02. Moving In

"You're telling me…"

"... he fed the both of you…"

"... killed off the ones hunting us…"

"... and isn't afraid of vampires?!"

"Are you doubting us? Doubting me?" Carmilla hissed. "Need I remind you how he brought you here, slung over his shoulder like sacks of potatoes?"

"Well, no," Morana insisted, "but he's been feeding you for how long? Are you sure he's human?"

"He's human enough."

"Girls. I'm standing right here." Naruto deadpanned. "Can you-"

"Quiet, human," Striga demanded before falling back into conversation with Morana and Carmilla.

Lenore giggled and rubbed his arm placatingly when he started to pout at the vampire's harsh treatment of him.

"Your sisters are so mean, Lenore," he pouted. "You'd think they'd be a little more grateful since I helped you and all that."

"Don't take it personally." Lenore smiled as he sat down beside her with bandages, a small cloth and a pot of water. "Striga is just upset you defeated her."

"Feels pretty personal to me."

She didn't say a word of opposition as he helped remove the shirt and jacket he'd given her to protect her modesty. Since he didn't want to inconvenience her, he had run a knife down the middle of one of his shirts, giving him easy access to her shoulder wound without leaving her completely topless.

"Your sister's glaring at me again."

"She is very protective."

"I think she just hates me."

"Well, you are taking my shirt off right in front of them so there might be due cause, don't you think?"

"I was raised by a pervert, but that doesn't mean I am a pervert, alright?" Naruto cleaned and removed her bandages. "You should be happy to know that I don't have to bandage your shoulder anymore. The wound's sealed."

"Good," Striga grunted, "that means we can leave soon."

Truth be told, the prospect of leaving didn't excite her as much as it should have. Naruto had been a fun person to be around. Sweet, blunt, and carefree. He told her of the lands to the far east, of times when great creatures roamed the land, when ice sheets had covered the world.

How could he have known about such things? Even the library of their dead vampire master didn't document things from so long ago.

Was he even human?

x-x-x-x-x

"Would you… would you like to join us?" Lenore extended the invitation she spoke of with Carmilla.

Behind her, she could feel the wide eyed questioning looks Morana and Striga were giving her. Carmilla was beside her wearing a new dress, one Naruto had purchased from a nearby village.

"You want me to come with you?" Naruto blinked.

"Yes," Lenore nodded.

"Mmm. Sure."

"We could- huh?" Lenore blinked. "Y-You would come with us? Just like that?"

"Yea!" Their saviour nodded, smiling brightly. "I've always wanted to have some vampire roommates!"

Striga and Morana stared at him like he'd grown a second head. Carmilla smirked. Lenore was rather pleased by the decision, only smiling at him.

"Do you have anything else you'd like to take with you?"

"Nope." He gave the rucksack on his shoulder a shake. "I have everything I need."

"Hm. You'd better not slow us down, human."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Lady Striga."

They could all tell he was mocking her. Unfortunately, getting tossed on someone's shoulder like a sack of potatoes does wonders for humility.

x-x-x-x-x

"I've never been this close to the castle before," Naruto admitted.

"You've seen it before?" Carmilla asked.

"Oh yea." He nodded, arms crossed as they passed through the threshold. "Never came closer though. The last vampire that ran this place was kind of an asshole."

"That's putting it mildly," Carmilla grinned. "Of course, we will also have to fight through any forces that remain loyal to the former 'asshole.'"

"Oh. I could help you girls fight if you want."

"Your help would be appreciated," Carmilla admitted, though more out of curiosity for his abilities than actual necessity.

With that, Striga forced the massive double doors open with ease. To no one's surprise, they found themselves facing over a hundred of the remaining vampire knights.

"Carmilla. Striga. Morana. Lenore. For killing our Master, you are judged to be executed," one of the lead knights ordered. "Surrender."

Thunk!

Not a single vampire could react before a kunai was buried up to the ring in the forehead of the one that spoke. Their eyes turned from their leader as he lifelessly pitched forward before turning in the direction they thought the knife had come from.

"Ooops," Naruto shrugged unconvincingly. "It slipped outta my hands."

"Get 'em!"

"Don't mind me, girls." Naruto waved off Lenore's concern when she looked back at him. "I can take care of myself."

To their surprise, he was the one that led the charge against the opposing vampires. The first one in his way had his sword arm twisted and broken in three places. With the sword of their fallen comrade in hand, Naruto sent the second, third and fourth into the afterlife without a second thought.

"See, this wouldn't be happening if you didn't just threaten my friends!"

Where Naruto danced through the vampire ranks with speed, skill and relative precision, Striga and Carmilla smashed her way through their ranks with her fists and claws. Helmets and chest plates were cleaved and smashed apart, along with whatever they were supposed to be protecting.

Lenore and Morana, on the other hand, preferred the dark vampire magics. Flocks of bats filled the foyer, distracting and leaving the many knights open to further attacks from the two casters. Spears of ice, balls of fire, bolts of lightning.

Not a single knight survived their onslaught.

"Well, that was quick," Naruto pouted. "I thought vampires would put up more of a fight."

"You are a strange man, Naruto Uzumaki," Carmilla smirked.

"Heh. I like to think I'm unique."

His eyes flashed towards Lenore, eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. Lenore had a moment to blink before he was right in front of her, sword cleaving through the air.

"Lenore!" Carmilla screamed.

"Ughkkk."

The sound of gurgling snapped her out of her shock. The sword had flown just over her head, decapitating a vampire knight that had been sneaking up on her, his sword poised to cut her down had Naruto not intervened.

"You alright?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good. Gotta watch your back, yea?"

She nodded, unable to voice her thoughts on the impossibility of what just occurred. How did a human cover twenty meters in the time it took her to blink?

Carmilla did not have that problem.

"What the hell?!"

"I know, right?!" Naruto exclaimed. "What kind of asshole sneaks up on a cute girl like Lenore?! What a fucking dick!"

Caught flat-footed, Carmilla couldn't come up with a proper reply.

"I- Wha-?" She recovered relatively well, all things considered. "That's not what I meant!"

Neither of them noticed the cute little blush that overtook Lenore's face.

x-x-x-x-x

"Naruto?"

Lenore poked her head into the library, looking for her… friend? Friend. That sounded right.

"Up here!"

She craned her head up, finding him up among the highest tiers of the massive shelves that lined the Styrian castle's library.

"What on earth are you doing up there?"

"Looking for a book to read, duh!" Naruto stopped for a moment. "Never thought I'd hear myself saying that out loud."

"And you couldn't read all the books down here?" She waved her hand about, gesturing to all the other books on the lower tiers.

"Already read them!"

"'Already read them,' he says." Lenore pouted. "It's been two days! How could you have possibly read all of these?!" She knew his reply as soon as the question left her mouth.

"Trade secrets!" they yelled at the exact same time.

"See!" Naruto exclaimed. "You're catching on!"

"Cheeky boy," she muttered to herself. "Come down here!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

She swore she could feel her undead heart stop when he leapt off the towering ladder.

"Naruto!"

"Yes?" he asked, reading from the book in his hands like he hadn't just survived a fifty foot fall without so much as twisting an ankle.

"I- How?"

"Well, I use my eyes. Kinda hard to read without 'em, ya know?"

"I meant the fall!"

"Oh. Gravity?"

"I will bite you."

"Can't threaten me with a good time!"

When she was a human, she was never one for violence. That trait carried through to her life - unlife if you want be technical - as a vampire. That being said, she really wanted to hit the snarky blond.

"You are impossible!"

x-x-x-x-x

"I demand a rematch!"

Morana hid her smile behind her glass of blood. Striga had been pestering their human roommate for a rematch ever since he'd moved in with them. It was quite understandable given how he'd soundly beaten her when they had been looking for Carmilla and Lenore.

"After," he deadpanned, gesturing to the intravenous line attached to his arm, draining his blood into a sealable barrel. "And can you stop licking your lips, Carmilla?"

"My apologies." She didn't sound sorry at all.

"And stop spying on me when I shower!"

Morana choked on her blood. Striga looked like she swallowed a lemon. Whole.

"I can't help myself," the white-haired vampire purred.

"Yes, you can!" Naruto pulled the IV needle out of his arm. "Alright! Ready for your second ass whoopin', Striga?"

"Bring it on, human! I won't lose to you this time!"

Needless to say, she lost to him that time. And the time after. And the time after that.

x-x-x-x-x

"And your godfather wrote this?!"

Lenore could feel her cheeks reddening. She was an avid reader, having read a large section of the castle's library over the course of several years. Never - never! - had she read something so shameless! So lewd!

"Oh, yea." Naruto nodded. "Man was a self-proclaimed super pervert. He would spy on girls in bathhouses and-"

Lenore had tuned out everything else he had to say, too busy skimming through the contents of the book.

Hero fighting against evil. Run-of-the-mill.

Hero prevails and wins the heart of the romantic interest? Nothing new.

The hero absolutely DICKING her down? That's… oh my.

"... and he forced me to proofread for him! Can you believe that?!"

Silence.

"Lenore? Where'd you go?"

x-x-x-x-x

"Lenore, put that book down," Carmilla sighed. "You've been reading it ever since you got your hands on it."

"…"

"Lenore?"

"…"

"Lenore."

With a sigh, Carmilla stood up from her chair and peered over Lenore's shoulder, skimming alongside her sister.

"Lenore? Carmilla?" Morana's voice cut through the silence of the dining room. "What are you two doing? It's afternoon already."

Both sisters snapped their heads up at the news. A quick glance at the clock confirmed Morana's words.

"Must be a really good book for both of you to still be up reading it."

"Not at all."

"Not really."

"Uh huh." Morana didn't believe them, but she was still too sleepy to care. "I'm going back to bed."

"Sleep well!"

"Sweet dreams!"

And just like that, they were back at it again.

x-x-x-x-x

"Naruto? You wouldn't happen to have any other works from your godfather, would you?"

"Of course." Naruto blinked as he looked up from the vampire biology book. "Why?"

"... may I read them?"

It was at that moment that Naruto realized what he'd done.

"You like his writing, don'tcha?" he deadpanned.

She didn't respond verbally, but the downward tilt of her head, the blush of her cheeks, and the way she clutched onto the book told him everything.

"Have you even slept since you got your hands on that book?"

"Yes?"

"Lenore..."

"No?"

Knowing there was no way to deter the stubborn little draculina, Naruto sighed. "Fine. I'll drop off the next edition in your room," he gave her a stern look, "after you've gone to bed."

Satisfied, she smiled and sat down beside him at the massive library table.

"What are you reading?"

"Some stuff about vampire biology."

"Mm."

With every beat of his heart, Lenore could feel herself getting sleepier. Had she not stayed up all night reading, she might not have been so drowsy.

"Did you mean it?" she whispered.

"Mean what?"

"What you said… in the foyer…"

There was a moment of silence as Naruto tried to figure out what she was talking about.

"Yeah. I meant it."

"I'd like to think you're my friend too."

"I would hope so!"

Lenore fell asleep at the table with her head on his shoulder. When she would awake, she would find herself tucked in bed with the book Naruto had promised her by her bedside table.

Along with a fresh cup of blood and her breakfast.

Climbing out of bed, she found herself staring down at her garments. She had fallen asleep in her usual blue dress with fur-lined shawl, yet she found herself waking up in a thin, see-through shift.

"Oh my… how bold…"

Rather than feeling put off, she found herself smiling. Knowing Naruto, who had been nothing but a gentleman to her and Carmilla while they were under his care, she doubted he did anything untoward.

She could do without the little note though.

"Dear unrepentant pervert: enjoy your reading!"

"I am not a pervert," she muttered aloud.