Chapter Text
Church bells ringing rhythmically in the afternoon glow giving hope to all those in the village - all except for one.
A young man with beautiful lavender white hair yet dull soulless red eyes stirred awake, fluttering his eyes open, he knew that his presence was being demanded. Laying alone in a bed of bold red carnations that framed a halo like object around his head, this was his favourite resting spot, he propped himself up on his elbow when two young children approached him with uncontainable excitement.
“Mister Bunny the bells are ringing, does that mean you are gonna go on another mission!” A small girl holding a cute white stuffed rabbit spoke, her eyes a bright blue filled with life.
“Can we come with you? I want to be a vampire hunter just like you.” The boy raved while swinging a toy sword around aimlessly. The hunter was familiar with these two siblings, kind-hearted but also very naive, as much as he would like to inform him the truth of the hardships of his job he had an image to maintain thanks to the town's bishop painting him as some sort of idol - more accurately, a servant of god. A man bound by fate and nothing more.
Finally sitting himself up he beckons the children to come closer with his gentle hand. They glance at each other with caution before carefully leaning in closer, assuming Bunny had a secret to share; he suddenly lunges forward and ruffles both of their heads. The kids laughed and almost leapt back from being tricked so easily.
“Yes and no, I do have another mission as you guys heard but I can't take anyone with me, you see it's my job to keep you all safe. It's a big responsibility and it can be very difficult to keep someone you love safe from an enemy.”
The little boy puffs up his cheeks in a pout but nods, surprisingly very understanding despite their young age. Meanwhile the little girl has turned her attention to the hunter's hair, plucking out a small red carnation from his somewhat messy tufts.The child held the flower up, tilting her head. “Mister Bunny, these flowers kinda match your eyes. They're both red and pretty.”
Bunny paused but couldn't stop himself from erupting in laughter. A personal trait that he shares with no other in his small village was for once being seen in a positive light from the perspective of a child, who both admittedly didn't understand the joke but laughed along with Bunny anyway.
This blissful moment doesn't last as the children's mother stands at a distance not hiding her disgusted glare. If looks could kill, Bunny would have a brand new scar to match the many other scars he already wears, not by his own choice of course. “You're right.” He agreed after silencing his laughter. “Now if you'll both excuse me, I have to go.”
Both kids nod and wave him goodbye, running back into a loving embrace with their mother. Seeing these kids so free, so cheerful made him envious, he'd do anything to chase that long-forgotten feeling once more. A memory buried deep within suddenly reformed into his mind along with a lump that grew in his throat, burning him from the inside with jealousy, one hand covered his cross shaped scar that extended past his eye and nose, whilst the other gripping the small knife in his pocket as if it held the answers to all his questions, there was no mistaking it, seeing other joyful people…made him want to die.
A few moments passed, getting stressed over past feelings helped no one he rationalised. He took a deep breath and waited for his heart rate to drop back to normal. Bunny returned the kind gesture to the children despite the mothers disapproving glances. He huffed knowing what's to come, dragging himself towards the church making sure to be polite as can be to the hateful eyes of the people around as he was handcrafted to be a cursed savior sort of figure to them.
Pulling open the church doors the vampire hunter steps in proudly knowing he was needed - he was the best at his job afterall, but was being this irreplaceable really a blessing…or a curse.
The bishop moved towards the altar clearing his throat to project his powerful voice.
“Fate has been ordained, it is said that our scarred hunter who was born under the blood moon would be cursed to bring misfortune to all those around however thanks to the benevolence of God, the blood that flows through their very veins will be the purest of all, in which that will aid all in the never-ending battle against both evil and sin. To return the mercy of God for their own sinful existence their eternal destiny will be to slay all vampires who plague this world with their filthy inhumane presence.” His hands clenched when thinking about how vile and disgusting vampires were.
“This next message has determined that the vampire under the name Itoshi must be executed. Come forth and-”
A small smile stretched into a cheeky grin before breaking into a fit of laughter at the whole speech. “Come on, it's literally just me in here, must we go through this whole song and dance again before I get sent out to a mission? It would be much faster if we skip to the part where you tell me where to go and I-”
He reaches inside his jacket and pulls out his handgun, swinging the weapon around his fingers showcasing his incredible dexterity before catching it perfectly cocking the gun with a harsh click that echoed around the hall.
“Kill them until they return to the earth from whence they came - or something along those lines, I can never really remember.” His free hand casually rubbing the back of his neck.
“Bunny!” The bishop of the church spat out venomously, his voice reverberated in the large room. The hunter pouts, shaking their head in disapproval. “I told you before, I go by ‘Iglesias’ now, like Bunny Iglesias.” He firmly clarified.
The elder pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, clearly not a fan of the younger hunter's jovial attitude. All previous vampire hunters have been serious, focused and highly dedicated to the cause meanwhile Bunny was…
Caught mid laughter from his own name, he accidentally sets off the trigger and a stray bullet hits a large vase shattering it into a million pieces all over the marble floor. His hollow red eyes widened in momentary shock darting both left and right to find someone else to blame; however his eyes then locked on to the bishop and he quickly plastered on a false smile.
“Oh…that was on purpose, everyone here knows that I hated how ugly that pot was.” Bunny reasoned.
“That was an antique vase passed down for many generations and you carelessly destroyed it.” His gaze was unforgiving, voice cold and curt to match.
A short silence passed before Bunny followed up with a now more innocent smile. “And no one else found it ugly?”
“BUNNY IGLESIAS! I grow tired of your constant disrespect, had we not needed your attendance for this mission you would have surely needed to repent for today's actions.” His voice like thunder shook the beautiful stained glassed windows that depicted a story that Bunny no longer cared to remember.
“Okay okay, so basically I'm supposed to hunt down a high ranking vampire under the name ‘Itoshi’ and they are apparently somewhere in Japan. That doesn't really narrow things down for me but you can bet that I will find and execute him.” The talented hunter summarised.
The bishop raised a brow in expectancy.
“oh uh…your lords…man…ship…or something?”
The bishop's head fell into his hands from defeat, probably silently praying for Bunny to leave. “The correct term is ‘your excellency.’ You should know this by now.”
The vampire hunter finally had a free pass to leave the village for an extended period of time, he was most certainly not going to waste this golden opportunity. If he was lucky he could kill Itoshi and then take the rest of the time off as a vacation to stay as far away as possible from his cursed home. Talk about catching a lucky break.
Bunny turns on his heels with a not so sincere smile glued to his face. His mind chants ‘freedom, freedom, freedom.’ Over and over like a mantra.
“I expect this mission to not take you long.” The bishop rudely interrupting Bunny's train of thoughts, he forgot that despite his ties with fate he was not a very lucky man - in terms of what he wanted, suddenly Bunny felt as if he had a chain around his neck tying him down to nothing more than said fate that was bestowed upon him. He didn't dare complain or express any form of rebellion but his only saving grace was using logic as a bullet to fight back.
Without turning around his voice hardens and fires back. “Oh you found out Itoshi's actual location? Great, care to inform me.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Bunny knew the bishop had no idea where Itoshi was hiding but it was a firm reminder that his job isn't a simple one of killing, he needed to track and locate said vampire first which sometimes isn't an easy task.
“Only rumours of sightings which have been written down for you.” The bishop quietly concedes in defeat.
“Then I will check those locations first.” Bunny answered back with false joy, he found the moments of putting the elders of the village back in their place when they got a little too demanding were always entertaining.
“You'll be permitted a year, naturally we expect monthly letters of your progress.” His voice sharp as knives, leaving no room for misinterpretation unless the star hunter wanted to be dragged back home and punished for his disobedience.
Bunny felt more chains attached to him, both his wrist and his ankles felt heavy. This was a test, a mere warning to not betray his excellency. His smile didn't falter as he pushed open the door, the sunlight not showing any mercy nor aiding with his troubled mind.
Time was of the essence. He has one whole year to both find and kill ‘Itoshi’ then right after that, find a nice, calm place to kill himself.