Black in the Moonlight

Preface: Vampires and Hunters

Around the world, vampires are hunted as stealthily as they feed on people. Their existence is the most carefully protected secret of the world's most powerful countries. The only ones who know they are more than just stories are those who have witnessed the bloody horror they are capable of. Scientific study of vampires has been around even before selected scientists have agreed to use a common name to refer to them.

Homo sanguineus, the bloodthirsty man, is the collective term they use for their studies. It is still up for debates that such monsters do not deserve to be called men but vampire disguise is foolproof down to their cellular structure, which means that even the inside workings of their bodies look nothing unusual until they have injuries to regenerate or blood to consume. Naming the species as something vaguely human serves as a grave reminder that their shape has been deceiving humanity for ages until vampire hunters have seen beyond what eyes could and fight back. Anything that destroys the brain before the vampire's immortal body can repair the damage will kill them. Other than that, vampires will heal from almost anything as long as they consume human blood.

In Japan, the Koancho (also called as the Public Security Intelligence Agency or PSIA) has formed the Rakukanteki Division - special operations made up entirely of vampire hunters. They take those from the top ten graduates of Koancho's training institute every year who choose to carry the burden of protecting the public from vampiric existence. These hunters are highly-trained to do undercover missions wherein they blend with the civilians in order to discreetly investigate crimes that might have been done by vampires. Their missions are top secret for anyone who is not a hunter except for the prime minister.

The Rakukanteki is split  into sections of four hunters whenever they operate on their missions. These missions are governed by precautionary steps that start with data collection and analysis, followed by dissemination of danger. Data collection and analysis must confirm their targets' identity as vampires. This confirmation must be done by entering new data into the database of the Koancho to be cross-examined with past data before being validated. Dissemination must make sure they can isolate their targets from civilians to secure public safety while not openly broadcasting about vampires. Only after this action can hunters be mobilized to engage and neutralize vampiric threats.

Formally, hunters call vampires as 'sanguines' within the headquarters to honor the name that their scientists have come up with. If around civilians, hunters call vampires with euphemisms to hide their secret reality while they talk. But, as far as the public is concerned, vampires are nothing but stories no matter what they are called. For many hunters, what they call vampires is unimportant. They have a variety of names to choose from and some of them are offensive even for the other hunters who tend to overhear.