This contains mild adult humor. Reader discretion is advised.
Miku Hatsune— college freshman, varsity cheerleader, community volunteer, and all-around outgoing and vivacious young woman— was trying to go to sleep early. She had a full day of classes tomorrow, with cheerleading practice after, and she wanted to be fully rested and at her cheerful best.
Her residence-hall room was dark and still. Miku's room-mate (and life-long best friend) Gumi was spending another late night at the college library. ("NERD!," Miku had said to Gumi with teasing affection as Gumi left, which had earned Miku an equally affectionate raised middle finger from Gumi.)
And the hallway outside her unlocked and cracked door was quiet. Miku (an above-average student herself) and Gumi had enrolled in an honors program, and their floor had extended quiet hours through the week.
But Miku was having trouble sleeping because of the late autumn heat. Her room faced west, and even the massive residence-hall HVAC system could not keep up with the heat of the evening sun. Yellowed vertical blinds hung limply over her window, blocking the light but not the heat. Miku had left both the window and the door open, but there was little air flow between them.
The sun was setting late, especially from the view of an upper-floor window and an unobstructed western horizon. Miku threw back her sheets, tossed and turned, and sighed in relief when the sun finally set.
A few minutes later... Miku was no longer alone.
A black shape seemed to glide into the room, drifting towards Miku's lower bunk bedside. It stood still and silent, watching Miku sleep, as if it were waiting for the right moment... or willing something to happen.
And it happened. Miku turned again in her sleep. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt, and as she turned, her body pulled it down, exposing her lower neck and shoulder with the soft glow of a thin film of sweat.
The black shape began to lean in, slowly at first, but then faster. Its eyes, hidden in the shadows of a soft hood, glowed blood-red. It leaned into Miku's shoulder with a soft hiss.
And the silence was broken by a piercing female shriek.
Miku, unharmed and now fully awake, sat up in bed, holding back the black shape's head by one delicate ear. She turned on a small bedside lamp with her free hand.
"Ow ow ow ow ow ow," the black shape said. Its hood fell back to reveal the long soft pink hair of a very beautiful young woman, perhaps a few years older than Miku.
"Excuse me," Miku said, "but what do you think you're doing?"
The woman rolled her eyes, which had faded from blood-red to a deep blue. "Why, I am performing the 'Hawaiian War Chant'... what does it LOOK like I am doing?"
"Aggravated assault?" Miku said.
"Ow ow ow," the woman said again. "The only assault committed in this room has been against my own person. Would you please release my ear? If you would, I promise to back away from you."
Miku reluctantly released the offending ear. The woman stood back and up, rubbing the side of her head. "Thank you," she said. "How did you catch my ear? No human has ever caught me before."
"Don't know, really. Quick reflexes, I guess," Miku said modestly. "No weirdo has ever tried to molest me before, either."
"I was not trying to molest you," the woman said in a slightly offended tone. "I was only trying to drink some of your blood."
"Oh, that's much less serious," Miku said with a smirk. "You know, it's rude to try to drink someone's blood without asking permission."
"I have not had a great deal of positive response," the woman said dryly, "to my requests to drink even a small amount of a stranger's blood."
"You haven't tried asking me," Miku said.
The woman raised one eyebrow. "...should I?"
"Go for it," Miku said with an encouraging smile.
"Very well," the woman said. "May I drink a small amount of your blood?"
Miku swallowed heavily and gathered up all of her nerve. "...yes," she said. "But on one condition."
The woman frowned. "You would ask a boon of me? I do not usually contract with mortals merely for one feeding. What would you have me do?"
"I wanna take you out on a date," Miku said earnestly. "Are you free this Friday? Say, six o'clock?"
The woman stared at Miku for a long silent moment. "...WHAT." she finally said flatly. "WHY?"
"Three reasons," Miku said. "One: You're obviously interested in me, or at least, in my shoulder. Two: As for me, I'm gay as a daffodil. And I can't see much of you in all that black clothing— but from what I can see? You FINE. And three: I'm OK with some making-out, but I don't do one-night stands, and I'd like to get to know you."
"...I see," the woman said, still taken aback. "Pardon my surprise. I am unused to consent from my victims, let alone any interest in seeing me again."
"You seem like a nice person, now that we've talked a little bit," Miku said. "You really should just talk to people before you try to go all weird on them. Oh, and you probably shouldn't refer to them as your 'victims'. That doesn't exactly suggest a mutually beneficial relationship."
"You might have a point," the woman admitted. "Very well. I agree to your boon. I shall return to your room this Friday at six o'clock, to spend the evening with you as you please."
Miku helpfully pulled her shirt down, exposing her shoulder again. "And in that case," she said, "I agree to your macking on me."
The woman hissed softly again, as if she were breathing out heavily. "Such an exquisite collarbone," she said out loud to herself.
"Pervert," Miku said. "Try not to leave any hickeys high on my neck, OK?... Oh, wow! Nice fangs! Did you— OW! HEY! You really BIT me! Are you CRAZY? Oh no, I'm bleeding! Oh no...
"Oh... Ooohhhhh... Oh, YESSSSS..."
After a moment that seemed to last for hours, the woman stood back and up again. She modestly held a hand in front of her mouth, thoughtfully sparing Miku the sight of her own blood. "...well?" she asked expectantly. "As you young people say: 'Was it good for you?'"
Miku was still breathing heavily. "WHAT was THAT?" she gasped. "That was... uh... well... what WAS that?" She raised a hand to her neck, and found that the bite wound had already closed.
The woman licked the last of the blood from her teeth, and then smiled sweetly. "It is an agreeable side-effect for both of us. When I must take blood by force, the effect serves to calm the vi— er, human, and inhibit her fear, so that I need not fight her as I feed. But in the rare case where a human gives consent, as you did? With no fear to overcome, the effect becomes one of overwhelming pleasure, bordering on the erotic. Or so I have been told."
"Oh, wow!" Miku said hazily. "You're a vampire!"
The woman face-palmed. "I had assumed that you had already arrived at that conclusion... Tell me, girl. If you had not realized I was a vampire, then exactly what did you think I was doing?"
"I thought you were just a socially awkward live-action role-player grad-student who was sneaking around and looking for innocent freshmen to hit on," Miku said. "I knew a girl back in high school who was into that kind of stuff. Instead of kissing guys at parties, she would put in fake fangs and nibble on their necks. But she was straight, darn it, and she never made a move on me. She was a real goth cutie."
"I see," the woman said again. "It seems our meeting was quite fortuitous. In addition to being a lonely and adventurous homosexual, you also have something of an unfulfilled vampire fetish."
"When you put it that way," Miku said, "you make it sound like I'm the weirdo here. Lots of girls are hot for vampires these days, you know?"
The woman giggled. "I find that unlikely," she said. "But I must apologize, for I have taken rather more blood from you than I first intended. I should go, so that you may rest. We can talk at length after I return for your date."
Miku fell back in her bed. "Um, are you really OK with that? Sorry, I didn't really know what I was asking... and from whom I was asking it..."
"I have already agreed to your boon," the woman said solemnly. "I am now bound to honor your wishes, on pain of my own existence. And even if I were not so bound... you are a most intriguing young woman, Miku Hatsune."
"How do you know my name?" Miku asked nervously. "Can you read my mind?"
"Not exactly," the woman said, "although I do have many psychic abilities. But rather, I can read the student ID that you left on your desk."
"Oh," Miku said. "Hey, wait! Don't go yet! What's YOUR name?"
"Forgive me," the woman said, "but I am not yet comfortable with revealing my identity. Perhaps I will share my name with you later. Sleep well, Miku. I sincerely look forward to seeing you again."
Miku watched the woman leave her room. And then, she stared up at the bottom of Gumi's bunk-bed, and giggled to herself. Gumi is not going to believe this!, Miku thought.
Gumi is not going to believe that I got a date with an OLDER WOMAN!
Luka smiled to herself as she easily made her exit from the residence hall unseen. She had taken her fill of blood, and she had some pleasant thoughts to ponder.
She had long ago been invited to enter every residence hall on campus, as well as every lecture hall and administrative building, and she came and went as she pleased. The campus buildings also had many convenient storage rooms and hidden spaces for her to hide from the sun during the day.
The college campus, and the small city and campus town surrounding it, offered Luka a large and ever-changing population of humans to feed on. She was an old vampire, intelligent and experienced, and she had little trouble feeding nightly. She had long ago learned how to leave wounds that healed almost instantly after feeding, and very few of her "victims" even knew that anything had happened to them.
And it had been several years since she had struck up a friendship with any being, human or inhuman. Nor had she been forced to do battle with any other supernatural entities for some time— they were a rarity in the modern world. She had no reason even to speak for weeks at a time.
Despite her comfortable existence on the busy and crowded college campus, Luka was very much alone in the world. She was a solitary creature, both as a vampire and by her own personality, but were she to stop and think about it too much... she was lonely.
She found herself inappropriately (for a vampire of her age) excited at the prospect of human companionship, despite all the dangers granting such a boon entailed. The campus was teeming with beautiful and intelligent young men and women, but none had piqued her interest as Miku had done. Somehow, Miku was special.
And there was also the question of Miku's "quick reflexes," as she had put it. No human should have been able to catch an old vampire like Luka, and no human should have been able to hold Luka back. Luka was very wise, and she found herself excited at the challenge of a new mystery to solve.
It had been a most promising night, Luka thought to herself. Some nights, it was good to be a vampire.