~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~21~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A dangerously full cup of orange juice sat on the table directly in front of me. I squinted as the sun reflected off of the glass. The home was silent except for the morning birds chirping to each other outside the window and the occasional barking dog. Yamada was not there. I was sprawled out on the couch. A scrap of paper sat next to the glass of orange juice. "This man and his notes."

It read, "Rika (Or whatever your REAL name is)." I could clearly imagine him snickering as he wrote it. "Need to run to market." At the end of the sentence, as if its own word, sat a stick figure man drawn in a walking position. "Stay put!" A doodle of a Stop sign followed. "Help self to anything." A simply drawn apple and banana side-by-side. Then a bit down further read, "P.S. Was my bed uncomfortable or did you just miss me?" Ended all with a small scribbled heart.

I slept so soundly that I didn't even dream. Yamada must have taken caution not to wake me. I wondered how his face looked when he awoke to me soundly sleeping next to him. And I honestly felt relieved that he was the first to wake up. As I thought about him pulling me onto the couch, my face heated. I shook my head, trying to erase the memory of me stealing a kiss from him. That kiss made the second time now that I dared to act so impulsively with Yamada. But this time I couldn't blame it on being a "lightweight."

Even while remembering these stressful events, I still had to admit that I felt the most well rested that morning than I had in a very long time. Yamada's warmth gave me energy. Without even trying, literally with his eyes closed, he allowed me for just one night to forget the demons that haunted me. Though I knew deep down I would only be a burden to those who came close to me, I wanted to continue experiencing the gift of ignorance. But, unfortunately, at the end of the day, truth is always the winner, especially against the naive. The world made sure to teach me that lesson over and over again. Who knew what Laito or any of his brothers would do to Yamada if they learned that he was sheltering me and in any way had become an obstacle in their repossession of me. I flopped back down onto the couch with the note still in my hands. I held it to my chest. My heart rate increased. My previously cured exhaustion seeped back into my body in waves. If Yamada was there, he could distract these feelings. Maybe he was my chance at freedom. What would happen if I told him my name? And what could go wrong if I stayed and learned about his neighbors that he clearly loved? He could teach me what card games they play at night. I would understand their jokes and laugh alongside them. What could happen if I let Yamada be my solution?

Would I tell him who Rika truly was?

I clenched the note tighter against my chest as I fought for the answer of the pressing question that repeated itself in my mind. "Honey, I'm home!" Yamada yelled as he pushed the door open. He was smiling ear to ear while juggling multiple shopping bags in both arms. One clearly had produce. Another was eerily similar to the bag given by the clothing merchant from the day before.

I quickly sat up and tossed his note back to its spot on the table. "Hello!" I yelped back loudly, not only from the shock of his sudden appearance, but also as a way to meet his own energy. I stood and met him in the kitchen. "You've accomplished a lot this morning."

"Yeah! It's the last day of the market," he beamed at me as he plopped all three of the bags onto the kitchen table. Before I could respond, he pulled me into his chest and hugged me tightly. He took a deep sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you're still here!"

By impulse I began to push him away. But after a second to think, I decidedly wrapped my arms around his waist. "Th- thank you for still having me."

Yamada loosened his grip slightly and stepped back just enough to look down at me. "You have an unforgettable sleeping face, Rika."

My hands tightened their grip on his shirt. I could play his game. "So do you, Yamada," I retorted.

Yamada laughed. "Oh yeah?" He lifted me up onto the table next to his bags. "Well if you promise to stay put, I'll let you study my sleeping face every night. How's that?" He grinned. His face was even closer than normal now with my slight height advantage. I looked slyly to my side at the bags he had brought in instead of giving an answer. I could see that one had a large wine bottle sitting upright in it. Surrounding it were fresh roses. Yamada noticed me inspecting them and scooped the bag away. "Those are for later, Rika. No peeking," he ordered as he walked behind me and tossed them into a cabinet. He immediately returned and began shuffling through another bag. "This one is for now." He plopped a folded red dress into my lap.

I looked down at it as I carefully unfolded the fabric and held it open in front of me. It was of medium length and was a stunning red all the way down to its billowed skirt, ending in swirls of black along the hem. "It's beautiful." There it was again. The bittersweet taste of ignorance begging to be swallowed. What could go wrong if I accepted the dress? I knew where questions like that would lead. I lowered the dress back into my lap.

Yamada leaned forward, using a hand on the table to balance and pulled me towards him by the small of my back. His forehead gently tapped against my own. "Then why do you look so sad, Miss Rika?" The usual smirk he wore disappeared. He leaned back just slightly, awaiting my reply.

"I..." The question took me off guard. "I'm not sure." I could feel tears pooling at the corners of my eyes. But I did know why. I was mourning the life I would never be able to obtain. The life that I never knew could exist until I met Yamada. And I didn't know what could be worse- letting it slip away for fear of failing or risking my own and others' lives by deluding myself that it could be mine.

"I guess it's just another one of your secrets that I have to uncover," Yamada whispered. He lifted his hand from my back up to the base of my neck and pulled my ear close to his mouth. "But I'll have you know, I can handle a little danger." My eyes widened. "I'm not a fan of goodbyes, Rika. Especially from a girl like you. But I will admit," Yamada planted a soft kiss on my neck, "I was a fan of what came after."

"I don't uh," Could I even deny it? "Know what-"

Yamada moved his hand to lift my chin and his lips pushed against mine. It was more firmly done than I would have imagined from him. Missing the support of his hand on my back, I fell backwards flat onto the table. Yamada peered down at me and picked the dress up from my lap. He gently folded it across his forearm. "Want help getting dressed, Miss Rika?"

I sat up slowly. Yamada still stood too close for me to hop off of the table. "I can handle it alone," I assured him, hoping he would move.

"If you say so. I'm just starting to feel a little paranoid," he stepped back. "I don't want you to think that you can just decide to leave me without even giving me a chance to dissuade you."

My brows furrowed as I slid off of the table. "The fact that I'm still here means that you're already doing too good of a job of dissuading me." I snatched the dress from his arm. "I wouldn't stand a chance if I gave you the advantage of being awake."

Yamada's face softened and then he smiled widely. "That's probably the most honest thing you've said to me since our meeting at the market." I huffed and turned on my heels towards the bathroom. "Now tell me your real name!" Yamada called from behind me.

"My name is Rika!" I hollered back, slamming the bathroom door closed. I could hear Yamada's bellowing laughter from the other side. I placed the new dress on the sink counter and lifted my blue dress up and off. Yamada should have known that I was also being honest when I complimented this new gift. I slipped into it and I was right, it was beautiful. I untucked my necklace from where it hid behind the collar. The etched rose on the locket that hung off of it matched perfectly with the dress.

For now, I could be Rika. Even if it was just a day. I would bury Yui deep inside. Please just give me one day to spend with Yamada. One single day would be enough and then I would move on. I knew it was greedy, but that truth was Yui's burden, not mine. Not today. A knock on the door freed me from my incessant thoughts. "Eggs, pancakes, waffles or cereal?" Yamada asked against the door. "Or would your answer to this put me in great danger, too?"

"Not everything is a joke," I hissed as I opened the door. Yamada, who must have been leaning on it, tumbled forward into me, knocking me to the ground. Luckily, my head hit something soft. When I was able to focus, I realized it was Yamada's hands, which he had wrapped around the back of my head to protect me.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

Yamada lifted himself, but stopped midway. He looked down at my dress. "Now it's beautiful," he said, correcting my statement from earlier. "I know you just put it on and all," Yamada murmured, "but now I'm wondering if I have any chance of convincing you to take it off."

"No chance," I responded flatly.

Yamada chuckled. His hand found its way to the hem and pushed the side of my dress up to my hip. "Second best would be me taking it off for you, I guess." I shook my head and attempted to wriggle out from under him. "Rika," he said, "didn't anyone ever teach you to haggle?" Yamada leaned back further and lifted my now bare leg up. He kissed the side of my knee.

"You're not at the market anymore," I responded, pulling my leg out of his grasp. I lifted myself into a sitting position with my back against the tub. "I'm not selling anything."

Yamada paused, then leaned back. "Yeah, you've got a point there." He stood and put out his hand for me to grab. "Anyway, there's no rush. As long as my Rika doesn't dash away in the night, I've got all the time in the world to convince you."

I grabbed his hand and he helped lift me back up to my feet. "Are you okay?" I asked again.

"Well, a cute girl cushioned my fall. My pride hurts a little, but that's nothing a beer can't fix," Yamada chuckled. "Did you get hurt?"

"No," I answered. I swished the dress around, checking the back and sides. "And the dress is okay."

"Good!" Yamada cheered. "So I normally have eggs and beer for breakfast. But I can make you pancakes or waffles. Or I have cereal. I'm sure I've got some bacon somewhere, too..." He turned around as he spoke and headed back to the kitchen.

I folded the blue dress and carried it with me out of the bathroom. "I would love some eggs as well." I placed the folded dress into the bag that the red one came out of.

"You sure?" Yamada held the fridge open, taking a step back to check for ingredients. "You don't have to be as boring as me you kno-"

"Yamada," I placed my hand on his shoulder and kissed him as he turned his head to me. "Thank you for the dress."

Yamada held my head in place with his hand and brought me in close again when I started to pull away. He kissed me again, this time softer, but he parted my lips with his. The fridge door closed as he pulled back. "You're welcome," he whispered. I felt a deep pit in my stomach take root. At the time, I thought it was from hunger.

Yamada, because it was the last day, wanted to show me the splendor of the market. He insisted that I couldn't have actually enjoyed it the day before. Yamada was right. As I approached the market for the second time, I noticed beautiful fabrics and unknown bright healthy fruits I hadn't seen before. And a quaint little chicken pen where for just some coins, you could buy a baby chick. Children surrounded one stall in particular that sold cakes and sweets. Yamada stopped me at that one and picked out some small cakes for himself and me to eat later. I had partly missed these stalls due to primarily focusing on slipping through the village unnoticed, but I knew the true reason it was more enjoyable today was because of the company. Yamada, who just a day ago was a strange man forcing an unwanted gift upon me, was now leading me by hand to this stall and that one, pointing out what was over marked and sometimes sheepishly paying it anyway when he personally knew the merchant. Then pouncing at the chance to buy anything he deemed under marked. He was as eager as the children running around us.

We sat on a bench near a small pond of murky water. A scraggly tree hovered above us. Its naked branches provided no shade, but none was needed. The sun had been steadily setting for a while now. Some of the more temporary-looking stalls had already started packing up. Yamada had somehow acquired a few more bags to lug back home. But before the trip back, he wanted cake. Yamada lifted the small rectangular cake to my mouth. "Try this one first. Say 'ahhhhh.'" I opened my mouth and felt the sponge against my tongue. It was a rich chocolate cake with thin layers of raspberry jam. I nodded in approval. Yamada leaned forward and gave me a deep kiss. His tongue quickly flicked the inside of my mouth. "Mmmm, You're right. That one's gonna be tough to beat."

My face flushed red. And again, I felt something dark grow in the depths of my stomach. Maybe because I felt safer in the sun, which was now escaping behind the horizon. "Should we head back now?"

Yamada put the cake away, but did not stand. "Tell me one true thing about you before we do," he said with no hint of playfulness in his tone.

One true thing. I thought through my options, filtering through facts I could never say like, I am being hunted by vampires. Or my mother was killed in the castle on the hill. My father died because of me. That was all true. I looked down. "I... Yamada, I like you." The words hung in the air before I continued, "I don't think my staying here, in this village, is safe for me or even for you. There's not a lot of explanation I can give you as to why. And I don't want to give you the false hope that this is a puzzle you can solve. But if I have to tell you one truth about me right now, it would be that I like you. And for the time being, that's enough for me and I can only hope it's enough for you as well," I exhaled, keeping none of my thoughts back for just a moment.

"That can be enough," Yamada smiled. "At least for now."