After one day of traveling, they had come under a large tree to rest and probably camp for the night. L-elf began to undo his clothes to allow Haruto to feed. He presented his neck and Haruto licked his lips in anticipation but then shook his head.

"Actually, you don't need to do that tonight."

"Don't you need more blood?", L-elf asked.

Haruto removed the gloves and hat he wore during the day, once the sun was beyond the horizon and the sky began to darken. "I only need to feed about once a week if it's human blood. So for now, I'm good."

L-elf closed up his clothes and got started on a fire. "Tell me about your coven. How were you all turned?" L-elf was realizing that he was traveling with a man he barely knew. He was confident in his abilities in case Haruto tried anything or something from his past came back to hurt them both.

"Like I said before, they're not really a coven. We're just friends." Haruto gazed in the fire as he recalled memories from that time. It was decades ago but he could still remember it clearly. And it was so long since he'd even thought about it. But speaking might help him process his feelings. So he decided to tell L-elf everything that he remembered.

"It started nearly forty years ago, in my hometown..."

Haruto lived alone with his father, who was a doctor. He didn't know the entire story, but his mother left when he was still a baby. For the next seventeen years, it had been he and his dad. Haruto had a small circle of friends he'd made over the years, the two he was closest to were Shoko and Inuzuka. Shoko he'd known since he was learning to walk.

Their lives had changed one night in Haruto's home. They were hanging around idly as the sun went down. Shoko was the first to return home that night. And the only to remain human. Haruto, Inuzuka, Saki, Yamada, Marie, and Akira had lost consciousness soon after and awoke in Tokishima Soichi's clinic. He had drugged their food to bring them there and had already finished his experiment, turning them into vampires.

All reacted initially with shock and disbelief but when they'd come to believe it, they had different takes on what had occurred. And the first thing they did was run away. They couldn't risk hurting their families with their new blood lust. It was difficult since they could no longer stand the sun, except for Inuzuka. In addition to vampirism, they'd been given other abilities.

Inuzuka had immunity to sunlight and could pass the power temporarily to others. It was this that allowed him to surprise them all with Shoko and Aina. He had returned to bring them and explain their situation. And they began to live with them. It was actually alright for a while.

"Humans lived in harmony with vampires. Unbelievable", L-elf commented.

"It's true. I guess because we were all friends", Haruto smiled. "But, it couldn't last. I should have known that. At least for me. Aina let Inuzuka feed from her. The rest of us stuck to animals. One day, Shoko offered her blood to me and..."

"You killed her?"

Haruto bit his lip and looked away, pulling his knees up to his chest and making himself smaller. Tears pricked his eyes and he nodded slowly, not the L-elf needed an answer after that reaction. Still, he watched the other closely. Then a realization dawned on him.

"You loved her."

At that, Haruto buried his face into his knees and sobbed quietly. L-elf found himself sympathizing with him. To have killed your beloved, he couldn't imagine it. The death of the princess had devastated him and he didn't have a direct hand in it. L-elf didn't think he could fathom the agony of causing the swift end of your loved one. His hand reached out and sat on Haruto's shoulder.

Feeling the touch, Haruto looked up with a wet face. L-elf wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but it felt appropriate. He patted Haruto's shoulder once, then pulled away. The brunet was in a bit of a daze at what had just happened. Could it be? Was L-elf comforting him? Haruto didn't think he had it in him but what else could that gesture be?

He wiped his face and smiled. "Thank you."

"I can somewhat understand your feelings. Although that exact instance has never happened to me. It is not easy to overcome. Will your friends ever forgive you for killing her?"

"I don't know. When I realized what I did, I just ran. I didn't stop until I'd crossed the sea. I couldn't face any of it. And I haven't talked to any of them since." Fresh tears began to fall. "Actually, they probably all hate me now. I never explained myself. And I just left Shoko's body there." Haruto started sobbing again, harder this time. "How am I supposed to see them after all this time?"

L-elf didn't have an answer to that. All he could think of was walking into a den of potentially hostile and angry vampires. He had to figure out countermeasures. Few things about vampires were known - their thirst for blood, weakness to sunlight, immortality, other things were merely speculation. L-elf needed to know other things to fight back with.

He looked to Haruto. He could always interrogate him. Then again, this one had been around for a few decades. Did he even know his own weaknesses? L-elf wasn't sure. Haruto withstood being stabbed in the heart but before meeting L-elf he lived what appeared to be a hermit lifestyle. It was very possible that he'd never been attacked before that night and didn't know what else was harmful for him.

Well, he wouldn't know unless he asked. But he needed rest. "Let's go to sleep. We'll continue in the morning." With that, he put out the fire and plunged them in the darkness of the countryside.

The pair traveled for another day and a half. Haruto had estimated the trip taking them longer based on his memory from running away. Back then he had to hide during the day to keep from the sun. Thanks to his protective clothing, they were able to keep going in the daylight and only stopped when it was completely dark. Haruto stopped walking once they reached a small village.

"This is..."

L-elf glanced at him, then inspected the area with his eyes. The population wasn't that large. Walking around the town would take less than ten minutes. There were probably about fifty people in all. A young woman walked around with an umbrella on this particularly sunny day. She noticed the two and looked at them strangely. Then she approached them.

"Hello there. Are you both travelers? We don't have an inn or anything to rest in but-"

"Saki", Haruto said suddenly.

She stopped and froze, eyes wavering. Haruto got under the umbrella with her and removed the cloth around the bottom of his face, as well as the wide brimmed hat, revealing his face under the shade. Her eyes watered at the sight and she almost lost her grip.

"Ha...Haruto..." Her hold slipped just a bit at the side of Haruto's face was burnt. He gasped in pain and she reclaimed her hold.

"Sorry! I wasn't expect-I mean I...Haruto...", tears streamed down as she tried to get her words together.

"Saki, what is this place? Where are the others?"

She grabbed his hand, hers sleeved in smooth, white slicks gloves while his were a brown leather. "Come with me."

She didn't even spare L-elf a glance as she pulled Haruto along. He followed behind, watching the other villagers. Haruto had only mentioned a handful of friends. And they had ran away together to live away from humans. Had they turned others in vampires in the decades that followed. Was this settlement completely populated by them?

Or perhaps they were all humans who had come along and had no idea of the monsters who lived among them. Either way, things had deviated from Haruto's story. And new information required new plans to accommodate them.