"Servant of Monsters"
Chapter 7 - Invitation
Kaien learned that becoming monsters meant a sleepless night for the family, so they told him to go to his bed and join them on early breakfast at 5 a.m. No matter how much he wanted to sleep over today's impressions, he didn't feel tired at all. Unlocking the door, he went inside of his room. To his surprise, a shadowy figure was sitting on the window. On first impulse, he grabbed the nearest thing (it was a small, white vase with daffodils) and threw it at the shadow.
"Wait!" Before the servant could find another thing (he aimed for the largest book on his shelves), the guest lit a small lamp, revealing Ichigo. "It's just me!"
"What the hell are you doing in my window!?" Ignoring all the formal attitude, Kaien shouted in fright. His heart would soon stop working from all surprises he experienced. Ichigo frowned, still sitting near the window.
"I just wanted to talk. I know your world and view of it is shattered into pieces, but I want to clarify these things, since you're going to be here for a little longer. Firstly, could you invite me into your room? Vampires have this annoying inconvenience... We can't enter anybody's place unless we're clearly allowed to..." Kaien eyed him suspiciously and Ichigo noticed it. "What?"
"You're a vampire."
"...So?"
"You feed on blood."
"...Yes?"
"..." If I let him inside, he might suck my blood out. Kaien thought nervously. Ichigo's vein popped out.
"...I'm not here to suck your blood out." Kaien's eyes got bigger. He grabbed his head, as if he was trying to hold his thoughts inside.
"Don't read my mind!"
"It's not like I can shut it down. I hear everyone's mind just as clearly as if they were speaking it out." Ichigo sighed. "Look, could you please let me in? I promise on my family's fortune that I won't attempt to bite you." Kaien didn't feel like trusting the boy, but he sighed. He invited Ichigo over. The orange-haired quickly sat on the sofa. Kaien kept the distance and decided to stand near heavy books (he thought they might get useful if the vampire didn't keep his promise).
"So..." The servant spoke carefully. "...What is it that you wanted to talk about?" Ichigo looked at him and then through the window.
"I... I wanted to thank you." That was unusual – on pale face of the vampire a small tint of blush appeared. "I was wondering why you decided to stay." Kaien scratched his head, collecting his thoughts.
"I'm still questioning myself about that. But... After your parents were begging me to stay, describing your family history like that, I..." Curiosity overwhelmed Ichigo. "I felt really bad for you... Whether you were lying or not, I also have another motivation to continue this job – my family. And my family knows that I'm no quitter." Ichigo hummed in understanding.
"So, you're doing it for the family?" Kaien nodded.
"You know, my new brother is going to be born next month. This year, our fields were destroyed because of this summer's drought, so we didn't earn too much. Also, most of family savings were taken to pay for my college. I'm thankful for them, so I don't want to let them down."
"So you don't consider quitting an option?" Ichigo asked.
"Yes, I don't." The answer was strong. Even in his human form, Ichigo sensed a really strong will inside of that man and now he had a vital proof. Unusual for him, Ichigo smiled widely, showing his pure white teeth. Kaien awkwardly smiled back. "Could you please don't do that? I'm still not used to your vampire fangs." Ichigo stopped smiling immediately, coughing in his hand. "Hmm... Ichigo, can I ask you something?" The other nodded, waiting for the question. "Umm... What about these things that come up in the orchard at night? Shiro mentioned something about giant bats or mantis-witches...?"
"Those are other people, affected by the curse. The one you have met today is our far-away cousin, Grimmjaw Jagerjaques. He's a were-cat and he's been like that for over a week. We told him that we firstly need to tell you about all our mess, but the idiot was just too impatient." Kaien sweat-dropped. He wondered if he would have had a different reaction if the family had decided to explain everything slowly. Hell, we wasn't sure if he'd even apply for a servant position of a family, that got cursed by the Devil.
"And those... "people"... intend to pay me a visit next time? 'Cause I'd really like to prepare myself for that."
"U-Um...Sometimes they come, sometimes they don't." Ichigo scratched his head. The blush from before came up again. "I-I thought about that. If it's okay with you, I can go to the orchard with you at midnight. This way you wouldn't need to worry about any problems." Kaien's eyes got wider at the offer.
"You would really do that?" Ichigo nodded. "Um... I mean... That's really thoughtful of you, thanks!" This time Kaien smiled widely. Small trust was slowly forming inside of him. Maybe he wouldn't die that easily.
"N-No problem." Aquamarine orbs observed changing expression on Ichigo's face. For some reason, the Kurosaki vampire didn't act like those described in books or shown in TV. He's actually pretty cu-! Before he could think of that, Kaien shook off his thoughts. Ichigo quirked a brow in confusion. He heard the beginning of thought, but the servant stopped it halfway. Kaien blushed in embarrassment. "Are you okay?"
"No, I'm not!" Kaien yelled too nervously to his own liking. "I've just realized I have absolutely no freedom of thought near you! And I really don't like restraining my thinking!" Ichigo blinked. After a while, a solution came up.
"We can ask Kon to invent something, like a mobile Thought Helmet for you. He's an annoying idiot and a lazy bum, but when it comes to creating something, he really knows his stuff."
"Yeah, that would be good!" Kaien huffed in relief. The only way to keep his mind blank was to either throw the vampire away from his room or talk some more. Kaien decided to take the opportunity and ask another question. "So, you DO drink blood, right?" Ichigo wasn't prepared for the change of subject.
"Um, yes, I do."
"And how much blood do you need each day?" Ichigo put on a sour face. He couldn't understand why the man was so interested in the blood topic.
"Minimum 1 liter per day." The amount shocked Kaien. H-How many people does he have to dri- "No, I don't drink blood right from a person." Ichigo interrupted his thought, annoyed by servant's hasty conclusions. "Our Clinic orders bags of blood from Karakura's local Blood Bank. Each week we always order 7 liters extra, so I wouldn't have to starve. Though believe me, a really cold, old blood is pretty disgusting."
"Do tell..." He hadn't found an appropriate comment. Ichigo sighed and stood up.
"Well, I don't really need to sleep, but you do. Since our family won't be able to transform till midday, you're gonna have a lot of work in the morning. Right after the breakfast, be prepared to assist Shiro." Kaien frowned.
"And what about you?"
"The only visible change I have is pale skin and brighter eyes - I can always blame my appearance on anemia and wear sunglasses. With that, nothing can stop me from treating everyone in the Emergency room." He smirked. "Shiro, on the other hand, can't find any good excuse for looking like a transparent, levitating snowman with eyes of a demon." He had a point, Kaien admitted that. But inside of him, he had a turmoil of feelings and he knew it wouldn't be easy for him to go to sleep. Ichigo was good at reading his face, because he moved closer to the servant. "Do you need some help with your sleep?" Kaien quirked his brow, both at the question and at the sudden closeness. The distance between them was very small. Self-awareness wasn't helping him much, but he tried his best to hold back blushing.
"You surely don't help by being this close..." He murmured under his nose. Inwardly, Ichigo chuckled.
"Look into my eyes."
"What?"
"Just do it." Kaien hesitated, but eventually did as he was told. In front of him, golden orbs were glowing, softly spreading their light and covering Kaien's vision. Waves of warmth were running through his body, finally reaching his head and causing a pleasurable dizziness. Sea eyes suddenly felt so tired and so heavy. Eyelids were fighting really hard, but this mysterious power of vampire's gaze took away all his strength. He completely gave up. As soon as aquamarine orbs were finally hidden behing eyelids, Kaien's body became wobbly. If it wasn't for Ichigo's sharp reaction and his quick grip on the man's shoulder, he would certainly fall and hit the ground. Ichigo lifted sleeping Kaien and carried him to the bed. While doing so, he couldn't resist the young man's looks and almost crashed into the wall while staring at the gorgeous face. W-What the ... He finally put the sleeping man down on the king-sized bed. Before exiting the room, he set the alarm clock at 4:30, a little before the breakfast. With a last glance, Ichigo disappeared behind the door and Kaien peacefully reached his own dreamworld.