Chapter Text
The first time Methas met Jinta, the world smelled of rain.
The sky had been a dull sheet of gray since the afternoon, and by evening the rain had become relentless, drumming against rooftops and splashing into overflowing drains. People hurried through the streets with umbrellas tilted low, shoulders hunched against the cold. No one spared a glance for anything except getting home.
Methas moved through the city like another shadow among many. The rain never bothered him. It rolled from his black coat without soaking through, as though even nature refused to cling to a creature that had outlived centuries. He had wandered countless cities over the years, watched kingdoms rise and fall, watched people laugh, cry, love, and disappear before he could even memorize their names. Humans had become fleeting things to him, bright sparks that burned for a moment before vanishing into darkness.
He had long stopped looking.
That evening should have been no different.
Then he saw the child.
A little boy stood alone beneath a weathered bus stop, his tiny figure nearly hidden behind the curtain of rain. His school uniform was damp around the sleeves, and his shoes were soaked from stepping into puddles. Clutched tightly against his chest was a worn picture book, protected beneath his small arms as though it were the most precious thing he owned. Every few moments, he stood on his tiptoes, peering hopefully down the road before sighing and shrinking back into the shelter.
People walked past him without slowing. Some glanced at him for barely a second before continuing on their way.
Methas should have done the same.
Instead...
His feet stopped.
The realization irritated him.
Why?
It was just another human child.
Another life that would flicker out before a single page of his own endless existence had turned.
Yet he remained standing across the street, watching.
Perhaps the child sensed his gaze. The little boy slowly turned his head until their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, neither of them moved.
Then, instead of shrinking away in fear, the boy's face lit up with innocent wonder.
"...You're really pretty."
Methas blinked.
Pretty?
Of all the things humans had called him over the centuries, beautiful had appeared more than once. Monster far more often. Devil. Demon. Blood-drinker. Curse.
Pretty...
No one had ever chosen such a simple word.
The boy smiled as though he had said the most obvious thing in the world.
"I'll get scolded if Mama knows I talked to strangers," he admitted, rocking slightly on his heels. "But you looked lonely."
Lonely.
The word struck with more force than any blade.
Lonely.
He had forgotten what it sounded like.
Forgotten that it was something people could see.
For centuries, no one had looked at him long enough to notice the silence that followed wherever he went. Humans saw an impossibly handsome stranger before instinct urged them to leave. Vampires saw a capable survivor. Hunters saw prey.
But this child...
This child had looked at him for less than a minute and somehow noticed the emptiness he carried.
Methas found himself walking toward the bus stop before he realized he had made the decision.
"You shouldn't speak to strangers," he said quietly.
The boy nodded immediately.
"I know."
"...Yet you did."
"I wanted to."
Such an uncomplicated answer.
It almost made Methas laugh.
The rain filled the silence between them. Water dripped steadily from the roof of the shelter while cars hissed past on the flooded road.
The boy crouched beside his backpack, rummaging through the front pocket with tiny hands.
"Aha!"
He pulled out a small rabbit keychain, its white paint chipped around the ears and one eye slightly faded from years of being tossed around with school supplies.
"It fell off my bag yesterday," the boy explained, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. "I was going to ask Mama to fix it..."
He looked down at the rabbit for a long moment before holding it out with both hands.
"But... you can have it."
Methas stared at the tiny object.
"You don't even know me."
The boy tilted his head.
"I don't have to."
"...Why would you give this to a stranger?"
"Because..." He smiled again, so brightly that it seemed warmer than the rain-soaked evening around them. "You look like you need it more."
For the first time in decades, Methas almost smiled.
A vampire.
Who had survived wars, betrayals, and centuries of bloodshed.
Being offered comfort in the form of a worn rabbit keychain.
The absurdity of it should have made him walk away.
Instead, he reached out.
Their fingers brushed for the briefest moment.
Warm.
So impossibly warm.
Methas had forgotten what living skin felt like.
Before either of them could say another word, headlights swept across the bus stop.
A car stopped abruptly at the curb.
The driver's door flew open.
"Jinta!"
A woman hurried through the rain, her umbrella forgotten as she rushed toward the little boy. She knelt immediately, checking his face, brushing damp strands of hair away with trembling hands.
"There you are! I was so worried!"
"I'm sorry, Mama," the boy laughed. "The rain got really heavy."
Only then did she notice the stranger standing nearby.
She offered a cautious nod before gently taking her son's hand.
"Come on."
Jinta climbed into the car but rolled the window down before they drove away.
He leaned halfway out, grinning so widely his eyes disappeared into crescents.
"Bye, pretty mister!"
He waved until the car turned the corner and disappeared into the rain.
Silence returned.
Methas remained beneath the bus stop long after the taillights had vanished.
His hand slowly closed around the tiny rabbit keychain.
It was cheap.
Scratched.
Worthless.
Yet somehow...
It felt heavier than every century he had lived.
He slipped it carefully into the pocket over his heart.
"It will be forgotten by sunrise," he murmured to himself.
It was the easiest promise he had ever made.
And the only one he failed to keep.