Disclaimer: If I owned it, it would be even weirder than it already is. Bless it. So, no, I don't own it. ;.;

Rating: Argh. Shall we say about a PG-13 for now? Might (probably will) change, so please check the rating each chapter. Don't wanna be sued by some angry parent now, do I? No.

Warnings: Kinda dark, bit angsty, shounen-ai both hinted and clear later on… Check back here each chapter!

Summary: Yukimura Seiichi doesn't know just how far he'll have to go in the name of demon hunter when he comes across a sadistic Vampire shrouded in enigma.

-.-; … God, I suck at summaries.

Author's notes: Well, a week or two ago I came up with a ridiculously complicated plot which I tried to do, before realising that it wouldn't be very good unless there was a prequel-type thing that lets you know more about the characters and what happened beforehand. So here's my prequel concerning two of the characters: Yukimura Seiichi and one of my favourite characters. You'll see who later. I promise it'll get better as it goes on… I'm not all that good at atmospheric stuff and tend to try too hard -.-; so I apologise in advance for that. I'm not that experienced with this writing style. Please bear with me :)

Dedicated to Linc, who is wonderful and whom I love. ;D

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There were really only three things that Yukimura Seiichi could honestly say he hated. One was the remnants of the demons that still roamed the world. They were probably the things he hated with the strongest passion.

The second was fire. At five years of age, Seiichi had been forced to watch his parents burn slowly to death in their family's orchard. The experience had left him completely mute for the better part of two years, but he'd been born with the preordained gifts of the demon hunter and had one of the strongest minds and will in the entire human race. He recovered, and dedicated his young life to destroying the evils of the world. The third… well, he never talked about it.

His aunt and uncle watched sadly over him as their beloved nephew trained his childhood away. They didn't interfere, but it was always obvious that they weren't happy with the way he forced himself to grow up far faster than a child ever should.

On his sixteenth birthday, he left the small town of Kurokuma and began to travel the world alone. He promised his aunt, uncle and younger sister Yuriko that he'd come back every few months, but now, two and a half years later, he never had.

Yukimura abandoned his given name, Seiichi, and carried his family name with pride. The dark creatures of the world all knew the name of Yukimura, and left everyone with that name well alone.

Now, it was late autumn. The past he'd left behind him was currently the furthest thing from Yukimura's mind as he crouched motionless in the shadow of a tree.

Next to him was a nervous, fidgeting figure. He was looking anxiously about him and licking his lips. Shifting closer to the demon hunter, he whispered, "Can I go now, please? You don't need me here, right? I'll probably just get in the way…"

Yukimura didn't answer. The man's shoulders slumped resignedly and he stayed where he was.

They stayed like that for a good three minutes in almost total silence.

Suddenly, startling the poor man next to him, Yukimura stood up. He tucked his hands inside his pockets to warm them up, and looked thoughtfully through the dark trees ahead of them. "I think that's enough for tonight," he said quietly. "Thank you for your help, Arai-san."

"Oh, um… that's it?" Arai scrambled upright thankfully.

"For tonight. I'll come back tomorrow. Don't worry, Arai-san, I can remember the way."

Arai looked pitifully relieved, and Yukimura cast him an amused glance before turning and walking back towards the dim lights of the village in the distance.

Trying not to make too much noise, Arai followed behind. He looked admiringly at the silhouette of the demon hunter, wishing he knew more about him.

Yukimura had arrived at the village by the forests two days ago. He'd been dressed in the clothes he wore now – a plain brown traveller's cloak that covered a dark shirt and trousers which matched his hair in colour. His boots had been caked in mud and leaves; he told the inquisitive children that he'd been walking through the rainstorm that had happened the day before.

He'd been very polite, calling everyone, even the children, 'san' and thanking people for the least things. He was almost too well-mannered, especially considering the slight accent in his voice that told them that he came from the crude Southern towns.

Arai had been very wary of him at first. It was his eyes – they were disturbingly sharp, with a cool quality that never changed, even when he smiled. But over the couple of days, Arai had finally worked up the nerve to ask him how he came to be here.

"I'm a demon hunter," Yukimura had said mildly, which wasn't really a surprise. Most of the small village had seen the peculiar-looking weaponry and items that he carried with him, and come to their own conclusions. "I'm hunting a Vampire that was supposed to have come this way."

"There's a Vampire in the woods," chipped in one of the villagers. "Arai saw it last week, didn't you?"

"Oh, did I? Well, yes, I did, but… I mean… I don't really know if it was a Vampire or not. It looked like a Vampire, but…"

Yukimura saved him from any further embarrassment. "I'll look into it for you. Might kill two birds with one stone, hmm? Whereabouts did you see it?"

"I'll show you," Arai promised rashly, grateful to be not so much in an uncomfortable spotlight.

He'd kept his promise, however much he wished he hadn't made it in the first place. They'd been crouching in silence for several hours, ever since dusk, apparently watching or waiting for something.

Likewise, the journey back to Arai's village was carried out in silence. Yukimura had that thoughtful look on his face, and Arai didn't dare interrupt whatever he might be thinking.

They arrived back at the village half an hour later, and after wishing Arai a polite 'goodnight', Yukimura headed towards the Elder's house, where he was staying.

"Ah, Yukimura-san," the Elder greeted him from his chair by the fireplace. "Did you have a productive night?"

"Very," Yukimura answered, smiling. He liked the Elder, with his intelligent smile and his kind face. "I'll be going back tomorrow night too, and possibly the night after if I need to. I'm sorry to inconvenience you for that long, but…"

"Oh, no, no," the Elder said firmly, waving a hand. "No inconvenience at all. In fact, it's good to have someone staying in my son's room again. You know, he was about your age when he died. How old are you? Nineteen?"

"Eighteen and a half, sir," Yukimura nodded.

"Ah, yes." A wistful look crossed the Elder's face. Yukimura watched it in silence for a moment, then gave a small bow.

"If you'll excuse me, sir, I'd like to retire now."

"Hmm? Oh, of course. Goodnight. I'm sure our village feels safer now that we have you staying with us," nodded the Elder. Yukimura smiled and headed for the little flight of stone steps.

The night had indeed been very useful. During the entire time he and Arai had been in the forest, Yukimura hadn't heard a single sound from birds or animals living in the forest. Only a Vampire or some sort of devastating epidemic would cause every single one of them to move away. There were a couple of demons that Yukimura could think of which might have the same effect, but as far as he knew, they were dead. One of them definitely was, anyway; Yukimura had killed it himself.

With a sigh, the demon hunter unloaded the majority of the weapons he'd had concealed about his person, keeping just a dagger in a spring-loaded sheath hidden on his left forearm and a small wooden charm looped around his right wrist. He flexed his shoulders with a slight wince.

"That'll hurt in the morning," he muttered resignedly. They ached from staying in the same, slightly hunched position during the time in the forest.

Well, it couldn't be helped. If you were going to rid the world of evil incarnate, then you could expect a good few aches and pains from time to time.

Some movement on the ground outside his window caught Yukimura's eye. Curious, he walked over to the grubby window, peering through it.

Below, there were several people, a family by the looks of it, each carrying a basket of grass and various plants. Yukimura guessed that they were for the goats and pigs kept penned on the other side of the village. He watched the family until they rounded a building and disappeared from sight, then lowered his gaze to the windowsill he was leaning on. Someone watching him would have seen a somewhat regretful, lonely look linger on his features.

Slowly, he went back to the little bed and knelt beside it, bowing his head for the prayers he did every night.

"These are good people," he whispered. "They're honest and hardworking. I won't let the monster in the forest hurt any of them. I promise.

"May my village stay safe and well. Please watch over Yuriko and my aunt and uncle. Please let them know how sorry I am that I can't go back to them until every single dark creature has been eradicated. And may okaasan and otousan be happy in the world after death."

Prayers finished, he rose and took of his cloak, shirt and boots. He generally just slept in his trousers, with the dagger sheath and the charm.

Yawning a little, he pulled the blankets over himself and lay on his back, blinking at the ceiling before closing his eyes and drifting into the arms of sleep. He could hardly wait for tomorrow night – he hadn't managed to kill any demons or Vampires in the last month and was looking forward to the prospect of getting one within the next couple of days.

Of course, even demon hunters need a good night's sleep if they wanted to be productive.

"G'night…" he murmured sleepily to the world in general, before truly falling asleep.

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You should know most of these, but of course not everyone does, so I'm putting some of the Japanese words up here in case you're not sure what they mean.

Okaasan: Mother

Otousan: Father

San: Honorific generally given to people older/higher in status than yourself.

Kurokuma: Black bear

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Sandy: Eh. Hmm. Well. Experimenting with different writing styles didn't turn out as good as I thought it might… Like I said, you'll have to bear with me. Sorry!

Also, I know this chapter isn't very long. With any luck, they'll get a bit longer! But only if I have the inspiration –blatant hinting and begging for reviews-

-Becomes even more obvious- Please review! Long, rambly reviews always rock my world, but even just a few words is good. And constructive criticism/honesty is always, always appreciated, as are suggestions and questions! Thanks, see you next chapter+.+