It was a long day, so everyone decided they'd eat a special dinner. They're ordering from an expensive restaurant that serves both the best seafood and Italian-esque cuisine in District 4. They don't do delivery so Chifuyu and Shinatsu volunteered to pick it up. Fortunately, the B-Line train runs past it so it'll take them less than an hour to get there and back. One of the perks of being a Hunter is free train rides. They were following Shinatsu on foot for the whole day, consequently they don't have Kagura's car so they're walking home. There's no longer any means of getting picked up by a driver in Shioto because many people who requested one went missing in the past. This was over half a century ago.
Many people use the train for transportation, so it usually has the most passengers in the morning and the early evening. It's currently 9 p.m. and the train is about 55% full, not bad for this hour. Chifuyu has been staring at Shinatsu's new beanie ever since they got on.
"That beanie really is cute, huh?"
"I'm gonna punch you."
"Haha."
Chifuyu laughs, but he's nervous because he knows the twin-tailed beast will actually punch him if he keeps teasing her. A small price to pay though.
"Hey, Shinatsu."
"What is it?"
"I'm glad you joined Odd Jobs."
"…Me too." Of course she is. No matter what the reason for joining was, it changed her life for the better.
"By the way.."
"Hm?"
"You're friend Erika is something else. I know you guys are being dramatic, waiting to talk until she and Dakota graduate. But you should know she's making waves over there."
"Seriously? That's amazing to hear. Did you guys get along?"
"I guess so."
"Nice. What about Dakota?"
"Heh.." Shinatsu smirks, not answering the question.
He chooses to ignore that. 'I can't wait to see them again.'
At the next stop, Chifuyu notices a certain person entering the train. He's one of the regulars at Odd Jobs that's gotten close to him.
"Patrick!"
"Good evening, Chifuyu. And young lady."
'What's this rich dude taking the train for?' Suspicions emerge in Shinatsu's mind.
"I guess even rich people take the train," Chifuyu blurts out. Shinatsu looks at him stupefied wondering why he said that aloud.
Patrick chuckles, "I suppose so."
Shinatsu whispers to Chifuyu, "This guy gives me the creeps."
"What? He's a good guy!"
"Is Kagura not with you?"
"Nah, she's headed back to Odd Jobs."
"Hm. What a shame. I wanted to see her one last time. What about the little one?"
"Um… Oh, Ariel? She's uh-with the others."
Chifuyu is thrown off by the words that came out of Patrick's mouth. Something was weird about their last talk too, he realizes this. He gives Shinatsu a quick glance, she also knows something's off. Chifuyu slowly takes steps back.
"Where are you taking the train to Patrick?" Sweat begins to fall.
"What's the matter, you seem to be worried about something?"
"I'm good. I was just…"
Patrick starts salivating.
"Dear me, I can't hold back anymore."
The vampire reveals himself. All the vampire properties he was concealing returned to their original structure, ending with his eyes turning bloodshot. Chifuyu is the only one with his blade, wasting no time he attempts to draw it but is stopped by Patrick who was mere feet away from him. Being held back from drawing his blade, Chifuyu is helpless to the vampire right in front of him. Without saying a word, Shinatsu tackles him off Chifuyu, but he managed to swipe his blade in the process.
"What's going on?"
"Is that…?"
"VAMPIRE!!"
"AAHHHHH!"
The rest of the passengers fall into panic as they run into different cars on the train. After managing to get Patrick off Chifuyu, Shinatsu backs away.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, he had a death grip on me. Damn it, how did I not figure out he was a vampire."
"Don't beat yourself up, I know you've gotten close to a few regulars. You'll just be tormenting yourself if you worry about the chance of them being vampires."
"I guess so. But Patrick's the owner of a company that stretches all over Shioto. How has he blended in to this degree?"
"Let's worry about that later."
"She's right, Chifuyu. In this moment, you need only worry about defeating the enemy in front of you. But how will you prevail without a weapon?" As Patrick talks, he takes the blade out and breaks it in half with his knee. Both Chifuyu and Shinatsu are unarmed against a vampire.
"How long until the next stop?"
"Just a few minutes."
"Alright, let's hold out."
Shinatsu sends a Hunter SOS on her phone without looking. Patrick knows what she's doing, he's not worried in the slightest.
"I was holding myself back, Chifuyu. I've been endlessly curious about how half-vampire blood tastes. I'll be getting my sample now."
"Here he comes!"
The attack begins. Sudden hand-to-hand combat. Patrick goes for Shinatsu first, but she's not to be taken lightly. Each attempt to grab her is thwarted and he receives a vicious left hook smacking him to the seats. Chifuyu comes in with a kick only for it to get grabbed, he twists his body to loosen the vampire's grip and lands a swift 180 kick with his other foot. Jumping on top of the seats and kicking off the windows for greater momentum, Shinatsu lands a staggering kick on him. A barrage of blows ensues as Patrick isn't allowed a moment to breathe. However, this isn't enough. He grabs Chifuyu's arm and tosses him across the car, then giving Shinatsu a heavy punch to the stomach. Vampires have much greater strength than humans, so hits from them are several times harder. Shinatsu needs a few seconds to recover from that.
"You guys are great fighters, but you can't damage me. Not with your frail bodies. Now then…"
"Ah!"
Patrick bites into Shinatsu's trapezius, tasting her blood.
"Shinatsu!"
"Hm.. Not to my liking."
With immense speed, Chifuyu charges at Patrick. Before the vampire knows it, a fist connects with his face and he gets flung several feet away.
Blood starts leaking from his nose. Noticing it after a few seconds, he wipes it. "That was a good hit, Chifuyu."
"Shinatsu, are you.. Eek!" Before Chifuyu can finish asking if Shinatsu's okay, he sees her face overcome with intenseness.
"Bastard.. Did you just drink my blood?"
"Yes, I regret doing so. Terrible flavor."
"Damn. So sorry about that."
For the next few seconds, there's a brief silence. With a muffled roar, another train passes theirs, its light beaming through the window. About one more minute until they reach the next stop. As soon as the trains pass each other, the fight continues. Shinatsu rushes Patrick with a flurry of swings, a few of which manage to hit. Patrick throws a few swings of his own which are dodged. The train goes down a slope for a few seconds, Chifuyu spins around one of the poles with his arms so it can carry him into a fast attack. Letting go, he flings himself right to Patrick for a dropkick. Noticing this, Shinatsu dodged right in time. As they were going down for a moment, the broken blade slid down to them. She grabs it even though it's cutting into her skin and jumps on top of the vampire. She tries to skewer his head, but he blocks it with his forearm. Blood consequently pours out from the wound as Shinatsu smiles maniacally.
"I can't hurt you, but this thing sure can!"
"Ha. You're crazy."
Suddenly, Patrick's blood solidifies into shards and cuts Shinatsu across her body. Black veins temporarily show on his left eye, this was the power of his curse. She was pushed away by this attack, she attempts to get up but is kicked across her face.
"Now then."
Shinatsu is out of commission for at least a few minutes. As they approach their stop, Patrick extracts the broken blade, tossing it aside and fixes his shirt.
"Crap!"
He approaches Chifuyu at a speed he can't react to and bites into him. Tasting his blood, his pupils dilate in response.
When Shinatsu comes to, she's surrounded by people. Looking around, she doesn't see Chifuyu or the vampire.
"Make way!"
A few Hunters who responded to the SOS enter the train.
"Young lady, what happened?"
Shinatsu slams the floor, not saying a word. She's frustrated she couldn't protect him. After he and the others just saved her.
Chifuyu has been captured.