A World through Red Eyes

Fact or Fiction
Two wanted criminals were running from the law, hoping to make a clean getaway with enough money to live comfortably for a few years at least, a regular Bonnie and Clyde duo. Stealthy and cunning, they had almost entirely evaded the police. They hid in an allyway until the coast was clear. Once they were sure no one was looking, they attempted to make their escape before something caught their attention. There was someone else in the tight confines of the allyway.

"Who're you?" The first one asked, hoping to get a response. His partner couldn't wait and begain shooting, causing the third person to stagger from the bullet impacts, but nothing more. In fact, a few seconds passed and it was like nothing happened.

"Your worst nightmare." came a female voice, but it wasn't from the mysterious person, but from behind. The being they shot at seemed to vanish as if it were an illusion, leaving no trace it ever existed in the first place. The shooter felt a sharp impact as the newcomer smacked him to the side. The first criminal barely caught a glimpse of the assailant before he felt a new pain that slowly gave way to a sense of euphoria. He didn't realize it, but the woman who held him was drinking his blood until there was nothing left. The second criminal tried to escape, but he too met a very disturbing end.

Although most people who saw the bodies would assume some nut with a vampire fetish was responsible, they'd be half right. In truth, it was a vampire, or Reikon Kyuuban the proper name of the species, one who didn't take kindly to people who broke the law. She vanished almost as quick as she had appeared, leaving the two to be discovered, almost as a warning.

The next morning, it was all over the news that the two who robbed the bank were killed in a rather unexpected way, and all the money was left behind.

News spread like wildfire throughout as it normally did. Kōnaki Yurīroka had been in her school uniform, black hair tied back into a single ponytail, and had walked calmly across the grounds to head to class.

Gossiping had begun as normal, and some of it was about her as well. Several people suspected her of the killing of the criminals, and they didn't seem pleased. Kōnaki disregarded these rumors, and sat in her class as she normally would.

"Oh look, its the Demon Girl. Hehe, you think she's behind the murders?" A few girls gossiped among themselves the entire class, and continued to do so for the rest of their classes together.

At lunch she sat alone on the top of the roof. She heard it was the place where heroes:, , and  had their lunch together. She found peace here, as if she wasn't alone in her supernatural-like abilities and looks.

After her final maths class, school had been dismissed for the day. She had begun walking home, and had seen some troubled spirits along the way. Despite her reluctance of making herself further ostracized, she couldn't not help these spirits.

"Are you alright? Do you need help?" She let out her hand, hoping it would clutch it. All the while, others chuckled as they saw the spectacle.

There was a limit to her patience, and they weren't bound by school rules, so she stood up and retorted." Shut up! All you girls do is dance around and think you understand the pain and burden of being able to see spirits. What can you do? Twirl around in fancy dresses and giggle on your mobile phones? That doesn't make you any better than me. How about you go ahead and begin to see every spirit in the area around you, troubled to the extent where they can't pass on and beg for attention by us humans. If you truly believe in our Gods, then get out of my sight, now!"

Kōnaki's crimson eyes had gotten to them, and their words had gotten to them as well. They had left as swiftly as they came, and far more silently. She then asked the spirit, "Sorry, what was it you needed?"

The ghost of a young girl grabbed the offered hand. "I wanted to tell my family that they don't need to worry, especially my baby brother. Maybe if they knew I was...ok with being on this side of things, I could finally move on."

"Alright, I'll help you. Just tell me where your family used to live, and give me a memento to let them believe that you're perfectly alright. If you want, you can come with me to see them once again?" She asked the spirit, hoping that she'd comply.

"The last house I remember them living in was just outside of town. I'd love to see them once more, so I want to go with you. But what could I give them if I'm stuck like this? It's like, I can feel the grass, but I can't move it. What could be given from a spirit to the living they left behind?"

"Alright. Shall we go then?" Kounaki lead the way to the house of the young girl. And began to realize that she didn't need to slow down for her. She had always been known to be quite athletic, and she realized then that all forms of spirits could keep up with her, quite easily in fact.

Sooner or later, they reached the outskirts of town. It appeared that a line of houses were created after the death of the young girl, but her original house apparently remained behind a large hill that was left secluded for her family. Kounaki saw the situation, and sympathized with the young girl.

"It's okay...I'm sure your family are still there. Shall we go in and see?"

"Yeah. But please, can we be quick about it? I don't want to leave with more regrets." the spirit looked at the house, mentally preparing for anything that waited beyond the doorway. Despite all her calm detachment of the matter, she was shaking as emotions overcame her.

"Sure thing!" Kounaki knocked onto the door of the house, hoping to see the family the spirit behind her wished to see.

The door opened, and an elderly man was standing with a walking stick. He looked frail, but he had a compassionate smile on his face. "Hi there. You needed something?"

The girl rushed to the old man, phasing through his body. In the brief instant she saw him, she had forgotten the core tenat of being a spirit. She couldn't even be heard by his ears. "Dad...I wish you could see me."

Solemn red eyes looked at the ground for a moment, and suddenly stared at the spirit. As the young girl cried, tears began to well up from within Kounaki's eyes. But she prevented herself, and gave the excuse, 'something was in her eyes'.

"Are you sure?" The old man asked, and Kounaki regrettably said that she had to leave, but she smiled and told him, "I came here as a favor for a friend of mine...I hope she's in peace."

Kounaki saw a ray of light shining behind the old man, who looked behind him as he briefly saw a glimpse of his deceased daughter. Smiling with tears in her eyes, she waved one last time as her spirit departed into a new realm...the.

"D-did you -!?" The old man was interrupted, as Kounaki merely nodded to him, and gave an explanation, "Your daughter was stuck in this place for so many years, unnoticed by the world because nobody could see spirits. I saw her, and helped her with her final regrets. I am sure she's happy you still love her as much as you did all those years ago."

The old man broke down crying, and his head was on Kounaki's shoulder. She petted him for a moment; held him, and took him back inside. She said goodbye to him, as she walked a steady pace towards her destination.

Sparking An Old Fuse
Myst looked up and saw the bloodiest red sky she could imagine. The sky hung over a mansion that sat on the edge between dream and reality. How she found it, she would never say. That was her secret, one that she would probably only tell one other person, when the time came. The only way into the false lands that the mansion sat upon was with a password, unique to each person, a security measure she had installed to prevent threats from invading the one place where she could escape the world.

She was waiting on one of the Reikon Kyuuban Elders, Kain Daisuke, her right hand man (and father figure of sorts) in the madness that was ruling a race of bloodsucking fiends. Even though it would have been just as easy for her to go to the castle, the seat of power for an entire, fractured race, but sometimes, it was just better to kick back and relax in her own home.

"Trololololol~" Was all that Kain muttered and the large home door opened. The mansion had been ornate with god knows what, but it was his Queen's taste, what could he do about it?

"Myst-sama!" Kain cried, and he knew his voice echoed around the mansion. Myst would probably be sitting, drinking her cup of coffee (or tea, her choice was rather awkward); glass would break...and he'd get a slap in the face, the normal routine.

The echoing call of the man she waited for rattled all around the mansion. Thankfully, Myst played smart and reinforced almost all of the glass to prevent yet another 'mishap'. Did that mean Kain wouldn't have to face punishment? Of course not. It was something that had been their in-joke for as long as Kain had his password.

Myst walked out to the main hall and glared at Kain. "Must you always break stuff when you come over? Honestly, I suppose I should have you pay for all the damage, but this is so much more fun." she said, walking up to him and giving him a solid smack across the face. "That never gets old." Even though she was able to sound livid with him, anyone with a discerning ear knew that she couldn't perfectly play the part.

"Queen~ I have a very delicate figure, y'know~" Kain rubbed his "precious" face very softly and stepped back for a moment." Oh and I forgot to mention. There are some new criminals in Karakura. Seems to be some part of organised crime branch. Who they are? I do not know, sadly."

"Who were they you mean? They were last night's dinner. Probably should have hunted them back their base and brought a few back here for breakfast. For once, I'm a step ahead of you. Not that I don't like having someone as reliable as you to gather intel on anything I may have overlooked." Myst remembered the events of the night before. "They never saw it coming. Poor fools."

"Dear me, Queen, you have it all wrong. These people are a spiritual bunch. They have powers beyond standard comprehension, even you would have difficulty facing against them by yourself. You should know by now that I never bring unnecessary information; after all, I dispatched that crime branch this morning itself. I was hungry after a long week after all." Kain ended his ranting with a devilish smile, but he knew the situation was serious, and asked her:

"Should we contact some others for assistance? Or will you like to take care of this by yourself?"

"You said you drank them all? Did you glean any information from them before hand? Anything such as, are there more, or where they get their orders from?" Myst sighed. Knowing Kain, he drank to his heart's content without thinking of that. She couldn't be upset, because she too knew what the Thirst felt like when going a while without a bite.

"Oh, but I did ask them, madam! They said they were part of an organisation called "Wolf Rain". Though I didn't pick up on many of the details, because they were apparently not going to tell me regardless, so I preyed on them from then." Kain knew the danger they possessed. In fact, Wolf Rain had existed for quite some time, but he didn't tell Myst...not yet.

"Good. Now that we know who we'll be fighting, that give us an advantage. You did well, good and faithful servant. Our next course of action should be to find out as much as we can about these people and slowly find possible openings to exploit." Myst smiled deviently, already forming plans and strategies, she liked to be one, or two if possible, steps ahead.

"Hehe. Ma'am, I think we shouldn't be dily-dallying here, should we?" Kain automatically transformed into a number of bats and told her, "Well, I am off." He flew away without a care in the world, while he was satisfied on the inside. After several hundred, thousands of years, he would enjoy a good militant fight.

Myst watched as Kain left, always in a horde of bats. In fact, in all the time she's known him, he's never been just one bat...ever. She decided to walk back to the kitchen and make some tea. Something was telling her it would be a long night, and that was putting it mildly. If these people dwarfed her power, she would be half tempted to call her own backup, except that it would cause a massive riot if the Queen was found dealing with a Quincy.

Kain stepped on the rooftop of the tallest building within Karakura Town. His poise was unusually straight, and he looked down with a slightly grim expression upon his face. "Are they back once more?"

"Remus, are the preparations ready?" A voice transpired through the air, sending in a wave of fear within those who worked within the large mining site.

Henchmen had been mining out ores with pickaxes, putting them into large containers on trucks and shipping them off. Though it was inefficient, it did the job. The other man, known as "Remus" responded.

"Yes, sir. We shall be complete in only a matter of 48 hours. From therein, we can begin our operation."

"Oh, you have me all wrong, Remus. We shall begin the operation now."

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Oh, don't give me that voice of ignorance, Remus. You know full well who I am talking about." The man paused, and continued. "Call him in."

A blue haired man with a toned physique; wearing but a simple black tank-top, belt, jeans and a pair of joggers arrived in front of the man with the raspy voice. He asked, "You called, sir?"

"You know your mission, correct? If so, leave immediately. I do not want failure, at any costs."

"Your wish is my command." The blue haired man responded aptly, leaving without any prior warning.

"You did good to send him there, sir." Remus commented, before the other man responded, "Oh, I know I have."

The man paused, and finished off with, "Let Operation Claw...begin."

Fin