Moving through the tunnels of 24th ward without making noise is harder than someone who's never bern here might think.
Kiriko explained it pretty simply before we started.
"The objective is to reach the point I marked without making a single sound. If I hear anything, we go back to the start."
Sounds easy when she puts it like that. But when you're jumping between wet walls, propelling yourself with your kagune to avoid stepping on the floor full of stagnant water, and on top of that you have to control every muscle so not even your clothes make noise...
It's not easy at all.
I'm in front. Two of my tentacles extend toward the tunnel walls and propel me forward. It's pretty comfortable once you get the trick. My vampire body helps a lot with that, since I'm naturally quieter than a ghoul.
Behind me, Touka moves using her wings. Each time she propels herself, the wings barely materialize for a second before disappearing again while at the same time using the tips of her toes to push off.
Umu. Elegant.
I want to say it out loud, but I remember she'll get smug for a while. Also because Kiriko will definitely make us go back to the beginning.
And behind Touka...
"Tch!"
Rize is having problems, after all, when her tentacles hit the wall to propel herself, they produce sound. While it's true her rinkaku kagune isn't heavy, and she actually could've moved like me since I also use tentacles, it seems she's never been trained to move stealthily.
"Again."
Kiriko's voice comes from somewhere ahead. I can't see her, and can only sense her. She's mixed among the shadows.
"Again? That's six times already... crazy bitch."
Rize protests in a low voice.
"If you can't move silently, you can't hunt. Go back to the start."
Touka lands on the ground without making noise and looks at Rize with a bitter expression that says "it's your fault, idiot."
"What are you looking at?"
"Nothing. I'm just wondering how someone who claims to be so incredible can't even move without making a racket."
"Fufu~ Want me to show you how incredible I am, Touka-san?"
"Focus."
I interrupt before they start again. If I let them, this is going to turn into another fight to the death and I'm going to end up with another series of holes in my body.
Rize pouts, likewise, Touka snorts and turns around.
We return to the starting point and try again.
This time, I give Rize some advice while we walk.
"Use fewer tentacles. You don't need all four to propel yourself. Just one is enough if you control the point of contact well."
"Just one? But that way I don't have enough strength to..."
"What you need isn't strength, because what you need is control. Touch the wall with the tip of the tentacle without using the whole tentacle body. Think of it as resting a finger instead of throwing a punch."
Rize looks at me for a second or two while thinking.
"Fine. I'll do it."
On the next attempt, she uses a single tentacle. On the first impulse, she slips and almost falls clumsily, though it's true this time the touch doesn't produce sound. On the second attempt, her impulse is no longer clumsy. By the third attempt, she seems to get the hang of it and is already moving with a certain fluidity.
Touka watches this from the corner of her eye and presses her lips. I can sense she's a bit annoyed that Rize learns so fast.
After twenty minutes of repetitions, we manage to reach the marked point without Kiriko sending us back.
"Not bad."
Kiriko is sitting on a broken pipe, with one leg crossed over the other. She looks pretty relaxed.
She arrived first and has been waiting all this time while we did the course over and over.
Kiriko jumps up and starts walking.
"Let's go. The next point is further ahead."
The four of us move through the tunnels. Since we passed the test, now we can advance at a faster pace without needing to be completely silent. Though Kiriko said the stealth training isn't over.
"For you everything's a warm-up, isn't it?"
"Heh, that's right."
She makes a mocking sound at my comment.
As we advance, I notice Rize is looking upward. I also direct my gaze up but see nothing more than concrete.
"Hey, Arata."
"Mm?"
"I have a question."
"Tell me."
Rize tilts her head while continuing to walk.
"Shouldn't vampires burn in the sun? We've been moving around down here the whole time, but the previous days, you walked calmly through the street under daylight. How does that work?"
While I think about what to say, Kiriko speaks first without stopping or turning her head.
"Most do burn. It's not like in the movies where they turn to ash instantly, but sunlight causes agonizing pain. And if the exposure is prolonged, it can lead us to death, turning us into ash."
"Then why can Arata walk under the sun?"
"Because that boy isn't normal."
Kiriko says that in a flat tone.
Rize looks at me waiting for an explanation. Touka also glances at me sideways, though she already knows part of this.
I scratch the back of my neck.
"Mm... I'm not completely sure why. Since I became a vampire, the sun never affected me. In fact, feeling the sun on my skin does me pretty good."
"And that's not normal?"
"Not at all. It's rare. Most vampires need protection to go out during the day."
I point with my chin toward Kiriko.
"She, for example."
Kiriko raises her left hand. On her arm is a bracelet that seems to be made of silver.
"UV protection bracelet. This protects me from the sun. As long as I wear it, I can move during the day without problems. That said, even with this protection, for us vampires it's exhausting to go out during the day."
Rize looks at the bracelet with curiosity.
"And if you take it off?"
"I burn like everyone else."
"Where do you get something like that?"
"It was specially manufactured, so forget about getting one."
Rize seems a bit disappointed, though it doesn't make much sense since she's a ghoul, not a vampire. Probably just wanted to know out of curiosity.
Touka, who's been listening in silence, speaks next.
"So... is Arata the only vampire who can walk under the sun without protection?"
"I didn't say he's the only one. But among the vampires I've known, I've only seen one other similar."
Kiriko responds that while continuing to walk.
"Oh? And who's that?"
I ask while tilting my head.
"Who knows? Maybe you'll meet someday."
Damn it. It's Alucard, right?
Anyway, not all vampires are the same.
There are weak vampires, and there are vampires who've been existing for hundreds of years. Then there's me.
Honestly, I can't consider myself a pure vampire, because first I was a zombie, acquired the characteristics of a parasite, was a ghoul, and then a vampire. All that while still maintaining all the powers I've acquired, only becoming stronger by mutating between them.
"In short, Arata is an anomaly."
Kiriko summarizes the conversation with those words while advancing around a curve in the tunnel.
"Hehe, glad to hear that, master."
"You're welcome."
Rize lets out a little laugh, and Touka rolls her eyes. At that moment, the atmosphere around us is pretty normal since we seem like a group of people walking and chatting calmly, despite being in a dangerous area beneath Tokyo.
But then...
My body stops. You could say it's my instinct that activated when that atmosphere surrounding us changed.
A second later, Kiriko also stops at the same time her relaxed attitude disappears and her eyes sharpen.
"Everyone, freeze."
Touka and Rize stop hearing Kiriko's order. Though they don't know what's happening, they're probably aware something's wrong when this woman they're starting to respect changes attitude so abruptly.
"What's goi..."
I stop paying attention to what Touka says, because I use my sense of hearing to the maximum.
—Swooosh!
I hear a soft sound that reminds me of paper being whipped by wind.
But there's no wind down here.
"Get down!"
×××
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