Chapter 13

Yuki had never been loved, at least not truly. People had always come to her when they wanted something, and that was okay. After all, she only went to others when she wanted something. That was just how the world worked.

Jason wanted her blood, and she wanted his love.

Jason wanted to save the world, and Yuki wanted to be a part of that.

"Please… please don't," the man begged, kneeling on the ground, a gruesome chunk of his arm missing. His voice trembled, each word soaked in desperation. "I didn't know!" Tears streamed down his face, carving paths through the grime. Jason stared down at him with a chilling detachment, his gaze cold and unyielding.

"Ignorance isn't a sin," Jason replied coolly, "but willful ignorance is just laziness." The man hiccupped as he wailed. Jason's voice hardened. "And that, is a sin."

BANG!!

Yuki flinched, her hands clamping over her ears in a futile attempt to block out the deafening blast. The horrific sight before her was inescapable. The man's head had been obliterated, blood and brain matter splattered across the room. Warm droplets dotted her face.

"Yuki," a soft, velvety voice called out to her. "It's alright, I'm sorry you had to see that, dear." Jason, immaculate and untainted by any speck of blood, gently pulled her into an embrace, shielding her from the gruesome scene behind him—or perhaps shielding the scene from her.

"Jason…" she whimpered, her voice barely above a whisper. "What—"

"You don't need to worry about him," he said calmly, his tone soothing yet firm. His eyes met hers, radiating a familiar warmth that eased her heart... slightly. "He was a traitor, attempting to send information to an enemy that could have destroyed us." Yuki tried to peer around him, to glimpse the headless corpse, but Jason tightened his grip on her shoulders, pulling her closer.

"You have no need to worry. I will always protect you," he promised, his eyes boring into hers with an intensity that made her shiver. "You know that, right? I am the only one you can trust." Yuki nodded, though a nagging doubt tugged at her conscience. She knew he was right, but she also felt he was wrong... like she was wrong.

Pushing herself into his chest, she murmured, "I know."

It was too late now… there was no going back. She would stand by Jason's side, because he was the only one who could truly love her.

"This is delicious!" Velvet moaned with every bite she took, savoring the rich flavor that danced on her tongue. "I didn't know cakes like this could even be made."

Accelerator hadn't touched the sweet treat placed in front of him. His patience was wearing thinner by the second, a headache beginning to throb at his temples. "If you came all the way here just to eat some fucking cake, then please get out," he growled in a low, menacing tone.

"Oh, come on! I came all the way here and I even brought you a present!" she pouted, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"It looks to me like you're the only one enjoying that present, a little too much if you ask me," he snarled, his voice laced with irritation.

Velvet gave Accelerator a smug look, licking the last traces of frosting from her lips. "Don't be too harsh on me. Besides, the cake isn't the present." She grinned, leaning forward conspiratorially. "I found something that could quite possibly be a lead on where that psycho is hiding. Maybe with the girl, too."

Accelerator went quiet for a second, his interest piqued. "What did you find?"

Velvet, after taking one last indulgent bite, set the plate down on the table with a clink. "Yuki Hashimoto is the daughter of Saito Hashimoto, a man with a rare condition. He was an 'MQ'."

"An MQ?" Accelerator's eyes narrowed, a skeptical eyebrow arching as he fixed his gaze on her.

"Magic-based Quirk user," she clarified, her voice dropping to a serious tone. Her eyes glinted with a mixture of knowledge and caution. "I'm sure Asphalt has told you, but those with quirks cannot use magic. However, there are rare cases where that is possible." She delicately picked up a fork, twirling it in her hand with a grace that belied the gravity of her words. The fork seemed to dance between her fingers, the metal catching the dim light and casting fleeting reflections around the room.

"Either by learning magic… or by being born with it," she continued, her tone hushed yet firm.

Accelerator leaned in slightly, his intense gaze never wavering. The room around them seemed to grow quieter, as if the very walls were eager to hear what she had to say next.

"For those with quirks possessing the potential for magic, something rather strange happens," she explained, her eyes meeting his. "It's more like their mana fuses with the quirk gene… how or why that's even possible is still up for debate."

She paused, the fork stilling in her hand as she gathered her thoughts. "Saito Hashimoto was one of those cases. His blood was unique. Cursed blood, or deep blood, was what his magic was labeled."

"Deep blood?" Accelerator leaned forward, intrigued.

Velvet looked up at Accelerator, her gaze locking onto his crimson eyes. "He had the power to create vampires."

Accelerator's eyes widened slightly, the revelation catching him off guard. "So vampires exist?"

"Nope, or at least, as far as we know, not exactly," she continued, her expression growing more intense. "A single drop from deep blood would send an insane amount of mana into a person. They would literally go into a cannibalistic frenzy, killing everything and everyone in their path, consuming their blood, which only increased their mana reserves, plus they'd get some crazy dependance on blood as well… a… sort of attraction I suppose."

"So, the more blood they consumed, the stronger they'd become," Accelerator mused, his mind racing with the implications, "and the more addicted to blood".

"Pretty much," Velvet confirmed, "especially if it was a magician's blood. They'd suck ten times the mana of an average person, though that depends on the magician's own mana reserves and such." She set the fork down, her eyes reflecting the severity of the issue. "But what made them so dangerous was that they were practically unkillable."

Accelerator raised an eyebrow in question. "How so?"

"It didn't matter what was thrown at them; they'd just keep getting back up," Velvet said, her voice tinged with a mix of awe and dread. "Sunlight and crosses were nothing more than superstitions. Nothing worked against them. The only way to kill them was by cutting off the head and burning them in hellfire."

"Hellfire, as in—" Accelerator began.

"Yep, literally summoning the hottest flames from the pits of hell," she confirmed, leaning back against her chair, her demeanor momentarily relaxed. "And doing that isn't easy, either." She sighed, her gaze drifting to the window. "If Yuki Hashimoto ended up inheriting her father's unique… condition, then at least we know why that bastard has such an interest in her."

The room fell silent, the weight of her words settling over them like a suffocating fog, thick and almost tangible. It pressed down on their shoulders, casting a shadow over their thoughts. "Her father?" Accelerator's eyes narrowed, the intensity in his gaze growing sharper. He turned to Velvet, his voice a low, urgent whisper. "What happened to him?"

Velvet shook her head, her expression darkening with the shadows of memory. She took a deep breath, the words heavy on her tongue. "No clue," she began, her voice laced with grim resignation. "He vanished without a trace for what felt like an eternity. We searched everywhere, every nook and cranny, but it was as if he had simply ceased to exist. By the time they found him... he was already dead. Murdered in cold blood. The sight was... gruesome."

A heavy silence descended upon the room, thick with unspoken fears and suspicions. "Do you think Jason had something to do with it?" she asked quietly, her voice barely above a whisper. "Honestly, I wouldn't put it past him."

Accelerator let out a tired sigh, his features etched with a mixture of frustration and annoyance, a deep furrow forming between his brows. "He probably did. It'd be way too much of a coincidence if he hadn't. And personally, I've stopped believing in fate or any of that bullshit," he said, his voice tinged with bitterness.

The atmosphere grew even tenser as they pondered Jason's sinister plans, the silence thick with anxiety. Velvet rubbed a palm over her face, her frustration palpable. "I don't get it!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking the oppressive silence. "I can understand taking an interest in the girl due to her unique condition. Jason's had a history of conducting human experimentations on the subject of quirks and magic," she muttered, her tone dripping with frustration, "but I don't get what he could possibly need a bloody middle schooler for."

Accelerator remained silent for a moment, lost in thought. "He was interested in immortality, right?" he asked finally, breaking the silence. "Pretty sure Asphalt mentioned something about that…" His finger tapped rhythmically on the table, each tap echoing like a distant drumbeat. A contemplative look settled on his face as he pieced together the fragments of their grim puzzle. "Maybe that has something to do with why he needs the girl."

Velvet's eyes lit up with a sudden spark of realization. "That… might be it," she agreed, her voice trembling with a mix of fear and excitement. "If he can find a way to use the kid's blood to grant himself the immortality vampires are given, without any of the backlash—"

"Like their insatiable hunger for blood and mana," Accelerator interjected, his eyes narrowing as he envisioned the troublesome implications.

"—he could virtually become invincible!" Velvet finished, her voice rising in pitch as the full weight of their discovery hit her. She could feel the cold grip of dread tightening around her heart. The idea of Jason achieving such power was terrifying beyond measure. The room seemed to grow colder, the shadows lengthening as if echoing the darkness of their thoughts.

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere was shattered by an obnoxiously loud voice. "WE'RE BAAACK!" it sang out, echoing through the room.

Velvet's head snapped toward the sound, nearly jumping out of her seat. The door had burst open, revealing Asphalt, his large frame filling the doorway, with little Eri perched on top of his head like a triumphant conqueror. Her small hands clung to his hair for balance, and her face was a chaotic splash of pink paint. Behind them, Saki strutted in with a wide grin, her face painted to resemble a pig, though the exaggeration seemed strangely fitting to Accelerator.

Asphalt's face was painted like a panda, with dark circles around his eyes and a white muzzle, adding an amusing contrast to his stern features but matching his goofy personality to the 'T'. "You missed out big time, Accelerator," he grinned, his large frame slightly bent to accommodate Eri. "There was a face painting booth, or whatever they call it, outside the shopping district. You should have come."

Saki, her painted snout twitching with amusement, gave Accelerator an arrogant smirk. "Could've had your face painted to match your personality—a little chihuahua."

An annoyed, imaginary tick appeared on Accelerator's head as he scoffed. "Sounds like I didn't miss much, Miss Piggy."

"Hah!?" Saki's eyes flared, her grin, now forced, widening.

Velvet looked back at Asphalt with an unsatisfied look on her face, her irritation clear. "It sounds like putting you on babysitting duty as punishment wasn't enough. I guess I'll have to get serious," she growled lowly.

Asphalt flinched, his uncertainty evident as he looked down at her. "Uh! I wouldn't say that."

Eri, oblivious to the tension, began to climb down from Asphalt's shoulders. The older man bent low to help her, his large hands steadying her tiny frame. Once her feet touched the ground, she eagerly ran to Accelerator's side, her hands landing firmly on his knee. She looked up at him with eyes gleaming with childish innocence and pride. "I'm a unicorn!" she proclaimed seriously, "That… that means I'm a horse with wings!"

Accelerator stared down at the girl, one brow raised in mild amusement. "That's a Pegasus," he corrected gently, making the child tilt her head in confusion. "A horse with wings is called a Pegasus. Horses with horns are called unicorns."

"You're a unicorn," he added, poking her actual horn prodding out on the side of her forehead lightly. Eri blinked in surprise, her eyes widening before she looked down at her hands, still resting on Accelerator's knees. Her brows furrowed as she pondered his words.

"Can I have wings too?" she asked, her voice filled with earnest curiosity.

Accelerator could practically feel Saki's threatening gaze, as if saying, 'Say yes or say goodbye.' With a sigh, he patted Eri's head gently. "Sure, that'd make you an Alicorn."

"Alucorn?" Eri repeated, her face lighting up with wonder.

"A horse with both wings and a horn," he clarified.

Eri's eyes sparkled. "Have you ever met an Alucorn?"

"An Alicorn," he corrected again, "and the only ones I've ever seen are on TV."

Velvet let out a scoff, a smirk playing on her lips. "What? You watch My Little Pony in your spare time or something?"

The room fell silent for a moment, the tension palpable. Saki had her mouth stuffed into her hand, shaking slightly as she tried to muffle her laughter. Accelerator just gave an indifferent stare, unphased by the teasing.

"HAH!" Asphalt let out a sudden bark of laughter, which quickly escalated into a full-bellied guffaw. "You watch My Little Pony?" He clutched his sides, tears streaming down his painted face.

Accelerator clicked his tongue in annoyance. "My TV has shit connection and I have only one working channel."

This admission only made Asphalt laugh even harder, his laughter echoing through the room. Tears were streaming down his face comically. Even Velvet had a hand on her mouth, her shoulders shaking subtly with suppressed mirth.

Accelerator let out an irritated groan. "Why me?" he thought in despair. But little Eri just stared at him with wide, sparkling eyes, promising herself to try watching this mysterious new show that even Accelerator watched. According to Saki, Accelerator never did much of anything if he didn't find it interesting. And that was all Eri needed to know.

'A show about unicorns, Pegasuses, and Alicorns!' she thought excitedly. She couldn't wait to see it!