"Koge, please, I can't hear any of this anymore!"

Taking in a sharp breath, Koge's words caught in her throat, silenced by the woman she considered to be a mother. With a loud, frustrated sigh, Mitsuki placed her hands onto the desk before her, hanging her head for a moment as she leaned forward. "I can't… I've supported your mourning and your recovery all this way, but it seems like every time you take a step towards improving, something forces you to take two steps back. Now it's more hallucinations?"

Koge shook her head, taking a few steps forward. The fact that this woman, whom she had grown to love as family, was pushing back against her in such a way broke her heart. She knew that she had caused grief for her in the past year, but she never imagined that Mitsuki would shut her out like this. "N-No, they weren't hallucinations! Please, Mama, you have to believe me. I even have bruises on my arms-"

"You could have given those to yourself." Mitsuki stood up straight, looking down at Koge with exasperated sympathy. "You have to get a hold of yourself, Koge. I can't keep humoring these fanciful ideas that my son is still alive. Everyone has accepted it but you." She made her way towards the couch that her husband sat on, bringing a hand up to her forehead as she struggled to control her patience. Koge clutched onto her skirt tightly, her eyes darting from one parent to the other. Masaru gave a small cough to clear his throat, standing to help his wife sit down. He had always been more patient and more accepting of Koge's struggles, but she could see on his face that even he was struggling to keep his composure.

"K-Koge, please, you have to understand where… where we are coming from." He spoke with a soft tone, though it did little to calm the young woman confronting them. "We… We loved our son. Losing him has been more painful than anything we've had to go through in our lives." He made his way over to her, placing his hands gently on her trembling shoulders. "Perhaps… You need some time away from the house… Away from all the things that remind you of him."

"You mean at the asylum." Koge choked out, not even able to look at him. "I'm not crazy."

"Spouting lies about our dead son kissing you is crazy." Mitsuki snapped from the couch. "It's a disgrace to the dead, going on about such things! Koge, you'll bring bad omens if you keep this up. We already have people wanting to throw you out of the town. I don't want that for you, just… please…."

"Our son is dead." Masaru took over for his wife, releasing Koges shoulders and standing up straight. "It's time to let him rest…"

Without responding, Koge turned and stormed out of the room, fleeing the house before she could be tied up and ushered to the insane asylum. She wasn't crazy. She refused to believe it, and there was only one person left that she could confide in.

Pushing open the door to the apothecary, Koge paused for just a moment, letting the door shut and the bells jingle as she listened for any signs of her mentor.

"Ah fuck, Seiji, watch the teeth!"

"Shh! Shut up or Kiri will hear us, idiot."

Koge could hear the almost indistinct whispering behind the door to Seijirou's office, though she didn't get a chance to head over there as Kirishima appeared from around the corner to the supply showroom. His hair was up in a messy ponytail, wide sharp tooth grin on his face as always. "Hey! Are you feeling better? I heard you had gotten sick a few days ago." Koge nodded, glancing around anxiously as she wanted desperately to talk to Seijirou. "I'm good. Are you here alone?"

"Ah, nah! Sir and Dokuji are in his office working on something. I was told not to disturb them, so I've been wrapping up herb portions into the new cheesecloth we got. I'm glad you're feeling better! Though you look kinda flustered-"

"I just need to talk to Seijirou. Excuse me." Koge moved past Kirishima, making a beeline for the office door. At first, she tried to open without knocking, though found that it was effectively locked. This wasn't anything new, but the fact that it blocked her advances only piled onto her frustrations.

"The door is shut for a reason, darling! Come back in a while."

Koge frowned at the dismissal, knocking on the wood a few times. "Sir, please, it's really important!" A frustrated sigh was heard after a moment, before soft cursing and shuffling. "Alright, Koge. Just a moment."

Taking a few steps back, Koge waited, shuffling nervously on her feet. How should she say this? Should she just spill her guts to him or take it a bit slow? Seijirou was a great listener and typically always had the best advice, so she was relying so heavily on his help that she was scared to freak him out. As his footsteps approached from the other side of the door, she began to panic, stomach bubbling so violently that she nearly felt like vomiting. Even though she knew that Kirishima was watching curiously, but that didn't stop her from spitting out what had happened the instant Seijirou opened the door, anticipation forcing her to lose all control.

"I saw Katsuki."

Seijirou paused right in the middle of beginning to speak, shock coming over his fair features. "Wha-?" He cleared his throat, glancing over her shoulder at Kirishima. "Darling, that's not-"

"Please don't tell me it's not possible! I know what happened to me, everyone keeps calling me crazy." Koge's outburst surprised Seijirou enough to make him jump a bit, bringing a hand to his chest. "My dear, it's okay," He placed his hands on her shoulders, giving them a comforting squeeze. "Don't cry. Come in, we'll talk about it. You watch the store." He gave a sharp look to Kirishima, who grimaced at the accusatory snap in his voice. "Y-yes, sir."

As Koge was ushered into the room, she wiped her sore and swollen eyes, finally noticing Dokuji sitting in Seijirou's office chair. Feet up on the desk, he was using just a bit of force to make the chair sway, an annoyed glare locked on the wall as he chewed on a broken quill. He was obviously flustered, though Koge paid him no mind, quickly turning back to Seijirou. "I've tried to talk to Nene and Katsuki's parents, but none of them believe me. You always believe in these odd happenings, and you know so much, there has to be an explanation for what happened to me."

After sitting her down in a chair on the other side of his desk, Seijirou hopped up to sit on it himself, blocking the glaring Dokuji from her view. "Well, tell me what happened. You saw him?"

Koge explained the situation as she had many times over, having to pause and take deep breaths to keep her emotions in control. Seijirou listened without any interruptions, barely even moving from his spot. To Koge, he seemed blank and emotionless, as if he were trying to hide how he truly felt about it all from her. Though, when she finished, a smile crossed his lips. That made her feel better, even if it was obviously a bit forced.

"My, that sounds… Interesting. But you don't have anything to prove it?"

"No… I just have these bruises on my arms that look like someone grabbed me, which he did. They are way too big to be my own hands. And how could I make those shapes on my own with a rope or anything else?" Koge lifted her shawl up a bit to show the bruises on her left arm, to which Seijirou leaned forward a bit to see. "Hm, those do look like fingers. I don't think you could have done that to yourself, either."

"Then it had to have been him. He has to be alive-"

"No way," Dokuji spoke up, though Koge still couldn't see him as Seijirou was blocking the way. She could, however, see Seijirou's expression turn into an annoyed scowl as Dokuji continued. "With what you say, he's dead. Just not the type of dead that everyone thinks."

Koge tried to lean over a bit, catching Dokuji's piercing blue glare behind messy bangs. The constant accusations that Bakugou was dead was starting to tug at her heart, struggling against the urge to just give up and believe it all. But, this was something she hadn't been told yet, and it confused her greatly. "What does that mean?"

"It means," Dokuji snapped the already broken quill in half. "That he's turned into something else, I bet. You know the rumors around here, don't you? About that big mansion in the forest?"

"Ah… Lady Kayama lives there. I saw her once, going to a party up at the governor's home. I've heard some stuff from Nene, but nothing really serious." Koge nervously fiddled with her own fingernails, picking at them as she awaited more of an explanation. She wasn't sure what this had to do with Katsuki, nor did she think it really mattered. What did a private woman who lived alone in the forest have to do with her lover?

"Let's put it this way," One piece of the quill went back between his teeth, while the other was used to emphasize his words. "You said your boyfriend-"

"Fiance."

"Excuse me. Fiance. You said that he was cold, hotter looking than normal and that he smelled like…?"

"Caramel, I think…"

"Tch, that's weird. Anyways," He flipped some of his hair out of his face, though it just returned back into place. "That's all the classic signs of a blood sucker!"

"A… Vampire?" Koge looked up at Seijirou with nervous disbelief, wondering if Dokuji was the one who's mind should be questioned. Seijirou was silent and emotionless, letting his lover speak. Koge had only ever heard of vampires in stories and in books, described as beautiful human like creatures that thrived off the blood of the living. As long as they continued to eat, they lived for eternity. The thought of Bakugou having been turned into such a thing was unthinkable, but she did have to admit that it did make a little bit of sense.

"Yes. That's the story, that anyone who goes into that forest gets taken by those creatures. Either they kill them or change them. That's why this area has so many disappearances and things. According to the legend, at least. I believe it." Dokuji finished off with a sly smirk, nudging Seijirou in the hip with his foot. "So does this old man. He loves that spooky shit."

"Do not." Seijirou said with a sigh, reaching down to push his foot away. "I mean yes I believe the legends, but I don't like spooky shit."

"Then… you think that's what happened to him? Why he acted so weird?" Koge shifted in her seat, still trying to comprehend that this could truly be a fact. "What can I do?"

"Nothing." Seijirou leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "If it is true, then there's nothing you can do. But there's no proof of such a thing, Koge. Without anyone else seeing him or physical proof-"

Shaking her head, Koge stood, interrupting him with her movement. "Unless someone can read my mind, I have no proof! Sir-"

"I'm sorry, darling. There's nothing I can do to help… If you don't want to end up locked away, it's better to continue on like it never happened. Ah, wait, Koge!" Seijirou stood up off the desk as the young woman took her leave, exiting the store before anyone could say another word. With an annoyed huff, Seijirou leaned back against his desk, crossing his arms over his chest. "Good job, Doey. Now she's upset and you freaked her out."

"I told her the truth, she just didn't believe it." Dokuji flicked one half of the quill at Seijirou, hitting him in the back of the head. Seijirou glared at him over his shoulder, reaching back to make sure the wood wasn't stuck in his hair. "You did that because you were mad at her for interrupting us." Shaking his head, Dokuji went back to chewing on his piece of wood, glowering up at the older man. "I'm not mad about nothin'. Except I got serious blue balls. But that's besides the point, what are you gonna do now?"

"Talk to Our Lady about it. Maybe… She'll be in a good mood."