Night Hunters

Chapter Two: Through the Trapdoor

Tamaki closed the fingers of her left hand around the hilt of her sword. "With this sword, I hereby swear to you. On my blood, my soul, my life and my blade. This life will be yours from this day forth until the day that I draw my last breath. I pledge my allegiance and loyalty to you..." Tamaki looked up, meeting Seijuro's eyes. "...My Prince."

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It had taken some serious acrobatic skills to get the unconscious Kiyoshi through the manhole and down to the sewers below without anyone dropping him. All in all, Aida Riko was very relieved when the last person went through the manhole, and the girl who had saved them earlier had closed the cover so that no one could follow them in.

The teen that had poked his head out through the manhole cover earlier had said that he'll 'go on ahead' and alert 'the others' about 'some guests arriving' or something along those lines, much to Seirin's confusion. But Riko and Hyuuga knew better than to question them, as it doesn't seem that these two are bad guys, and Riko had a feeling that they might probably be part of one of those rebel groups that are still around.

In the beginning when the king had first started turning Teiko upside down, there have been many people who weren't happy, and rebel groups were forming almost every single day. That is until the Royal Army and the Royal Guard started cracking down on them. Every single rebel group that was found and caught were executed on the spot. Now, nearly four years later, no one dared to defy the king anymore. The few rebel groups that were left have all gone into hiding.

Riko looked around her surroundings. She was surprised when they were led down into the sewers, but now that she took a good look, she saw that it is a lot cleaner than she expected, and it is properly lit. There were even wooden planks covering the areas on the ground where the sewage water runs through.

In fact, if she didn't know any better, Riko will say that the sewers looked almost live-in.

"All right." The girl from earlier leapt down to the ground lightly on her feet from the ladder on the wall that leads to the surface, turning towards Seirin. "Come with me."

Without even waiting for them to answer, she started leading the way through the tunnels, and Seirin started following her quietly, with Hyuuga and Izuki taking up the rear, supporting Kiyoshi in between them. Riko on the other hand was at the front, following the strange girl, with the rest of Seirin in between them.

The leader of Seirin then noticed the blade resting against the back of the girl, and she raised a brow. The blade was almost unusual, for it is an entirely black blade that isn't long enough to be a sword or even a katana of some sort, and neither is it short enough to be a dagger. Even the hilt is completely black, with silver moon engravings visible on it.

Just as Riko is pondering and puzzling over the strange black blade, she was then startled to realise that they've arrived at their destination.

"We've arrived."

It is a relatively large open area, resembling an underground secret base of some sort, or maybe even a small underground town or something, as there are strange looking buildings erected everywhere, and in the center of this large area are several long tables and chairs that seemed to be meant as an eating area.

Two unknown teens came hurrying up to them just then, placing Kiyoshi gently on a white stretcher that they have with them before hurrying to a nearby 'house' that has a red curtain covering the entrance, with the strange girl from earlier following them.

Seirin were all relatively stunned for several moments before their senses came back to them, and they hurried to that 'house'.

It resembles a hospital or something, with several beds, and there were even privacy curtains around. Kiyoshi was already loaded onto one of the beds where a meek-looking teen with brown hair that doesn't seem any older than them seemed to be treating Kiyoshi, and much to Riko's surprise, he seemed to know what he's doing. That black haired teen from earlier had both his hands pressed against Kiyoshi's stomach wound as the brunette was staunching the bleeding gash on Kiyoshi's chest.