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Mika thought she’d never see her again.
A mysterious vampire woman who snuck into her life, while simultaneously sneaking right back out of it. Mika had no idea what to make of it. Maybe she was too caught up in her tempting eyes, or her long black hair. Or how strange she was… were all vampires this strange? Who says something so poetic before leaving their victim like that?
“Kagehira! You’re spacing out again.”
Mika snapped to her senses before sighing sheepishly. “Ngah, sorry, Oshi-san.”
They were currently in the city. Shu had invited Mika on the trip this time after coming back home to their cabin. Mika hadn’t told her about the vampire noble that “broke” into their home, and she doesn’t think she ever will.
But Shu wasn’t stupid. She immediately suspected something was wrong once she returned, stating that Mika’s mannerisms had changed. She described Mika as clumsy, which Mika nodded along to. But then, Shu stated that her roommate's mannerisms became more…stiff.
Mika had no idea what to take from it. But, after a few weeks of returning, Shu offered to have Mika come with her on her city trip this time.
“What on earth are you thinking about? You’ve been spacing out so much lately! Have you finally gone mad?” Shu huffed as she rolled her suitcase down the stone path, toward the inn they were staying in. She watched Mika glance to the side and mumble something under her breath, which she raised an eyebrow at. “What was that, Kagehira? Have you something to say? Spit it out so I can hear it properly. ”
“Sorry, Oshi-san. ‘M just thinkin’ of somethin’. Nothin’ to worry about.”
“...”
Mika knew Shu was at her patience’s limit. She was trying her best to work with Mika and her newfound “mystery”, but she was getting more pissed as the days went on. She would snap soon, and Mika would have to deal with her onslaught of questions.
“Listen, Kagehira. I don’t know what happened while I was gone. And you aren’t telling me a thing. Did I do something to upset you?”
Mika looked up to see Shu not looking at her. Did she make Oshi-san think she did something wrong?
Mika waved her free hand in front of her, knowing she had to diffuse Shu’s worry in some way. “Ya did nothin’, Oshi-san. I promise, and ya know I don’t break promises.”
“Then why aren’t you telling me what happened?”
They reach the front of the inn, and Shu turns around to face Mika fully. She looked frustrated, and Mika hated that. Maybe she could tell Shu about Hokuto? But, how would Shu feel about Mika falling for a vampire? A noble vampire at that? She didn’t want to know how Shu would react. Would she kick her out? Call her a dirty and disgusting whore or something?
No, Shu wouldn't tarnish her mouth by uttering a word like that—
“Kagehira! You’re doing it again! Is there something so important that you can’t even tell me…?” Mika blinked, coming out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Shu’s face, which was scrunched up.
“...Maybe I’ll tell ya one day, Oshi-san. I can’t make any promises though…”
Apparently, that was enough to set Shu off. But, instead of rage, she just looked pained, like Mika had stabbed her with the sharpest sword in all of the land. Mika regretted her words.
“Alright.” And with that, Shu opened the door of the inn before Mika could say anything.
After checking in, Shu had dropped her bags in their shared room and told Mika that she was going out. And then, she left.
Mika assumed that she was going to meet her girlfriend for comfort, and honestly, she couldn’t blame her. If Mika had a girlfriend, and Shu was keeping a secret from her, she would’ve rushed to them and cried on their shoulders.
Perhaps Mika should go out.
The sun was setting, and she knew Shu probably wouldn’t return for the night. The city had many things to look at, so she wouldn’t be bored. She’d return by twelve in the morning. And then, she’d sleep.
And so, that’s what she did. She had to clear her head.
When she exited the inn, she was met by fresh, cool wind blowing on her face, and the sight of the sun setting behind buildings. It was beautiful.
She began her walk, hoping to be lost in the noises of the crowds that eventually surrounded her.
Mika had been to the city a few times, and she found that the bustling atmosphere wasn’t for her. Merchants would sell things on the streets and street dancers would have crowds gathering around them as they danced to music being played on instruments. There were music groups and people polishing shoes to the tunes of the music whilst smiling at their clients. There were buildings upon buildings, filled to the brim with lights. The ones filled with lights told you of the higher class of the people owning the building. The ones with lesser lights…well those belong to people who didn’t have silver spoons in their mouths.
The city was for people who enjoyed loud noise and who loved the romance that came with it. Mika had no affinity for loud noise or romance. So, honestly, she had no reason why she chose to trek through the city.
But, she found herself being swayed by the music, lulled into it like a lullaby. The cheers and claps of people surrounding dancers fell into the background, and the singing…oh the singing. The singing felt like she was on a cloud, one being lifted into the air at an alarming rate.
She didn’t mind though. Mika enjoyed singing, she even sang sometimes. She didn’t question why the music felt so…comforting. All her worries faded away in her mind, and her brain was surrounded by a fog.
She didn’t know how far she was walking.
She didn’t know how long she was walking.
She didn’t know when she had walked into an alleyway.
Mika had simply followed the music, the comforting singing. The beautiful harmony that brought her to this alley…it had to be good right? She felt calm all over her body, her brain covered in nothing but song.
And then, she found herself being shoved against a wall.
And not a soft shove either. It had extreme strength behind it.
Mika gasped, pain shooting up her back. Her brain was too foggy to think much of anything, the singing continuing to lull her into a deep trance. She thought of nothing as a clawed hand gripped her throat and lifted her from the ground. And she thought nothing as she saw a beautiful woman being the owner of that hand, her mouth open as she continued to sing to Mika.
Mika tried to breathe, but the clawed hand continued to grip her neck.
Something in her told her she had to fight. Something deep down. Maybe it was her heart or her gut. Or maybe it was her will to live. Because she was going to die if she stayed here.
Mika weakly reached up and grabbed at the wrist of the woman, trying to scratch at her with her nails.
The woman simply laughed at this, her song continuing. Mika’s brain faintly questioned why the woman wasn’t actually attacking her, only singing.
It clicked in the back of her mind that no, this was not a woman, and the singing was in fact the weapon. But she couldn’t do much about it.
She was going to die.
Mika closed her eyes, accepting her fate. There’s not much she could do. Sirens had infinitely more strength than humans. Mika was helpless. And sirens used their song to suck the life force from their victims. So, not only was she helpless, but she was losing her little strength by the minute.
The lack of air was finally getting to her, and let out a faint cry of help with the last bit of air she had.
And, it seemed like it was heard.
Because there was a sickening crack, and Mika was dropped to the ground. She landed with a muted thud and gasped, gulping down air as she held her throat. She opened her eyes to look around. The arm that was holding her up was on the ground, ripped off the body of her attacker.
The siren song had stopped, and the siren was fighting someone in a black cloak.
Mika’s mind slowly cleared, and she watched as the person in the cloak easily overpowered the siren, wincing as the siren continued to shriek and scream as the cloaked person forced her to the ground. And then, the cloaked person started to stomp on the siren. Repeatedly.
The shrill cries hurt her ears, but she could vaguely hear the person talking. It sounded mocking.
“She is mine. Did you really think I’d let you get away with that? You must’ve known she was mine. You must be stupid.”
The voice sounded familiar. Mika couldn’t place it. But she felt… safe, for some odd reason. Yes, the cloaked person who was claiming Mika was theirs would keep her safe. Sure.
The screams soon died down to garbled noises before dying out completely. The stomps continued, crunch after crunch. The siren was surely dead by now.
“I…I think they’re dead… ya can stop…” Mika spoke up slowly, hoping whoever this person was could hear her over the sounds of their stomping.
Immediately, they stopped, their foot coming to the ground normally on the remains of her attacker.
Mika finally started to feel fear.
No, she couldn’t be safe. This person would definitely kill her. This person will definitely kill her.
Mika didn’t know if she should stand or run. There’s no way she could beat this person in a race. Their back was still turned to her, maybe she could run—
The cloaked person reached to their head and brought their hood down, black hair falling down their back. They shook their head a little, their hair waving back and forth, before turning to Mika. Dark blue eyes stared down at her, blood staining their pale face. Their eyes were sharp and cold.
Mika could recognize her anywhere.
“...Hidaka-san…?”
The cold blue eyes immediately softened at her name, and a smile drew across her face. Hokuto walked towards her and crouched down to Mika’s level. “Kagehira.”
“...What’re ya doin’ here? In the city..?” Mika couldn’t help but smile at her. Hokuto being here really made things better, even if she just brutally murdered someone to keep Mika safe. Honestly, it was a little cool. “How’d ya know I was here? Are ya stalkin’ me?”
“Hmm… you could say that.” Hokuto’s smile widened. “I followed your scent.”
Mika tilted her head at this. Hokuto had mentioned her scent before, and that thought had disappeared into thin air. She hadn’t cared then, and honestly? She didn’t care now. What she did care about was the blood tainting the vampire’s face.
She reached her hand up and placed her hand on Hokuto’s cheek, whose eyes widened before she leaned into the touch. Mika started to wipe the blood off of Hokuto’s face with her thumb, her tongue poking out her mouth as she focused on her task. The blood continued to smear on her face, and Mika grumbled to herself as she only made it worse.
Hokuto started to laugh at Mika’s angered face, which earned her a half-hearted glare. “You can leave it alone, Kagehira. I can clean it up later.”
“Ngah, no… it’s dirty. I don’ like it. Yer face should always be clean…”
“And why is that?”
Mika huffed before taking her hand away. “No reason.”
Hokuto continued to smile at her, her eyes raking up and down Mika’s body, checking for any other wounds that she hadn’t seen before. When she was done, she stood up and stretched her hand out.
Mika took it, standing up with her.
“Sorry you had to see that side of me,” Hokuto says softly, her smile dropping to a frown. She looked almost… afraid? Of what, Mika couldn’t tell.
“Ya saved me, I don’ mind at all.” Mika smiled, gripping Hokuto’s hand a little tighter.
Hokuto looked to their joined hand before looking back up to Mika, her eyes wide. “...You aren’t scared?”
“Why should I be?”
“I just stomped a siren to death.”
Mika giggled. “Yer a vampire noble, I would think you’d be able to kill a siren that easily.”
A smile graced Hokuto’s face, her eyes closing and her sharp canines shining in the light of the moon. She then reached up to her own face and gingerly swiped the blood from her cheek before bringing her clawed finger to her mouth and tasting it. Mika gulped.
“Let’s go, Kagehira.”
Mika tilted her head, ready to ask her “Where?” but she was then pulled toward the entrance of the alleyway. Hokuto pulled her hood back over her head as they exited into the bright light of the city street.
Mika flinched as light assaulted her vision but continued to follow Hokuto as she dragged her away.
They stopped at many places.
The first place was a music group who was playing on a street corner. There was a crowd gathered around, so Hokuto had pushed through people to get to the front, Mika close behind her.
Music filled the air, the good kind.
Someone had jumped into the circle surrounding the group and started to dance, and the crowd started to clap to the music.
Mika had no idea what to do with her hands. She could of course, clap, but she was so amazed by the dancing of the person that she didn’t even think about it.
She turned to talk to Hokuto to ask her if she was as astonished as Mika was, only to find her laughing and clapping her hands to the beat. She was smiling, and though her hood cast a shadow over her eyes, Mika could see that they were filled with mirth.
Mika was so focused on Hokuto that she didn’t see that more people were joining in the dance, people surrounding the music group while dancing either by themselves or with someone else.
Eventually, Hokuto turned to her, her smile questioning, as if wondering why Mika had been staring at her for so long. She stopped clapping in her confusion before her eyes seemed to light up. She reached out and grabbed Mika’s hand and pulled her into the circle.
Mika yelped as Hokuto then grabbed her other hand before spinning them around in circles, gleefully laughing.
“Hidaka-san?!” Hokuto grinned at her before she stopped spinning.
“Hm?”
“What’re ya—”
“I’m dancing.” Hokuto started to side-step, Mika nervously following her. “Dance with me?”
The music was faster than what Mika was used to. But Hokuto was quickly following the beat, as if she had done this before. Swallowing her nerves, Mika started to quickly dance with Hokuto, who laughed.
“What on earth are you doing, Kagehira?”
“W-What?! I can’t dance ta quick music like this?!”
Hokuto smiled at her before gripping her hand. “Follow my lead.”
When she had said that, Mika didn’t think she’d mean this.
Mika was being twirled and stepped around in a square. Mika had continuously stepped on Hokuto’s feet; she had stuttered out apology after apology, but Hokuto just chuckled and continued dancing with her.
Eventually, Mika got the hang of the quick pace.
She twirled Hokuto, who giggled at her, twirling her back. They danced and danced, stepping away from each other before coming back together, holding both of each other’s hands as they tilted their bodies back and forth to the music.
Eventually, they were the only ones in the circle, too caught up in each other to notice others had left, and they were being watched by everyone.
People clapped to both the music and their dancing, Mika and Hokuto laughing to each other as they spun around in circle after circle.
The music died down to a stop, and Hokuto took this as a chance to dip Mika, who let out a fit of giggles as she did so.
The crowd erupted with applause as Hokuto pulled Mika up. They didn’t notice, still continuing to smile and stare at each other.
It was cheesy, but Mika only noticed the crowd when they started to yell “Kiss her!”
Embarrassment flooded Mika’s body, and her face flushed a deep red. Hokuto looked at her, still smiling before she pulled Mika to her, and their lips met in a sweet kiss.
Mika had missed this. She had only kissed Hokuto during their moment in her cabin, but she missed this.
She wrapped her arms around Hokuto’s neck, smiling as she kissed back, ignoring the sounds of the crowd cheering behind her.
Hokuto had pulled her all through the city, stopping to buy Mika sweets that she herself had enjoyed. Mika didn’t know vampires could eat human food, but she was pleasantly surprised when Hokuto’s face lit up with joy when she took a bite of a fruit tart.
They ran from place to place, Hokuto throwing a coin in every fountain she could find. Mika had asked her why, and Hokuto explained that fountains granted wishes. Mika thought it was a childish thing to believe, but she started to believe it herself when she saw how excited Hokuto was when she asked.
They came to the city border, holding onto the railings as they stared across the water, the moon hanging in the sky above the dark mountains.
Hokuto had been dragging Mika everywhere, so Mika leaned her back against the railings, panting loudly. Hokuto laughed at her, and Mika threw a glare in her direction.
After Mika caught her breath, she turned to the water, and they fell into a comfortable silence.
The view was beautiful. The city border had less lights than the city itself, and less people. So it was quiet, and the stars were slightly more visible.
They stared over the water, at the moon, at the mountains, before Mika finally broke the silence. She turned to the vampire, curiosity coming off her in waves.
“Why are ya here, Hidaka-san? Don’t ya have duties to uphold back home?”
Hokuto didn’t answer for a little while. Her eyes stared over the water, her smile serene.
“I ran away from home.”
Mika blinked at this, her mouth opening in shock. Nothing came out at first, before she finally asked, “Why?”
Hokuto’s smile faltered for a second, before returning to its usual state. “Because of my mother. She’s an annoyance.”
“Is that all?”
“Of course not. My mother is a disgusting person.”
When Hokuto didn’t continue, Mika cautiously asked, “Why…?”
Hokuto paused, choosing her words carefully. Then, she speaks, saying, “She sees humans as livestock, while I… I do not. Humans aren’t livestock to feed us vampires, they’re simply human. So I left due to differing views of humanity.”
Mika leaned further on the railing to get a better view of Hokuto’s face. There was nothing there but a smile, but her gaze was far away. “Can’t ya change her views…?”
“I’ve been trying my whole life, and I am not young in the slightest. She doesn’t listen. She never listens. My only option was to leave before she turned me into a monster like her.” Hokuto turned to her, her eyes sad. Mika had never seen her look like that before. “Do you think I am a monster, Mika?”
“No.”
The immediate answer made Hokuto blink in shock. “But—”
“Yer not. It’s not like ya tried ta kill me or anythin’. In fact, ya saved me tonight.”
“Only because—”
“‘Cause ya think of me as a meal?” Mika smiled to her as Hokuto’s eyes widened. “I didn’t think so. Ya saved me ‘cause I’m me, not because ’m a meal ta ya.”
Hokuto frowned, her gaze casting downward in shame. “I can’t say I didn’t think of you like that at first. You smell so nice, Kagehira. So I… just followed your scent to your cabin that night. I was so hungry, and you smelled so good, so I just wanted to suck you dry. But, I didn’t think you’d be like this—I was thinking like my mother at the time, but seeing you changed how I was thinking. I swear, I was just hungry—”
“Gah, shuddap!” Mika turned fully to her. Hokuto startled slightly, looking back up to Mika. “Listen, I don’ care if you see me as livestock either way. ‘M fine with ya suckin’ my blood. And ‘m fine with ya thinkin’ I’m not livestock. I don’t care!” Mika huffed to herself.
Hokuto stared at her in shock. “...What do you mean you don’t care? Don’t you care about your life?”
“Of course I do! I just… don’t mind if you’re the one that’s killin’ me, is all.” Mika shrunk into herself, her voice dying out as she spoke those last words. Her confidence had been sucked out of her.
Hokuto continued to stare before she broke out into laughter. “You really are something, Kagehira,” she says between breaths. Mika stared at her in embarrassment, which only caused Hokuto to laugh more. “I don’t want you dead, you know.”
“W-Well, that’s a good thing. Means I can spend more time with you, right?” Mika looked at the vampire hopefully. Hokuto’s laughs died down to giggles before she smiled brightly at Mika.
“Of course.”
Hokuto had brought Mika back to her inn in her arms. Mika had been tired—she did pull her around the city all night long, after all—and Hokuto had told her to sleep and she’d get her to her bed safely.
When she had jumped to Mika’s inn window, she opened in and climbed in. It was dark in the room, and it seemed like there was no one in there.
Mika had told her that her bed was the one closest to the window, so Hokuto gently placed her in the bed before covering her up with the blankets. When she leaned down to kiss Mika’s forehead, the room lamp was turned on.
Shocked, she jolted away from Mika, and found herself staring at Mika’s companion.
Pink coiled fell down her back, and purple eyes glared at Hokuto. She wore a white nightgown and a frown.
They stared at each other for a little, before Mika’s companion asked in a slow, angry tone:
“What on earth are you?”