Chapter Text
“Hey, Mika.” Someone called while shaking him. “Mika?”
Mikaela opened his eyes at the sound of his newest nickname. Hearing Yuuichirou’s voice wasn’t at all a bad way to wake up in the morning. It was better than his servant’s annoying voices, informing him he needed to fill five thousand formularies and send them to whomever.
“Good morning.” Mikaela quietly said, while looking around. There was no sight of Guren. The broken window hadn’t been fixed yet. That was good.
“Dad isn’t home. He left to meet with a weird guy called Shinya Hiiragi that wants to convince him vampires exist. I guess that was his name.” He informed as if it weren’t that important. “But! He left breakfast downstairs. Want me to bring it?”
“Vampires?” Mika tensed.
“Yeah. When we were entering the village yesterday there were two men waiting to check people. They must be crazy or something. That’s so dumb. Vampires can’t exist!”
“I don’t believe in them either.” Mikaela squeezed the blankets covering his legs uncomfortably.
If those people started believing… He’d have to find another solution than expect that they protected him, and quick.
“Right? Dad doesn’t, too. Did they ever question you?”
“Huh… They didn’t.”
“Lucky you. They’re annoying.” He complained.
There was an awkward pause. They’d never really talked much during the hours between their meeting and that moment, although supposedly they were now “friends”. Yuuichirou seemed to have difficulty at keeping conversations flowing naturally. Mikaela couldn’t blame him – he wasn’t very good dealing with people, neither with vampires, too. He often chose not to think about the fact that he already had had more than enough time to get used to it.
Yuuichirou seemed… quite lonely. Just like Mikaela.
“Are you feeling better? Do you think you can stand?”
He hoped so. He wanted to get more stable to contact Krul as soon as he could, so that living hell would end as fast as possible.
Mikaela sat on the edge of the bed.
“What time is it?”
“Around 9a.m., I guess. At least the last time I checked.”
He rose to his feet, taking a deep breathe. He was starting to think his preoccupation had been silly. If he could walk before resting, of course he’d be able to walk after sleeping for almost twenty four hours. Would one more day without blood make a difference, at that point, even?
He walked a few steps away from the messy bed.
Yuuichirou smiled. “Let’s go eat in the kitchen, then.”
As a vampire, the only thing that concretely fed him was blood. But it didn’t mean he couldn’t eat and digest human food. It wasn’t disgusting or something like that, but, for him, it had the same nutritional value that had to the humans if they chose to eat the plate instead.
“Are you feeling better?” Yuu questioned, as they climbed down the stairs.
“I am. Thank you for asking.”
“You don’t need to be so formal. It’s not like I’m the Queen…” Yuuichirou massaged the back of his neck, looking somewhat uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry.”
He felt embarrassed. Why weren’t humans as predictable as vampires? That trait was, along with his natural bloodthirst towards them, one of the major motives he found so difficult to deal with people. With vampires, the only thing he had to do was a mechanical speech, as if his tongue was a pre-programmed machine, like those new factories humans had built in their big cities. Vampires were generally proud; arrogant as if they believed the world wouldn’t be anything but a plain landscape without their existence. Most of them didn’t use to deal with humans, and among those who did, very few actually cared about the way they dealt with them. The reason behind that was probably that humans... simply didn’t make sense. None seemed to view the world the same form as another. If another vampire ever ended up in the same situation as him, they’d probably die from humiliation. Depending on a human to stay alive, even if it was only during such short period of time? Unacceptable. Mikaela, on his side, didn’t give it much importance. He was more worried about the possibility of dying; about the alarmingly high probability of their society being discovered if didn’t act fast. About the debt he hadn’t paid…
“You don’t need to apologize, either. I-I mean, we’re friends, now, right?” He stuttered shyly, unable look at him.
Mikaela opened his mouth to apologize again, but closed it quickly. Friends… He was sure he didn’t have any friends currently. There were some vampires he was kind of fond of, like Krul and a very small number servants; however… friends?
He reached the rail and used it as support. Even the small amount of sunlight coming from the entry door was now making him feel weak again. Damn star.
“Are you okay?” Yuuichirou asked concernedly, standing already downstairs, waiting for him.
Mikaela nodded. He took an embarrassingly long time to get out of the stairs, but eventually did it. Meanwhile, Yuuichirou, presumably bored, had gotten distracted by the paintings hung on the wall, fact that only made Mikaela feel worse. He approached him.
“This is from here.” Yuuichirou pointed a painting of a small house in ruins – read: a huge pile of worn stones – surrounded by pine trees and some other species Mikaela didn’t know whose names were. In the inferior corner, was written the name of the village and the year it had been painted – 1881. “Do you think this place still exists?”
Mikaela tilted his head to the side. “Who knows?”
“It seems cool.” He said. All of a sudden, a brilliant idea seemed to hit him. “Hey, Mika, do you want to come with me look for it when you get better?” He suggested excitedly.
Mikaela didn’t understand what was so fascinating about a simple place like the one portrayed in the painting. He observed Yuuichirou, trying to figure out if he was kidding or not. He randomly noted how Yuu’s hair was a weird – yet kind of charming, he must admit – combination of messy and tidy black locks.
“Wouldn’t it be fun?” He returned the gaze all of a sudden. Mikaela blushed deeply, realizing he had been staring.
“I guess it would.” He hastened to answer, without thinking.
Yuuichirou smiled. “So get better quick!” He began walking towards the kitchen, waving at Mika for him to follow him.
“I think I should contact home today.” Mika announced suddenly, sounding as if he had been waiting to say it and had just gathered enough courage now.
“Already?” Yuuichirou blinked repeatedly, surprised. “Do you think you can go outside?” He crossed his arms, his eyes seeming to evaluate Mika’s state, like a doctor at the end of a consultation.
“I am really feeling better.” Mika justified in response. “Your father said I should contact Krul as fast as I can. I think I can do it already.”
“Krul?” Yuuichirou repeated in confusion, before reaching the conclusion. “Oh. Is that your guardian’s name?”
Contradicting everything he had said, ironically, after one or two steps towards Yuuichirou, he lost control over his legs and tripped in an out of place floorboard. The only thing that stopped his back from meeting the floor was Yuuichirou’s strong and firm arm that had snaked around his waist on time.
“Are you sure you’re feeling well? You seem pretty tired to me.” He tilted his head to the side. His eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. And you’re so cold. I’m not sure if going outside is a good idea. I left for a bit to take around here and almost froze.
“I can take my cloak. It’s warm.” He suggested. He absolutely had to convince Yuuichirou to let him leave.
Yuuichirou observed him sceptically. “Dad told me you shouldn’t leave until your health is more stable.”
“He also said I should contact her as soon as I could.” Mikaela replied, hopeful. “I can ask her to send medicine.”
“But we can buy it here.”
“It’s… homemade. It always makes me feel a lot better when I’m sick.”
Yuuichirou stared at him for a few seconds, as if he were trying to figure out if his was telling the truth or if his justification was a mere lame excuse.
“Huh…” Mikaela looked at him, a little uncomfortable. Yuuichirou had casually kept his arm around him. He admitted it felt good – Yuuichirou’s body was warm, like humans usually were. However, he couldn’t allow this type of physical contact become frequent – what if he discovered that, regardless his “health”, he’d always be as cold as ice? It had already been a mistake let the humans notice his low body temperature before. But that one time had been unavoidable, since, at the time, he was, well, unconscious.
“What?” He asked, caught by surprise. Then he realized. “Oh. Sorry!” He quickly moved away. “Come on; let’s have breakfast.” He changed the topic, his tone almost singing.
“I suppose you aren’t allowing me to leave today.” Mikaela only hoped his frustration hadn’t been transmitted through his voice.
“It’s more like we need to hurry. The sky is cloudy; it must be raining soon. I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel like taking a cold bath.”
“So we’re going, after all?”
“Isn’t it what you wanted?” Yuuichirou appeared surprised by his question.
“No, it is!” Mikaela hurried to answer. He didn’t understand why his words had been followed by a slight chuckle coming from the other boy. “Thank you, Yuuichirou.”
“I told you that you can simply call me Yuu.”
“Yuu.” Mikaela corrected. It didn’t sound bad. He guessed he could get used.
A smile appeared on Yuu’s lips. “Right, Mika.”
Mikaela glanced at the mirror in the hallway’s wall before leaving. Yuu had forced him to wear his wool jacket and coat under his cloak. His ponytail was half loose, due to changing position during his sleep. He pulled the bow holding what remained out of his hair and put it inside his pocket. He looked ridiculous, but, at the moment, that was the least important.
The wind was cutting, cold; threatening to rip out the smaller trees from the ground and defoliate the tallest.
“Now, where’s the police station?” Yuu questioned him.
Mikaela pointed to the right with his arm, too busy trying to keep his cloak’s hood on his head to talk.
Yuu laughed. “You seem to be having some trouble.” He said, observing Mikaela sighing as he gave up.
“All these layers of clothing don’t make it easier.” Mikaela defended himself.
“Sorry for that.”
“You don’t need to apologize. We’re friends, now, right?” He impersonated Yuu, somewhat amused, stopping by his side.
Yuu stuttered some incomprehensible words, his cheeks flushed.
“I-I didn’t mean it that way…” Mikaela catch from Yuu’s monologue.
Yuu followed him shut for a while, until he broke the silence.
“How old are you?” He hadn’t been able to control his curiosity.
“I am eighteen.”
Indeed he was. If he were a human. But he was a human, now. Right?
“Me too!” He informed excitedly. “I mean, my birthday will be within a two weeks, but it counts, right?”
“When is your birthday?” Mikaela questioned. He wasn’t very interested (that was one of the reasons he was so bad at conversations: he didn’t get curious about other people’s matters often). But everything, even small talk, was better than keep thinking about how screwed he was.
Everything was going to be alright. He was about to contact Krul, after all.
“16th.”
They were already in October. He had started his trip to Ferid’s castle in September. Great.
He wondered why and how a police station existed in a village like that, situated in the middle of nowhere. Although it was more populated than it seemed to have capacity too, it still wasn’t much people and it seemed quite antiquated.
He read the sign hung on the façade of the building, right next to the entry door.
Hiiragi Law and Security Complex
So it wasn’t exactly a police station. He was ready to knock when he noticed Yuu had stopped in front of the sign.
“I don’t read anything in a… long time.” Yuu justified himself, looking really embarrassed, when he noted Mikaela’s gaze.
He knew how to read. He had learnt when he still lived in the city. He used to have particular classes at home – and he’d always found them extremely boring. The years he had passed in the countryside, he’d spent all his time working in the fields with Guren and travelling to fairs to sell what they had produced. He hoped Guren wouldn’t discover about his difficulty. The last thing he wanted now to have more particular lessons.
The door was open. A young man, although obviously older than Yuuichirou, appeared in front of them. He was tall and slender and had short dark hair and blue eyes. Right after, another man with a shorter stature than the previous one, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and slightly tanned skin appeared next to him.
Mikaela had to force himself, once more, to think about how it wouldn’t take long to get blood again, in an attempt to control his growing thirst, revived by those two humans’ presences.
“Hm. Good morning.” Yuu said awkwardly, after a period of silence, noticing Mika’s discomfort and light alienation.
“What do you want, kids?” The shorter man spoke grumpily. His companion stepped on his feet on purpose. He cursed in a low voice.
“Good morning.” The man greeted. “I’m Shuusaku and this is Narumi. “What can I do for you?”
“I… My friend needs to make a call.” Yuu explained. “Do you have a phone here?”
“We do. You’re new here? Come in.” Shuusaku invited.
There wasn’t any need to say it twice. As soon as he could, Yuu made his way to inside the building, running from the cold.
It was a small space with walls covered by simple wood panels. There was a door that leaded to, probably, some kind of storage room. In a corner, there was a tight compartment with a phone hanging on the wall.
“Feel free to use it.” Shuusaku pointed in its direction.
Mikaela took a while to understand that somebody was talking to him. He was petrified. Hiiragi. Yuuichirou had mentioned that name earlier in the morning. Could it be…? If it was… That place should serve as…
His brain started working insanely faster. The air suddenly seemed to become colder, as if someone had decided to extinguish the fire in the fireplace. The atmosphere suddenly became suffocating. That place probably served as…
He didn’t even want to imagine what might be behind that closed door.
He nodded quietly and walked towards the compartment.
Ridiculous. A so physically superior creature like a vampire, cringing before the possibility of two still disarmed and weak humans attacking him.
He stared at the telephone. He had to admit that invention has come to turn out quite useful. He hoped with all his remaining forces that Krul hadn’t gotten rid of her residence’s phone that she had bought a human for mere curiosity. It was also thanks to her curiosity that he had learnt how to use it.
He was glad humans often had those sparks of creativity.
For a moment, there was no audible sound.
“Hello.” He spoke.
Please, be Krul, he begged in silence.
He heard a bump, as if the person in the other side was puzzled about how to use the device.
“Mikaela?” A somewhat pitchy voice pronounced slowly. A tone of perplexity was evident in it.
“Krul?” He dumbly responded. As if he needed confirmation. It was her, without doubt.
“It is really you...” She sounded as if she was trying to assimilate that she was talking with him. “What happened?” Her tone changed suddenly. “Where are you calling me from?”
“I am in a village in the north. You probably do not know it. It is a long history.” He lowered his voice.
“Tell me.” She demanded. “Ferid Bathory appeared here last night complaining that I have not been providing him information about our society’s matters. You never went there. You always fulfil your duties. What went wrong?
Mikaela knew she was trying to control herself, although it was hard to hide the rage in her voice. She must be angry at what had happened, although he highly suspected she was even angrier at the fact that she had to endure with Ferid Bathory annoying the hell out of her during more than five minutes.
Mikaela summarized the situation, being careful with his language usage, since there were three humans in the same division he was. It hadn’t been easy to put it in other words, so the conversation occurring between the two men and Yuuichirou was very convenient.
“That is very serious. Are you sure about what you are saying? That there are humans aware of our existence?”
He was waiting to be very severely scolded. After all, he had violated the security and safety rules she had established. He only remembered a time she sounded like that – a time when Ferid Bathory had “accidentally” (it had been obviously on purpose, but there were no evidences) let his castle’s livestock run away. Luckily, they had found them. But what if they hadn’t?
“I do not know idea of what else it could be. They went after me with weapons, the exact weapons that could cause damage to us. They are questioning whoever that tries to enter the village. They make turns, especially at night. They may not know much, but they surely know something.” He almost whispered.
She didn’t answer. He heard another bump from the other side, as if something had been broken. There were voices in the background.
“Silence. I am busy.” Krul hissed to someone.
“Krul.” Mikaela called. “I am so sorry. I… I will take all the responsibility for this. I-“
“I have something better for you to do.” She didn’t let him finish. “I was not going to ask you, specifically, to do this. But since you want to cover this… Since I know you wish to pay me so desperately…”
Mikaela tightened his grip around the handset. He wished it wasn’t true; that he was desperate to pay what he owed her. He wished he could be content by simply being alive, like every other vampire. Every vampire lived for themselves. They lived because of the taste of the blood they drank, because of the luxurious lives they earned by simply staying quiet and not troubling the society. Mikaela… In a certain manner, he lived for himself as well. He wanted to clear his debt, so he could live in peace. But for what would he live for after making through it? For the same his peers did? The picture of living without a purpose… He was unable to see himself living like that for a literal eternity.
“…I want you to stay in there, right where you are, and join those vampire hunters and tell me everything you discover about them.” She announced.