Wakaba looked across the front seat at Hitomi, the brown haired girl who was riding shotgun that day, while the other girl groupies were all curled up in the back with the soundly sleeping Utena and Anthy. Wakaba reached up to put the sun-shade down, and did her best to keep the old RV from rattling around too much. 'Not an easy task, on these bad roads,' Wakaba thought, 'besides, I don't know if that would wake Utena and Anthy up, anyway.' She noticed Hitomi looking at her thoughtfully, and Wakaba raised an eyebrow, "What?" "Why doesn't Utena-sama feed off you?" Hitomi asked quietly. Wakaba looked a bit startled by that, but she answered gamely, "She says it's because she cares for me too much." Hitomi nodded, turning to look out at the road even as she sighed to herself softly. "I envy you that, I think," she murmured. Wakaba shook her head, but didn't say anything to that. Quietly, she ventured, "What's it like, being with Utena?" Hitomi blushed faintly, "She's terribly gentle, and is always concerned with our pleasure first. Only once we're satisfied does she choose to feed." Wakaba's cheeks were flaming, "And that's different than other vampires?" "Touga just didn't care," Hitomi said quietly, her eyes sparking with anger, "to him, we were nothing but a source of food." Her eyes softened, "When Utena gazes at me, she sees a person." "Me, too," Wakaba nodded. "It's not quite the same thing," Hitomi said gently. Wakaba smiled suddenly, "Do you really think so?" The sun finally set, and the two vampires arose once again. "I'll never get used to this," Anthy softy grumbled, looking out at the fading red of the sunset. Her dark hair was sticking up a bit, giving her a cute, scruffy look. "I've heard it said that you can get used to anything," Utena said gently. She, on the other hand, looked as well groomed as usual, and oddly was brushing her teeth at the time. Anthy gaped at her in surprise, only recovering after a few moments. "Why do you do that?" Anthy asked. Utena blushed faintly, looking down as she admitted to her, "I just don't want my breath to smell like blood, all right?" "I hadn't really thought about it," Anthy said. She thought of the bowl of animal blood that she had just drank down and asked her, "Do you have a spare toothbrush?" Utena handed her a still sealed toothbrush with a impish smile. Leaving Anthy to it, she headed outside to check up on how Wakaba was doing tonight. "I'm not tired," Wakaba said, the middle somewhat garbled by a yawn. "How long have you been up?" Utena asked her, wondering where Wakaba's usual high level of energy had gone. "What time is it?" Wakaba asked. Utena told her, and she blinked. "OK, what day is it?" she finally asked dazedly. "Bedtime," Utena said firmly, picking her up bodily. Wakaba kicked and struggled a bit, but Utena just kept a firm grip on the smaller girl. "But I don't want to go to bed yet," Wakaba whined like a little girl as Utena put her down on the bed in the back of the RV. "Sleep," a chuckling Utena ordered her, using her will on the girl as gently as she could. Wakaba fell backwards, out like a light. Anthy, her breath now minty fresh, watched all this with a smile. "You're getting stronger," she noted, startling Utena slightly. "I'm not so sure I like it much," Utena sighed. Anthy looked at her curiously, "Why?" "Power corrupts," Utena quoted softly, "and absolute power corrupts absolutely." "Which is why I'm here," Anthy smiled slightly. It wasn't long after that and they were back on the road, driving on towards the city of Tokyo. "How did you get into this?" Utena asked softly from the driver's seat. At Anthy's questioning look, she quickly elaborated, "The whole vampire slaying thing, I mean." She grinned, "I rather doubt there's classes you can sign up for." "It wasn't easy," Anthy admitted. "I had to go out of the country to contact the real experts on the subject," she said softly. Utena looked like she wanted to say something on that, but wisely kept silent. "I had to go out to England, and then make contact with a... certain secret organization," Anthy smiled. "An organization you can't name, I take it," Utena smiled. "Sorry," Anthy shrugged. "I trained there for nearly a year before setting out on my quest to find my brother," she said quietly. Anthy found herself wondering how her former teachers would react to what happened to her. 'Not very well,' she suspected. From what she knew of Hellsing organization, they were not the types to forgive a failure easily. "I'm just glad we stopped all the vampires that Akio made," Utena sighed softly. "Oh, he didn't make Kanae," Anthy noted, "she was much to strong to be a newly made vampire. She had to have been fairly old." A moment of silence, then a wide eyed Utena asked her quietly, "So if Akio didn't make her, who was the vampire who did?" Equally quietly, Anthy answered, "An even older vampire." They looked at each other across the front seat. "Here's hoping we don't meet him or her anytime soon," Utena muttered under her breath. Anthy had a sudden sinking feeling at that. Juri kicked the fender with a loud clang, growling "Stupid piece of junk." Ruka's head was hidden under the hood but his voice came loud and clear, "Please don't do that while I'm under here." "Sorry," Juri muttered. She took a step away from the car and looked around, wondering what they would do if they were stranded. 'Barely a day out from Ohtori, and this happens,' Juri though, looking over at the old beater they were riding in. 'And couldn't we have found a better car, at least?' "This is all we could afford, remember?" Ruka answered. "What?" she said, startled. "You were projecting your thoughts again," Ruka sighed. There was a soft sound, and he pulled his head out of the engine, wiping his hands. "Try it now," he sighed. Juri turned the key, and with a muter roar the car started up at last. "Thank god," she said with a great deal of relief. "What, don't you trust my repair skills?" Ruka grinned, preparing to take a nap in the passenger seat. Once the sun rose, he'd take over driving and Juri would be asleep in the back under several blankets. "How far behind them do you think we are?" Juri asked, ignoring his comment. "We probably won't catch up before Tokyo," Ruka admitted. He smiled grimly, "But I'll do everything I can to shave whatever time off I can." Juri smiled at him gratefully, "Thanks." A few moments later, and he was snoring away as they chugged along the road to Tokyo.
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