The Sacred Night, Chapter Ten
"See? You would be dead because of that human if not for whatever bit of luck you had. What exactly did keep you sustained? A willing human?"
"H-Hai,"
"I suppose you'll be all right if you feed on willing humans,"
"Iye. Only her,"
"Why only one? Just her and that woman who died... what was different about them?"
"The woman who died was my wife, and I didn't realize I would kill her until it was too late. The human I met recently, Misao-dono, seems to think she can figure out a way for me to feed on her without killing her, and she won't take no for an answer,"
He gave a small smile. "A human that won't take no for an answer is rare, and not many vampires would even say no to start with,"
"That's true,"
"You're a rarity yourself, Himura. You remind me of myself as a youth,"
I perked up at that. He was like me once, and had changed his mind? Would centuries of being a vampire do that to me as well if I failed to die?
"I hope it will," Katsura answered, obviously having read my thoughts. I made a mental note to guard them more heavily. "I understand how you feel, and believe me, it's refreshing, but you're not wrong to be what you are. If tigers refuse to eat smaller, weaker animals, they'll all die out, and then the small animals will multiply so much that all the animals smaller than them will be eaten to extinction. The whole world is off balance when you remove entire species, and vampires are no exception. It might not seem right at first, but it'll be for the best if you don't deny what you are,"
"I don't deny it. I know what I am, and that is why I will remove myself from the earth,"
"Seppuku?" He asked, knowing instantly what I meant.
"Hai,"
"So you're just going to humor this girl until she dies or bores of you, then die,"
"Iye, not until she dies. I won't kill her like I did Tomoe,"
"You're confident she'll give up, then,"
"Not entirely, no," I admitted.
"What then? Are you going to bind her, or have you already?"
"I don't know what you mean, Katsura-san," I answered, slightly confused. Bind her? Did he mean make her my prisoner? I would never do that.
"Binding is the only other option if she doesn't give up and you won't kill her. It's the only way to feed on her safely, unless you plan on changing her, but you don't seem to want that,"
"You mean there is a way I can feed on her without harming her?"
"You don't know about binding? You were at least a normal vampire for awhile, but four years isn't long... You can bind her to yourself and she won't age when you feed, but she won't age like a human, either. She'll age like we do,"
"She'll still be human?"
"Hai. The only difference is she'll age as we do until you die and won't get sick or be hurt by your feeding until then, either. When you die, she'll be a completely normal human again and start aging as they do,"
"How is it done?"
"You both have to bleed into a bowl, in equal amounts, and then add water until you can see the bottom of the bowl. You both have to drink some, and it will be finished. Don't let her drink too much of it, though, because if she gets too much of your blood in her, she'll change," he explained.
I nodded somewhat dubiously. I believed him, but there was a risk. I didn't want her changed.
"Also, if she drinks any, any at all, and you don't, she'll age as we do, but you still won't be able to feed on her," he added. I nodded again, and then had a thought.
"Katsura-san, when you changed me... " I hesitated, but he nodded to indicate I could continue. "How did you do it?"
"Returning," he answered simply, and I was relieved to know to what process he was referring. The vampire would drink all of a human's blood as if to kill him or her, and then quickly give some back. It was one of only two methods that could be employed on an unconscious person. I don't want to discuss the other one.
"Are you two going to want to have a sentimental moment to catch up, or can I take this idiot back where he came from now?" My shishou spoke up for the first time since he'd told my... father where he'd found me. Katsura looked at me to make sure I agreed, and nodded to say we could leave. I followed him a short distance, and then he turned and said he hoped I didn't want to go and live with im again. I assured him I didn't, and directed my steps back to the Aoiya.
So the vampire who had changed me, this Katsura, whose first name I didn't even know, thought it was good, natural, normal, even a service to the world to feed on humans as vampires do. He seemed to like my opinion, naive as he believed it was, but didn't agree. He thought it was good to feed on humans, but it 'might not seem right at first.' Did that mean he had done what I had? Did it mean he had had to acclimate himself to killing, as I had done as a child? By our standards, I still was a child, but I didn't feel young anymore. I didn't suppose any vampires did if they survived long.
What would I turn out like if I existed for centuries after this? Would I become the hungry, violent vampire I'd once been again? Could I survive as I was? Would Misao want me to bind her, and then would I be able to survive without hurting her as I wanted? It seemed too easy, except for Misao. It would be a hard decision for her to make, because she would either have to tell her family the truth or leave them. There was no hiding a sixty year old woman who looked nineteen. If she told them the truth, I'd have to tell them my secret as well, and they would either accept it or kick both of us out.
I wasn't sure whether Misao would be happy to hear that there was a way to bind her or not. She would be happy at least until I told her she would be practically immortal, and then there was no telling what her reaction would be. Some humans would give their weights in gold to have that kind of longevity, but if she couldn't extend it to her family, she might decline. I wondered if I could bind more than one human at a time. If I could, I supposed she could stay with her family and they could all be together for that huge amount of time until I died completely. I could stay with them, then, and we would all live together for... practically forever. The rest of Kyoto might get suspicious, though, and I certainly wasn't going to bind an entire city...
If it was possible, I felt even worse than I had before. Before, I had been unwilling to recieve Misao's help, but got it free of charge because she wanted so badly for me to survive. Now I was about to ask her to leave her family forever. What a person I was- trying to do the sensible thing and die, I met a human who wouldn't go away, let her convince me to feed on her, and now I'd let another vampire convince me to take away her short, normal life. What was I coming to? I should never have come to Kyoto with her.
Perhaps she would refuse, and then I could go back to my own monotonous half-life with a clear conscience. If she accepted, I would be better off never to have asked, because then I would be responsible for ruining her life. Maybe I shouldn't ask, then. I couldn't lie to her and say there was no way to feed on her safely, but if she saw that there was a way, there was no telling how far she would go to keep me sustained. I had no idea. Perhaps I should just ask her and let her decide, as she should have the right to do. She would say the blame wasn't entirely mine if I let her decide, but I knew it would be. The blame for everything was entirely mine.
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another short chapter... what can i say, i wrote it awhile ago. Chapter 12 is nice and long, and i'm trying to make the subsequent ones that way as well.
guess what? I had a dream about aoshi and misao... shows how into this story i'm getting (yes, aoshi is in it later). They were just a bit younger than they are in rk, and they had just met (not accurate, but...). aoshi actually TOLD misao to call him "lord aoshi" in the dream, and she was like, YEAH, RIGHT. So, later, she called him "milord" all sarcastic like, he laughed, and she started calling him "lord" as an inside joke. There was also something about a suspicious murder involving the Oniwabanshuu, but i don't remember that part too clearly...
The-Great-Monk-Grl: thank you! I'm very flattered, and if you would like tips or advice, i'm available at jesujoy7@yahoo.com.
Houndingwolf: thank you. I'm a kaoru fan, but i really like tomoe better. Emotionless ppl fascinate me, so maybe that's y i like her so much.
Maeve Riannon: thought you'd like that about katsura. I was scared to death he'd be OOC. Is he? Yes, hiko knows everything before kenshin... kind of frustrating for him, i would think. I understand about using too many Japanese words. I thought it would seem more authentic that way, but if it bothers people, i'll quit. I assumed if people didn't understand, they'd ask me.
Yuhi-thedoerofevildeeds: yes, he bit her. It bled the same amount a prick would usually bleed after he was finished sucking it out. does that answer?