A/N: Birthday fic for someone really awesome :) I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading.
Nozomi knew it was a mistake the moment she had decided to do this.
Her steps echoed loudly across the alleyways as she continued to creep along. She couldn't shake the feeling that there was something in the darkness, something following after her. Her eyes darted all around, trying to look for the closest exit. It was dark all around her except for the single light shining down one path. In this overwhelming darkness, she couldn't help but think it was only a lure, only placed there to trick her. In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of civilization but it all sounded much further away. She felt like even if she kept chasing after it, she would never reach it.
A sudden clang above her. She whipped her head up. Nothing, save for an empty fire escape.
Footsteps echoing all over. Nozomi snapped her head back down, shooting her eyes all around. Nothing, save for only the light of the moon to show her there was only emptiness in the alleyways.
She clutched her bag tighter to her, trying to keep her thoughts from wandering even more.
Nozomi had always known there were... other creatures, had always been... sensitive. Her mother had told her to never speak of this to anyone, scaring young Nozomi with tales of being locked up in a scary building for the rest of her life if she did. It worked, and whenever she felt the odd tingle of her body, she would keep silent, ignoring the murmurs at the back of her mind, convincing herself that it was all a trick of her mind.
Nozomi was beginning to realize how much she had truly deluded herself.
There was a cold breath on the back of her neck.
She widened her eyes, felt her whole body stilling in terror.
"Human, do you know where you are right now?" a voice whispered, low and silky.
Nozomi could only slowly turn her head to the side, meeting ice blue eyes. She tried to scream but there was no sound that came out of her. She didn't know what was worse, the hand on her neck or the fact that the pale face next to her own had sharp fangs that were clearly not human.
There could only be one conclusion as to what had caught her.
The only consolation Nozomi had was that at least her killer was a pretty woman.
She shut her eyes tightly, waiting for the decisive moment of when it would all be over-
"Gah! I can't do this anymore!"
And Nozomi blinked when the presence at her side suddenly disappeared. She whirled around-and nearly tripped over the curled up body on the ground.
"Hah?!" Nozomi exclaimed, looking down. It was the same person but now they were sitting down with their knees pulled up, looking as if they were ready to cry. Those same blue eyes that had captivated her now looked at her with worry.
"Are... are you okay?" she asked suddenly, shooting up to her feet. "You're not hurt are you? I don't think you are..." Nozomi could only stand there in complete bewilderment as the stranger began to walk around her. "O-okay! I don't think you're hurt..."
A second shadow suddenly leaped out appearing in front of Nozomi and behind the first stranger. There stood another woman, with red hair and she would have looked just as pretty if her face wasn't pulled back in a terrible scowl, looking at the blonde woman.
"Eli, for fuck's sake, you are a vampire. Why the hell are you so scared of a human!?"
"Va-vampire?" Nozomi mumbled confusedly, her suspicions being confirmed.
"She was scared! How am I supposed to take her blood if she's scared?!" The first vampire protested, whipping her head around to look at the redhead.
"Eli, we're at the top of the food chain. Seriously?"
"It... it just doesn't feel right," the blonde mumbled out, frowning as if she were a child caught stealing. The second person reached out, her hands held out as if she was about to throttle the first person before she put them firmly on her shoulders instead.
"Okay, you know what? I'm... I'm going to just..." she turned around to Nozomi, her eyes narrowed. "Stay right there. I'll show you how a real vampire acts."
With those words, the red-haired vampire dragged off the blonde vampire despite her protests. Before long, they disappeared from sight and even Nozomi couldn't hear them anymore. She was left in the darkness once more.
As Nozomi awkwardly shuffled her feet, she wondered what would happen if she left right now. Would the vampires find her, or would they get into another argument among themselves? They didn't seem to agree on things and though Nozomi felt like the blonde vampire would attempt to convince her friend to not chase after her, she wasn't too sure how strong that sentiment felt right now, especially with how weakly the blonde vampire put up her protests.
She continued to stand there, eyes moving all around her. Now that she knew it was coming, she wouldn't be caught off guard. But there was something unsettling about that too, knowing that she knew there was something else in the dark but being unable to detect anything. Years of repressing her own senses for the paranormal made Nozomi paranoid that this was only another trick of her mind and she had really just run into people who were really good at dressing up like fake vampires. Yes, that had to be it. These were people playing an elaborate prank on her and she was-
A loud clang rang out from one of the alleyways. She tensed, her eyes already looking in the direction of the noise. It was silent afterward. Nozomi couldn't even hear her own breathing. Her eyes darted all around, pulling her bag closer to her body. She didn't even want to move for fear of her own footsteps scaring her.
Her eyes roamed all over, turning to see where the vampire could possibly be-
Nozomi froze at the sight before her, the red-haired vampire smiling with her fangs bared. They locked eyes and Nozomi could feel the fear creeping through her. She wanted to scream but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. Despite every instinct telling her she needed to run, her feet were rooted to the ground and felt as heavy as lead.
The only thing Nozomi was aware of were the footsteps of the vampire walking closer, a hand reaching out for her—
The vampire yelped and suddenly fell over, tripping onto the hard cement. Even Nozomi couldn't help but wince at the sound of the hard thud.
"M-M-Maki!" The same vampire from before rushed out of the shadows, gathering the fallen vampire into her arms. "Maki! Are you still here!? Maki! Hang in there!"
The fallen vampire blinked for a moment before roughly grabbing the blonde vampire, disgusted look on her face.
"Dammit, Eli, why the hell are you always worrying over the tiniest things!?"
"You just fell over! Of course I'm worried!"
"... gah! You're too soft for your own good!" The red-haired vampire stood up, stomping away with a huff. Nozomi and the other vampire blinked at her. The blonde vampire turned around, laughing nervously.
"S-sorry about that. Um, the f-fastest path to the main road is that way," she mumbled, pointing to behind Nozomi before nodding at her. She ran away afterward, no doubt to catch up with her friend. Nozomi watched her go, trying to calm down the pounding of her heart.
Nozomi wasn't even sure what happened but soon, she was in front of her apartment. She even had her keys in her hands though now that she had come back to reality, she was staring at it absently, as if wondering what to do. Footsteps coming from behind her made her freeze up though, remembering her ordeal.
A flash of yellow caught her eyes. Nozomi felt her heart pounding again but before she could look, there was the slam of the door. Ah, it was only her neighbor, Nozomi quickly realized, letting out a sigh of relief. There were no vampires here.
Nozomi wondered why that made her feel disappointed instead.
Letting out a frustrated sigh at the odd turn her thoughts had taken, Nozomi went into her apartment. She didn't even bother turning on the lights before making her way over to her bed, falling face first onto it. Despite everything that happened today, she felt completely drained of energy and didn't even want to change out of her work clothes. When she closed her eyes, she thought about all the strange whispers she had heard throughout her life and realized how real it all was.
What bothered her most of all though, wasn't that vampires did indeed exist, but it was completely unfair that they were also beautiful, and she couldn't stop thinking about the vampire with the prettiest blue eyes and loveliest face she had ever seen. Nozomi took her pillow and put it over her face, screaming into it.
So ended Nozomi's eventful night.
A shadow leaped out, fangs bared and shining in the moonlight. Nozomi opened her mouth to scream but a hand on her mouth cut her off-
"... oh. It's you again."
The bored face of the clumsy red-haired vampire, not the blonde one Nozomi was expecting, greeted her instead. The vampire let out a long sigh and quickly took her hand off of Nozomi's mouth, looking at it in disgust before wiping it on her pants. She clambered back onto where she was sitting earlier, sitting atop a table. It creaked dangerously.
"Is... is that comfortable?" Nozomi asked, reaching out to touch the table. The vampire swatted her hand away, growling.
"It's better than sitting on the floor," she muttered, "and you don't get kicked in the face as often."
Nozomi nodded slowly, wondering if vampires also had times where they were down on their luck, as this one seemed to be. Her image of vampires as scary predators was starting to change and she wasn't sure whether it was for good or not.
As if reading her thoughts, the vampire sneered at her.
Nozomi smiled politely at her. "The other... er, your friend isn't here tonight?"
"Hm? Eli?" The vampire blinked at her before waving her hand. "No, she's not. Anyway, can you leave already? I'm hungry. I think I hear voices down the alley."
"Oh, yeah, I won't be in your way," Nozomi said cheerfully, skipping away.
Her name was Eli, Nozomi had learned.
Nozomi felt something appear behind her and she froze, her heart stopping-
"Again?" Nozomi turned her head to find the same red-haired vampire looking at her with a frown. "Do you like to take dark and dangerous paths when you're alone?"
"Sometimes?"
"... what the hell's wrong with you? And stop coming here! Jeez, she's going to get mad if I take your blood after all that fucking fuss she made the other day." The vampire let out a long sigh, rubbing her head.
"Really? Is there something special about me?" Nozomi asked, trying to keep from sounding hopeful.
"No," the vampire immediately spat out, "we just don't like attacking the same people twice in a row."
"... you could have at least humored me," Nozomi said under her breath. "And really though? I didn't know vampires had morals."
The vampire stared at her for a moment before waving her hand. "Whatever. Don't feel like arguing today. Anyway, there's nothing for you here. Leave me be."
"... I guess so," Nozomi said with a sigh. She was about to leave before a thought came to her. She turned to the vampire, holding out her hand. "By the way, my name is Nozomi. I feel like we'll be seeing each other a lot."
The vampire glanced down at her hand, narrowing her eyes before sighing. She took Nozomi's hand.
"Maki," she said, her lips curled downward in that signature scowl Nozomi was beginning to recognize.
Nozomi knew the moment she got closer that today was going to be different. For one, the terrible feeling that she was about to be jumped at from the shadows wasn't there though that made her unsettled for a different feeling. Maybe... maybe that meant today...!
She hurried down, trying to keep the smile from appearing on her face.
Nozomi rounded the corner, and there sat Maki at her usual perch, a phone in her hand. She didn't know how to feel when Maki didn't even spare a glance at her, tapping away on her phone to loud poppy music.
"... hello," Nozomi greeted disappointedly, trying not to sigh. Maki didn't even answer, still pressing on her phone. Nozomi tapped her feet.
"Seriously, fuck this game," Maki complained, still staring at her screen. "I pay so much fucking money and all I get are the girls I don't want." She shot a quick glance over at Nozomi before looking back at her phone. "Case in point."
"... the feeling's mutual," Nozomi answered in the same flat tone.
After what seemed like forever, the music stopped but began to play some other tune instead. Now, Maki finally looked up, scowl on her face. "Thanks for messing up my combo. I should kill you for that," she said with a hiss, showing her fangs.
Nozomi narrowed her eyes, about to retort before another thought came to her. "Wouldn't you end up turning me if you killed me?"
Nozomi could see exactly when the realization dawned on her, when Maki blinked rapidly at her.
"I hope for your fucking sake you end up a ghoul instead," Maki answered just as easily, looking back down her phone now, rapidly tapping the screen, "so you aren't even conscious when I break your body over and over again."
"... sounds quite lovely actually," Nozomi chirped, smiling cheerfully even as Maki snapped her head up to look at her incredulously. Nozomi was glad she had long perfected her poker face since she was young.
"You're a really weird human, you know that?"
Nozomi could only laugh in response. "I've now come to realize."
By their fifth meeting, neither of them were fazed anymore, with Maki still sitting in a somewhat comfortable position on her table as Nozomi came around.
"... not feeling it today?" Nozomi asked.
"It's a hassle getting on and off this old thing," Maki complained, rolling her eyes. "And seriously, I can't tell if you're just brave or stupid at this point. Who keeps coming back to meet a vampire, of all things?" She opened her mouth, displaying her fangs as she pointed to them. "Look! We use these suckers to bite your skin and take your blood! Why the hell aren't you scared?"
"You all don't seem that bad," Nozomi pointed out. Maki narrowed her eyes.
"It's only the kindness out of my own heart that I don't drain you of every single drop of blood right now," Maki said, her voice dangerously low. "There's a reason we're called the masters of the night, you know? For someone like me, I could kill you with only a flick of my wrist even." She began to get off the table she was sitting on, back hunched over with her face hidden. Nozomi took a step back and swallowed, suddenly feeling maybe she had bitten off more than she could chew this time around.
Maki let out an ominous laugh, bringing her hand to her face. Nozomi widened her eyes, realizing the fingernails on Maki's hand had become sharp. She looked up at Nozomi with a bloodthirsty grin, her fangs somehow seeming even sharper than before. She continued to laugh before stopping suddenly, exhaling. There was the disgusting sound of something squelching and Nozomi was horrified to realize it was coming from Maki. She continued to step backward until she felt the wall, unable to go back any longer. The whites of Maki's eyes blackened, leaving only the purple of her irises. She let out a rough bark of laughter, delighting in the way Nozomi was staring at her with her mouth wide open, sweat dripping down her face. Maki took a step forward, reaching out to her with her claw.
And then abruptly stood up, yawning. Every transformation she had gone through suddenly undid itself and she was now back to normal, save for the hint of fangs poking out from her mouth. She sat back down with her legs crossed on her rickety table and put her arm on her leg, leaning her head against it with a tired sigh.
"... don't wanna waste my power on you," she muttered. "And it'll tear my coat too. I like this coat. It's custom-made."
If Nozomi hadn't been so afraid for her life in the past five minutes, she would have retorted something out. As it was, all she could even do was let out a laugh that both full of relief and hysteria.
Even so, she kept coming back.
It was the seventh day before anything happened.
"So it's been a week," Maki announced in a bored voice, "I would have thought that after yesterday, you would've stopped."
"I thought about it but you still don't seem that bad," Nozomi said. Maki snorted in response, shaking her head as she muttered under her breath again. Nozomi was sure she caught something like ''stupid human" several times.
"You really want to see her, don't you?" Maki drawled afterward. "She's not really anything that special."
"Hm?" Nozomi looked over at Maki, smiling teasingly. "Are you jealous that I've been trying to see your friend and not you?"
"W-what?!" Maki looked at her as if the very idea offended her. "N-no! What the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Really?" Nozomi tapped her finger against her cheek smiling thoughtfully. "You're not that bad looking yourself, you know."
"What are you talking about? Of course I'm good looking." Maki scoffed at her."But that still doesn't mean I want someone like you slinking around me all the time. Seriously, you're fucking creepy enough as it is, coming around here all the time like some kind of stalker."
"... so a vampire is telling me," Nozomi pointed out.
Maki waved a hand, rolling her eyes. "The vampire life chose me, okay."
"It doesn't seem as if you're doing a good job of it."
"Says the person who almost pissed her pants the other day when I almost showed you my real power," Maki said, grinning as if she had won. Not rising to Maki's provocation, she only shrugged her shoulders, still smiling.
"You wouldn't be a very good vampire if you didn't."
Maki opened her mouth to retort but shook her head, rubbing her forehead with a loud sigh. "Ugh, whatever, I tire of this mindless banter. Look, you're really persistent, and there's a reason why I'm here too."
"What?" Nozomi raised her eyebrows at her. "You mean you weren't here to feed?"
"Huh!?" The vampire narrowed her eyes, opening her mouth to speak before her face became confused. She thought better of it and closed her mouth, huffing. "Yes. I'm here for feeding. That's it. And you're always ruining all my plans."
That sounded a little suspicious but Maki looked more like she was searching for something than attacking people. Searching for what, Nozomi wanted to know, but from what she had learned, Maki had both a short fuse and Nozomi didn't want to try to step on her toes anymore than she already had. "Well... if you know what I already want, then I'll leave?" Nozomi asked, trying to put some sort of pleading into her voice, hoping it would work. Sadly, it didn't not when Maki only smirked at her.
"How about this," Maki started, licking her lips, "you give me lots of blood and I'll tell you. Fair trade?" She laughed to herself afterward, as if she had told a great joke and the only audience was herself. "Hah! As if I'd really do something like that to Eli-" she stopped speaking, narrowing her eyes when she realized Nozomi was no longer in front of her. "H-hey, wait, I was kidding! Wait-"
Nozomi turned around from where she was already down the alleyway, shouting. "Give me a day to think about it!" And before Maki could respond, walked around the corner. Maki blinked, settling herself back down in her regular position, muttering the only words appropriate for this situation.
"Well, shit."
"Okay, I've decided!" Nozomi said the next night. She felt surprisingly cheerful, considering she was about to offer her blood to a vampire in exchange for the details of another vampire. She held out her wrist. "Here, take-"
"No."
Unfazed, Nozomi only smiled, still holding out her wrist. Maki rolled her eyes and finally glanced up from the book she was reading, a sneer on her face. "Thanks to a certain someone coming around all the time, I haven't been able to get a proper feeding in a while. Do you really think your blood can satisfy me? I'll drain every last drop from you in that case."
"I got treated out to an all-you-can-eat barbecue earlier," Nozomi said. Her lips twitched as she remembered the dinner with fondness, patting her full belly. "I think I'm full of blood right now."
"... oh?" Maki glanced down at her wrist before shooting back up into Nozomi's amused eyes. She shook her head, scowl back on her face. "No! I was just kidding about your blood! I don't want your filthy blood."
"C'mon!" Nozomi insisted, pushing her wrist out. Maki growled at her. Despite the angry expression on her face, she carefully closed the book in her hands before gingerly putting it into her coat. After making sure it was secure inside with a little pat, she looked back at Nozomi. Maki brought her hand up and grabbed Nozomi's arm. Nozomi widened her eyes, realizing she could barely even budge her arm. It was as if a tight clamp was wrapped around her arm instead and not a hand.
"Look, I'm telling you that I don't want-"
"Maki!?"
The both of them flinched and whipped their heads to the source of the shout. And there stood Eli at the end of the alleyway, a look of horror and betrayal on her face.
To Maki's credit, she didn't even look fazed at all, sighing as she muttered out in a flat voice, "Of fucking course."
"M-Maki?!" Eli's voice was shrill as she shouted again. "What are you doing?! I only agreed to sit in that one day and then I see you here!"
"Eli, I swear this isn't what it looks like," Maki said, her voice convincingly deadpan. It didn't seem as if she heard though, walking closer and shaking her head sadly. "Oh, here it comes," Maki muttered, shaking her head. Nozomi wasn't sure if it was appropriate for her to retract her arm or not.
"I thought you were going to follow the rules! We might not have been able to get her-"
"You weren't," Maki interrupted crossly.
"-but that doesn't mean we have to do a repeat attack!" Eli continued without missing a beat. "And we've already traumatized the poor girl enough-"
Both Maki and Nozomi shared a look.
"-and then you're here! Taking advantage of this poor human! And you were only supposed to be waiting out here because you told me you scared that one girl away and felt bad about it because she dropped her sketchbook and you want to return it because the drawings-"
Maki widened her eyes, trying to scramble off from her position. "Dammit, Eli, don't fucking reveal unnecessary-" and gave a gasp of pain as her legs crumpled underneath her. Nozomi yelped, feeling the front of her shirt being grabbed, pulling her down. Then Maki fell on top of her and Nozomi was now on the hard ground, staring upward at the full moon.
Eli stopped speaking, hands on her mouth in surprise.
"... my legs died from sitting on them too long," Maki only said in the silence.
"You're... you're pretty clumsy, aren't you?" Nozomi could only say in a strangled voice, coughing slightly. "And... can... can you get off of me please? I just ate and you landed on my stomach and I'm-"
Maki's horrified face entered Nozomi's spinning vision. "Oh my god, I swear if you throw up on my coat-"
"A-ah!"
A new voice that wasn't either of them made all of them break off mid-sentence. They all whipped around, to where the sound had come from.
There stood another person some ways off, under the single light of the alleyway. From what Nozomi could see, it was a small person wearing a yellow jacket, their hood up on their head. Nozomi couldn't quite see her face properly, not with the way the light shined off their glasses. Brown hair poked out from underneath the hood and their body was withdrawn, as if trying to hide within themselves.
Nozomi blinked again, trying to get her vision working and concentrate, because if she wasn't mistaken, she was sure that was-
"You!" Maki shouted suddenly, pushing herself off the ground-and promptly fell back down, her face slamming against the pavement. Nozomi gasped, feeling a tug on the front of her shirt the more Maki struggled. She reached up to her shirt, realizing Maki's coat was snagged on her own shirt.
"U-um! I'm sorry!" A loud squeak echoed down the alleyway joined by running footsteps afterward.
Maki stopped struggling, slowly looking up from where her face was on the ground. Her nose was a little oddly bent. Nozomi could feel a change in the air, when Maki only easily lifted a hand to her nose and snapped it back into place, face still blank. She began to laugh brokenly afterward.
"I've fucking waited here for almost two weeks and then you just suddenly storm in here..." Maki snapped her head down to Nozomi, a wild look in her eyes. "I'm not letting you ruin this for me!" she roared, easily gathering Nozomi into her arms and running off to chase after the girl who ran away.
"Maki?! Where are you going?! M-Maki!" Eli shouted just as her friend ran past her. "And w-wait! At least put the human down!"
Maki leaped out of the alleyway, about to run off before she blinked, glancing all around her. "What the hell? Where is she?!"
Nozomi closed her eyes, concentrating. A flash of something bright yellow appeared in her mind, moving rapidly. She opened her eyes and pointed in what she hoped was the right direction. "O-over there?" Maki spun around, following Nozomi's finger. She narrowed her eyes, squinting for a few seconds before she finally nodded and ran back into the alleyway.
"Hold on tight if you don't want to fall," Maki murmured and without another warning, she leaped upward, jumping onto a fire escape and taking another leap, landing on top of the building. Nozomi's hands on Maki's coat was a white grip, trying not to think about how fast they traveled upward. "Untangle our clothes while I chase after her!" Maki shouted before she took off in a run, leaping across the buildings now.
Nozomi couldn't help but feel like once she did, she would fly right out of Maki's arms instead.
... maybe if Eli could catch her, but when Nozomi looked behind them, Eli wasn't even chasing after them.
Wait, so... where was she then? Nozomi couldn't look right now though, not with Maki carrying her and it was tiring trying to look anyway. She looked back to the front instead, wondering how far they were. She couldn't exactly recognize this particular district of the city but maybe they were going too fast and Nozomi could feel her stomach turning again as she tried to focus on any fast moving objects. She closed her eyes again, trying to focus once more. The faster Maki found her person, the faster Nozomi could get off. After vaguely getting a pinpoint, she opened her eyes carefully, squinting- ah! Nozomi recognized this part now. They were nearing a busier street, and-her eyes widened and she screamed.
"She's going to get hit by the truck!"
Maki halted immediately from where she was about to jump onto the next building, following where Nozomi was pointing.
The girl was in the middle of the street, with a large freight truck coming straight at her. Maki hissed, about to run off the building before she suddenly stopped, narrowing her eyes. Nozomi blinked up at her. "You're not going to help her?"
Maki only gave her a look before gesturing with her head. Nozomi turned just in time to watch the girl run for a few feet in front of her before abruptly turning around. With a kick of her feet, she scrambled up onto the hood of the truck and ran up to the top. She looked around before kicking off again, shooting straight into the air, in the opposite direction of where they had been going in the past few minutes. The truck toppled over from the sheer force. Nozomi could feel her jaw dropping from shock and she felt Maki's body stiffen up.
Nozomi suddenly realized exactly why she could sense where the girl was.
The hood of the jacket fell off, revealing furry ears on top of her head.
Maki could only sigh tiredly. "Of course she's not fucking human."
Continuing to swear incessantly even as she began to run, Maki chased after the... not-human girl. By now, the girl was barely a speck that Nozomi could see. She figured that now the girl's identity was revealed, there was no point to hiding what she was and was now using her much more powerful legs to get away. At least, that's what Nozomi would have done.
In that moment, an arrow flew past her cheek.
Nozomi screamed, holding a hand to her cheek. She quickly took it away, gasping wordlessly.
No blood, but that didn't mean they still weren't being attacked.
"Maki! Stop hiding from me!" Yet another new voice shouted at them.
On another rooftop stood two figures, one with a bow in her hands and another with her hair in a weird loop that Nozomi thought vaguely reminded her of a bird. Vaguely though. Maki swore under her breath.
"Maki-chan, hello!" the girl without the bow shouted cheerfully, waving her hand. "Sorry about doing this right now but Umi-chan insisted!"
"Maki! I'll get you this time yet!" The girl with the bow shouted angrily, releasing another arrow at the same time. Before Nozomi could scream again, Maki suddenly twisted in the air, the arrow avoiding the both of them and going straight through Maki's coat instead.
"You're kidding me, my coat!" Maki yelled as she landed on a rooftop. She opened her mouth to shout something else at their attackers before she rolled her eyes. "I don't have time for you!" she screamed instead, taking off in another leap. Her eyes scanned the alleyways below them. She leaped down suddenly, landing in front of an orange-haired girl. The girl blinked at them before she let out a wide grin, waving cheerfully.
"Maki-chan, hey! Have you seen Umi-" and Nozomi could only watch as Maki easily spun around the girl, grabbing the back of her shirt with one hand and tossed her straight up in the air-
"Maki! Stop running-Honoka!?"
-right where the girl with the bow was chasing them. She immediately tossed her bow to the side, which the gray-haired girl standing on a nearby rooftop had caught. Still, it was too fast and the girl Maki tossed crashed into her and now the gray-haired girl was shouting and waving her hands frantically.
"Hold this," Maki said roughly afterward, ignoring the noise above them. She shoved something into Nozomi's hands. Nozomi's attention was pulled downward, realizing it was the book Maki was holding onto-
-and then she was airborne again before she knew it. Nozomi could only desperately clutch the book close to her and keep one grip on Maki even if the vampire had both hands on her.
And Nozomi nearly screamed when black wings burst out of Maki's back, shredding the rest of her coat. Maki flapped once, twice, and then sped off, soaring through the air.
Nozomi didn't think this would ever happen to her but it was. She was flying, but she had to close her eyes because of the wind rushing past her face so she couldn't even enjoy the flight anyway.
"Maki!"
The vampire braked to a sudden stop and Nozomi yelped at the abrupt halt. She opened her eyes, darting down to the voice that called out to them. At least this voice sounded familiar.
Eli was on top of a building, gesturing wildly with her hands. Maki blinked at her, face blank, nodding along. Several moments passed by before Maki finally turned to Nozomi, her voice deadpan. "What the hell is she even trying to tell me?" All Nozomi could even do was gape at her, unable to translate wild vampire gestures. "Actually, you know what?" Maki said suddenly. She reached down, taking the book from Nozomi's hands. She turned to Eli and effortlessly held up Nozomi with one hand. "Eli!" she shouted, catching the attention of her friend. Nozomi screamed, realizing exactly what was about to happen.
"Oh my god, don't you dare-"
"Catch!"
"-throw me!" Nozomi shrieked too late.
Nozomi could only continue wailing when she felt herself being thrown, plummeting down at a much faster rate than she would have liked-
"Oof!"
Nozomi crashed into something soft first. Then she hit the ground, still on top of whatever she landed on. Still, it was better than being a bloody splat. She groaned in pain. Pushing herself up, she realized she was on top of Eli who was staring up at the night sky with unfocused eyes. She yelped, scrambling off.
"S-sorry!" Nozomi said immediately.
"It's... it's okay," Eli said weakly, waving her hand with just as much strength as her voice. "I'll... I'll live. Or won't die again." She groaned again before pushing herself upright, blinking at Nozomi. "Are you okay? Humans are... uh, sort of squishy, if I remember."
"I'm fine," Nozomi said with a smile despite the pain she felt, "all thanks to you catching me."
"... ah." Eli looked away from her, cheeks turning red slightly. "No... no problem." Nozomi let out a quiet laugh, her nerves beginning to calm down now that she was finally still and on her own two feet. She looked, realizing Maki was nowhere in sight anymore.
A sigh from Eli made Nozomi look back at her, finding the vampire smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Maki's kind of a handful sometimes but she means good."
"... it's been... interesting," Nozomi could only answer in light of recent events. She felt as if she had lived enough today, especially.
Eli sighed, a quiet exhale that Nozomi could barely hear. "I think Maki likes you though."
"H-huh?!" Nozomi wondered exactly what that meant.
"I mean, she hasn't killed you yet, so," Eli clarified with a careless shrug. Now she knew exactly what that meant. "Despite how she acts, she's really powerful. Usually, we vampires have some sort of convent or organization to hang out in because it's much safer that way. But Maki's always been on her own the whole time." She smiled again, her fangs poking out of her lips. Nozomi couldn't help but think she looked sad and melancholic. "She could do to be a little more sociable but she's not... well, evil. It's just, when you're a vampire, you sort of end up changing your mindset about things, whether you realize or not."
Nozomi listened to her speak, both attentive and curious. But Eli sighed tiredly, leaning on her arms. "Sorry about that, sort of boring stuff. And I don't think Maki would appreciate me telling you about her anyway."
"It's fine, I didn't mind." Nozomi smiled, trying to seem disarming. "I've been aware of the supernatural for as long as I can remember but my mother always told me to keep that sense hidden. Sort of ironic though, it made more interested in the occult than anything else. Now that I know it actually exists, I'm excited to learn all about it."
Eli looked at her thoughtfully. "Huh, is that why you kept coming everyday to that alleyway?" The corner of her lips quirked upward in a half-smile. "Maki was always complaining about some 'stupid human' disrupting her business."
"Is that how she calls me?"
"Well, she doesn't really bother remembering people most of the time so it's still something," Eli said with a wry smile. "Why were you going there all the time anyway? You're a human and she's still a vampire. It doesn't make much sense to put yourself in danger."
Nozomi awkwardly looked away, wondering what to say. Though she had gone and put herself at risk for a whole week, just telling Eli that Nozomi was only doing so to see her seemed kind of... tactless. And she wasn't sure how Eli would take it as well. Would she seem too forward? Or would Eli think less of her for doing so?
Whatever she wanted to say, she couldn't get the chance because in that moment, Maki was suddenly next to them, cross expression on her face. She still had the book in her hand.
"... you didn't catch her?"
"What do you think it looks like?" Maki snapped. She collapsed down next to them, groaning. "Ugh, whatever. I'm so tired." She let her back hit the ground, staring forlornly up at the stars.
Before Nozomi even realized, she was already blurting out her words. "I know who she is."
Maki's head snapped so fast to look at her that Nozomi was afraid she had gotten whiplash instead. "What... what did you say?"
Nozomi swallowed before answering. "I... I know who she is."
"Who?!" Maki scrambled over to her, grabbing her shoulders. "Tell me! If you do, I'll even give you Eli!"
"What?!"
Nozomi couldn't quite argue with that sort of persuasion.
And now, they all stood waiting outside a door, inside an apartment complex. Nozomi tried not to think about the vampires standing behind her as she took a deep breath. Before she could even wonder about what she was doing, she knocked on the door. "Hanayo-chan, it's your neighbor from next door, Nozomi! Can I ask you something?"
There was a loud yelp from inside before it went silent. Footsteps sounded out afterward, running all over the place inside. Nozomi was about to knock again to ask if everything okay before the door burst open.
Nozomi smiled down at the girl before her, dressed in the same yellow jacket with the hood up on her head. "Hanayo! Hello! How are you tonight?"
"I'm... I'm okay," the girl answered meekly.
"I'll make this brief then so I don't bother you some more. I... er, have this friend, and she might have something of yours."
Hanayo tensed, slowly looking up at her. Nozomi didn't expect her to let out a tired smile.
"It really was you earlier then?" she whispered, shaking her head. "It's... it's that vampire, is it."
And Nozomi was roughly shoved aside, Maki taking her place now. "If you already know, then let's get straight to the point. I have-"
Hanayo yelped, retreating back into her room, her hood falling off her head.
"Hey, wait!" Maki lunged forward to grab the girl—and crashed face first into thin air. Both Nozomi and Eli winced at the resulting thud and watched Maki slide off, clutching her face and crying in agony.
"Is this something about needing to be invited in first?" Nozomi asked, realizing what must have happened. "Since you're a vampire and all-"
"No! There's a fucking literal invisible wall right there!" Maki's angry scream was muffled behind her hands.
"Really?" Nozomi frowned, reaching out. Her hand went through the doorway. "I don't think so?"
"Hold up." Eli reached forward slowly. Her fingers suddenly stopped, fingertips pressing against something now and she tapped it with her knuckle. A thud rang out. "Yeah, there's something here. It might not work for you since you're human."
"It's my ward!" Hanayo's muffled voice shouted from inside the room.
"Stand aside, I'm breaking that thing!" Maki roared, springing to her feet. Nozomi instantly felt the air change and every fiber of her being was telling her to run. She gasped instead, falling backward as she stared up at the vampire before her.
Rather than the black wings she had seen earlier, red wings burst out of Maki. The way they came out and appeared made made Nozomi think of blood bursting out and taking the form of wings. Nozomi couldn't tell if they were beautiful or terrifying.
"Maki!? Are you serious?!" Eli shouted, rushing forward and latching onto the other vampire. "You're going to destroy the whole block and probably even more if you do this!"
"Shut up! I'm breaking this wall!" Maki screamed, her face twisted into a snarl. "I've had enough of everything today!" Nozomi could only watch, as Maki reared her arm back, seconds away from destroying everything, including Nozomi's home.
There also happened to be the fact that Nozomi was also sure she wouldn't survive as well but that was a slight afterthought.
In that moment, Hanayo stumbled outside. She stared up at them fearfully, teeth clattering together even. "S-s-s-s-stop!" she shouted in a loud squeak. "P-p-p-please... p-please don't... destroy... my apartment... my..." she continued to mumble but her voice was inaudible at that point. She looked down at the floor, a sniffle breaking out of her. "I'm... I'm sorry..." A tear fell down her face.
The air changed back to normal as Maki's wings disappeared. Eli slapped her hand back down afterward. Maki slowly looked over at them, face telling the other two that she had no idea what to even do next, pointing at the crying girl in panic.
Nozomi stood up and made a 'tsk' sound. "You made this young lady cry, how are you going to take responsibility?!"
"That's right, Maki, I've always told you that you've needed to work on talking to others," Eli added sternly.
"I don't need this right now!" Maki hissed out, gesturing to Hanayo wildly. "What do I do?!"
"Apologize for almost destroying our home," Nozomi said under her breath.
Eli thankfully answered at the same time in a louder voice. "Didn't you say you had something to give to her?"
"Huh?! Give her what—oh!" Maki looked at her other hand where she had been holding that same book for the whole night. She hesitantly took a step forward, holding out the book. Her face was a grimace though and she looked at Eli for help. Eli pointed to Hanayo and made forwarding motions, mouthing off words.
If Nozomi had learned anythingfrom tonight, it was that Maki most likely understood nothing of what Eli was trying to say to her. But, miraculously, Maki only nodded, faced forward, and stared at Hanayo. She bent over slightly, waving a hand in front of her.
Hanayo let out a yelp at the sudden motion and fell down backward from surprise. Maki gaped at her before turning to look at her friend with a pleading look. Eli sighed, motioning for Maki to continue... whatever she was doing. Nozomi felt bad for struggling not to laugh.
"H-hey!" Maki started. "I, I, uh, found... your s-sketchbook that you, er, left." She slowly held out the book she had been holding onto the whole night. Hanayo immediately looked up, her ears twitching.
"M-my sketchbook!" she squeaked, reaching out before suddenly pausing, looking up at them with a fearful expression. Maki frowned, moving the book toward her again.
"Look, it's yours, right?" She moved her eyes away, a petulant expression on her face as she spoke gruffly. "A-and sorry... s-sorry for, uh, scaring you. That... uh, day. You got scared and, er, dropped your sketchbook. Sorry for that."
Hanayo stared at her, wide-eyed, as if she couldn't believe what was happening. She looked over at Nozomi and Nozomi had to nod to reassure her. Slowly, Hanayo took the sketchbook, glancing down at it. The moment it left her hands, Maki let out a huff.
"There," she said roughly. "I returned the st—I mean, book and apologized, I don't-"
"U-um!" Hanayo interrupted. She flipped through the sketchbook, ripping out one of the pages before handing it over. "H-here."
Maki stared at her blankly. "What." She looked down at the page—she gasped, her face slowly changing into sheer disbelief. Nozomi and Eli leaned closer and their expressions also joined Maki's.
On the page was a messy sketch but there was no doubt as to what it could be: Maki sitting front of a grand piano, with a tiny smile on her face.
"I... I heard you playing... u-um... last month... at... at the department store and you... you sounded beautiful and I knew I had... I had to..." Hanayo trailed off, too embarrassed to continue speaking.
"Last month?" Eli said, blinking. "Weren't you supposed to be at that meeting with the other Elders in-"
"A-a-anyway!" Maki interrupted, shooting a snide look to Eli. She turned back to look at the page in front of her. "You...you, um... drew, er, drew me. That's... that's nice."
Nozomi coughed loudly.
"It's nice!" Maki rushed out. "Of course, since you drew me-wait no, I mean, your, uh, your drawings are nice too. Your... your other drawings were... um, I mean, they're nice too. I saw some and... they're... they're pretty. Yeah. Nice and... um, pretty. I liked the one with the tree and flowers. Pretty." By the time she finished, Eli's hand was on her face, cringing at the secondhand embarrassment she felt. Maki's was no better, her face red and she could barely look at Hanayo, twirling a piece of her hair around her finger.
Hanayo looked up, smiling softly. "Thank you. It means a lot to me."
Maki turned back to Hanayo, gaping at her. She nodded slowly, as if trying to process what she had just heard. "Uh... yeah, y-yeah, no problem." When Hanayo continued to smile at her, Maki hesitantly returned her smile. The expression looked so awkward and came off like a painful grimace that Nozomi almost started laughing. Instead, she wasn't sure why but she suddenly felt like a proud parent, especially when Eli raised a hand to wipe a tear from her eye, sniffling a little.
Maki stood up abruptly, refusing to look at either of them. "I'm going now." She narrowed her eyes as she passed Eli. "If you speak of this to anyone-"
"Who would even believe me?" Eli only said with a grin, raising her hands in surrender. Maki scowled at her, muttering under her breath as she walked away, loudly clambering down the stairs.
"A-ah! You didn't take the drawing!" Hanayo squeaked out, scrambling to chase after Maki. "W-wait!"
"... I should probably go to make sure Maki doesn't accidentally end up killing her out of embarrassment," Eli said, shaking her head exasperatedly.
"That... that doesn't happen, does it?" Nozomi asked worriedly. She rather liked Hanayo. It didn't help when Eli only shrugged.
"Hasn't happened yet but that doesn't mean it won't. You've now seen how she is."
"... that's true."
"Well... sorry for all the trouble Maki's been but now that that's been resolved, you won't see her again." Eli nodded at Nozomi. "Thank you for taking care of her. Farewell." She began to follow after her friend, footsteps already echoing down the stairs. Nozomi stared at the spot she was at, wondering why she felt so... dissatisfied.
Pushing her hesitation aside, she rushed forward, gripping the railing to steady herself as she faced down the stairs, staring at Eli's back. One more second, and she would turn and be lost to Nozomi forever-
"Eli!" Nozomi shouted. Eli paused, turning her head to look up at her. "Can... um, I mean, can we see each other again?"
Eli's eyes widened and she turned around to fully face Nozomi. She was silent, most likely thinking that Nozomi had to be some sort of foolish human. Still, Nozomi waited anxiously. "On one condition," Eli shouted then. She smiled, her fangs bared. Nozomi felt as if she knew what Eli wanted to ask. "I'd like your name."
"... huh?"
"Maki always just calls you 'stupid human,' you know?" Eli explained with a quiet laugh. "And it looks like you already know mine so..."
"N-Nozomi," she answered immediately, wincing at the stutter. "Nozomi!" she called out again, much more clearer.
"Nozomi," Eli said, nodding. "Once again, thank you for everything, Nozomi. Until next time then." With that, Eli smiled at her before turning the corner, disappearing for the rest of the night. Nozomi blinked rapidly before sliding down, her legs suddenly feeling very much like jelly. Her heart pounded loudly, the loudest she swore it was even after everything she had experienced this whole week.
She wasn't how much time had passed until she realized Hanayo was climbing up the stairs. They stared at each other. The furry ears atop Hanayo's head twitched and the girl herself nervously tugged on her yellow jacket. Nozomi only smiled, pushing herself up to her feet. "Hanayo-chan, sorry for bothering you so much tonight."
"A-ah!" Hanayo shook her head, rushing to climb the rest of the stairs to stand in front of Nozomi. "It's... it's okay. You're... um, okay? T-the vampires didn't do anything?" Her ears continued to twitch. Nozomi had to fight the urge to reach out and pet them, wondering if something like that would offend Hanayo.
"No, I'm fine," Nozomi said, letting out a breath. "Just... a lot of things happened. I'm pretty tired."
Hanayo smiled tiredly at her, one that Nozomi also returned with just as much energy. "Since we're both tired, we should be getting to our beds."
"That, and a hot shower sound so good right now," Nozomi said with a groan. They walked the short distance over to their apartments together. Nozomi fumbled for her keys in her bag, realizing maybe she was a little more tired than she thought when it took her longer than usual to get them out.
"Good night, Hanayo-chan," she called out once she got her door open.
"G-good night!" Hanayo returned just as Nozomi's door closed behind her.
Her apartment was dark but it brought a strange comfort to her instead. She easily navigated through, only stumbling once as she went over to her room. She flopped down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. The only light she had was the moonlight streaming through the open blinds of her window.
Nozomi closed her eyes and thought of the same face she had been dreaming of, but now she had a smile to go along with it, and it was lovelier than she thought.
So ended Nozomi's eventful week.