she walked up to Hibiki and placed a glowing hand on his broken arm.

"Clean-up? I know there's a giant broken wall and some shattered windows but-" Here, Daichi winced when there was an audible crack as Otome had to re-break a rib that had partially healed incorrectly. Hibiki managed to withstand the pain and not make a sound. So Daichi continued. "It seems a little overboard to have that many people working on them."

"We are not just focusing on collateral damage, Shijima. There is no doubt that we have to deal with witnesses." Yamato said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh them, I'm pretty sure Hibiki got that covered with his voodoo mind powers." Daichi said, and was a bit taken aback when he saw surprise flash across Yamato's face.

Yamato turned to Hibiki and Otome, who had just finished wrapping Hibiki's chest with gauze, and was in the process of making a makeshift sling from some cloth she got from the first aid kit she had on hand.

"You're able to use Mind Compulsion now?" Yamato said, surprise turning to amazement.

"He wasn't able to before?" Io asked as she noticed Yamato's expression.

"No, but I suppose I can fully teach you now." Yamato said, lips curling into a smile.

Otome giggled. "One moment as I finish off this knot." She said as she tied the cloth ends together and adjusted the sling a little. "Now, the gauze will act as a sort of splint, but don't move around too much. As for the sling, it'll keep your arm in place so it doesn't affect your collarbone."

"Now the only problem left is how to deal with those ghouls." Hibiki said as he tested the limits of his movements.

"Considering that the big one over there isn't the original one, we got a problem." Daichi said, a look of concern still on his face.

"Elaborate." Yamato said, drawing his attention away from Hibiki to turn to Daichi and Io.

"We did find the original and kill it, but…"Daichi said, but didn't know how to continue.

"Its…remains became what you see there." Io continued for Daichi when he couldn't figure out how to put it.

"So even if we halt its propagation, it is essentially much like a phoenix, rising from its remains. How troublesome." Yamato said, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Well, we won't come up with a solution by just standing here." Otome said when no one spoke for several moments.

Yamato gave a curt nod. "Agreed, and there is much to be done besides coming up with a countermeasure. Yanagiya, go tend to any other injured, Shijima and Nitta will head to the Akashic Records to do some research." Yamato said, and then paused when he turned to Hibiki. "Since your injuries will not allow constant movement, go with Shijima and Nitta to help them come up with a solution. As for myself, I will direct Clean-up and check for any gaps you may have missed."

With that, they all dispersed to go do what their assignments were, although Hibiki had to wait for a car that Yamato called since he couldn't fly, and walking was out of the question. So he sent Io and Daichi on a head to make some progress when he got there.

….

Traveling by terminal when you had severe injuries was something Hibiki didn't want to experience again. While it wasn't overly painful, it was discomforting to a certain degree that almost made it intolerable. Fortunately, he arrived in no time at all, and the discomfort had passed after a few moments.

Once the pain had subsided, Hibiki took the moment to get his bearings. The Akashic Records was a library of all knowledge and history the Hotsuin clan had compiled over the many centuries, which made the library's name all the more fitting.

In the far corners of the library, Hibiki could see Io and Daichi (having changed back into their normal clothing by the looks of it) going through the racks of books, or conversing with the caretakers.

Seeing as how they were already engrossed in their search, Hibiki decided to walk through the racks for anything of interest, when one did pique his curiosity. A very large book titled Compendium of Unbound Familiars.

Unable to help himself, Hibiki picked up the book and headed to a table to lay it down, since he couldn't flip through the pages with just one hand.

In the book, there were a multitude of Familiars, their name, image, and background listed in the pages. There were some he recognized, and some he did not. There were a lot of names, although some of them did catch his interest.

Alice….Amaterasu…..Aramisaki….Dragon Stream…..Kama…Kohryu…Lucifer….Lugh…...Satan…Shiki-Ouji….Shiva….Trumpeter…

Kama and Shiva were already well known to him, since they had been summoned not too long ago, and upon closer inspection, Hibiki saw Airi and Hinako's names scrawled respectively under the word "Bound" that was located at the bottom. Although Airi's name seemed to be crossed out.

Upon turning more pages, he saw that not all the Familiars had names written under the Bound section, but there were two other names he did recognize. One being Fumi under Trumpeter, and the other was Hotsuin. Unlike all the other unbound Familiars that had a full name written, the Dragon Stream only had the name "Hotsuin" written under it.

Before he could wonder about it any further, he heard his name being called.

"Hey Hibiki. Did you find anything interesting?" Daichi said as he and Io walked closer.

"Maybe. I found the Compendium of Unbound Familiars. Looks like it keeps track of all the unbound Familiars the clan has access to, and who the familiars are bound to." Hibiki said as he showed them the book.

"Familiars? Maybe one of them can help us with the ghouls." Io said with a contemplative look.

"Yeah! We used them last time and it worked. Maybe we can find one that works for this situation. Are there any descriptions of the Familiars?" Daichi said as he looked over Hibiki's shoulder and was careful not to jostle the other.

Hibiki flipped back to the page that detailed the Dragon Stream. "This Familiar is said to 'change its form and abilities to match its wielder's needs', and it looks like it's already bound." He said as he looked over the page for any more details.

"Hotsuin? That means the Familiar is bound to Yamato?" Io said.

"Great! Then all we have to do is ask Yamato and have the Familiar do its thing, and then we're done." Daichi said, looking excited.

"I'm not so sure about that, but I'll ask Yamato anyway." Hibiki said, slightly doubting the chances, but willing to try anyways.

As it was, Hibiki mentally contact Yamato, who seemed somewhat surprised at hearing Hibiki's suggestion. He also felt some doubt coming through the link, but then it became certainty just as they were finishing up.

"It's true the Dragon Stream is versatile in its abilities, but… No, I'm sure you can make this work. Meet at Mitashita Park in Shibuya with your most capable companions." Yamato said, and if they had been standing face to face, Hibiki was sure that the other would be smiling when he said that.

….

By the time everyone had arrived, about an hour passed since the abnormal ghoul had shown up, and even though it wasn't that long, Hibiki was still nervous about the ghoul being imprisoned at the school, and at any moment, the barriers might break.

Hibiki shook his head, now wasn't the time to be thinking like that. He had to be strong for everyone, judging by the wisps of feelings that he would occasionally feel that was radiating off of mostly everyone.

Regardless, when he got there, everyone, not including Yamato, greeted him cheerfully. It was mostly just Makoto, Fumi, Hinako, Daichi, Io, Yamato, and himself that were there. Everyone else had their own duties to attend to.

In any case, Yamato took no time to prepare the seal to be undone.

"Is this where the Dragon Stream is sealed?" Hinako asked as she waited along with everyone else for the preparations to be done.

"No, what we're doing right now is unsealing what would be the 'key' to the Dragon Stream's seal. This is merely a preventative measure, since the Dragon Stream is bound to the Hotsuin Clan as a whole, and it would not do if one of the clansmen went rouge and tried to claim the Dragon Stream for their own." Yamato said as he finished inputted the code, allowing the pedestal seal to appear.

"So the Familiar sealed here basically decides if you're worthy or not?" Daichi said almost jokingly.

"More or less. Members of the Hotsuin clan cannot bind themselves to Lugh, therefore, the task falls to any trustworthy coven member. I warn you though, if Lugh does not deem any of you to hold true to the Clan's guidelines, then we'll have to prove ourselves by defeating it." Yamato said, and everyone tensed as Yamato began to input the code that would undo the seal.

As the final digit was done, a beam of energy burst forth from the pedestal. When it dissipated, there was Lugh, who held up his lance. Everyone stood to get ready for a fight, when Hibiki realized it wasn't holding up its lance in a threatening manner, but pointing with it. Lugh was pointing at…

"M-me?" Io said, and then held up her hands in surprise when Lugh suddenly began to kneel.

The baffled expression Yamato had on now was so picture worthy that he decided to chance the pain from his wounds to get out his phone and take a picture. Then he saved the picture and pocketed his phone.

"So…what's next?" Hibiki said with a smile.

…..

It turned out the next step involved lots of moving around. Any other day, he would have been fine with it, but the ache and slight pain from his injuries did put a damper on his mood. On the bright side, it wasn't as if he was taking on an onslaught of fire, of course the chances of that were pretty slim.

Although fire did seem like a nice thought right now, as he stood at what he assumed to be the summit of Mount Fuji next to Yamato in front of a large pillar, all the while shivering.

"Don't you have cold resistance, Hibiki?" Yamato said, his expression breaking a little to show something a like to concern.

Hibiki gave a smile, albeit slightly strained. "Well Hinako really needed it, and Fumi refused to move."

"And you're still wearing the clothing from this morning, which has endured far too much to provide any semblance of warmth." Yamato said as he gave a soft sigh, and then began to unbutton his coat.

Before Hibiki could ask what Yamato was doing, he felt the weight of the coat fall on his shoulders after Yamato removed it in one swift movement and draped it over Hibiki.

Hibiki took a moment to let the lingering warmth of the coat seep into him, and was about to utter a thanks when a giggle (and also a soft squeal) caught his attention. He turned to look behind him to see Daichi shaking his head, Io looking at everything but not him, Fumi writing in her little notebook, Hinako smiling at him, and Makoto blushing.

Hibiki felt his face heating up a little, but he opted not to say anything as Yamato directed Daichi, Fumi, Hinako, and Makoto to stand ready by the consoles that were spread out evenly in the area. As for Yamato, Io, and himself, they stood at the center.

He and Yamato stood behind Io as she stepped forward, clasped her hands together, and then focused on summoning Lugh. The rush of energy wasn't as strong as it was initially when Lugh was first unsealed, but it was still impressive nonetheless.

Lugh needed no order, as he raised his lance and a beam of energy shot forth from the tip and struck the massive pillar in front of them. The pillar glowed for a moment, before all the energy surged toward the four consoles connected. The energy dispersed the barrier that had been surround each of the consoles, allow the four stationed at each of them to input the code that would remove the pillar.

There was a lull as the energy from Lugh's spear faded, and the pillar began to seemingly unscrew. Tension rose as the turning of the pillar began to decrease in speed until it slowed to a stop. If anyone was going o say anything, they were immediately cut off by a tsunami of energy, several times greater than the release of Lugh, that it forcibly dismissed Lugh and sent Io tumbling back and almost hitting her head had Hibiki not been there to catch her.

The sudden jostling sent a jolt of pain through his body, but he held in the gasp as he gently set Io down. She was a little dazed, but there didn't seem to be any serious injuries. He couldn't ask, as a loud roar rang through out.

Suddenly, Hibiki realized why the Dragon Stream wouldn't be the first choice for anything, as he looked up to see a massive serpent made up of dozens of heads all link together. He would not have believed anything like this existed had he not seen it with his own eyes, and it seemed this rush of energy was normal, as Yamato merely held up a hand toward it.

The Dragon Stream's eyes blinked, and the energy subsided a little, then Hibiki jerked when its eyes (all of its eyes) shifted to stare at him.

"Hibiki, remain calm." Yamato said, and Hibiki almost laughed because he seemed like Yamato was getting a little tense that the Dragon Stream had shifted attention.

Still, Hibiki took a deep breath, and decided to step in front of Io in case the Dragon Stream decided to lash out. Now the Dragon Stream was looming over him, and almost everyone was holding their breath, waiting for something to happen.

Yamato looked ready to jump into action if the Dragon Stream decided to inflict harm on Hibiki, but that didn't seem necessary as it dropped its head(s, body?) to the ground in front of him, and rolled over. At the same time, the oppressing energy had instantly dissipated.

When Hibiki didn't move, it shifted closer in order to nudge him. Hibiki hesitantly brought up his good arm to pet it, making it give off was he assumed was a pleased sound.

Stealing a quick glace at Yamato, he caught the shocked expression on the other's face before Yamato quickly recovered.

"Well…as unexpected as this was, the results are high in our favor. Now the only question is how to transport it." Yamato said as he brought out his phone and began making calls.

Io, who had recovered just as the Dragon Stream was looming over them, was now released from her fear, and found her voice to speak. "It can't be summoned like Lugh?"

"The Dragon Stream's immense energy puts too much strain on a person if they attempt to summon it, thus it must remain in its physical form." Yamato said all the while listening to a report that was being given to him over his phone.

Meanwhile, Hibiki was slowly getting more confident as he began to pet the Dragon Stream in greater strokes, all the while careful of its arm length fangs.

"Aw, you're just a little, uh, big puppy. It'd be great if you could just shrink down." Hibiki said with a laugh, and then as an after thought, said one more thing. "Shrinky-shrinky."

At once, the Dragon Stream shuddered, and then began to shrink before everyone's eyes. Once it was about the size of a small dog, it rolled back onto its front, slinked up Hibiki's leg, and then squirmed its way into his sling and under his arm. It then began to nip at his fingers, almost demanding to be pet.

No one said anything as Hibiki complied and began to stroke it with his fingers, making it purr again.

"Agent, disregard my transport order. We have found another solution." Yamato said after processing the fact that what just happened was real.

…..

Since they didn't have the problem of moving such a large creature, all they had to do was move back to the site where the ghouls were contained. Fortunately the barriers were holding up, although it wouldn't remain that way for long.

"I will drop the barriers so that the Dragon Stream will be able to dispose of them. Be prepared to finish off any stragglers." Yamato said as he readied to disperse the barriers.

Hibiki took the moment to coax the Dragon Stream out of his sling and place it on the ground. Then, just as the barriers began to fade away, he jokingly said "dinner time."

"Hibiki, be careful of what you sa-" Yamato said before the Dragon Stream's normal size head rushed past and began devouring the ghouls like Pac-Man.

Hibiki would have laughed at the sight had Yamato's words not rang true. Several ghouls had managed to bypass the head due to their small size, and everyone jumped to action, only to be momentarily stunned when the ghouls actively avoided them and then headed for him.

He had enough sense to throw up a shield, but that only lasted so much against multiple enemies. Then he heard multiple cracks and idly wondered why the sound of his shield breaking changed, when the pain hit him and he realized it was his partially healed ribs that had broken again.

Hibiki didn't have much time to do anything else, as one of the ghouls was suddenly in his face, and he was instantly reminded of the whispering that he heard earlier that day.

"-#*YoUR(e)…€ -}~#`*/….dEAtH…\~€(/..SHiNinG…^`]-" (2)

Hibiki could only understand parts of the whispers through all the noise and pain. The pain most especially, since the ghoul was practically standing on his chest, although in the instant that he realized the ghoul was on his chest, the Dragon Stream rushed past and devoured it.

That literally lifted a weight off his chest, allowing him to take bigger, albeit painful, breaths of air. Hibiki weakly lifted his head to see that all the ghouls had been cleared out, and everyone rushing over to him.

'So much for taking a break before exams.' Hibiki thought before blacking out.

Relationship has now moved to Distressed

Why?

Extra – Hinako

She came from a fairly long line of traditional dancers, and that had been all she thought it was until her eighteenth birthday.

She had thought it weird that she had some great-grandparents, and some great-grand relatives who were all still alive, yet she never once saw them, only knew them through letters and cards.

It had all made sense when they showed up at the doorstep, offering a single gesture, yet also offering unlimited options.

It apparently started way before her time, like several generations ago. One of her ancestors had greatly pleased one of the Lords, and in return the Lord offered all the time in the world.

She was told her ancestor was very passionate about dancing, and had eagerly accepted the gesture that would allow all the time to continue and perfect the dance. That was the start of an everlasting tradition.

While a turned vampire could still continue to have children, they would not be born vampires, but humans instead. As a result, the child would have to be turned as well, usually after they were weaned off of milk.

This tradition was interrupted when her grandfather married a human, instead of another turned vampire or branch member of another clan. He did not tell her of his vampire relations, and thus did not allow his child to turn.

Of course, the Lord, who was apparently still alive, had sent his clan members to approach them. Her father had been the same age as her when she was told, but unlike her, had refused the offer, along with her mother.

That left her unaware of everything regarding the rest of her extended family. Her parents had allowed communication between them, but even then that was limited.

But even they couldn't control or forbid the vampire's coming.

It was during her little humble birthday party that they had come bearing the gifts that had been rejected by her parents, and untold years of messages and stories that had gone unheard.

At first she was a little skeptical, but then they showed her things she hadn't thought was possible. It was then her mind was made up, she would not let his opportunity pass by.

Her parents had protested, but she was an adult now, and while she wasn't the age of majority just yet, she could make her own decisions. In the end, they had relented and she had been turned by one of the sons of the Lord.

Things had been fine from there, but then she began to feel that something was lacking. Learning all the types of dance was great and everything, but she felt like she could do more with what she was given.

The answer came in the form of a ghoul attack during her outing at a night club. She had rushed to everyone's aid by attacking any of the monsters that came their way, but she couldn't do it all on her own.

That was the first time she was introduced to JPs and their behind the scenes activities. It was then it hit her that she wanted to help people out just like JPs was doing.

So after some waiting, correspondence between the Hotsuin and Koga Clan (which apparently she was technically a part of), the Koga Clan leader had given his blessings, and she had been inducted into the ranks of JPs. That had filled the void, and allowed her to experience new things and meet new people.

Extra – Keita

Life was all about challenges and getting past them. To do that, you needed to be strong, and he was just that. His accomplishments merely proved his strength, as he had yet to be defeated in the boxing ring.

But that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to continue rising above the weak, but the opponents that were challenging him now were weak and disappointing.

Then life decided to throw in an uppercut, when he happened upon what seemed like a mugging. It wasn't like he was going out of his way to help the lady, he just couldn't stand the thought of someone taking advantage of the weak.

When he got to the scene, the lady had fainted, and it wasn't surprising to see why. It was the ugliest bastard he had ever seen, but ugly or not, the bastard was going down.

The thing's looks weren't the only thing weird going on, when he delivered a right hook, it sent the thing's jaw flying. No really, the jaw broke off on impact. Sure he had a mean punch, but that was going to far. In the end, it didn't matter since he successfully took the bastard down after several grueling minutes.

With that done, he had gone to wake the lady up, not that he really cared about her, but to make sure she'd get up and scram. He'd only taken a step when several guys in yellow, and one in black jumped down from the roof top, which was freaking five stories! No one normal, no, human could perform such a feat.

Two went to clean up what remained of the thing, one went to tend to the girl, and the one in black approached him. The guy had silver hair and looked like he meant business.

"That was impressive work." He said.

"Oh that? It was nothing. I was just doing what I do best." And he meant it too. Sure the thing had put up a good fight, but in the end he won, and that was all there was to it.

The guy smirked in response. "Then I'm sure someone of your capabilities would enjoy defeating more adversaries such as the one you defeated over there." He said.

That was all the incentive he needed. The following days after, he was turned, and then after a few weeks, he was allowed to take down more of the ghouls. The only downside to it all was that he had to deal with people, like that Osaka chick, or the kid in the weird hoodie who kept calling him a tsundere.

Extra – Daichi

If someone heard the name "Daichi", they'd think "that wuss' or "the dimwitted." That wasn't true, or at least it wasn't entirely true. He did have his moments, and one he remembered especially was the day he met Hibiki.

Okay, sure they had already met, but they didn't really know each other. Hibiki was just the quiet kid who always seemed to remain in the shadows (quite literally actually. Hibiki would sit under the shade of any tree when all the kids were let out to play.) He hadn't really payed much attention as he usually focused on some kid stuff.

Then one day, things seemed to escalate. He would later regret not stepping in when one or two bullies would pick on Hibiki, but that day, a lot more showed up. The teachers were busy dealing with some other thing, and that had left the side of the playground that they were on unsupervised.

"We heard you don't bruise easily." One bully said with a sneer.

"Yeah, so we're going to do something about it." Another bully said as he punched his fist.

"Don't bother telling the teachers, they won't believe you." A third bully said with a laugh.

And through it all, Hibiki hadn't said a word, he only looked on.

He couldn't describe the expression Hibiki had, but it sure wasn't fear. Either way, the bullies got angry at the lack of reaction, causing a forth bully to go up to Hibiki and grab him by the front of his shirt.

"Say something you little freak!" The bully had said, and then raised a fist.

Before he knew it, his impulsiveness got the best of him, and he had tackled the bully. His landing position allowed him to catch a glimpse of Hibiki's surprised face. He didn't really have the time to ponder why at the time, as the other bullies had all reacted.

Bully number one had shoved him off bully number four. Bully number three had got in a good kick to his side, and then bully number two readied his arm to punch him.

He brought up his arms to shield his face, but he wouldn't make it in time. Then in the blink of an eye, Hibiki was suddenly in front of him and had taken the blow, right as a teacher rounded the corner followed by another student who had most likely gotten the teacher.

He would later find out that the student had been Io, and when he finally find out about Hibiki's vampire secret, he knew that was how Hibiki got in front of him so quickly.

The thing about vampires had totally been mind blowing, and it had totally explained some of the odd quirks his friend had. Yeah, they had totally hit it off from then on, and with Io too!

The three of them had become inseparable, and they had gotten to know each other really well. Although Hibiki was a little unwilling to divulge too much, which was partly because of his vampire traits, but also because of his family.

Especially his family.

Hibiki had invited him over so they could do a project together, and that was when he met Hibiki's parents. To say Hibiki's parents were strict was speaking lightly of them. Hibiki's dad had given Hibiki a look that he definitely recognized as disapproval.

After that, they would either hang out or do projects together at Io's or his place from then on. Occasionally, he would see Hibiki's parents at school events, but that look of disapproval was always there.

He believed Hibiki when the other said he was fine with leaving his parents behind to join JPs. That had still be hard to swallow though. The thought of Hibiki fighting those things alone was also hard to swallow.

Sure, if he accepted the offer to become a vampire, he'd have to leave his human life eventually, but…

He didn't want to repeat the time where he had been too afraid to help Hibiki with bullies, except this time the bullies were ghouls, and his best friend could really die.

That was the conclusion he had come to after a month of thinking it over. He would not regret it, since it was for his best friend.

Ryu – Well, that's it for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and now time for more brainstorming for me.

1. Yeah, I know Halloween isn't really a widely celebrated holiday, but it was the only way I could make things work.

2. "Your" and "you're" sound very similar. That is all I will say. XD