Work Text:
"I'm a vampire." The confession seemed to ring, echoing off the walls in the living room.
Hajime Iwaizumi let out a sigh. Could it be possible for Tooru to be drunk already? Typically Oikawa had a decent tolerance, but perhaps he had started drinking before Hajime had. "Shut up, idiot," he decided to respond, "How much did you drink anyways, Tooru?"
Tooru Oikawa frowned, and ruffled his brown hair, disorganizing his hair so that it was even messier than before he had shared his secret. "I'm not joking, Iwa-chan."
Hajime leveled a strict glare in his direction before leaning over and taking the beer can away from Tooru. "I'm confiscating this."
Tooru frowned at that. It was clear in Hajime's glare that Hajime didn't believe him. Even worse, Tooru lamented, Hajime was thinking that Tooru was being an annoying drunk!
Sure, perhaps Tooru had drank a bit extra that day, but this type of confession required courage. Not that it mattered… Hajime didn't believe him. "You do that." Tooru reclined back, letting the back of his head hit the sofa. He could say he tried, right?
Hajime suddenly sat up. "That's it!" He looked over at Tooru, his eyes bright. "Tooru, I could kiss you right now."
He lifted an eyebrow. "And why not?"
Hajime went on, ignoring Tooru's comment. "The next cover should definitely be of you dressed like a vampire. The fans will love that!"
Tooru let out a sigh, feeling disappointed. But what was the point of his disappointment? "On that note, I think you're right. I drank too much. Good night."
Tooru had wanted Hajime to stop him, but he, unfortunately, did not. Instead, Hajime opened his laptop in a rush, excited to share his ideas with his boss.
"One thing," Tooru said at the door, turning to look back at Hajime.
"Yes?"
"If I'm going to be shirtless, you'll be the one to undress me."
Tooru engraved the moment Hajime turned red into his brain, and smirked as he shut the door behind him and heard a thunk against the door: an empty can of beer was thrown at it.
His spirits now lifted, Tooru headed to the shower, turning on the cold water to clear his head and pursue sobriety once again.
---
Hajime was still red in the living room, and he himself could not tell whether it was due to infuriation... or, if it was because of the fluttering of his heart.
He cleared his throat before beginning to pick up the empty beer cans, including the one he had thrown in Tooru's direction.
Hajime heard the sound of the shower running, and his thoughts drifted back to his best friend once again as he began mindlessly cleaning.
Tooru had been tipsy, if not drunk, after 5 cans of beer, and yet, he had seemed so serious. He never really took anything seriously except for three things: his job and contacts made, defeating his rivals, and protecting those he regarded as family.
Though his statement had sounded like a joke, Hajime hadn't seen any of Tooru's tells.
Hajime heard the tap squeal signaling the end of Tooru's shower. Distracting himself from that thought, he began to do the dishes, an act that calmed and soothed Hajime.
----
"It's so early," Tooru whined, grabbing Hajime's arm. "Can't we just go to bed?"
Hajime knew better than to meet Tooru's gaze. Yes, he knew better. But he didn't listen to his head when he glanced over and took in his adorable puppy eyes. He almost changed his mind.
But as always, he continued on. "Trust me, this is a good idea. The Boss gave the okay yesterday."
Tooru stifled a yawn before asking, "Are you talking about that idea you had while we were drinking the other night?"
"Yes."
It was early, around five in the morning, and it was still dark. After being woken up, it was hard for Tooru to fall back asleep, and he decided to look outside instead. The city lights blurred past.
When they got stopped at a red-light, he was subjected to staring at a bright advertisement starring himself as the model. He had modeled for a famous watch company. Wearing a large grin along with a white collared shirt, the two top buttons unclasped. And on his arm, he wore the watch that was meant to be the focus of the advertisement.
As he looked at the smile worn on the advertisement, Tooru wondered to himself if he had made a huge mistake coming into the public's eye.
It was then that Hajime's past words flooded into his brain once again, the words that had first inspired him to be a singer; those words were his motivation.
How old had they been? Eleven? Twelve? It was sometime during middle school, and Hajime had made an off-hand remark. "You're gorgeous," he had said, the sun setting behind purple mountains just behind him.
Where had they been? It must have been Hajime's house, Hajime sitting underneath the window of the living room.
"Your face was just made to be in front of a camera," Hajime had continued, disrupting the increased flutter of Tooru's heart.
He cleared his throat. "That isn't the only impressive thing about me. With my voice and my body, I could be famous." It was a joke, Tooru had said those words jokingly.
But with the most sincere look on his face, Hajime said with a smile, "Yeah. You would be the most incredible singer with that smile of yours. You're already so popular. Imagine all the fans you'll have!"
---
The clearing of Hajime's throat ended Tooru's reminiscence of the past. "Are you okay, Tooru? You..." He trailed off, leaving Tooru to imagine what the rest of his sentence was.
You... were so drunk last night you were blabbering nonsense? You... were being ridiculous last night, and I think you should take a break from drinking alcohol? You... look awful and definitely should get more rest?
Tooru let out a sigh. He couldn't read Hajime's mind, try as he may. Maybe, in the past, they had been able to communicate nearly telepathically. Things had changed now that Tooru had gained incredible popularity and that Hajime was his manager. In theory, spending even more time with each other would have made them closer. In practice, however, things were different. Tooru had secrets he wanted to keep from Hajime, and he was certain Hajime felt the same.
Such thoughts are disgusting, a type of thought that causes cold shudders to creep over skin and chill the heart. Because the most important secret was the most fatal of all-- the feelings, whatever they were, Tooru held for Hajime. Male or not, vampire or not, Tooru knew that Hajime was the most important person to him.
Hajime stopped the car in the parking lot, and turned back to look at Tooru. "Are you okay?" He repeated, this time not trying to say anything else.
With nothing more than willpower, Tooru plastered a bright smile on his face. "Yeah," he said, "I'm great."
Hajime narrowed his eyes, his chest too tight, filled with anger. He knew Tooru well enough to know that smile was fake. He was lying.
He did this every so often. Tooru would spend a week or two pale and moody, looking as if he were about to get perilously sick, only to mysteriously get much better right away, back to his happy self.
Breathing in and out in such a way to calm himself down, Hajime reviewed facts that wanted to fight his emotion. That was what was wrong. Tooru was just not feeling well. It was that one week, like every other month.
Tooru's smile slipped slightly under Hajime's scrutiny. "I-," he began, let out a sigh, then began again, "I'm going to need a few days off after today."
"That's fine."
There was usually more of an argument, and so it felt strange that there was no argument with Tooru's demand. Hajime himself realized that he was a workaholic, but he didn't want to push Tooru too much. In the past, Tooru hadn't told him, but Hajime had realized he would work himself even while unwell. That led Hajime to begin paying much more attention. That was four months ago. It had taken way too long for Hajime to notice that Tooru had continued to do that to himself, even while he was working. Especially while he was working.
Sometimes, Hajime wondered why Tooru had even decided to go into show business. It didn't look like he wanted to do it while he was in high school, but he had suddenly announced his intent to do it one day.
Hajime cleared his throat, trying to clear his mind also of memories. "Shall we?"
"Yeah."
The two were quiet as they headed towards the building that seemed to glisten in the light of the rising sun, as they entered the elevator, and as they arrived at the sixteenth floor and walked down its hall. Once they came upon the meeting room, Hajime reached for the handle, then stalled. "Are you going to be okay?"
Tooru rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. Open the door."
Hajime pressed his lips together, and did as Tooru ordered. The door swung open, and the pair walked into the room.
At the far end of the room, right by the window, sat Hajime's boss, Nobeteru Irihata. His lips pressed into a line, he read the front title of the packet Hajime placed on his desk.
An eyebrow raised, he read it out loud. "Vampire?”
“Yes, Sir!” Hajime replied, his eyes bright as he got ready to pitch his idea. But when Nobeteru pressed his lips together, as if he had sucked on a sour lemon, Hajime changed his mind.
“Bad timing, Mr. Iwaizumi. A wonderful idea, but very badly timed.” He eyed Tooru. “Besides, I believe ‘princely’ fits him more than ‘vampire’.”
“What do you mean by ‘bad timing’, Sir?” Tooru couldn’t help but ask. He knew that Hajime wouldn’t. Tooru wanted, no, needed to know.
“Another person already has that theme.”
Tooru closed his eyes. “Tobio, right?”
Nobeteru raised an eyebrow, clearly surprised that Tooru had guessed right. “Yes.”
“I see.”
Hajime glanced over at Tooru, worryingly. His jaw seemed too clenched up. “But, Sir, Mr. Kageyama doesn’t fit the vampire type either. Tooru fits it much better.”
“It is what it is,” said Nobeteru, and that was that. There was no point in fighting any longer.
“Fine,” Hajime agreed, “princely theme it is.”
The two were dismissed, and Tooru watched as Hajime threw the papers away when reaching the front desk. It didn’t show on his face, but Tooru knew he was disappointed. He had spent hours thinking up ideas of what would suit Tooru, of what titles Tooru could sing, of the costumes Tooru could wear. All for his ideas to end up in the recycling, never to be seen again.
“Let’s go get something to eat,” Tooru said softly. He didn’t need to eat, he never did. But he knew that Hajime hadn’t eaten breakfast, and was probably going to skip lunch too if he let him.
Hajime didn't feel like eating; he felt like working. Still, if Tooru was the one saying to go eat… “Fine, let’s go. Where?”
“Anywhere. We could buy stuff to make things at home, or we could go to some coffee shop. Or, we could go to a diner.” Tooru stopped himself once he realized he was rambling. He wasn’t making the situation better, as he had hoped, instead only complicating things further.
Hajime glanced at him, and lowered his head. “You must be disappointed.”
Tooru glanced away, his heart in pain when seeing Hajime distressed. “Of course not.”
But Hajime didn’t believe him, convinced that he had left his best friend down. He cleared his throat. “Fine. I’ll drive.”
It did not matter that it was still very early in the morning, they still were able to find a place that was open. Hajime ordered black coffee; Tooru, some sort of frappe. The two sat in a comfortable silence.
Hajime sat down his cup of coffee, the liquid spilling over, causing Tooru to jump. “Hajime?” Tooru asked, putting his own coffee down.
“I’m sorry,” Hajime mumbled. “I let you down.”
Tooru shook his head. “You could never let me down.”
Hajime’s lips turned up slightly, happy that Tooru thought of him like that.
Tooru checked his phone. It was seven by now. “Should we head home?” Home… it was so nice to associate their apartment to that word. That word felt natural coming off his tongue, as natural as Hajime’s friendship had been for him as long as he could remember.
Hajime hummed in agreement, standing up and pushing his chair in.
When they arrived home, Tooru began heading towards the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Hajime yelled after him.
“Cooking you breakfast,” Tooru called back, a grin on his face as he watched Hajime’s eyes widen and Hajime shake his head back and forth.
“No, you are not.” Hajime walked quickly to catch up to Tooru.
Tooru was still taller than Hajime, though it was easy for the both of them to forget. Tooru was already grabbing different utensils to begin making… something for breakfast.
“Your cooking sucks, Tooru. Get out of the kitchen,” Hajime said, grabbing for the pot Tooru was holding in his right hand.
Tooru leaned back, but misjudged how far he leaned. He began to fall over, but Hajime reached out just in time. As Hajime tore the pot away from Tooru, and helped him get up, Tooru caught Hajime’s scent. The scent of blood was always there, no matter what human Tooru talked to. Still, the fact that his was this strong only meant one thing. It was time for him to feed.
He untangled himself from the grasp he held on Hajime, allowing him to go free. “Why don’t you get started on the new theme?” He suggested softly. He knew that it was still a sore topic for Hajime. Hajime’s concepts rarely got turned down. Still, it would provide a distraction for a while.
“Just promise you won’t try and cook, okay?”
Tooru nodded.
Silently, Hajime nodded also, and went off to his own room, leaving Tooru on his own.
Tooru attempted to ignore the smell of blood, but he felt hungry. He was starting to feel worried. Since when did he get this ravenous?
He got out of the room, stumbling down the stairs until he got outside. The gray clouds matched the smell of oncoming rain.
Tooru opened his phone to press on a contact at the very top of his list, which was a string of numbers: 0001.
The phone rang twice before the person on the other end picked up. “Hello?” Asked a woman, having clearly been woken up.
“Sorry,” Tooru began, “I know it’s early.”
There was some creaking heard in the background as the woman sat up in her bed. “Tooru? Is that you?”
“Who else?”
“What’s wrong?” The alarm was clear in her voice.
Tooru laughed. “It’s not that big of a deal. I’m hungry. You told me that I should always call you before I do something stupid, didn’t you, Alice?”
“I sure did,” she sighed. “I’m regretting it now. Are you still living close to your parents?”
“Yes. I’m in the city now.”
She hung up, and Tooru felt at peace. Now that Alice was coming, things would probably be a bit simpler. She was much older than him, with a lot more knowledge about how to handle hunger.
---
Weeks passed and Tooru was getting annoyed at how often Hajime was traveling back and forth between their apartment and work. Even as his heart swelled at how hard Hajime worked for him, Tooru was missing him even more strongly than ever before.
Tooru reasoned with himself that it was easier that way. With less time spent with Hajime, it was less likely Tooru was at the risk of harming him.
Alice arrived on a sunny day, the sky the bluest it had been in months. With how hungry Tooru had become, he was much too weakened to meet her outside. As Tooru couldn’t go outside, Alice promised to visit at home, and Tooru agreed once he found out Hajime wasn’t even planning on coming back home.
Instead, Hajime would be spending time working at the office to work on the design of clothing with the design team. Tooru felt as if that particular proposal was being rushed, but had been avoiding too close of contact with Hajime to make sure that he wouldn’t do anything stupid like bite him.
The doorbell rang, sending Tooru to open the front door. A young looking woman stood there, her blood-red lips pulled into a smile upon seeing Hajime. Her tan skin had a healthy glow to it, and her chestnut eyes had an amused gleam in them as she threw her arms around Tooru. Her raven hair had been cut so that it was just below her chin in a bob.
Tooru, at first, stiffened with her arms wrapped around him before he relaxed into her embrace and hugged her back. “You smell disgusting,” he murmured as he lowered his head to rest on her shoulder. The scent of another vampire almost always was unappealing to another vampire.
“Of course I do,” Alice responded. “Now sit down. You need to drink.”
Alice entered the apartment with a large bag. Tooru took a seat at the kitchen table, laying his head upon his arm as he watched her enter. “You cut your hair.”
“I did. Where are your drinking glasses?”
“I’m not using them. Give the bags to me.” Tooru sounded haughty, but it was a pain to clean the glasses after drinking blood. Besides, Tooru would hate to do that to Hajime, even if Hajime never knew.
Alice let out an annoyed sigh. “I heard from your parents, but didn’t want to believe it. Are you really living with Hajime?”
Tooru glared at her with the use of his name. She let out a sigh, and relinquished. “After you eat, we should put the rest in the fridge.”
“I have a personal one in my room.”
“Fine.”
Alice opened a bag of blood that she had pulled out of the larger black bag, and handed it to Tooru. To others, it may have looked as if he were drinking tomato juice. But, as vampires do, Tooru was drinking blood.
Alice had taken a seat across from him, and she simply watched him, her face resting on her first as Tooru greedily sucked the last drop of blood from the bag.
“How long has it been since you last had blood?”
“Does it matter?”
“Three months? Longer?" She paused for a moment, but not long enough for Tooru to respond before she spoke again. "You need to stop procrastinating. What if you had bitten into that roommate of yours? What would happen then?”
Tooru glanced away from the elder vampire. “Then he would at least acknowledge the truth.”
At that statement, Alice’s eyes narrowed, and her lips curved downwards. “Don’t tell me you’ve been attempting to tell him.”
Tooru pouted. “He deserves to know.”
Alice scoffed, but realized that her arguments were lost on Tooru. She made sure to tell Tooru so as she handed him her bag, and sat down on the couch. She stretched out, and then laid down. “‘I have jet lag. I’m going to sleep now."
Tooru nodded, and went to put the blood in his personal fridge. He reminded himself that he would need to keep Hajime away from his room.
Hours passed, and Tooru ended up taking a nap too in his room. When he woke up, he found Alice sitting at the desk within his room, writing in a notebook she must have brought with her on her journey.
“Isn’t it polite to at least wait for your host to be awake?” Tooru asked, but in a teasing tone.
She matched his tone, and teased, “Would you rather me surprise your roommate with a lady on your couch? Or is that normal for you?”
Unlike a typical Tooru who would tease back, he flushed red at her implication. Perhaps he was still groggy from just awakening. “He’s not coming home,” he responded, ignoring most of what Alice had said.
Alice hummed to indicate she understood. “Hungry still?” She asked, noticing a slight ring of red around Tooru’s coffee colored eyes.
He nodded.
She gave a small smirk. “Honestly. What would you do without me?”
“Starve,” Tooru deadpanned.
She laughed, and approached his bed. She tilted her head to the left, leaving her right side of her neck free for Tooru to bite.
“Really?” Tooru asked, his gaze on her hesitant and slightly put-off.
“Yeah. Don’t waste the volunteer’s blood. I brought just enough bags. Besides, I fed rather recently, so my blood should be fine.”
“Fine,” Tooru growled before sitting up and pulling Alice closer, then biting into her neck deeply.
Hajime realized much too late that one of his most vital reports had been left at home. He texted Tooru to let him know he would be going home in order to pick it up, but there was no response. Tooru didn’t even read the text. Hajime checked the time. It was nearly midnight, but Tooru was always up late anyways.
Perhaps, today was different. It could be that Tooru had gone to bed early tonight. After all, he had been looking quite ill lately. Extra sleep would do him good.
Hajime arrived hom half past midnight, and stopped bewildered when he saw a pair of heels by the door.
Yes, Tooru was popular with women. How could he not be with his stupidly perfect grin, his beautiful eyes, his incredible body, and so on? But, he had never brought a girl home. Hajime wouldn't have ever considered that Tooru would do such a thing.
And now as he stared at the sophisticated pair of black stiletos, Hajime felt stupid. Of course Tooru hadn’t responded-- as soon as Hajime texted to tell him he wouldn’t go home, he must have invited his lady friend over.
Hajime slowly crossed the threshold. He needed those papers. As he made his way to his room, he saw that Tooru’s bedroom door was slightly open.
He grabbed the paper inside of his room and then left quickly. He hadn’t meant to look, but the airflow inside of the house opened Tooru’s door wider, and Hajime froze at what he saw.
Tooru, his lips on the neck of a black haired woman. No, wait. Was he biting her?
Tooru opened his eyes, meeting Hajime’s frightened ones, and that brought him out of his hunger-induced stupor.
He let go of Alice’s neck. She let out a sound of questioning, but Tooru ignored her. “Hajime?” He breathed instead.
Hajimme’s cheeks were alfame. He cleared his throat, his Adam's apple bobbing as he searched for the correct words to say. “I’m sorry for…” but his eyes narrowed as he took in Tooru’s… fangs. He had fangs. And his eyes widened even more as he saw a drop of blood roll down Tooru’s cheek. “Interrupting.”
With a sudden turn after finishing his sentence, Hajime ran for the living room.
“Wait!”’ Tooru called after him.
Alice watched as Tooru rushed after the young, brown haired man that had walked in on their feeding. He laid in Tooru’s bed, and fixed her eyes on the white ceiling. “The roommate got home, then.” With a sigh, she got up and followed slowly after the two boys.
Tooru was behind the counter, his eyes fixated on the floor of the spotless kitchen. "I told you, didn't I?" His voice trembled as he addressed Hajime who had just come into the living room. His tone almost conveyed a desperation.
Hajime let out a shaky sigh. Yes, Tooru had told him, but how was Hajime supposed to believe that Tooru was a vampire?
Hajime gulped. "But," he began, his voice a croak. "But, I've seen you eat garlic."
Tooru lifted his head, bewildered by what Hajime just said. He let out a chuckle at Hajime’s reluctance. "Yes."
"And you've gone outside during the day."
"Yes."
Hajime stopped talking, his head spinning. "Are there others?"
"Why don't we all take a seat?" Alice suggested, straightening herself from where she had been leaning against the wall in the far end of the living room.
Both Hajime and Tooru jumped, the both of them having forgotten her presence. They slowly moved to the couches where they sat across from each other, and Alice sat next to Tooru.
As if she had truly been part of the conversation the whole time, Alice took it upon herself to lead the remainder of it. "Vampires tend to have allergic-like reactions to things such as sunlight and garlic, almost like human allergies, but not all vampires are affected in the same way. Tooru is well accustomed to both sun and garlic, and so his reactions are minimal, if there's any at all. Not to mention, it depends on how strong the vampire is and how nourished they are."
Hajime dropped his gaze to his clasped hands, attempting to digest the information revealed to him by the woman next to Tooru. He cleared his throat, and looked up to meet that woman's eyes which were fixated on him. Her focus on him gave him an eerie feeling, and it took him a moment to gain the confidence to speak to her. "Who are you?"
Her eyes widened, and a ghost of a smile formed on her lips. "I didn't introduce myself, did I?" She turned to Tooru, her lips curling up now. "Unless… Did you want to introduce me?"
Tooru sat up. "Alice is my friend. We've known each other for a long while."
"Is she…?" Hajime couldn't even finish his question.
Alice propped her arm on the arm of the couch. "You're actually quite amusing, Hajime. That, and you're clever. I can see why Tooru is so fond of you."
Tooru’s cheeks set themselves aflame. "Alice," he hissed.
"It's true~" Alice teased.
Tooru groaned, and leaned back into the couch. He then answered Hajime’s question. "Yeah, she's a vampire too. Whenever I haven't had blood in a while, I always call her."
"That's right. Tooru here tends to starve himself for a couple months before he has to call me."
Hajime glared at Tooru. "You do what?"
Tooru pouted at Hajime’s attention. "It sounds worse than it is, okay."
"Starving is starving, Tooru," Alice countered. "And you get to the point where you're about ready to bite the people nearby, which is not okay. That would make my job so much harder."
Tooru stood up. "I would never bite Hajime, Alice." He made eye contact with Hajime, and then glanced away. "He would hate it. A lot."
His cheeks turned pink, and he growled as he turned away. He entered his room and then slammed the door shut behind him.
Hajime turned to face Alice, a scowl on his face. “How do you have blood to give him when you’re a vampire yourself? Does this mean that there’s a lot of vampires out there? Why didn’t he tell me?”
Alice stared at Hajime blankly before tsking, and standing up from her place on the couch. She stalked up to Hajime, and looked at him head to toe. “Hasn't he been trying to tell you? There's not too many out there, but you've definitely met another one working in entertainment." She stepped back, and then turned away to roam the kitchen connected to the living room. "And I give him blood because I have access to the blood that I drink. It's enough so that he can drink it through me."
Hajime blinked a few times, attempting to understand what she had just said. "And why wouldn't he drink my blood?" A mental thought became words because he didn't understand. Why bite Alice and call her from who knows how far away when Hajime was right there for Tooru the whole time?
She laughed, and Hajime frowned, feeling like he was being made fun of. "You clearly don't know what it's like to be bitten. If you want, I can give you your first bite," she winked.
"No thank you," Hajime said through clenched teeth. "Why do you say that?"
"You know how in literature, a vampire biting a human causes…" She paused, searching for the correct wording, "certain side effects to the human?"
Hajime furrowed his brows. "Certain effects?"
"A vampire's venom is an aphrodisiac to humans. In other words, it would have led to sex. Now see why he didn't tell you? I'm different since I'm a vampire myself, and much stronger and older than he is. Not to mention that we've known each other for all of his life."
Hajime crossed his arms. "I've known him for a long time too."
"In human years, yes."
Hajime gritted his teeth together. This woman seemed to be challenging him. "Please leave our house. You got him his blood, right?" He did not pause to heat her answer. "Then, you may leave."
She sighed. "Do you think it's a walk in the park to get a plane ticket from London to here on a whim? But fine, I understand that the two of you have much to talk about." She stood up, and began to head to the door. She stopped at the handle. "One more thing. Be careful, Hajime. Tooru is really craving your blood. Hunger and libido are much more alike than you'd think.” She let the implication set in, and the moment that Hajme’s cheeks turned red, she gave a cheeky smile, and continued, “If anything happens, I'll be staying at a previous lover's house. Text me from Tooru’s phone when things get out of hand." As she finished her words, she opened the door and left.
Hajime released a breath after he could no longer hear her walking away from their front door. He attempted to swallow, but his throat was too dry. He needed to talk with Tooru. He lightly knocked on Tooru’s bedroom door. "Tooru? Can we talk, please? I've asked Alice to leave so that we can talk just the two of us."
Tooru, leaning against the door, heard Hajime clearly, but he didn't want to leave the comforts of his room. Going out there and facing Hajime meant facing reality for the first time ever. Would Hajime reject him now knowing he wasn't human?
Tooru let out a self-deprecating scoff. Since when did he worry about trivial things like that? He never had cared before about what others thought of him. But Hajime was different. Tooru wouldn't be able to handle it if Hajime no longer cared for him.
It would be too much.
Hajime fell asleep outside of Tooru's door. In the morning, he found it ajar, Tooru already gone. With a growl, he got up off the floor, and grabbed his keys and wallet. There weren't many places Tooru would go.
The first place Hajime checked was the gym. Tooru was absolutely obsessed with his physique. But Tooru wasn’t there. Next, Hajime went to their favorite restaurant. Not being able to think straight, he forgot to take into account the fact that his best friend was a vampire, and could not eat food. Tooru just said it was his favorite food because Hajime liked that restaurant.
And there wasn’t any milk bread in the area that was worthwhile, or so Tooru said. Only his mother’s was good enough.
Hajime resorted to trying to call Torru’s cell phone, but no luck. It went straight to voicemail. He cursed, tossing his phone to the side, the phone merely bouncing into place against the leather seats. Where was Tooru?
Suddenly, his phone rang, and he lunged for it, picking it up before he even read the call screen. “Tooru?” He asked, without even realizing that his voice was much too eager.
“I’m sorry,” the voice came through, and Hajime frowned when realizing it wasn’t Tooru. “This isn’t him. This is Tobio Kageyama.”
---
Against his wishes, Hajime found himself driving over to the company building. Apparently, Hinata Shoyo had made a mistake that the company now wanted Hajime to help correct. Hajime, while driving, couldn’t help but grumble to himself about how unfair it was.
All he wanted to do was run to wherever Tooru was on his day off. And yet, he was still called back to work.
The “mistake” wasn’t as big of a deal as Tobio Kageyama had made it out to be. On a different day, Hajime’s opinion probably would be different. But on a day such as that one, with Tooru missing, nothing else in the world mattered.
Tobio pulled him to the side when his manager, Hinata, wasn’t paying attention. “You’re looking for Tooru, aren’t you?”
“How did you know?”
Tobio shrugged. “I just had a feeling. He’s down the hall.”
Hajime began to laugh, unable to stop himself. He had been driving all over town all morning long, and yet his elusive friend was at the company the whole entire time. With long, sure strides, he made his way towards the recording studio that Tobio had said Tooru was in.
And he was. Hajime had to pause a moment, taking in the sight of Tooru doing his job without him. It was then that Hajime realized, even while working, the two of them had always been inseparable. Perhaps Hajime should have noticed the signs much sooner, but sometimes he could be dumb when things weren’t told to him outright.
And now that he was thinking about more complicated things, he couldn’t help but wonder if they should finally clear up the ambiguity of their relationship and how they lived together for the most part. For a long time, Hajime had thought it was all jokes for Tooru. But, now that all of this had happened, was Tooru genuine the whole time?
Hajime entered the studio, but, given the glass separating where Tooru was singing from the booth, Tooru didn’t realize that another person had entered.
The man that had taken over what Hajime usually did gave a respectful nod, which Hajime returned.
When the song ended, the group burst out into applause, and Tooru grinned as he came out of his side, pausing when he saw Hajime, and his smile faltered slightly. “Hajime,” he said, breathlessly, “you’re here.”
“Of course I am.” Upon seeing Tooru close up, the anxiety that had taken a hold of Hajime lifted, as if it had never been there in the first place, and everything almost felt as per usual.
That is, until Nobeteru Irihata came through the door in a hurry, grabbing Hajime’s shoulder. “Hajime, did you check the news this morning?”
---
Hajime wanted to curse. His cell screen turned off automatically, having been on for more than five minutes, but Hajime continued to stare at it blankly.
Tooru took a sip of… whatever it was in his thermos, probably blood, but Hajime already felt much too weary to deal with that thought.
Hajime was an avid checker of the news, yet had forgotten to that morning. And now, he had been delivered the worst news at the worst time by his boss.
Kimitada Hayashi had just gotten involved in a dating scandal, having been caught red handed. Tooru was supposed to release his newest album in a month. This wouldn’t all blow over by then because Kimitada had gotten caught not only on a date, but proposing to his girlfriend.
What had the manager been doing? Hajime wanted to ask, but didn’t. It was all too late anyways.
“All we can do,” Hajime began slowly after his long period of thinking had finally come to an end. Tooru leaned forward when Hajime began to speak. Hajime cleared his throat, and met Tooru’s steady gaze. He continued,“is to try and wait for it to blow over. I suppose your comeback won’t be as sensational, but this news won’t remain that big for too long.”
“Hajime, what if I wasn’t an idol anymore?”
“What?”
Tooru set his thermos down in front of him. He sat up, straighter than before, took a deep breath, then released it, puffing out his cheeks as he did so. “Hajime, I think it’s time to stop all of this. I only did this all because I wanted to remain with you, and, for whatever reason, I thought this was the only way.”
Hajime paused, his brain feeling numbed. Tooru surely couldn’t be suggesting… quitting. After all the two of them had been through together? Why now?
Tooru gave a sympathetic smile. “I know. You’ve done so much for me Hajime, and for that, I’ll always be grateful. But Hajime, I’ve always been a danger to you. And now you know just how much of a danger I am. I’ve been immature all of this time, but I don’t want to act that way anymore.
To begin with, I had no plans on becoming someone famous. I only did it because I always wanted you to think that I was cool. And, now that I am famous, I realize how bad of an idea this was. Vampires are known to be in the shadows. The spotlight is dangerous for us.”
“Don’t say that. You were born for the spotlight, Tooru,” Hajime countered. “You look the most alive at the center of everyone’s attention.”
Tooru gave a half smile. “I’ll be honest. It wasn’t everyone’s attention that gave me life. Only yours.”
Tooru stood up. “Don’t worry, Hajime. I’ll see this project out to the end. This one will be the biggest one yet, as this will be my last work before my retirement from the entertainment industry. Please let Mr. Irhata know.”
---
Alice scoffed as she read the news article. This junior vampire was a lot more work than she had imagined. She was one of the only ones nearer to him in age that had fully matured, and so she was stuck with him.
Tooru was one of the most stubborn people she had met in her whole entire lifespan, yet was about to quit something he had seemed so passionate about. He had even gone against his parents wishes in order to become famous.
Now he was giving all of that up. Was that because of Hajime Iwaizumi? Tooru would need to be extremely careful, because he was revealing that man as his weakness with each decision made.
She stiffened as she felt her lover move. “What time is it?” The man asked, his voice raspy.
“Too early for you to be awake,” Alice murmured, absent mindedly bringing her index finger to the holes her fangs had left in him the night prior. “Do you want me to heal these?”
“No,” he responded, and then glanced at her phone. “Are you interested in keeping up with idols, Alice?”
“Mmm. Not all of them. Just him. I know Tooru. We go way back.” She turned her phone off, and put it on the bedside table.
The man frowned, and pulled her further into his arms. “It’ll be morning soon. I want you to fall asleep in my arms.”
“So needy,” she giggled, but settled into his arms regardless.
---
Tooru attended many interviews, and it became well known that this would be his final work before retiring from the spotlight.
Many speculated the reasons for this sudden change, but no one was able to guess other than Tooru’s parents, and Alice. None of them contacted Tooru about it, figuring that he would end up telling them himself, especially now that he had a flight booked for London.
Though many were worried that Tooru was cutting it much too tight, at the end of the month Tooru released his brand new album, called “Always, For You.”
When taking the picture for the cover in which half his sleeve was off his shoulder, he only allowed Hajime to touch him, which hadn’t hindered the work, but enhanced it. The photographer congratulated Hajime, telling him that it was Tooru’s best session yet.
When Hajime told Tooru that, Tooru had smirked, and said. “Of course it was. I outdo myself every time.”
And then the day came when Hajime dropped Tooru off at the airport. Hajime, at first, had wanted to buy himself a ticket too. Tooru insisted that he stay.
“I’ll be back,” Tooru promised once again as he took his luggage out of the backseat.
“You promise?” Hajime had a sick feeling in his gut as if this would be the last time he would ever see Tooru.
“Yeah.”
“What if… What if you don’t go?” Hajime asked suddenly. “All the people in there must smell strongly of blood. You could just stay in our apartment. You could stay, and I could work, and we… we… Well, it would be us again.”
Tooru bit his bottom lip, contemplating Hajime’s words. Finally, unable to resist the question any longer, he let go of his lip, and asked. “Why aren’t you scared of me?”
For whatever reason, those were the words that broke the dam within Hajime. With a sniff, he answered truthfully. “Because I love you, you dumbass!” With that proclamation, he began to cry. Hajime had always been a silent crier, the type in which streams of tears were already coming down before he even knew it.
“I’m a monster.”
“You’re not. You’re Tooru Oikawa, the boy who loves milk bread, aliens, and just happens to also need blood. It’s fine. We’ll figure it out. Together.”
Tooru began to sob. Together. He loved the way it came out of Hajime’s mouth. He loved Hajime so much for so long, but had always been worried about how Hajime felt about him, and how Hajime would feel if he stopped being famous, and how Hajime would react when finding out his species.
Yet, Hajime, as always, was a rock he could hold onto even during the most turbulent of waves, unwavering, unshaking, telling Tooru that he believed in together, and that he loved Tooru.
“I love you, Hajime.”
---
Alice clinked glasses with the Oikawa couple sitting in front of her. “Congratulations,” she said, “I heard that Tooru is all grown up now.”
Though she wouldn’t admit it out loud, she had, in fact, seen the teeth marks left on Hajime before she left them to return to England. She had to give Tooru tips on how to heal Hajime faster so that Hajime wouldn’t have to go to work with a bandaid on his neck all the time. She had also given them ways to make contact with her lover there, feeling that perhaps he and Hajime would get along and be able to share experiences.
“Thank you,” Mrs. Oikawa said. “You’ve taken care of our boy along with us, and helped guide him. Thank you for your help when he ran out of blood.”
“Of course.”
“I will say,” Mr. Oikawa said, “That when you mentioned how close Tooru and Hajime were, I still wasn’t expecting this.”
On the table that the three sat at was a card at the center. The white card with gold trim read: “You are cordially invited to the wedding of Hajime Iwaizumi and Tooru Oikawa.”
At the bottom it read: “For the guests with special requirements, please RSVP with Tooru ASAP.
Alice simply laughed. “I suppose I’ll need to collect a little more blood this time around. After all, this is the vampire wedding of this decade, isn’t it?”