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Hanging high up in the night sky, the slender crescent of the moon overlooked the ancient chateau that sat on the edge of the cliff. Rumbling ocean waves crashed against the rocks as winter gusts howled through the frosted forest, showering the pines with a flurry of snow. A cloaked figure treaded through the woodland, leaving traces of blood along the way. He was the lord of the chateau──it had been eighteen days since he left his residence, a bit longer than expected. Normally, he would leave once every few months to hunt for human blood in nearby villages, and a trip would take no longer than two weeks. This was an exception.
Inside of the chateau, a string of crisp musical notes resonated in the hallway. The soft, pearl moonlight slanted into the piano room through the traceries of the double lancet window, shining onto the black instrument and the face of the boy who was playing it. Fujiki Yusaku paused, leant closer to examine the sheets, and ran his fingers across the keyboard once more. Wrong notes again. It was a particularly challenging section riddled with grace notes and nested tuplets. He had been stuck on this bar for a while. Eyebrows knitted, he felt a wave of irritation rising, his patience wearing out with each failed attempt. He was about to give another try when he heard a set of footsteps approaching. He whipped his head towards the entrance.
Kogami Ryoken entered the room, his cloak billowing with every stride. Yusaku stood up abruptly and hurried to his side.
“Why, I never imagined that there would be a day when I come home to requiem.” Ryoken teased. Yusaku did not reply; under the flickering glow of candlelight, the bloodstain on Ryoken’s face looked eerily red. He examined the man quickly──Ryoken was donned in dark-coloured vests and pant, making it difficult to discern blood.
“Are you hurt?”
“Hurt? No, of course not.” Ryoken snorted, chucking his cloak onto the floor with a look a contempt in his eyes. “Those so called ‘vampire hunters’ cannot lay a finger on me.”
“But what they’re capable of with their weapons…shotguns, muskets…I’ve read about them in the books. And it took you longer than usual to come back this time.”
“They’ve recruited more people to the service, that’s all. You should have more faith in the man who raised you.” dismissed Ryoken. In no time, however, his lips curved into an upward angle and his voice softened. “Enough on the humans. What have you been doing these days?”
Sensing Ryoken’s displeasure, Yusaku dropped the subject matter and glanced behind. “Nothing new. Reading, cleaning and cooking, and practicing piano…there’s this part that I just can’t get right.”
“Let me take a look.”
The two strolled towards the piano and sat down together, shoulder to shoulder. Ryoken scanned the music sheet briefly before his fingers danced gracefully across the keys, eliciting a melancholy melody──like the moon sinking into the sea, like stars twinkling alone in darkness. Yusaku was mesmerized by the nimbleness of the man’s fingers. He turned to the man who looked back and smiled, “Watch.”
Ryoken played again. This time more slowly so that Yusaku could hear better. The last note dropped and Yusaku, after contemplating on the melody for a little while, raised his arm to play. A mistake. Another one. Yusaku frowned, visibly frustrated. Ryoken chuckled, “It’s alright, you got plenty of time for practice later. Speaking of which, I brought you a present.”
Tilting his head, Yusaku watched Ryoken intently as he reached into his coat and pulled out──something. It was a wooden, human-like figure the size of his palm with strings attached to its limbs.
“I’ve seen this before in the books,” Yusaku commented.
“It’s a marionette. You play it like this.” Attaching the strings to his fingers, Ryoken lifted his arm and maneuvered the wooden figure to make different poses. Yusaku stared at the marionette, apparently lost in thought. Ryoken caught Yusaku’s silence and halted his movements.
“I remember the books said that…people outside set up theatres specifically for this. They write scripts for the marionettes to act along, and musicians compose operas that play in the background. It’s a popular form of entertainment.”
Ryoken arched an eyebrow, the emotions in the pair of icy eyes cooling down. “Don’t tell me that you’re suddenly interested in the humans now, sixteen years after they dumped you in the woods to starve and die?”
Clack, clack, clack. The pendulum under the clock on the wall swung back and forth. Yusaku shook his head, “I’m not interested. I’m good with the ways things are now.”
Ryoken smiled and set the marionette away. “I thought so too.” Leaning forward, he pulled the ruffled collar of Yusaku’s shirt aside and opened his mouth, sinking his fangs into the pale flesh. Yusaku’s breath hitched momentarily──then he relaxed, closing his eyes and wrapping his arms around Ryoken’s back as Ryoken began to unbutton his shirt.
It stopped snowing outside. That was the first thing Yusaku noticed when he woke up from a dream. Right next to him lied Ryoken, who was deep asleep, locking Yusaku in a loose embrace. They did not shut the curtains of the four-post bed, giving Yusaku a view of the bedroom that he was most familiar with. Above the fireplace, a mirror framed with curclicues hung beside an old portrait of the Kogami family on the wall. Romanesque pillars supported the corners of the room, leading to the decorative trims that lined the vaulted ceiling. A candle chandelier was mounted on the ceiling, though it had been a while since it was last lit.
Yusaku fixed his eyes on Ryoken, recalling the events from the dream he had. It was a serene, beautiful evening just like today. He stood alongside Taki Kyoko in the dining hall, gazing indifferently at the purple-haired man who was drugged and unconscious in the wingback chair.
“I’ll leave the rest to you, Lady Taki.” Yusaku said.
“Rest assured, I’ll take care of him……Asso is making sure that there are no tails.” Kyoko sighed, “Damn the hunters. They can’t know of this place. I hope this one simply got lost in the woods and managed to stumble here.”
Yusaku did not answer. He started to gather the remaining food on the plates onto one and stacked them onto a platter, collecting cups and cutleries in the process. Before he left the room with the used dishes, Kyoko called him.
“Fujiki?”
Yusaku turned to look at her. Voice laced with an indiscernible note of hesitation, Kyoko said tentatively. “You know, what this man said about going outside and meeting other humans…I’m not the one to question my lord’s decisions, but he could be unreasonable when it comes to you…”
As if it costed her a profound amount of courage, she took a deep breath and continued, “If you want to leave the chateau and take a look at what it’s like outside, I can talk to──”
The purple-haired man’s voice resounded in Yusaku’s head. He’s lying to you, Yusaku. You’re one of us. The vampires have been our enemy for thousands of years, why would a vampire keep a human captive for so long and spare his life? He must be using you. Come with me, Yusaku, I’ll show you what the world really is like.
And the man kept blabbering on about life outside of the chateau. Endless choices of mouth-watering cuisine that was guaranteed to taste far better than just meat and potatoes. Toy stores, circus, theatres, fashion houses, and so many different shops that sell glamourous items and offer entertainments more than just books and piano. All sorts of people with different hair and eye colours, tall, short, fat, slender, young, and old, conversing in different languages. Outside, the sun shined so bright that it could penetrate the thick, heavy curtains in the chateau, piercing the gloom that enveloped the place ever since he could remember.
“There is no need,” replied Yusaku coolly. Ignoring Kyoko’s stunned look, Yusaku pushed open the dining hall door and added, “Also, don’t tell Ryoken about this. He’s got enough things to deal with already.”
The moon hung high up in the night sky, pouring its milky light across Ryoken’s body──those strands of white hair looked ethereal. Yusaku had always liked to run his fingers through those hair, whether it was when Ryoken was napping on his laps or when Ryoken was inside him, muffling his whimpers with searing kisses.
Eyes half-lidded, Yusaku smiled and snuggled deeper into Ryoken’s arms, falling into a dreamless sleep.