.: 3rd person's POV:
Gusion's mouth opened then closed as his eyes widened while Claude gulped loudly, sweat dripping from his forehead as he and his friend started to mentally panic.
Dexter covered his eyes and curled around himself, not wanting to be spotted by the warrior and demon hunter.
Lastly, Jay just sat there with her eyes wide as the tips of her ears turned red when her maroon eyes met Alucard's and Tigreal's sky-blue ones.
"Tigreal...! We were about to come and report to you but..."
Gusion side-eyed Claude then looked back at the two with a nervous look, shoulders stiffening when he saw Alucard's blank look and Tigreal's eyes that were narrowed in a not so good way.
"... Go on"
"We just... Wanted to make sure that the girl was fine... I mean"
The assassin finished as he waited for any kind of reaction, the tension beginning to suffocate him but also everyone.
"We...-"
Claude's mouth clamped shut when the blond started making his way towards the bed the girl was residing on and when he was close enough, he kneeled down and took her hand while his piercing blue eyes met nervous maroon ones.
"... Uhm-"
"I have never seen such a beautiful and exotic girl before... Tell me, are you perhaps single, m' lady? Care to also tell me your name?"
Alucard grinned as his cheeks turned pink while Jay sat there with, again, her whole face turning a bright red as she stuttered out her next words.
"I-I what? I m-m-mean-I uh..."
The blond chuckled as he gave the nervous girl a closed-eyes smile then kissed the knuckles of her hand thus making her face turn a brighter red, if it's even possible, as her soul practically left her body.
Tigreal sighed as he shook his head and walked towards the flustered girl and the flirting male while Claude glared at the demon hunter making Dexter snicker.
Gusion just watched with an amused look on his face as his arms crossed on top of his chest, shoulders relaxing when the tension in the room vanished.
"My deepest apologies, my name is Tigreal and this man is-"
"Alucard at your service, m' lady...~"
Said blond winked as he looked at her then stood up after letting go of her hand while Jay could only look down as she mumbled out, hoping that they understood.
"N-nice to meet you too... M-my name is Jay..."
"Well, as Alucard said it is a pleasure to meet you... We do apologise for coming unannounced since my friend and I was busy with some work... And when he reported to me about a concerning matter, I immediately wanted to see it for myself... I did not expect to find these two here nor find out about them choosing to not report about a civilian being hospitalized..."
Claude rubbed the back of his head while Gusion coughed on his fist and looked away, both blushing in embarrassment.
Jay nodded as she nervously fiddled with her fingers, listening to the brunette scold the other two while Alucard just stood there, analyzing her with an unreadable glint in his eyes.
Dexter then crooned at the raven-haired girl as he pulled out a golden coin from one of his pockets and gave it to the girl who happily took it and started examining it with curious eyes.
"Hmm... Could we step out for a second? I need to clear something first with you three"
The blond spoke thus making Tigreal stop mid-lecture and nod at his comrade while the other two let out silent and relieved sighs as they followed the two after the demon hunter assured the girl that they'll come back as soon as they finish but not after sending her another wink.
When Gusion closed the door behind him, Alucard's smile soon turned into a frown and turned to look at the two.
"She's not from here, isn't she"
He wasn't asking... He was demanding answers.
Claude stiffened as he avoided looking at the two higher-ups while Gusion let out a sigh but nodded and explained to the two what the marksman told him, it was useless to try on making up a believable story when the demon hunter has his own suspicions.
"Hmm... I knew it... She looks different than the other civilians that we met during one of our missions to scout out a demon that was hiding among the innocents..."
The thief, having mustered up his courage, looked at the blond with a small frown.
"Are you saying that she's a demon as well?"
- She's not a demon... If she was, she could have already killed Dexter and me when she had the chance...! And she had a lot -
Claude bitterly thought to himself.
"No, no... She's not a demon but I can't say that she's from this land... It's as if she's from another world... Her aura is different... She has a calming and light one, like Silvanna's but hers is a lot more authoritative like she demands others instead Jay's is... It's like as if she's quietly asking you to calm down, that's why I felt so peaceful earlier"
Tigreal quirked an eyebrow as he looked at the others that remained silent during Alucard's little explanation of his thoughts.
"So that's why Dexter immediately took an instant liking to her when he saw her..."
Claude's statement caught everyone's attention until Gusion added.
"True... When I first met him and tried to pet him, he just started smacking my hand away and pointed his little blaster at my face... Even at the other girls, it's either he ignores or hides from them"
Tigreal let out a sigh as he remembered that one scene of the thief's partner and Layla, the marksman tried to pet the monkey but failed when the brown-furred prime-ape started screeching and swiping at the pig-tailed girl while the other girls scooted away from the little monkey from fear and surprise.
"You still have to apologize to Layla about that..."
"I know but it's not like Dexter's fault, everyone knows that he hates being pet...! Well, not hate but he just doesn't like it..."
Claude grumbled as he shoved his hands in his pockets while Alucard and Gusion chuckled, Tigreal hummed as he closed his eyes to think about the situation they were in.
"We'll have to talk with the others about this... Especially Granger"
"Yep, he's really hard to convince"
Alucard added making Claude groan and ruffle his maroon locks in exasperation while Gusion sighed, mentally agreeing to what Alucard said.
"I'm hard to convince? Since when"
Almost everyone - Tigreal - stiffened as they looked up to see said male makes his way towards the group with his crimson orbs narrowed in annoyance, his right hand holding onto his pistol while the other held his violin case.
"Granger! Welcome back! How did the mission go?"
Alucard's voice cracked a bit in the end as he went to give the other male a brotherly hug but the marksman only gave him "that" look thus making the blond stop and retreat behind Tigreal with a pout while muttering about him being mean.
The warrior only chuckled as he remained where he was while Gusion and Claude silently backed away from the infamous Death Chanter when they noticed that his eyes were now focused on them.
"I went to report to Tigreal but his office was empty so I asked around where he could be... And here you all are... Why are you here at the infirmary"
Granger didn't miss the panicked looks Gusion and Claude had while Alucard composed himself and looked at his friend.
"An injured civilian"
"And why is a civilian here in the castle grounds' private infirmary... Shouldn't she be at the public hospital"
"Well..."
"She's a friend! My friend to be specific! I was going to go meet her up but she got attacked so I quickly brought her here!"
Everyone's attention went to Claude who was nervously grinning, Granger grunted and stared the brunette down.
"Oh really... And you thought of bringing her here instead of the one that is in town... Very nice of you... Since when did we start letting civilians into the castle's infirmary"
- Crap... He's not buying it...! -
"W-well I-"
"Claude? Are you still here? Dexter kind of-oh... Uhm..."
Then everyone turned to look at the raven-haired female that was by the door, her left hand holding onto the knob while her other arm was occupied on holding a sleeping Dexter.
Claude mentally thanked the girl for her interruption then walked up to her to take his dormant partner.
"Oh! Sorry 'bout that, princess...! Thanks though and how are your wounds? Does your site still hurt? What about your arm?"
Blinking, the maroon eyed girl looked at Granger then at the nervous male before her as her mind processed what was happening, quickly understanding the situation her friend was in so she decided on helping him.
"I'm fine... My side still hurts though...-"
"Ahh! Sweetheart! Come here! I'll introduce you to another demon hunter!"
Jay blinked in surprise but still limped towards Alucard only to let out a squeak when the blond pulled her to his chest and grinned at Granger, his hand resting on her waist.
"Jay, meet Granger the famous Death Chanter! Granger, this is Claude's cute little friend! Isn't she just adorable?"
"Uhm... Hello...! Nice to meet you, Granger..."
Said male-only looked at the shorter girl with a blank look, his mouth zipped shut while his cheeks - luckily covered by his jacket - turned a light shade of pink.
"... Hello..."
Then the crimson eyed male turned to look at Tigreal who had an amused look on his features thus making the marksman's cheeks turn a darker shade of pink.
"I'll leave my report on your desk then... I'll discuss the matters after dinner..."
Then he turned his back on the group, head-turning a bit to look at the girl from the corner of his eye.
"Make sure that you get some proper rest... I'd hate to see you in pain"
And with that Granger left, leaving an amused Tigreal, a shocked Gusion, Claude and Alucard then a very flustered Jay, who was holding her reddened cheeks as her soul, again, left her body.
"... Well, that went well then I thought-ow..."
"You idiot...! You almost blew it up...!"
Gusion, when he deemed that Granger was far from ear-shot, hissed at his friend who was rubbing the back of his head while the other held Dexter to his chest.
Alucard chuckled and looked down at the girl, his grip on her waist loosening.
"So? What do you think of him?"
"I-I... He's... Nice..."
She mumbled as she looked at the blond only to look back down when she saw his grin.
"Awe! I thought you were going to tell me that he's scary just like someone that I know"
Jay giggled when she saw the demon hunter quirk an eyebrow at Gusion and Claude then returned his attention to her, amusement glowing in his eyes.
Tigreal shook his head as he looked at the others and when he was about to say something, a sudden explosion followed by panicked screams from outside interrupted him.
The others immediately looked outside the nearest window and saw some horrendous demons crawl out of the ground and start wreaking havoc while some civilians ran for their lives.
"I guess we'll have to reschedule our chit-chat after taking care of those things..."
Alucard stated as he pulled away from the girl, his blue eyes glowing from the sunlight while the others nodded.
Claude looked at Jay who had wide eyes - after waking Dexter - so he carefully placed his hands on her shoulders and grinned at her to calm her down.
"Hey hey... Calm... We'll be back before you know it... I can't promise that we'll come back without any wounds but we'll be back... Ok?"
"I-I... I... Alright... Alright... P-please be careful..."
She stuttered as she looked at every single one of them, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.
Alucard chuckled and he ruffled her hair with a grin while Tigreal nodded at her as he and the demon hunter left.
Gusion smiled and nodded as he started running with Claude while Dexter waved his blaster at her.
Jay watched and when she could no longer see them, she limped towards the infirmary and sat down her bed as her hands fiddled with her shirt only to groan in pain when the left side of her torso started aching.
- Please be careful... Please... -
She then flinched when the windows of the room beside her own shattered then followed by a horrible growl.
- Oh god... Oh god... -
She gulped as she heard heavy footsteps and some jars shattering when they hit the ground.
Not wanting to stay there, Jay stood up and tiptoed towards the door and when she was about to make a run for it, she was stopped by the sound of whimpering from somewhere.
Temporarily forgetting of her being in danger, she turned back and tried to look around to see who or what made that noise while trying not to alert the threat that was in the other room.
When she couldn't see anything she looked under her bed only to cover her mouth to keep herself from yelping.
Right under the mattress was a little girl with magenta hair and clothes but what caught her attention were the cat ears on top of her head and her striped tail wrapped around her small, shaking form.
"Hey... Hey... It's okay..."
She reassured the little girl while keeping her voice low, her eyes glancing once in a while at the closed door.
Her arms opened and reached for the girl who quietly reached for her and then clung to the raven-haired female that struggled to stand up.
The two of them then flinched when the intruder banged on the door then it was followed by loud growls meaning it managed to sense the two of them.
- We need to leave now...! -
Jay frantically thought as she bolted for the exit, arms securely wrapped around the child who gasped when she saw the monster finally smash through the door and start on running after the two of them.
The raven-haired girl yelped and sped up her pace, ignoring the ache from her legs and mostly from her side.
"Someone..."
The maroon eyed woman panted out as she sped up more, managing to avoid from being grabbed and also making the demon stumble and fall but it soon stood on all four of its limbs then resumed on following after them, a demonic laugh leaving its mouth.
"HELP"