Breaking Point Part 1

"Ariel!"

"I'm back."

The Vampire Lord returns from her 'chat' late at night, 2 a.m. to be exact.

"You guys could've gone to sleep."

"Y'know there's no way we could've!"

This makes Ariel smile. "Guess so."

"Well, Shinatsu did."

"She looked like she needed it, it's fine."

"So, what'd she want to talk to you about?"

"Just uh.. Stating her disagreements with me being a Hunter." Ariel had to word that particularly since Diego doesn't know she's a vampire.

"Hm. Why does she not want you to be a Hunter?" Seeing there's something he isn't aware of, the member in question asks what she means.

"Just a story for another time."

"If you say so."

Ariel healed her injuries and fixed her hair back up, so the others wouldn't know what actually happened in the graveyard. Ariel chose to take that burden on herself.

While the others are glad about Ariel's safe return, Kagura is worried about Shinatsu. It's clear something was off with her and Amelia.

She isn't actually asleep right now. She has been lying in bed awake for the past several hours. She wants to cry, she wants to scream, but she thinks there will be no point. Amelia's reminder was the breaking point for Shinatsu.

'I thought I finally found a place I could call home, but it wasn't even my choice to be here. I was sent to Odd Jobs as a spy, I don't belong here. There's not a single place on this planet that I belong.'

A memory from Shinatsu's childhood from when she was at her happiest flashes. At this moment, she no longer thinks a moment happier than that will ever come to pass.

***

The following day is an off day for all of Odd Jobs, Shinatsu left early to take a walk without telling anybody. It was only supposed to be a stroll for no longer than 30 minutes. But that eventually turned into an hour, and another another hour. She was walking mindlessly, bumping into several people along the way, finally coming to a stop when a girl who had been following her crossed her path.

"Watch where you're going."

"Oh, you're still here?"

Sophia, the spiteful girl who harassed Shinatsu at their cafe is still in District 4. She'd been waiting until she was alone to get some payback, with her posse in tow.

Sick of seeing her face, Shinatsu slugs her exactly there. She sees somebody pull their phone out to start recording, so she glares at him. The man promptly puts his phone back in his pocket and walks away.

"Agh, you bitch!"

"What's the matter, isn't this what you're here for?"

"Tch. Beat her ass!"

With no regard for the civilians walking on the sidewalk, the girls start fighting 4 on 1. This is a straight-up catfight, pulling clothes and hair along with the orthodox punches and kicks. Shinatsu lays out one of the girls with a fierce punch to the side of her head. Catching the other 2 off guard, she knocks them down and goes straight for Sophia. Kicking her to the ground, she sits on top of her and pummels the eyesore with malicious intent. After about a dozen brutal punches, Sophia's face is covered in blood. Looking at her bloody fist, Shinatsu comes to a stop.

'What am I doing..?'

Ceasing her onslaught on Sophia, the other girls tackle her off. Shinatsu suddenly gave up on fighting, so now it's a one-sided battle with the 2 girls and Sophia beating her up to their heart's content. One of them holds Shinatsu's head up by her hair as Sophia kicks her mercilessly across the face with a bit of a running start. After that, the girl who no longer had the will to continue layed on the ground as the 3 girls kicked her nonstop. Her eyes were as dead as they could be.

"Hey.."

Out of nowhere, someone grabs the shoulder of one of the girls. They all look to see who it is. The moment they did, one of them went flying along the sidewalk twirling like a beyblade.

The culprit is Kagura, who's with the rest of Odd Jobs. They noticed Shinatsu was gone not too long after she left unannounced. After not getting any response from their calls or texts, they set out to look for her together.

"Kagura.." Shinatsu moans her name while lying beat up on the ground.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Just some payback for humiliating me at the Academy."

Infuriated, Kagura walks up to Sophia. "Go to hell." Before the Ayase girl realized it, she was slugged yet again, square in the face this time. This punch was heavier than Shinatsu's, but she stood her ground this time not falling down.

"You've made an enemy of the Ayase family, I'm looking forward to the next time we meet." With that, they walk away carrying the one girl who was knocked out.

As soon as they left, Kagura and the rest ran up to the beaten Shinatsu.

"Shinatsu!"

Kagura reaches out her hand, but is pushed away. Getting herself up without any help, Shinatsu walks away.

"Leave me alone, Odd Jobs."

Shinatsu begins her zombified march, each step being a countdown to a despairing decision.