Clothed in casual wear that was stolen from the kurokumo's with a new addition of boots stolen from fixers of fanghunt office, the second kindred made his way through the backstreets, walking at a steady pace towards the workshop, which if memory served me correctly, was just a few more minutes of walking away.
''.....Mmph...'' And yet, a stiffness still permeated throughout my entire body. Not quite oppressive, but annoying nonetheless. Scratching the back of the neck seemed to calm it slightly, so most of the short little walk was spent doing that.
I still had to overcome the base instincts of a rat, it was only natural for me to be afraid of a big shot syndicate like the thumb, I've only been a bloodfiend for about a week after all, which was mildly unnerving on account of how used to this I'd gotten in such a short period of time.
This was just my life now, drinking people and taking care of the wants and desires of a literal man-child. Not like there was any room for complaining, I'd take this over constant paranoia any day of the week.
Or month.
Or year.
It still did not make the first kindred who roped me into this any more tolerable however.
Guess that explains why these walks seem so appealing to me, small necessary reprieves from the endless dotting presence of father. The sun annoyed my eyes but the blissfulness of quiet drowned out that unpleasant sensation.
The small crowds that were walking around during this time of day were mostly just people trying to get to work, the occasional group of rats and thugs would catch my eye every now and then but it was mostly just ordinary folk anywhere I looked.
One might think this to be a blessing, I mean, it wouldn't kill me, but that didn't mean getting whacked in the back of the head by a rat wouldn't hurt.
Sadly, bigger fish were in need of frying.
'Oi, hold on, is that him!?'
'No no it can't be, he's too short, every story said he was freakishly tall'
'Y-you sure? H-he matches the description, might be his kid or something. The neighbors said they saw two figures that night...''
'Damnit don't say that out loud! Just put some distance if you're that scared.'
Two men in ordinary clothes were murmuring something along those lines, quite easy to hear them, maybe it was the enhanced senses or maybe they just talked really loud, staying true to his words, one of the men made a clear effort to walk as far away from me as possible.
Rumors were spreading, didn't exactly strike mas the most surprising thing, rumors and word of mouth were how every urban myth was formed. Only natural for people to be afraid of whatever killed the local syndicate, as much as it annoys me to say it, the kurokumo clan does keep even worse ones out.
While I am understanding of all of this, it still mildly ticked me off to see every person in front of me during this short walk take around 20 steps to the side upon noticing me.
Whatever, the workshop was visible from here, time to get those clothes and spend the rest of my time playing-
DING
''Tch-'' I looked down at my pocket where the phone was, clearly peeved even further, forgot about that...dangit.
Took the thing out of my pock-
''SERIOUSLY!? 82 UNREAD MESSAGES!? I'VE BEEN AWAY FOR 10 MINUTES!''
Several bystanders had turned their heads to look at me, standing there in the street and looking down at a phone screen, vein throbbing on my forehead, picturesque depiction of anger in all honesty, can't blame them, I did look quite insane.
The source of all those messages was ''Proud_Father25'', truly, it would take intellectuals on par with wing researchers to decipher who the fuck that could be.
''Father for....fuck's....GAH!....Might as well get to responding....'' I muttered to myself, tapping away at the screen.
Every message was a slog to read trough, so unnecessarily verbose...
And they were all strangely similar, like echoes of one another, the first twenty was him bragging about cleaning the apartment, honestly, good, if it wasn't for the fact the other 61 was him continuously begging for praise and attention.
Number 82 was an exception, reading as follows.
'I was once naive, unknowable to the horrors of the city, but the cold hard truth of reality comes to all, the forces of evil prevail yet again today, even as they are desperately clawed back by fingers of my very own, it has been 482 seconds since mine dearest of kindred had responded, my heart has become as cold as ice, with all the integrity and strength of bedrock, so that it will not be broken once more, with every passing millisecond I fear for your life with even more fervor, but the thought of mine dearest merely ignoring me rings an even truer fear within this chest of mine, yours truly'
''...''
''Sigh''
'Father I'm here -_-'
'MINE KINDREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED :DDDDDD'
I put the phone back where it belonged, and just chose to ignore the oncoming mass of notifications...where does he even get the energy for this?
Didn't matter, didn't care, workshop was right there, that large sign hanging overhead making it impossible to be mistaken for anything else.
Approaching the door, two light taps of my knuckles were made against the hard metal, rattling it slightly.
A brief pause and silence echoed, before a female voice from inside responded.
''Come in~!''
The door opened with a small creak, and I just stepped inside.
It was slightly different since last time, looked like a proper workshop now, racks of weapons and gadgets lining the racks and shelves placed on the walls, mostly consisting of blades.
Even as a layperson, something about them screamed high quality to me, but what especially caught my eye was a much more ornate looking display case propped right above the main desk, holding a sword that looked a degree above the rest.
It was a...hwando? I think..?
But, I'm not here for that, so I approached the main desk, where a woman was leaning back on her chair, feet propped up on the table, engrossed in a newspaper and rattling off the same dribble given to presumably every visitor of the workshop.
''Welcome to Renza Bladeworks, how may I help-''
Quickly trailing off upon noticing me.
''Oh.'' She took her feet off the table and closed the newspaper. ''It's you.''
''In the flesh.'' I waved the phone lazily with my hand. ''Received the notification too, I'm here for those clothes.''
The woman leaned forwards for a brief moment, raking me up and down with her gaze as if appraising.
''Damn, good thing you came, you really need them...''
''The hell's that supposed to mean...''
''It means exactly what you think it does.'' She stood up from her office chair and began walking towards the door stationed in the back.
Marginally ticked off I decide to ask ''Aren't you the one meant to be treating me with a little more respect here...?''
''Oh please~ That's for paying customers only, pay-ing, present tense, you're just here to pick them up.'' And receive that as a response
...In all honesty, fair point.
''Still, thank you for that order~ much appreciated!'' She shot me a wink from over her shoulder, that was something at least.
Then, the woman took a deep breath, air filling her lungs.
''RENZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA''
Shortly afterwards, she began banging on the metal backdoor with surprising strength, unbefitting of someone her status and size.
''GET THE FUCK OUT HERE YOU LAZY BUM!'' Throwing obscenities at your coworker...interesting business model.
A loud groan from inside followed, accompanied by very annoyed mumbling and somehow even more annoyed footsteps, the woman just walked past me and went back to that desk, propped her feet up again, and started reading the newspaper as if nothing happened.
As for me, I stood there watching the door creak open, revealing a familiar face, still with that headband tied around his head, looking much dirtier this time.
''...Just you huh?'' He muttered, leaning against the doorframe.
''Yeah, just me. Now hand it over.''
''...''
Renza's lips pressed into a thin line, squinting down at me, before reluctantly sighing and throwing a hand over his shoulder.
''Haah~, fine, come 'ere''
I saw no good reasons on why I shouldn't follow, so I just did.
Out of all the places in the workshop, this one was just the way I remembered, heavy machinery all around, parts neatly organized on a table in the far corner with a strong smell of oil tainting the air.
Made me cough from how bad it was...this stuff's got to be some form of health hazard.
Rubbing at my sore throat, my attention became placed on Renza once more, looking through various boxes and piles for the clothes he had made for me.
His hands were noticeably more scarred than last time, but even I could tell those cuts and bruises could only be obtained through making mistakes while sewing...poor guy.
''...''
The silence was painfully awkward, just me, the rustle of my own clothes, and the even louder rustling of Renza looking through boxes while muttering ''Where is it!'' To himself repeatedly.
''...Uh'' So, I tried making small talk
''WHAT!?''
''....''
''Uhhhhhhhhhhh, nothing'' Something about his tone tipped me off that he wasn't in the mood for chitchat, just a small hint you know?
Renza gave me a once over before returning back to his search with a ''Tch- Thought so.''
Thankfully that silence was short-lived, as Renza finally stopped his rummaging, having found what he was looking for, taking out a bundle of neatly wrapped clothes and tossing them over to me, caught with a small grunt.
''There'' He dusted his hands off. ''Now leave, I got a special client waiting for me and I swear to the head if you mess this up-''
Before that last word had left his mouth, the front door swung open.
''Shit-''
''Uh, dude-''
''SHUT UP!''
Renza practically bolted it out the door, leaving me standing there in silence and complete confusion, looking at the door mildly puzzled.
''...Whatever.'' With my attention turning to the clothes, they were somehow even better than expected, as much as he hates sewing he clearly did a great job at it, a robe made from dark grey fabric with an exposed neckline and minor detailing on the wrists.
It'll wait till I have to get home to put it on though...this wasn't exactly a good place.
''....''
And besides, curiosity was killing the bloodfiend here, who could have possibly just entered the workshop.
Deciding to take matters into my own hands, I slowly crept up towards the door, peeking past the frame to look into the more well-lit area of the workshop.
I could clearly hear something being disassembled off the wall, with both the woman and Renza nowhere in sight.
The guest though...was in sight.
Slicked back green hair, donning a white coat with a black tie and golden accent, paired with a sheepish expression on his face, rubbing awkwardly at the back of his neck and holding out...
Something? A fixer license I think...
''The hell is-''
My eyes shot open upon reading the information written on it.
'HANA ASSOCIATION WEST SECTION 4, GRADE 1 FIXER'