Post by Luke Clyburn on May 15, 2020 7:58:06 GMT -5
”Thanks for coming!”
Shouted the shopkeeper as the door to the convenience store closed behind Luke. Stepping back out into the night where the cool air breeze kissed his skin, Luke let out a sigh as he adjusted his grip on the plastic bag in his hand. ”Springs coming.” he said to himself as he looked up at the sky before moving out of the way for someone wanting to go into the store. Luke wasn’t really doing anything in particular. He was kinda just walking around, doing some minor chores, and buying himself a few snacks. Chips and a cup of ramen. A truly mouthwatering combination. And don’t forget about the beer. Looking up at the night sky, stars barely visible due to the the light pollution of the city, Luke closed those amber orbs before leaning to his left and continuing down the path his instincts told him to follow.
He was off tonight. No hero work for him. It was insisted that Luke take a night off to catch up on rest. Though that idea was a little ludicrous seeing how Luke was able to rest and rejuvenate himself through only an hour of sleep thanks to Schlafen. A useless ability in a battle but fantastic for getting Luke’s life together to get things done. Either way, regardless of sleep cheating, the higher ups wanted Luke to relax. Too bad he was now out wandering the streets. He was wearing his usual blue sweater with jeans, his generic combination of clothes, as he wandered around with no real direction or goal. In truth he wanted to walk around to clear his head, not look for trouble, and think about something that had occurred three days ago.
His meeting with that particular woman, Eris, was still something he was spending a lot of time thinking about. The invitation she offered him, the plan she revealed, all of it was still on the forefront of his mind. An offer to come and join the growing coven of Bounts in Karakura Town. Take over the city through controlling the underworld through the shadows. In truth, what she offered to make the city safer was something that appealed to Luke. He liked her ideas. Problem was he just didn’t trust her. He didn’t trust other Bounts as far as he could throw them. It was entirely possible he would deny the invitation based on racism alone.
”As if you’d tell that fine piece of ass no.” Luke suddenly heard from within his mind. Someone was listening in on his thoughts again. Did you forget I nearly took her head off at one point? Luke shot back, trying to shut down the Doll who only ever had sex on the mind. ”I didn’t forget. I just know what you want her head to do.” Jäger replied back. That doesn’t even… can you please just shut up? Luke replied back, growing frustrated, as he shook his head and scowled. Constantly having his thoughts interrupted by Jäger’s “just fuck her bro” comments was why Luke wanted to go for a walk. He had hoped the Doll would take the hint to shut the fuck up, but what a surprise… he didn’t.
”You still have four days to make your decision, y’know. No reason to overthink it. Though, if you care for my opinion, I don’t think it’s something you should just deny.” Windstärke, Luke’s other Doll, decided to chime in. Always the voice of reason. He’d almost become Luke’s sense of rationality. A perverted idiot, a hot tempered idiot, and finally a bird with sense. Really a trio of idiots. ”You mean a quartet.” Ah. Right. There was still him, technically. Though he had been silent for months now, Luke could still feel his presence down in the deepest, darkest, parts of his soul. The unreachable depths within him was where the other Doll resided. A situation that Luke needed to rectify at some point. If you’re going to tell me that keeping an eye on them is better than them acting out of sight, I already thought about that. Don’t need to say anything about it. Luke replied, to Windstärke, as he turned a corner as he continued aimlessly walking.
”Okay good. I won’t suggest it then. I’ll only add that it’s a good idea. Who better to keep their eye on the other Bounts than you?” the Doll raised a good point. Luke looked off to the side in thought. A chaperone to the other vampires to make sure they didn’t get out of line. You make a good point. But there’s something I want to know. Why are you so insistent on me joining them? Luke suddenly asked rather pointedly, detecting the sudden sense of surprise from his Doll. Jäger snickered in the background. ”Aside from wanting you to continue down the path of your ambition and not grow stagnant? Because you’re lonely.” Luke blinked.
I am not. I have friends.
”That isn’t what I mean. You have people you call friends, yes, but you keep yourself at an arm's distance from them. You don’t feel attached to them. But I've noticed how you felt when you were around Eris and even that girl Aura. You wanted to be around them. You were comfortable around them. I want you to be happy and to stop punishing yourself.”
I don’t punish myself..
”Bullshit. Then why did you break up with Shizuka?”
Luke felt his heart get caught in his throat as Jäger asked the question that Luke had been wanting to avoid for, well, the rest of his life. He let his eyes drift downward as he took on the expression of a beaten puppy, looking sad for a moment, before sighing. Because it wasn’t appropriate for a hero to be dating an assassin. That’s why. Luke explained. But then he heard Jäger laugh as though he had just heard something ridiculous and Winstärke sighed. ”You are so full of shit holy fuck.” Luke felt his face start to get hot with irritation.
”No, Luke. You know you can’t lie to us. There’s a reason you left her after the memorial service.” Luke paused in his walking, getting a “hey watch it” from someone behind him as they nearly bumped into his back. ”I understand how you feel about what happened… but for god's sake Luke you can’t just keep punishing yourself for it. It will kill you at this rate. You do deserve some happiness.” Windstärke consoled. ”Fucks sake man all you did was leave a voicemail that said you didn’t want to see her anymore. You probably made yourself a serious enemy with what you did.” Jäger added.
The memorial service that Windstärke was speaking of was an event hosted in the Yumisawa District in memory for the thousands that had mysteriously lost their lives in a single night. The sudden destruction of a massive part of the district that was blamed on a rogue and freak earthquake. In truth, it wasn’t a natural disaster that caused it. It had been Luke. Locked in a battle against an enemy so powerful that there was no chance to survive, Luke’s Doll made a decision to attempt to save its Masters life. A decision that cost thousands of innocent people's lives.
”How did we end up here?” Jäger asked as Luke came to realize where he had walked. He was standing in front of a wall with thousands of names engraved into its black marble surface. Without even realizing it, Luke had walked himself right into the Yumisawa District and right up to the memorial wall with the names of all those who had died. Flowers and various other gifts, pictures of victims from their families and other paraphernalia, all surrounded the wall along the ground. Luke looked up at the wall, his mood worsening as he looked at it. All those names were because of him. Thinking about what Windstärke said Luke had to wonder why the Doll thought he deserved any sort of happiness when all these people were dead because of him. Luke didn’t get to have anything he wanted anymore. He didn’t deserve it.
”Put down the razor blade and just listen to us for a second.” Jäger started to say before Luke took a deep breath. ”I’m in a bad mood now… so I’m not gonna entertain you anymore.” Luke suddenly said, outloud, letting his eyes shift to look to his right. ”Wait what?” the Doll asked, confused. ”Finally going to do something about them? I was wondering how long you were going to let them tail you.” Windstärke commented, rather thankful for the interruption. Luke’s amber hues glared intently at the shadows down the street to his right, frowning and deepening his scowl when he didn’t get an immediate response. ”Come out. Now. I know you’re there.” He barked.
Seems that got a reaction. From the darkness of the night three figures emerged from the literal shadows around. All three wore different kinds of street clothes, and it became immediately obvious who and what they were from how they appeared. Luke had known about them for sometime now. They’d been following ever since he started his walk. No, even before that. They’d been watching him ever since the sun went down. ”How long did you know we were-” one of the Bounts started to ask. ”All night, dumbass. I was wondering what you were up to and when you were going to make your move. But I’m fed up waiting for ya’ll to nut the fuck up.” Luke said rather rudely as he readied himself for a fight.
Like the flip of a switch Luke readied his reiatsu as a wave of murderous intent was released from him. Like a strong gale the power he possessed washed over the three other Bounts, choking the air out of them. Luke was already in a pissy mood and, y’know, kicking some ass would be a really, really, good way of alleviating this frustration. ”Wait! We’re not here to fight you!” one of the three, a woman, shouted at Luke in panic. The man raised an eyebrow. ”And yet you’ve been stalking me.” Luke replied. ”We just didn’t know a good time to approach you. We’re just here to deliver a message.” the third of the Bount answered, sounding as though he was a rather timid person.
Luke frowned, letting the growing storm in him simmer as he let up on his reiatsu pressure. ”A message for me? From who?” Luke asked. He doubted it was from Eris. She had the balls to meet with him face to face. Mad respect to her for being willing to kill herself if Luke had brainwashed her. Not like he would have done that to begin with. ”Do you mind coming with us?” one of the Bounts asked. ”I’m not going with you. If you have someone who wants to talk to me then tell them to come to me.” Luke shot back near immediately. Fuck no was he going with a couple of strangers. After a few more minutes of the stand off, with the Bounts talking amongst themselves, they decided they’d capitulate with Luke’s request. He watched as they slinked away back into the shadows to go tell whoever sent them that Luke demanded they come to him.
”Wonder who it was?” Jäger asked before noticing that Luke was walking again. ”Wait where’re you going?” Home. ”What about them?” He wasn’t dealing with this shit tonight. He told Eris a week. If they’re so damn desperate to talk to me then they can talk to me at my place. Not in the middle of the damn street. Luke shot back. ”You want them to know where you live?” Jäger asked. ”They already do. They’ve been following us since he left the apartment.”
Speaking of which, after a few more minutes of walking to the Kitakawase District, Luke shoved his key into the lock of his home. ”I’m home.” Luke announced with a low voice, getting an excited meow and the jingle of a bell back in response. A smile was brought to his face when he saw Gracie, his cat, run up to him excited that he was home. ”Hey girl.” Luke said softly, scratching her behind the ear as she rubbed up against him, purring happily. ”You hungry?” he asked, getting a meow back.
Shoes off, ramen cooking, cat happily eating, litter box changed, and now stripping off the sweater to just wear the shirt underneath it, Luke just wanted a cold can of beer and to relax for the rest of the night. Making his way around his small apartment, Luke was ready to just sit down on his couch when he heard a knock on his door. He frowned. He didn’t even need to ask who that was. Seems those Bounts really did go and get whoever it was that sent him. ”Tch.” Luke muttered, scowling as he put the beer down on the table and stomped over to his door. ”Oy can’t you all take the damn hint?” Luke asked rather loudly before grabbing his door handle and yanking the damn thing open. ”I told ya’ll to give me a w-” Luke started to shout before he saw who it was standing outside his door. The full of himself attitude deflated itself immediately as Luke starred, hung jawed, at who it was who had come to see him.
”Aura..?”