We don't talk about Jouno

Better luck this time

Jouno dropped the braille book he was reading when the alarms sounded. For everyone else, they were ear-splittingly loud. For Jouno, they were unbearable. "Tetchou?" Jouno asked. The alarms were nullifying his senses, because he couldn't make out any seperate sounds above the clanging noises. "It's okay." Tetchou said quickly, and put his hands on Jouno's shoulders. "I'm here."

The door flew open, and a very angry sounding Teruko sprung through. "We're under attack!" She exclaimed. "And Fukuchi's missing, presumably a part of this, so I'm going to go kill him, okay?" She said it like only Teruko could. Jouno turned to Tetchou. "Well, we figured this was coming." Jouno said, and ran a hand through his hair. Even though he knew they were coming, Jouno's gut still turned with fear. Jouno knew they were coming for him personally, and he was scared that the people he loved the most were going to be hurt because of that.

"Jouno. We're going to be okay." Tetchou took Jouno's hands in his own, and Jouno felt Tetchou's wedding ring connect with his. "I love you, Tetchou." Jouno said. Tetchou leaned down, and kissed Jouno on the top of his head. "I love you too." He said. "But we can finish this after. Let's go stop these guys once and for all." Jouno wished he had the confidence that Tetchou did in the outcome.

"What's going on at the agency?" Jouno asked, activating his comms system. "They're under attack as well. The decay of angels are going after Alex." Maya's voice crackled through the system. "You sound like you're underwater." Jouno said. Even with the alarms above him, he could hear her. But he wasn't sure Tetchou would be able to. "Yeah. I'm fighting a lady who can summon hurricanes."

Ah. Meira Chand. Jouno had only met her once, but she didn't get along very well with Snorri. Snorri was by far the nicest member of the decay of angels. Jouno monetarily worried they'd been met with an unfortunate fate for trying to help the hunting dogs. He didn't have time to be concerned for his individual friends, though. He had to be completely focused on the coming fight. Jouno frowned. He was pretty sure Maya could take Meira, but that still left two members of the decay of angels. And that was counting the ones he knew about.

"Keep your eye out for Milton." Jouno said into his comms system. Jouno took off running in the direction of what sounded like a fight. It was hard to tell what was going on over the alarm system. "He gets possessed by the devil. Teruko or Chuuya can fight him, but I don't know if anyone else can."

"It's too late here." Kunikida's voice came through the comms system. "They have a teleporter. They have Alex: and Kyoka. We're making our way to you, but I don't think we'll get there in time." Jouno cursed under his breath. Gogol only had a thirty foot record of teleportation. It'd still take him a while to get back, even if Chuuya was helping with his gravity manipulation.

"There's no backup coming, and they have the kid." Jouno reported to Tetchou. "That's bad." Tetchou said. That was Tetchou all right. Always the captain of the understatement. "I can hear fighting ahead. There's enough bullets that it's probably Tachihara." Jouno said. "It's me and Higuchi." Tachihara said through the comms system. "Their leader is the blood countess!"

Jouno nearly stopped in his tracks. "They sent out their leader already?" Jouno asked. "And she has the book." Tachihara's grim reply came back. This kind of plan made no sense. Even if the decay of angels had some way of getting Alex to where Erzabet Bathory was, they still needed someone to open the book. Jouno. That was when he heard it. The voice Jouno never wanted to hear again.

"Hello, Jouno." It was Fukuchi, alright. But he sounded different somehow. Tetchou drew his sword and charged. "No, wait." Jouno tried. "He's not human." Tetchou stopped, the weight of what Jouno had said dawning on him. "A vampire?" He asked. Jouno nodded. "I think so. What do you think?" Tetchou seemed to be trying to get a look at him. "I think so. But how are there even vampires anymore? Isn't Bram dead?"