Author: Fyre Rating: Varies. Over all PG-13. Warning: Slash, yes, yes. Like you didn't expect that. Fantasy as well. Feedback: Loved. Absolutely. I even like flames. Disclaimer: Amazingly enough, some of these characters (Murasaki, Nushi, Akai, Fuki, Tash) actually are mine. Damon, though, belongs to my dear friend who goes by Pynk (along with Kitten). Kamoku and Emma belong to Juushi. But, in other words, these characters are ours. And the plot is mine. Chapter One Damon Dane Smith woke up and cursed himself. A headache was already starting to infiltrate his senses and he couldn't even blame anyone else: it was totally his own fault. He should have known better than drink even a little on a Monday night. Too late now--he'd just have to force down some aspirin. Half an hour later, Damon was out of the shower and ready to go to work, although still a little groggy. Sitting down to a quick breakfast, he glanced at the clock. Oh, good, it read 5:45. Still had fifteen minutes until 8:00. Wait. 5:45?? Staring at the clock's face, filled with disbelief, Damon swore. First a hangover, even a light one, now he had awoken two hours early? Banging his head on his table, Damon threw a quiet fit. He didn't want to wake Nushi, his roommate. Nushi had gotten home even later than Damon had last night, although Damon wasn't sure why. Sighing, Damon gave himself over to his bad luck and simply finished eating his breakfast. At least now, with these two extra hours, he could put in some extra time on his appearance. After finishing his toast, Damon wandered back to the still-steamy bathroom. Wiping off the mirror, he ran his hands through his short, blond hair. It seemed so short to him--just a week ago, it had brushed his chin and sported pink streaks. Then, in a rash mood, he had decided to go utterly business like. Damon missed the pink, but he did blend in more on the city streets. Had cut down on half the amount of slanderous remarks too. Squinting in the mirror, Damon decided to wear mascara today--no other eye makeup, but a little bit of mascara never hurt anyone. He loved his big blue eyes and extra attention did no harm. After primping for another half an hour, Damon finally left the bathroom, now content with how he looked. Damon paced the small living room in the apartment, waiting for Nushi to wake up. Damon never liked being there alone and being the only one awake was almost like being alone. At least once Nushi was awake there was bound to be constant chatter and singing. Sitting down in a chair, Damon started to flip through a reference book on goblins, one that he had marked and dog-eared many times over. He had gotten this book way back in fifth grade, when he had first definitely decided he wanted to hunt creatures. Creatures plagued the city, the country and the world. Humanoid creatures like vampires, elves, werewolves and succubae were everywhere and others like goblins, dragons and various demons were more hidden. It had always been like this, at least as far back as the histories went. In rural areas of the world, it was usual to know someone who had been taken or killed by creatures. Always, though, there are been companies and groups dedicated to either completely eradicating the creatures or at least keep a hold on their population growth. The company Damon worked for was one of the more modern version of these--DAEC, Defense Against Evil Creatures. There had recently been a rise in companies such as these, because there seemed to be a sudden new increase in the amount of creatures in all the world. Setting down the book on goblins, Damon's eye was caught by a science magazine Nushi had brought home. A headline popped out of the cover holographically, bolding saying, "Creatures not so different from humans". Intrigued, Damon picked up the magazine and flipped to the cover article. After scanning it, he was disappointed to learn it was just like all the other studies. This article just claimed that the so-called "creatures" are anything but. All the modern studies said that all of the creatures were thinking beings, sentient every one. There had been a huge rush of such studies and articles a year or so back, but the government had done their best to hush up all such news. Damon was mildly surprised that this particular magazine had gotten away with printing such an article. Soon after, Damon heard Nushi cursing and stumbling around his room. The loud ruckus Nushi made every morning was usually Damon's alarm clock--it was set almost exactly to the minute. Feeling thoughtful, Damon put a pot of Nushi's favorite coffee on and patiently waited for his roommate to emerge. It didn't take long. Nushi soon came out of his room, dressed in worn jeans and a green button up shirt, although it wasn't buttoned, for Damon could see almost all of the undershirt Nushi wore underneath. Nushi grinned at Damon, sitting down at the table by him after grabbing a cup of coffee. His black hair shined in the kitchen light, green eyes shining almost as much. "Hey kid, why're you up so early?" Nushi greeted Damon. Grimacing at his friend, Damon quickly explained what had happened, then easily reprimanded, "And don't call me kid. I'm only a year younger than you, Danjirou." Sticking his tongue out, Nushi exclaimed, "Ooh, burned! And with use of the actual first name, too! Good job, Damon." Nushi's real name was Danjiou Souhei, which by itself was evidence of his pure Japanese background, something which actually made him stand out in modern Tokyo, Japan. Nushi went by "Nushi" for two reasons. One: Who, in his own words, would want to go by Danjirou? and Two: Again in his own words, he's the "master of everything" and in the old Japanese, Nushi meant Master, a fact that almost no one knew now. "You still want me to drive you to work today?" After a moment of thought, Damon shook his head. "I haven't ridden the subway for a while. Since I have all this extra time, I might as well waste it on that. Thanks anyway though." After a couple minutes more pleasant talk, discussing their plans for the evening, Damon was out the door and on the way to work. As he rode the subway, the jolting, jangling, noisy subway, Damon started to think about the day as it was currently planned out for him. He would likely be spending the first half before lunch at his desk, filling out paperwork and doing boring background checks on victims, future employees or possible creatures that the Defense Team was planning on investigating. What Damon wouldn't give to be on the Defense Team. When he had first joined DAEC, it had been implied that Damon was meant for the team, but now after three months of paperwork, he wasn't so sure. The Defense Team was filled with busty, athletic women capable of beating down any creatures they came across. At first, Damon had been confused as to why only women were on the team. Soon it became clear, though. For some reason, the majority of creatures were male, or at least the majority of problematic creatures were. The president of DAEC, Fuki Astarera, a busty, athletic woman herself, simply took advantage of that and sent women to capture the creatures. Most of the time the creatures either brushed the women off, thinking them not strong enough to detain them, or were distracted by their breasts and were an easy catch. Damon had long since resigned to the fact that he was not female, busty or athletic and just hoped that some day a homosexual creature would move into their territory. Since there were only two men working at DAEC and the other man, Tash McMahon, being quite content to hide behind his computer, Damon was sure he would be put on that job, if it ever happened. It didn't hurt that Damon was gay as well. The subway finally reached his stop and Damon quickly made his way to the building DAEC was located in. After a long wait in the elevator, he stepped out into the eleventh floor and was automatically pounced upon by a tall, Japanese woman dressed in a revealing vinyl cat suit. "Damon! Finally! I'm needing those reports you did on Vaciuos De'lawre, that middle-aged vampire preying on kittens...kittens! Who would eat poor, defenseless kittens?" the woman exclaimed. Ame Imai, who went by Kitten for many reasons, took extra offense at De'lawre's eating habits, for obvious reasons. She was the top Capturer and the head of the Defense Team. Kitten was by far the bustiest of the busty women working at DAEC and she flaunted it. When on the job, she wore vinyl or leather cat suits ... and sometimes off the job as well. Her breasts, while definitely helping her in her job, weren't the deciding factor, though. She was just good at what she did and held the records for Evil Creatures Captured In A Year, In Five Years and Over A Lifetime. Damon wriggled away from Kitten's grasp and flicked some of her long black, purple tipped hair away from his eyes. Looking up at her, he calmly replied, "Let me just get settled and I'll have that information printed off for you right away." Kitten grinned at him, "Aw, what a doll. Thanks so much, babe. I'll drop by your desk in about ten, alright?" Damon nodded and started to make his way to his desk. En route, he was hugged by five different ladies, amounting eight hugs in all, since a couple of them saw fit to cuddle him more than once. Damon had gotten used to the constant hugging and over-the-top affection a while back. All the women here were comfortable with their bodies and just very touchy-feely. Poor Tash, though, was still intimidated and tended to turn bright red whenever someone even brushed against him. The fact that he was straight didn't help either. Sitting down at his desk, Damon prepared for another boring day. He gave the report to Kitten, did more profiling work and basically got bored out of his mind. The studies on evil creatures were sort of interesting, but the employee records were the opposite. Any other person might enjoy going through files of sexy women with great personalities and backgrounds, but Damon just zoned out after a while. After a quick lunch at the building cafe, Damon was back to the grind of typing and searching and printing and delivering. Near the end of the day, though, suddenly Fuki Astarea appeared at his desk. Fuki was the president of DAEC Inc. and had literally inherited the company from her father, who had started it. She was young, only thirty years old, and with her burst of red hair, deep green eyes and exotic looks (she was half Japanese and half British--she looked mainly Japanese, but had an English accent and big eyes), she could easily blend in to one of her Defense Teams. Fuki liked the company, but didn't hold the passion her father did. It was well known throughout the office that she was looking into other careers, possibly spacecraft, and she was always searching for a replacement. She was rather deadpan and sarcastic most of the time, but generally a good leader. Her staff respected her as she respected them. Damon had barely spoken one-on-one with Fuki since he was first hired three months ago, so it was a shock to see his boss standing by his desk when he returned from the bathroom. Licking his lips nervously, he said, "Hello, Fuki. What can I do for you?" Smirking at his uneasiness, Fuki leaned against his desk and nodded to his chair, inviting him to sit. As he did, she started talking, "You know that when I hired you I mentioned that you'd be a good candidate for the Defense Team, what with your obsession with martial arts?" Damon nodded, blushing. During his interview, he had started to go off on a bit of a proud rant about all the martial arts courses he had taken during college and how many he was still involved in. Fuki continued, "You also know that our Defense Teams are made up exclusively of women, so that we can take advantage of stupid men. This seemed like a foolproof plan to me and only when I really thought about it did I see some holes in this idea. I had never planned for a gay evil creature." Damon perked up. "I just assumed, for some reason, there were only straight creatures. Now, though, Emma has brought to my attention that this is not true. Definitely not." Emma Thomson was the Head of Werewolf Department and one of Fuki's best friends in the company. "Emma tells me that a gay werewolf has moved into the western sector of Tokyo, the same sector that DAEC is located in. Automatically, Damon, I thought of you," Fuki smiled. "I know you've been getting fed up with your position in the company, so here I am, offering you different on--although it will probably only be for a short time. I can't promise a sudden flood of gay creatures." Damon opened his mouth and just gaped at Fuki for a couple moments. To think, he was just pondering this possibility that morning on the subway! And, now, here it was, the chance for him to actually be on a Defense Team. Unable to speak for the excitement and joy rushing through him, Damon simply nodded in affirmation at Fuki, a motion that seemed good enough for her. "Great," she said. "Tomorrow you can start the research and prior arrangements. I hope that by next week at the latest you can be out in the field, tracking the creature down. Emma says from all she knows, this catch will be easy." Bending down to get closer to him, Fuki confidently told Damon, "I know you can do this, but I also know this will be your first time out there. Any problems you have, don"t hesitate to ask me, Kitten or Emma, kay? But no worries--I know you'll knock him dead." She punched him lightly in the shoulder and hopped off his desk. Fuki was a couple feet away when Damon finally found his voice again and he called out, "Fuki? Thank you." Fuki half turned and brushed her red hair out of the way, so she could see him. Instead of answering vocally, she simply grinned and winked at the shorter boy. Damon floated through the rest of the day, constantly drifting into daydreams about how he was going bravely capture the werewolf and soon become equal to Kitten on the Defense Team. The day went by very quickly after his meeting with Fuki and soon he was leaving the building. He decided to walk home, figuring that thirty blocks wasn't too much. Damon rode the elevator up to his floor, rubbing his feet, and fell onto the couch inside right away. He hoped Nushi would get home soon--Damon had to tell him his news. Damon and Nushi had known each other for just about a year, and Nushi knew all about Damon's goals and how much he had worked to get on the Defense Team. Unfortunately, Nushi arrived home late and walked in on his cell phone, yelling. "Kamoku! It's not that big a deal." He paused and waved at Damon. "NO! Shut up! Listen to me for a minute, yes? All you need to do ... no, don't do that. I said no!" Damon, who had sat up in his chair the moment Nushi had walked through the door, slouched down again and grinned. Nushi was the manager of two bookstores, The Book Garden and The Other Book Garden. He was very proud of his stores and had worked like mad to start them up. Nushi had opened The Book Garden just two years before and the store had flourished so much that he was able to open a companion store six months before. Kamoku Hitoribocchi, the former assistant manger of The Book Garden, managed the Other Book Garden. Kamoku and Nushi had a constant love-hate relationship and the bickering between them, Damon said, was just a cover-up--the two were meant for each other. Kamoku, on the other hand, just claimed that Nushi annoys her to no end. No matter: the squabbling provided constant amusement to customers, some of who say they only frequent the stores to witness the action. Judging from Nushi's frantic screaming at the phone, Kamoku was having a problem at The Other Book Garden and had called Nushi for help. Damon suspected they'd be on the phone for quite some time. As he waited, Damon started to get dinner ready--tofu spaghetti and cheesy breadsticks. Half an hour later, dinner was complete and Nushi was off the phone with Kamoku. As the two roommates sat down to supper, Damon exclaimed, "I'm on a Defense Team!" Nushi's fork froze half way to his mouth. "What?" "A gay werewolf just moved into the western sector and I was assigned to him! I start researching tomorrow!" Damon grinned. Nushi officially stopped eating and a wild look of glee overtook his face. "I can't believe this! This is fantastic, Damon! We ... We must celebrate! Now! Like mad!" He jumped up, striking a dramatic pose, and looked ready to burst out the door in search of fit celebration. Damon smirked at his animated roommate and calmly replied, "No, Nushi, we can't go celebrating, as much as I appreciate the thought. It's Tuesday night and we can't possibly spend a night on the town." He leaned back and contemplated the ceiling. "Maybe this weekend, ne?" Sitting down glumly, Nushi nodded and went back to eating, obviously disappointed. Damon knew that if it weren't for him, Nushi would be partying every night--and never suffering a hangover either, the lucky bastard. After that high point, the dinner went on smoothly and they sat down to watch a made-for-TV movie. Halfway through the plotless wonder, someone knocked at the door. A sudden stupid worry flashed through Damon's head and he panicked, thinking it was Fuki here to say that it was all a mistake and Damon wasn't right for a Defense Team after all. Damon made Nushi answer the door while the blond boy cowered on the couch. He sat alone for a couple minutes but started to relax when, instead of hearing Fuki's British accent, he heard Kamoku's slightly Japanese accented voice. Damon peered over the couch, feeling devilish as he spied. He wondered if he could catch Nushi and Kamoku kissing. Sadly, no such luck. Instead, they walked into the TV room, quarrelling as always. Damon sighed and grinned as he sunk back into his place on the couch. Kamoku soon joined him, smiling at Damon fleetingly before she turned back to Nushi to make a counterpoint to his recent point. Tuning the two lovebirds out, Damon got absorbed into the movie again, until Kamoku shifted to look at Damon, a grin on her face. "Damon! Wait until you hear about the guy I just hired today!" Damon blushed; Kamoku was always trying to hook the boy up, in revenge for Damon's belief that she should snog Nushi. "Yes?" he replied, no emotion or tone in his voice. "Cheer up, this one is real! If he wasn't gay, I'd snatch him up!" Kamoku said defensively. Two good points about this last statement: One, at least this new guy was gay and, two, it made Nushi, who Kamoku couldn't see, look very angry for a moment. Rolling his eyes, Damon gave up. "Okay, tell me about him." "Tall, like about 6 foot or 6 foot two. Asian, but not totally. I can't tell what his exact heritage is. Black hair, short but a bit spiky. These amazing, piercing eyes. They're the first thing you see on this guy, his eyes. They're just ... well, amazing. Brilliantly golden. He's really nice, too. Sensitive--he told me has to have three days off a month, so he can go stay with his sick mother. How great is that?" Damon realized that Kamoku actually wanted an answer. "Real great. He sounds sweet." Kamoku grinned triumphantly. "You should come in and meet him. Really!" "Maybe I'll drop in tomorrow during lunch. Maybe. Now can I watch the movie?" Damon didn't really want to watch the movie, but anything to get off the subject of his love life. Kamoku got the hint and soon the only noises in the room were the ones from the TV and the quiet arguing from Nushi and Kamoku. Soon, Damon drifted off to a dream of him heading a Defense Team and valiantly capturing the werewolf. In the end of the dream, though, once the werewolf was gone, Fuki, who was a huge green lion in the dream, demoted him back to deskwork for all eternity. "Enough excitement for you!! The memories will last you a lifetime! NOW FILE!" The lion roared, its voice echoing. |
