Chapter Text
-Part One-
Yuichiro stared longingly at the rippling water down at the bottom of the wishing well, whispering a wish he knew would never come true.
A gentle breeze drifted through his hair, cooling his skin and irritating his bright green eyes. Though, perhaps his eyes weren’t so bright anymore.
Lively trees surrounded him, shadowing the edges of the clearing. The blue sky shimmered beautifully, colorful butterflies danced around him, the lovely sound of birds cheerfully singing in the distance, and it was all right in front of a less beautiful, and very less charming boy, reserved just for him. Yuichiro loved this place. Only here could he feel special, could he feel wanted. It was his escape, in a wonderful meadow painted in flowers of all colors, it made even Yuichiro stand out, who was dull and sad, just like all of the other peasants, he blended in perfectly with them, but here, his true, complex self could be seen.
He pulled away from the old stone walls of the well, and gently fell back, landing in a patch of bright daffodils, purples, and blues that seem to bring out his true shimmering colors from his painfully gray self. Yuichiro stared up at the sky, dappled with pure white clouds, looking almost as fluffy as he felt when he finally got the rare chance to lay here alone with no one around to shoo away something as repulsive as him, as to not taint the meadows’ beauty.
He turned to admire an exquisite tulip, shining an unmistakably rare pastel blue. He felt his heart thumping loudly in his chest as he grew excited over such a find. The ever-lasting aches in his heart vanishing for just a few moments before he would be dragged back down into the ugly waters of the empty sea of melancholy had always been drowning in.
His soul was pure, and deep down, very kind and hopeful for love. Though to others, he was just a filthy cottage boy, mindlessly rude and untrusting. No one had ever taken the time to try to get a glimpse of who Yuichiro truly was, and for that, the young boy could not be blamed.
Maybe, if someone with a heart as kind as his own tried to warm his ice-cold self, touched him lovingly and gently, they would understand. They would see what was truly special about him and cast aside what made him who the world thought he was.
Yuichiro knew that he was uncared for and unwanted better than anyone, though he could not help to wish for a friend, someone who cared for him, loved him, and someone who he could love too. Of course, this person did not exist, and they probably never would, but still, he hoped.
Yuichiro closed his eyes, taking a moment to enjoy the peaceful silence. He felt a butterfly land on his shoulder, and he smiled to himself. He stayed there, so relaxed that he almost fell asleep, lost in his comfort, until he heard a gunshot in the distance, and booming voices calling out to one another authoritatively.
Yuichiro flinched, and fear quickly overtook him, jumpstarting his senses. He didn’t want to be found here, for he feared they would be offended that he was in their path with a smile on his face, that he had strayed away from home, and as what they spoke within ear-shot of him, left an ugly mark on what was so exquisite and pretty. He jumped up and took off in the other direction, the way back to the cottage.
Running through the lush and full forest, he nearly fell multiple times, tripping over the vines and stray branches. Slowly, the scenery grew less and less enchanting, until he was eventually running through a dirty, polluted patch of woods.
After several minutes down a trail he knew as his reflection, he saw the place he called his home, a small and crumbling little house. It was inherited from his grandfather. His mother being a 17th-century whore with little source of income other than that of prostitution which never did her well, was happy to move into it despite the structure not being suited for human life, much less a young child.
He rushed into the stone brick house, with a wooden roof that had long begun to rot and cave in, and pulled the nearly broken door shut, trying to be as quiet as possible as he did not want to alert his mother. He returned to his mostly empty room and crawled to the corner which lay on the floor some old rags and clothes that he slept on.
This was his every day. Sitting here in his corner quietly and wishing he was dead. No, his life wasn’t especially bad, there were many like him, miserable and poor, eating whatever he could get his hands on, even if that meant garbage. Yet he hated it. He was incapable of being appreciative of his situation because even though he was not the only one, it was next to impossible to have it worse than he did, and every other peasant knew that. That’s why he blended in so well, it was because he was like all the others, suffering horribly and acknowledging it.
It was a lovely spring day, warm and bright, yet somehow something inside him still felt as cold as winter, that feeling never drifted, no matter how hot it was. He ran, he ran, many many times. Away from his solitude, away from his endless sorrow, yet everywhere he went, it followed him and tore him down again, and no soul alive desired him to be happy.
Once or twice, maybe even three times, he wished for death over living a pointless and downcasted life. He made a plan, got ready, prepared, but in the end, he backed away and chose to continue living. All because somewhere deep in his stone-like heart, he thought that maybe one day someone would show themselves that they didn't want him to die, that they would have to cry and suffer over his own selfish decision, and all because they got to close to him. Someone would come that would show him what it means to love, teach him to trust, make him smile. Yes, something as childish as that was what kept him here. That depressing fact even disappointed him sometimes.
Yuichiro peeked out the dusty windowsill, which of course was not built with glass, as that was a luxury, observing the area outside of his cottage, and the fluffy lambs that wandered around within the boundaries of the small pin that kept them in their property. Something he had to have seen a million times, yet still, his dull eyes lit up when thinking of all the fun things he could do in the limited space, away from town, away from everyone that looked down upon him. Even so, he couldn’t just do those things so carefree, not with his mother that would grow violent if he made too much noise or proved to be a nuisance. Being called a demon child by her whenever she saw the chance was enough, he didn’t need the bruises and cuts to go along with it. He never understood why his mother hated him so much, what he did to make her think he was this horrid, cunning, filthy sinner that she saw of him.
All he could do was learn to become invisible.
Yuichiro watched the stream next to his house flutter and ripple, drawing in frogs and small fish. It was calming to him, how peaceful it looked, almost as if the clear water was never disrupted when he found himself with his head being held down in the water for agonizing periods of time.
He realized, looking at the sun hanging low in the sky, that in an hour or two, it would grow dark, and his mother would grow angry at him for disregarding his duty to buy carrots and apples from the supermarket. Yuichiro quickly rose to his feet and tiptoed to the kitchen where his basket would be sitting on the table, noticing his mother in a chair, staring down at the floor and not meeting his eyes, the dark bangs of her long hair covering her gaze.
Yuichiro chose not to even acknowledge her existence, fearing that she would get mad if he spoke and collecting his woven basket and old, raggedy hooded cape he always wore in public, throwing it over his shoulders he headed out into town.
Yuichiro wobbled down the side of the dirt road, taking light steps and trying his best to remain unnoticed. Many other people surrounded him, some young, like himself, and some old and wrinkled after years and years of surviving in this unforgiving and unfair world. Most here were peasants, wandering around in search of something that this town had to offer, in hope of finding even a little happiness... or simply cradling in a pile of old and dirty blankets off to the side of the road because they just didn’t have anywhere else to go. Of course, not everyone was so unlucky, there were the rich, draped in lovely fabrics and silk, skirts flowing around their hips, and fine dress shirts pulled over their chests. Yuichiro hated those people.
The small boy was staring at the ground, refusing to look up at the mess of a village. His basket held tightly between his fingers, he hid his face in the hood, and most of his body was covered, his vision was restricted, but he deemed his disability worth not having to fully take in his surroundings, as he knew where he was going anyway. He placed one foot in front of the other, careful not to collide with something or someone, but in the end, his precautions were in vain, because before he could catch himself, he tripped over his poorly tied shoelaces to his small boots, and down he went.
He closed his eyes quickly, waiting for the force of falling to the cold, dirt ground and the pain to follow, but he was hit with something a tad bit too early, and that something didn’t feel at all like the ground he was walking on. He slowly opened his eyes, and to his horror, he was met with a tall woman in a large, puffy dress and an uncomfortable-looking petticoat, and she did not look happy.
The woman’s cold red eyes glared at him, her long blond hair tied in a big ponytail swayed in the wind as she raised her hand in the air threateningly. Yuichiro fell back onto the real ground this time as he felt his heart jump, getting ready for a hard slap to the face. Just as she swung her hand down a booming sound could be heard in the distance, stopping her in her tracks as she paused and looked over to the direction of the distant sound.
There, about twenty meters away or so stood the vampire nobles, and alongside them, the royal family in all their feared and hated glory. The sound came from the thundering king kicking a young boy similar to Yuichiro into the ground all the while screaming at him and watching with a sickly smile on his face as blood splattered everywhere as the boy was beaten to death. His long silver hair shook with his jagged movements and his scarlet eyes beamed with stomach-twisting sadistic pleasure as he gazed down at the ruined child growing colder and his screams growing quieter.
Yuichiro’s eyes widened at the sickening sight, for a brief moment he forgot his pain as he witnessed the red slowly paint more and more of the ground he lay on. The woman glanced down at him with confliction before clicking her tongue and spitting at him, then turning away to join the rest of the royalty.
Yuichiro couldn’t force his eyes away from the sight until the King smiled to himself looking satisfied and walking away, leaving the fresh corpse on the road and stepping onto his carriage with his family and riding off. One of his three sons looked back at the body with a saddened frown but undeniably empty eyes filled with little emotion, but a distant loathing somewhere behind his desensitized and dispassionate gaze.
The boy’s wavy, champagne blond locks fell over his pale face, gently flowing in the wind. His icy blue eyes lingered for a moment longer before looking away, returning to the faces of his twin brothers staring at each other looking amused.
The royal family, a feared bunch. The rarely existing vampires, all royalty by default, rule over this world and everyone in it. There are multiple royal families across the world and all marry into each other, never ever allowing the blood of a human to intercept with their family line. Here in England, the Tepes, which have recently become the Bathorys a year or two before Yuichiro was born, rule over everything.
Though the vampires are born, live, and die the same way everyone else is, with their superior strength and blood-red eyes that feed on the innocent, they have maintained rulership over centuries upon centuries. They are blessed to get to live such lavish lives above all else, to be able to prance around in flowy dresses and shiny leather shoes, Yuichiro thinks. He, like many, hates the royal family, but would never think to stand up against them. Sometimes, he gets the urge to run up to one of them and beat the ever-living shit out of them, he knows all too well he will be quickly overpowered, and then brought to a slow, agonizing death, and no one will help him.
Yuichiro looked back to the boy who had just been beaten to death, only to find what looked like his mother crying and screaming over his corpse. The child’s black hair covered his bloodied face, and most of everything else had turned into a messy pile of flesh that he knew nobody would clean up. Something broke within him the moment he saw the poor woman, but he couldn’t afford to just sit there and mourn for her, as he needed to quickly buy his carrots and apples before something similar happened to him.
He looked around, trying to remember where the market was after all of this distraction. He walked for a few more minutes before finally reaching his destination. He walked up to a man behind a large stand with some baskets of apples behind him, protected by a few ropes. Yuichiro peered at him from under his hood before placing a few coins on the stand and saying, his voice only just above a whisper, “M-May I have four apples p-please?”
The large scruffy man looked at him for a few seconds before nodding slightly and sliding the coins towards himself and reaching behind him, grabbing Yuichiro’s requested number of apples and handing them to him. “T-Thank you, sir…” He mumbled again before turning around to head to the carrot stand down the twisty road.
When reaching his second destination he mimicked the act he had with the apple man, which is what Yuichiro liked to call him, and placed some coins on the stand. “Could you s-sell me six carrots, please?” He murmured again. The difference was that this man, in particular, didn’t like Yuichiro for whatever reason. “Oh, and why should I sell to a dirty little demon child like you?” He said cruelly, his voice deep and impassioned.
Yuichiro looked off to the side nervously, not knowing how to respond to something like that. After a minute or two, enduring the harsh glare directed at him, he held back the urge to scream at the man like his prideful heart wanted, and sheepishly placed two more coins on the stand.
The man’s eyes shimmered slightly at the extra pay he had the opportunity to receive, he too looked off to the side in a defeated manner and slid the coins into a small bucket that sat on his wooden stand. Underneath him sat a barrel of carrots, and he reached into it and pulled out six, handing them to Yuichiro and giving him a hateful look that said ‘go away right now or I swear I’ll change my mind’. Yuichiro obliged.
After returning home to his cottage near the woods, he stepped into the house, careful to make little noise. His mother, who walked over to him from the kitchen, took the basket without saying another word. Yuichiro frowned, watching as the basket was whisked away, wondering what it was he would even get to eat that night.
Yuichiro stood there for a bit, still hungry and sad, before turning to the empty windowsill, to find that the sun was to set soon, and the sky shone a bright gold and blended into a comforting red glow, the dark blue just at the edges. Quickly, he snuck into the pantry and grabbed a small basket containing a mixture of dried bananas and raisins. He gripped a hefty handful of them and shoved them in the pocket of his black leggings before the theft would be seen. His mother would get upset if he stayed up late, so without any more thoughts, he went back to his room, this time, to stay.
The next morning, Yuichiro awoke from his corner where he liked to sleep, blinded by the harsh rays of the sun glaring down on him and filling the room with a gentle light.
He eventually got up after a few minutes of debating getting his face beaten in by his mother for neglecting his morning chores was worth the extra sleep that would only bring him peace for a minute or two, in the end, his fear overcame his stubbornness and spite.
He brushed the dirt off his skin-tight leggings and big, baggy dark green and black button-up and grabbed his boots from the corner. He ran off to complete the various tasks that needed to be done.
He walked outside and into his backyard, and over to the small animal pin that stood there. He opened the gate, walked over to one of the four lambs in there, and from a box off to the side of the fence’s exterior, and pulled out a sharp blade.
Yuichiro walked up to one, which he had named Ton-Ton, and patted its head before bringing the blade to the expanse of its back. He began very carefully shaving it, removing its hair, and putting each lock in the bucket.
The sheep made small, loving sounds to Yuichiro, filling him with warmth and gratitude for their existence.
This was Yuichiro’s job, he and his mother made clothing from the wool of the lambs, but it never did them well, and his mother’s reputation as a desperate and begging hoe, always making advances on the rich and powerful, the job of prostitution didn’t do his parent all that great either.
Yuichiro thought about the possibilities, picturing what he could create from the soft wool falling from Ton-Ton’s expanse of fuzzy skin, and decided that with this month’s harvest of cotton from Ton-Ton, he would make a new blanket and a few small bows, perhaps even a hat if he had any to spare.
This was his talent, the only thing he considered himself good at, and thus, his mother did all she could to make money off of it. Though sometimes, if he got extra lucky, he would be able to keep a few of his weekly creations, and that was pretty much how they got all of the fabrics in the house, but sometimes they of course bought elsewhere, depending on the item.
He wondered, tomorrow he had to go out to the rice fields and either buy some or steal it, depending on the situation, his mother didn’t care, as long as she got her rice. He would have to go with his mother onto town too, the day after, and help her find any possible clients, it was hard, so he always had to be the one that was forced to go into the alleyways and such, looking for anyone with the want to buy from his mother and the money to pay for it. He got to go home if he found anyone, though. He didn’t have to stick around, so at least he had that.
But… After that, he was free. He realized, he would be able to go back to the wishing well that day. The thought excited him, and suddenly, he felt like smiling, and that was overall, rare in itself.
. . .
Yuichiro woke up to a burning sunrise, bright and bold. He was up for a rather long time last night, waiting for the morning to come, but finally, it was the next day, and he could go off on his own and not be beaten for it.
He rose from the ground quickly, he walked over to the wall, where a small, old dresser sat. He pulled out a black button-up, similar to the one he wore a few days ago, but no colored accents, a pair of stockings, white shorts, and a small bow tie that he had made himself. Walking out into the living room, slipping on his boots and hooded cape, he rushed out the door.
He ran through the more unflattering past of the forest, not caring to miss the gross splats of dirt and mud, but once he started spotting those wonderful green trees, the berry bushes, and all of the beautiful flowers speckling the area, he slowed down to admire the alluring surroundings.
Yuichiro paused for a moment, for he saw the most exquisite, marvelous bluebell he had ever seen in his life. It was unlike any bluebell he had ever seen, the sight surged strong waves of energy through him, making him feel lighter on his feet.
He smiled wide, plastering the beyond dazzling image forever in his head and dashing off in hopes of finding something even more pulchritudinous that day.
And somehow, despite the rarity of the event, he did.
Yuichiro spotted a long, winding stream of clear water running over the land, inhabited by all kinds of colorful fish and tadpoles, and realized that he was coming close to his destination, as seeing this cute little stream was a sign that the wishing well garden was very near. He giggled a bit, before skipping over to the slow-moving water and looking down into it, and found a blue and brown salamander. Wanting to bond with the creature for a moment or two, he gently reached his hands in and scooped the small animal up along with a bit of water, using his palms as a bucket.
His eyes softened, feeling a great warmth fill him to the brim at the sight of such innocence, such purity, such a lovely creature, and how he somehow earned the right to hold it with his very own hands. It was adorable, and it made him happy to know that he lived so near such beauty.
Yuichiro bent down and let the salamander slide back into the water before turning his back on the creek and skipped away, now wanting to finally be within the borders of the wishing well garden.
He followed his usual landmarks before reaching a clearing in the forest, where his comfort place was located. He pushed his way past the last few bushes and vines and wobbled into the garden, the small smile on his normally grim face widening as he took in the wondrous sight before him.
Yuichiro took a few steps forward, letting the high-standing flowers and berry bushes consume him, and he was about to head over to the wishing well, as he wanted to mutter the same wish he voiced to it every time he came here, so he turned to it, but was interrupted.
A couple of meters from the well stood a boy his age, staring at him unblinkingly with cold, empty eyes and a somehow sweet and kind smile. His blond hair swaying in the soft wind slightly, his blue eyes so bewitching they felt as though they bore into his fragile soul and broke through his defense and revealed his sensitivities and imperfections, his skin so fair and smooth, he was unbelievably beautiful. Yuichiro could recognize that beauty anywhere, someone so stunning could only belong to royalty, and this boy was one of the three princes, Mikaela Bathory.
Fear seeped into Yuichiro, sky-rocketing his anxiety and filling him with a sense of dismay. He had been seen. Everyone knows what happens when you offend a vampire, much less invade their territory or interrupt their peace. Even worse, Mikaela was the immediate family of Ferid.
Yuichiro didn’t take even a moment to think about why a vampire was here or how anyone even found this place, he simply turned on his heels and sprinted in the direction he came from as fast as his small feet could take him.
“Hey- Wait!” Yuichiro heard from somewhere behind him, but he was already gone.
Yuichiro felt nothing but terror as he ran back to his home, but when he finally got there and deemed it safe to stop running, he found himself grief-stricken, as he could no longer spend his free day in the garden, the place he loved most. Not knowing what to do, he walked back into his house and to his room, simply beginning to sew the blanket he had been working on.
This was all his life truly was, running away from the things that scare him and letting the world tear him apart without resistance, it was pathetic. He wanted out of here, he wanted to be set free, so he could live his life without a single fear at all, and he could spend all the time in his garden as he wanted without being abused for it. He hated everything, he wanted it to stop, he wanted it all to end. But that would never happen, and he knew it, so all he could do was wait.
What was he waiting for? Even the boy himself didn’t know, but he would wait for all his life if he had to, because if there was even a chance that one day he would find it, then he was willing to bear the pain. Find something, someone who cared, who could dull the aching in his heart, then he would be there when it finally came to him.
Hopefully, he won’t be killed by a vampire or his mother by the time that day comes.
. . .
All Yuichiro could focus on was how much agony he was in. His mother was repeatedly dunking his head in the water of the stream next to their cottage, only allowing him to breathe for a second before she forced his head back into the water again and held him down for a minute or two. His eyes stung badly from the water and his lungs felt like they were about to explode. It was absolute torture.
He had gotten home too late when he went into town to buy tomatoes and ripped his shirt, so this was his punishment. It wasn’t as if he was doing anything bad, he just got a little lost on the way back and while hiking through the rugged woods near their house, his shirt got caught on a branch, but he couldn’t get his innocence through to his mother, so now he was here, suffering the consequences for his carelessness.
Yuichiro was worried that while trying to put him through as much pain as possible, his mother might accidentally drown him. The time he spent choking underwater was slowly increasing, and now it was growing dangerously close to the point of nearly passing out each time he was dragged under.
He didn’t know when it was going to end, probably until his mother got bored or until he actually passed out, but maybe somehow the heavens will part and God will send some mysterious force to pause his torment, but that was pretty unlikely. God didn’t like him very much.
The color of his now-ripped shirt was getting wetter every time he was ducked under, making it obvious that he would have to not only fix the shirt but also dry it. He may have been more agitated about it if he wasn’t busy trying not to drown, though.
The shimmering joys of life did sometimes shine through the dark clouds, and though it hasn't always proven to be a good thing, nothing lasts forever, both good and bad. Thankfully, after a few more agonizing moments, his suffering did come to an end, for his mother seemed to think that he had learned his lesson, and suffocating him was no longer worth her time, as she finally let go of his hair and slowly walked off, back into the house.
The sharp pain in his scalp still lingered, the burning of his now red eyes and the most prominent horrid feeling as if through the walls of his lungs were closing in on themselves remain, but at least he was free.
Yuichiro glanced up at the sky to find that the sun had started to set, for the sky shined deep reds and darkened yellows, and he remembered that he wasn’t quite done for the day, which now that he thought about it, was probably why his mother had released him. Now that the world began to lose its light around him, he was to sneak around shops and rice fields and try to steal whatever he could get his hands on under the cover of darkness.
He scurried into the house, entering his room and changing into an all-black outfit to match what he was to do after he left for town, not forgetting to quickly sew his shirt and hang it to dry, all while bearing the pain of being nearly drowned.
When he was done, his black hooded-cape on his body, dressed for the art of darkness, he gathered himself both physically and emotionally and headed out with an empty sack to his side.
Walking on dirt roads of no other people, he scanned the area for any defenseless shops carrying what he thought he needed, he noticed that the local bakery’s owner had fallen asleep while guarding their shop, so slipped past the door of the shop making as little noise as possible.
He glanced around the shop trying to figure out the best way to steal as much as possible while not getting caught or noticed. They sold mostly bread and muffins, but some cake and cookies too. He thought that a cake would be hard to steal and would most likely be noticed, even if it would have been a great treat. However, the beard came in large quantities and many types, so if they were missing a few by morning, they most likely wouldn’t realize the absence. The muffins were sold many at a time and came in big batches, so stealing one or two of each kind wouldn’t be very dangerous, but keeping the numbers low would be less of a notable difference.
In the end, he swipes to take two loaves of bread and one banana bread, three blueberry muffins, and one chocolate muffin off the wooden shelves and stuff them into his bag before sneaking out of the store, not once alerting the shop owner.
Yuichiro shuffled back down the road leading out of town, heading back to the lands of old houses and large patches of trees leading to a lush forest that no one paid any mind to.
He soon made it back to his lonesome house far from any other, and upon entering the cottage, he felt his pent-up nerves wash away that were left behind from feeling trapped in that small store doing something wrong. Feeling proud of his accomplishment, he walked into the kitchen with his small head held high as he placed the items on the stone counter and returning to his room without any second thought of the arrangement and rushed to his corner, wanting desperately to sleep.
Yuichiro was trying to fall asleep because he just wanted this day to be over already, but he lay wide awake. Four days ago he went to the wishing well as normal but was met with the vampire prince just standing around in his garden looking at him with those cunning, hateful, beautiful eyes. Well, actually his eyes weren’t hateful, but he was a vampire, of royalty, so he had to have been disgusted at the sight of such a low-rank, and frankly hideous human. All of the blood-suckers looked at him like that, like they wanted to kill him, and Yuichiro wasn’t about to stick around and test that theory. It didn’t matter how much he wanted to be done with this worthless life, to die at the hands of a vampire, especially one his age, would be shameful, and he wasn’t going to let it happen.
But… That was his garden, his wishing well, and he was certain he couldn’t live without it. He might as well be killed if he could no longer stand there, and make his wish. If he were to die, it would be best to spend his last moments at his garden anyway, surrounded by nature and the hope that he placed there.
It had to have been a coincidence, had to have been. He had never seen Mikaela Bathory there in all the times he had come, so he must have just got lost and ended up in the garden by accident, it was a beautiful place, after all, anyone would have gone in that direction. Prince or not.
Tomorrow he would be free again, and after building up his confidence, he hesitantly decided that he would go back, just be a little more conscious of his surroundings this time.
After telling himself it would be fine again, he finally went to sleep.
The next morning he woke up with a nervous feeling settled in his gut. He was worried, but the wishing well just meant too much to him, he couldn’t give it up. He promised himself that he would be careful, extra careful, and hesitantly got prepared to leave the house in search of his favorite place.
Grabbing his boots, cape, a white button-up shirt with silk-translucent accents to the sleeves and collar, and dark-blue slacks, he was ready to go, in hopes of reviving the burning mess of his mental health which had been falling apart with so much time spent away from his only known comfort.
On his way out the door, he made eye contact with his mother who was sitting in a rocking chair in the living room. He quickly looked away, as he hated the stare she held, but when glancing to the side, he noticed the empty basket setting to the side and momentarily toyed with the idea of collecting some berries while he was out. It sounded appealing, so he grabbed the basket and without glancing his mother’s way again, he ran out the door and towards the forest.
At first, he was very nervous and couldn’t keep himself from glancing around helplessly, but as he ventured further down into the forest and left the unflattering lands behind him, he got lost in the beauty again.
He felt his whole body relax. He was all alone surrounded by lovely flower beds and berry bushes, which reminded him that he sought to collect some. He walked up to a large bush with appetizing-looking blackberries blooming nicely. He began plucking the blackberries one by one with a growing smile on his tired face.
Yuichiro looked down at his cute little basket now full of even cuter blackberries, he felt like a little boy in an old fairy tale, gathering berries in an adorable picnic basket in a forest so lovely it was unrealistic. The thought made him feel special, if only for a second. The child let out a soft sigh, swinging his basket back and forth slightly, letting his emerald eyes slip close.
The light breeze chilled his skin, and now feeling an overpowering sense of peace and security, he sat down on the grass where he was surrounded by bushes and flowers, trees towering above him. He was in a more lush and full part of the forest, so the trees blocked most of the sunlight from reaching his skin, and so he sat shaded and calm, forgetting about the vampire he met the last time he walked this ground.
Streamflow rested a few meters away from where Yuichiro sat, where he caught that salamander a while back, and he knew if he keeps walking downstream, he would find a small waterfall that leads into a very small pond. He considered following the water flow and rest for a while at the pond before going back to his garden, but decided against it. He just wanted to finally be at the place he loved most.
Yuichiro rose to his feet and started his descent into the further forest, but of course not before turning to admire the same bluebell he came across last time.
As he walked the trail, he came closer and closer to his meadow, and still no signs of Mikaela or any other vampire, so he let go of the worry completely and began running cheerfully towards the wishing well. He passed hollowed-out trees, a rose bush, a small family of rabbits, all things he had remembered as landmarks for the garden, before finally- he made it.
Yuichiro happily burst through the last shrubs that were in his way and he was met with the most breath-taking sight he knew. Looking around, he was alone, and so he could have all the fun he wanted.
The young boy skipped up to the well, leaning over it to whisper the wish he begged to be granted every time he came here…
“I humbly wish to obtain a friend, someone how cares about me and wants me around. This is all I want, and I will pay any cost for you to notice…”
Suddenly someone leaned over his back and muttered a sweet ‘hi’ to him, causing Yuichiro to jump and nearly scream.
He jolted around, and to his misfortune, he was greeted with the one face he had most wanted to never see again.
The stunning, breath-taking, horrifying face of Mikaela Bathory.
Yuichiro’s first instinct was to dive backward and try to make a break for it, but he forgot that there was a well behind him. He almost fell into the deep hole which would undoubtedly lead him straight to certain death, but somehow, his life was saved. A hand as small as his own reached for him and grabbed him, stopping his descent.
A first Yuichiro was relieved, but then he remembered that he was in danger and jumped away from the boy, trying to make a run for it in hopes of saving himself, but pathetically, he fell on his face and crashed into a bed of poppies.
He turned to his back, facing towards Mikaela and finally feeling all of his pent-up fear crash down on him like the raging waves of the vast sea. His entire body went stiff and tears began to form in his wide eyes. But… He didn’t look up to see a vicious monster baring his fangs at him, but a charming boy wearing the brightest smile and extending his hand out to him sweetly.
“Hey there…! I’m Mikaela, what’s your name?”
Maybe some wishes are meant to come true.