Entry 02: Why is this old man follow me again?

That dastard!

Calling me, of all people, weak?!

How dare he?

I'll *pow! *show *pow! * him *pow! *that *pow! *I'm *pow! *not *pow! *that *pow!* weak! *bam!*

"Calm down, Anna. You'll be destroying the sandbag in an instant." Patrick tried to calm me down after I kicked the sandbag in full force. I paused for a while before getting the towel from my bag to wipe out some sweat on my face. We were at the gym, and I was venting my frustration at that Kouga guy by punching and kicking the sandbag. Just because he's a vampire general doesn't mean that he has the guts to underestimate us SECTA agents!

Argh! I hate those types of guys! They're the worst!

"I'm still mad at him, Pat!" Again, my frustration didn't subside.

"But that doesn't mean that you will go on your way to vent it on the sandbag. Anyways." He sat down on the bench, grabbed his tumbler, and drank its contents, which I suspect is a protein drink. "That guy is way older than us, so we are out of his league in terms of power."

"But his ego sucks!" I waved my hands in frustration. "Argh! I'll show him that we humans can compete with them!"

"Says the girl who lost to ESEH's S-rank multiple times." I throw the towel that is hung on my shoulders at Patrick in full force as he brings up that topic.

I don't want to remember that. Thank you very much!

I huffed as I sat on the floor. "Maybe I should ask Chief to back out on the escort mission? I mean, that guy is enough to escort Lord Lilitus, right?"

"But we never know that ESEH agents will be lurking around if they find out that there is a vampire among the guests in the gala. You know their rules: They attack vampires on sight, regardless of their intentions. To them, vampires are evil creatures and a threat to humanity, so compassion is out of the question."

"And that's why we were assigned to escort them?"

"Exactly. Anna, we may come from families who worked for SECTA for generations, but we are still far from the accomplishments that our parents have." Then he grabbed my tumbler and threw it towards me. I grabbed it with my two hands. "Drink it up and let us return to training."

"Yes, mom."

*

The vampire I killed let out a bloodcurdling scream as I watched it disintegrate into ash. I put my sword back into its sheath and turned on the communicator. I'm on a solo mission today, and I'm alone in the dead alleys of the city in the dead of night, with the neon lights serving as its only source of light. "This is Anna Harriett Brown. I'm done with the mission. I will write a follow-up report when I return to the headquarters." I turned it off as I finished reporting.

"It seems you are done in this area, too." I grabbed the handle of my sword, ready for me to strike, as I turned my head in the direction of that voice and saw Kouga standing, leaning his back against the wall, arms crossed. "Not bad... for a weakling."

Wait a minute, how can't I sense his presence earlier? Is he here the whole time? "And what on earth are you doing here? Should you be guarding Lord Lilitus?" I asked as I relaxed and let the handle of my sword go.

"He's safe at the SECTA Headquarters," he replied in that cold tone of his. "As for me, I decided to follow you since I have nothing to do."

"What are you, a stalker?!"

"I'm not." He let his arms rest and began to walk towards me. He stopped when he was close to me. He leaned his face toward me and saw me from eye to eye. I admit, his eyes are gorgeous, sparkling like stars in the night sky. What on earth am I thinking? "I never expected to meet someone with beautiful brown eyes."

The heat of my face began to rise until it became redder than my reddish blonde hair as he said those words. The audacity of this guy!

EEEEHHH!

"The hell?" I screech as I step back farther from him, and I point at him accusingly. "First, you've mocked me for being weak, and now you're flirting with me. What's wrong with you?"

He smirked in response.

"Seriously, answer me!" I retorted.

Kouga only looked me in the eye and sighed. "You remind me of someone I knew," he answered. "But it was a long time ago." Don't get sentimental on me, old man.

As I was about to open my mouth, the communicator in my ear suddenly beeped. I turned away from my unexpected companion to answer the call. "Anna here. Is there a problem?"

"We detected a signal from the Easter District area," Allen, our trusty coordinator, said on the other line in a panicked voice. "There are twenty to thirty vampires sighted, and they were attacking the civilians there."

"Are there agents in the vicinity?"

"So far, they have already responded and are currently on their way."

"I'll be there. I'll back them out. Give me the coordinates-" Shoot! I regretted turning my head to look at the surprise vampire companion in front of me. His face looks like he felt something.

"Easter District, right?" Great, does he have a good sense of hearing so he can eavesdrop on the conversation?

"Anna, is there something wrong?" Allen said.

I was stunned in silence. I knew that Easter District was miles away from my current location, plus it was sales day, so there were a lot of people flocking to malls and shopping districts, which makes them an easy target for those monsters. My luck.

"I heard there is heavy traffic in that area," Kouga said, speaking out like he was talking about the weather. "Did you bring your car here?"

"I don't bring my car on my missions, old man."

"Anna?" Oh, I forgot. Allen's on the line.

"Sorry, Allen." I hastily apologized. "Lord Lilitus' bodyguard is with me, and I don't know what to do."

"General Igarashi? Great! He will be a great help!" Allen, please don't say that in your cheerful voice. That doesn't help in my situation right now. "But don't make sure that ESEH agents won't see him, because I detected an unknown signal coming towards the area."

"Okay, okay!" I ended my call hastily when I felt that someone had lifted me and saw Kouga carrying me bridal style.

"Let's not waste our time. Let's go."

"Wait, what?" Before I could finish speaking, Kouga leaped up in his full strength, and I saw the entire city in high view.

"Hang on tight; this will be a bumpy ride." He warned me, and before I could speak, he dashed at the speed of light.

WAAAAAH! I screamed as loudly as I could while I clung to his shoulder, hanging for dear as he leaped from building to building at Mach 20 speed, feeling the air in my face like I was an airplane itself!

"Here we are," he announces as his feet touch the solid ground. He put me down afterward.

"Will you please be careful next time?!" I angrily shouted at him. "I'm almost getting dizzy and nauseous from that trip!"

"Well, you should thank me that we are here at our destination." He smirked as I looked at the surroundings. My jaw almost dropped to the road in shock as I realized that we were in the Easter District in a second. Is this a vampire ability?

"Now that we are here, let's go to where the vampires are," he said as he was about to leave behind me. I stood there, still in the process of how we arrived in the blink of an eye.

"Wait up!" I snapped myself out and called him out as I chased after him.

*

The people were shouting and running for their lives as we arrived at the destination. It was a large plaza where all the food stalls were gathered for people to stop by and buy something to eat. The area itself is a mess, as vampires are attacking those who are unfortunate enough to save their own lives and chasing those who are still running. I rushed towards one of the vampires who was trying to attack a poor girl who had tripped while running. I cut its head off with my sword, then carried the girl in my arms and took her to a safe location.

"Are you okay?" I asked the little girl after I sheathed my sword back.

She sobbed hysterically. I patted her head to calm down. "Listen, where's your family?" Are they with you?"

"Daisy!" A voice called out in worry as I turned my head and saw a woman running towards us.

"MOMMY!" The girl saw and ran towards her mother, hugging her while crying. Her mother hugged her back.

"Thank you for finding my daughter. I don't know how I should repay you in return."

"There is no need to repay me. To see you safe and alive is enough for me," I said. "You should go to a safe place. This area is dangerous."

"My husband is still in the area. We were separated when those creatures attacked the area." The woman spoke in a scared and worried voice. "Please find him and save him."

"I will." I rushed back to the area. "Just get out of here and go to a safe area."

"Be careful, big sis! Bring Daddy back alive." The girl waved at me cheerfully as I left the area. Good, she stopped crying now.

*

When I arrived back at the scene, it was already cleared out and there were no vampires in sight, only to see Kouga lay down his sword as the ten remaining dead vampires began to disintegrate into nothingness behind his back.

What the heck, I just went to get the girl to safety, and it was already done when I came back?!

"Hey!" I stomped my feet in anger and walked my way towards him. I point at him accusingly. "I've just gone for a minute, and you've done here?!"

Kouga only ignored me and instead replied, "This despicable stench is everywhere?"

Huh?

He only noticed that I was already standing in front of him by looking at me. "Sorry, just talking to myself."

"What do you mean by 'despicable stench is everywhere'?" My anger suddenly disappeared in an instant as I asked him in a worried tone.

He puts the back of his hand into his mouth, like he smells something rotten. "Their essence. Those vampires I've killed earlier have their essence."

"Them?"

"You already heard about the current situation in our world, correct? They are the ones responsible for the attacks over the past few days. You knew them because they are on your report."

The rebels wanted to overthrow the king. I didn't speak out, but I knew what he was talking about. "What about the civilians?"

"There are others who are escaping when they find out that I'm here, taking a few civilians with them." Then he looks at me. "We must make haste. We need to stop them before they can make more vampires."

I nodded in response. "Let's go. The girl's father is among them."

"Agent Brown!" As on cue, reinforcements arrived on the scene late. They began to survey the area, and one of them approached us. "Is everything under control?"

"There are some vampires that have escaped and have taken civilians with them. We must chase after them," I replied.

"Okay, then we will tell the command center."

"There's no need." Kouga cut him off. "I can trace their scent. Leave this to us."

"Ah, but General Igarashi-"

Kouga instead sheaths his sword and carries me in bridal style. Again? "Let's go." He leaped up high while I was clinging to my poor life.

"Sorry! "I apologized as the poor agent's jaw dropped to the floor in shock.

*

We ended up in the port outside the city an hour later. Kouga explained to me earlier while leaping and running (he did all of this; I'm only being carried) that while teleportation was the best solution for this kind of situation, he prefers this kind of method as he can trace the scent of the source of creating these vampires, but this will take longer depending on the weather and the direction of the wind. He landed me in the area where the containers were stored. While sneaking out, something was bugging me that we had been followed, but I ignored it and proceeded with the mission.

We hid between the huge containers as we killed the vampires on patrol along the way. "So, any leads? " I asked while I slit the throat of the vampire I captured.

"The scent leads to one of the warehouses. That's where they're hiding." He replied while bisecting the other one, but his face told me that there was something more. "Good news: we can save the civilians if we arrive there on time."

"And the bad news?" Oh no, I hope that the 'something' that was bugging me earlier was wrong.

"I sense two unknown scents approaching in this area. Judging by it, they're hostile, and they will be hindering us in our search."

And by that, as we were taken by surprise, as a barrage of light-coated arrows began to rain down on us. I was able to dodge it as the arrows struck the ground, and I drew out my sword to deflect the rest. "The hell? Don't tell me they followed us here?!"

Kouga, on the other hand, draws out his sword and slashes the palm of his other hand. He chanted something in Izanagian as I saw blood dripping out of his palm, oozing like red liquid. The blood dropped on the solid ground, and cherry petals began to form from the blood itself after landing.

"Scatter on! "He finished his chant as numerous petals swarmed from the blood-stained ground and were used as a barrier to protect its master while he waved his slashed hand as blood scattered upwards and transformed instantly into more petals as it was ready to deflect the incoming arrows.

The arrows and the petals clashed together, causing an explosion in between. Kouga was unfazed while I raised my arm to shield myself from the explosion. When the smoke from the explosion began to disappear, I could see Kouga's slashed blood begin to heal instantly, but I could hear him panting heavily as he kneeled to the ground, his hands supporting him to prevent him from falling further into exhaustion. 

"Those fools... they caught us by surprise, huh?"

I approached him in a hurry. "Are you okay, old man?" I shouted in worry.

"I never thought SECTA agents would be stooped so low to the point that they need some help from a vampire to clear their missions." I stopped in my tracks as the person speaking suddenly was mocking me. I looked upward to the source of the voice, and I snarled in anger, for I knew the intruder who suddenly attacked us was.

At one of the containers stood the man that I loathed and wished to never cross with: white hair with a black streak on one side of his bangs, a white shirt with a black vest, black pants, and black shoes, holding a bow that resembles a crescent moon on his left hand and another hand on his hip. His rectangular glasses were shining as he looked down on me, revealing his cold gray eyes. "Long time, no see, Anna. So long that I thought you'd already died."

The man in front of me is none other than ESEH's S-rank agent, master archer, and one of the prominent clans that have killed vampires for generations that rival that of my clan.

"And I never thought that you ESEH agents would follow us so you could kill or steal from our target," I retorted. "Aren't you ashamed of yourself, ESEH S-rank agent Yuri Maximus?!"