When did her supply get so low? She swears she had more stocked up than this the last time she checked. Now this solitary bag of AB was hanging in her fridge, taunting her. The brunette grabbed it with a sigh.

She wouldn't be able to get a new batch for weeks, not with the recent attack on the blood bank. She sighed again as she searched the kitchen drawers for a straw. Would she be able to last that long without blood? It's not like she could just walk up to some rando like "oh hey, I'm really thirsty for blood and I'm out of my supply. Can I get some of yours?" People will think she's crazy. And she can't just take it by force. Once you do that, there's no going back.

Rise jammed the straw into the blood bag. Looks like she'll just have to wait it out. It couldn't be too bad to go a few weeks without blood, right?

She couldn't stop shaking.

They were small little shakes at first. Nothing major. She could still eat and hold things just fine. At the most her chances of becoming a surgeon were slim to none now. She could hold a pencil with minimal shaking. Naoto had asked if she was nervous since they had a test later that day. She played it off with a nervous giggle and agreed that yes she was nervous.

Cut to days later and she's trembling like a leaf.

It was off and on, or rather some times were worse than others. She usually managed to get it under control when she was around her friends.

Until they were all sitting at their food court table in Junes and the shaking flared up when she was trying to drink her juice. She quickly sat the glass back down, fast enough that she didn't spill anything but not fast enough that her friends didn't notice.

"Are you all right, Rise?" Yu asked. He was sitting beside her so he was the first one to see her struggle. He reached over for her hand, placing his on top of hers in the hopes to steady it. It just got worse. Rise quickly pulled her hand away and pushed back from the table.

"I'm fine. Just a little cold."

"You can take my jacket." Yosuke shedded out of his jacket and offered it to her.

"Thanks Y-Yosuke, but I'm o-okay." Dang it, even her voice was affected now. "I think I just need a minute. I'll be right back."

She quickly left the table before the tremors could get even worse.

A bento box with a delicious aroma was placed down in front of her. Chakin Sushi. Her Senpai's Chakin Sushi.

"Oh, Senpai! You shouldn't have."

Really he shouldn't have, not when the slightest smell of food made her feel like throwing up. The tremors finally stopped, but now she couldn't stand the smell of food, and even less stand the taste. And it really pains her because Yu went out of his way to cook this for her and his Chakin Sushi really is the best. Why did she have to get nauseous now?

Her friends don't know that she's a vampire, and she'd like to keep it that way for now. It's not that she doesn't trust them. She trusts them with her life. It's just that… revealing that you're a vampire is a very scary affair. They're not hunted anymore, but there are still people out there who hate vampires with a passion, hence why the blood bank is out of business right now. And while there's now a law forbidding the hunting of vampires, there's nothing stopping someone from running her through with a stake just because they felt like it. It's complicated.

"I thought you might need a pick-me-up since you weren't feeling well earlier."

"Aww. You were worried about me? That's so sweet, Senpai."

"You're my friend. Of course I was worried." He said once he got settled on the floor of the stage. But when he sat down she still hadn't touched the bento. "What's wrong? You aren't eating."

Right. She was usually digging in by now. "Right. Sorry." She picked up the chopsticks and took a deep breath, mentally pleading for her stomach to hold the food down. She took a bite.

Yu watched as she chewed. She was eating slower than usual. "Is it good? I used some new seasoning this time."

"I'sh g'd." She held her thumb up while trying to choke down the food mercilessly trying to come back up. Apparently she asked too much of her stomach.

"That's good. I was worried I'd have to use it for bait."

Bait? Did he use all of his failed attempts as bait for fishing? That thought was interrupted by another gag. This one he noticed.

"If it's bad you don't have to eat it, Rise-"

"No! No! It's not that Senpai!" She scrambled to correct the misunderstanding. "It's good! It really is! I just can't enjoy it how I want to right now."

"Why not?"

"I've just been feeling nauseous lately."

"Nauseous?" He leaned forward at this admission. "Weren't you shaking really bad, too? Are you sure you're okay, Rise?"

"I'm fine, Senpai. Oh! I have to get to my next class. See you later, Senpai!" She quickly found her escape even though her class wasn't for another 20 minutes.

Her friends were starting to get suspicious of her. They regarded her more carefully, even looking at her out the corners of their eyes when they thought she wasn't looking. One or two of them were with her at almost all times now. Kanji and Naoto walking her to her classes even if they were out of their way, Teddie and Yosuke escorting her around Junes while they were working -even if it was mostly Yosuke working and Teddie just goofing off and eating topsicles, Yukiko and Chie taking her shopping, and Yu walking her back home after school, which she didn't mind in the slightest.

They definitely knew something was up. But they couldn't know she's a vampire. Right?"

"Of course they know."

She didn't even look up from washing the dishes. "Shut up."

"You'd talk to your own mother that way?"

"You're not real!" Rise snapped, slamming the wet rag on the rim of the sink with a slap, and spun around to face the spectre of her mother.

"My poor, poor leach of a daughter."

"Mom!"

"Mom?" She scoffed. "My daughter died on that mountain. All I see is a blood sucker who for some reason thinks it deserves friends."

"They are my friends! They care about me! Way more than you and dad ever did!"

"Care for you!? Ha! At least you're still just as gullible as my sweet, little girl." Her "mother" took thundering steps towards her, each one making her heart drop lower and lower. "The only reason they care for you is because they don't know what you truly are."

"Shut up!"

"You're too scared to tell them because you already know what you are."

"Shut up!"

"Nothing but a demonic, walking corpse of a blood whore."

"SHUT UP!" There was a loud crash. In her anger she had grabbed the first thing her hand could grab ahold of - a plate - and threw it. It went through the apparition of her mother and hit the wall, shattering into pieces and leaving her unharmed mother smirking.

"Rise!" Yu came barreling through the door, her grandma close behind him. Oh. She forgot he was here. She slumped to the floor and into his warm embrace when he came to her side. Her grandma instead went to the broken plate and started cleaning up the broken shards with the broom and dustpan she had brought.

"Rise! Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Rise absently responded, still staring at the spot her mother had been standing, mocking her with her little condescending attitude. "I'm fine."

"Okay, Rise! You need some help." Yosuke declared. "You're as pale as a ghost!"

As soon as class was over, her friends cornered her and made her follow them into an empty classroom. They sat her down in one of the desks and blocked the door once they got her in there, making sure she couldn't leave.

"Really guys? An intervention?"

"Yep," Teddie chirped, now very serious as he always was when it came to his best friends. "You've left us no choice, Rise-chan."

"Now you can't run away while we're asking you questions," Kanji said, the main one guarding the door.

"You've been sick for the past few weeks, Rise-chan." Naoto said. She was closer to her, no doubt in her detective mode as she scrutinized her every motion.

"Weeks? It doesn't feel like it's been that long." It felt longer.

"Do you not trust us?" Yukiko asked.

"That's not it at all-"

"Then why won't you tell us what's going on?" Chie asked.

"Because nothing is going on. I'm fine." Rise pushed back the chair they sat her in and stood up. She immediately faltered. Her hand shot out to catch the back of the chair.

"You are not fine, Rise-chan! You can barely stand!" And Teddie was right. Her legs felt like spaghetti. Her head felt even worse. The world was spinning on its axis. She felt so hot, like a dizzying heat spell was coming over her. It felt like a shadow cast a hunger aliment on her.

"..ey… are… you…o…ay?"

She just felt so hot, like she was drowning in flames. They were burning her alive.

"! R…se…"

And her fangs. They ached so badly. They sensed the abundance of so many blood-filled bodies in one room. They pulsed and tingled in time with her increasing heartbeat. It's excruciating.

"She…ook…nd of ou… it."

She could hear everyone talking but it sounded like it was going in and out, muddled like water. She wanted to respond, but she refused to move. She knew if she made any big movements she wouldn't be able to stop herself from jumping out. She also knew she couldn't open her mouth because if she did, everyone would see her for what she was: a vampire.

She suddenly felt the presence of a hand coming towards her. She winced as her fangs sensed the oncoming appendage too, the ache growing tenfold as the smell of the sweet nectar flowing underneath the skin reached her nose. Her mind was suddenly swamped with the thought of that red life-giving liquid gushing down her throat and the sweet release she would feel as the body beneath her wriggled and arched with her fangs deep within their-

"No!" She flinched back and saw Yu, startled from her outburst and concerned for her health, his hand left hovering close to where she was. The slight hurt from the apparent rejection made her feel a little guilty. Everyone was convinced something was wrong now. If she was in her right mind, there was no way she would've flinched away from Yu.

"Sorry, Senpai."

He nodded, but didn't make any more moves towards her, letting his hand drop down to his side when he turned around to the others. "Can you guys step out for a minute and guard the door?"

They nodded with various degrees of agreement. They piled out together, shooting her glances of concern on their way out. They closed the door behind them, and then it was just the two of them, a situation she'd enjoy if she wasn't so thirsty.

"Can you open your mouth for me, Rise?"

Rise shook her head. She wasn't ready, even if it was him asking, even if the fact he was asking meant he'd already figured it out. She wasn't ready to reveal her secret. She wasn't ready for the rejection.

Then he brought his hand to her cheek, carefully grasping one of her hands that she was covering her mouth with. "I'm not leaving you, Rise. I just want to help."

It took a lot of prying and coaxing for her to drop her hands, and even more assurance for her to open her mouth, leaving her fangs in full view. His eyes narrowed at the sight. His hand left her cheek and his hand came closer to her fangs. His thumb almost touched the flat of her right fang before he stopped and pulled back.

"How long have you been starving yourself?"

"...Two weeks? Maybe two and a half." She isn't sure.

"Rise."

"No blood. Blood bank was attacked." She quickly muttered out. Her eyes were stuck on the curve of his neck, where she knew his pulse was, where his blood would be the easiest to reach. Blood was the only thing on her mind now that her fangs had been revealed. Anything else was a vague thought in the background of her mind.

Her blatant staring wasn't lost on him. Her bloodlust was starting to take over. Her chest was rising and falling so fast, unhealthily so. It's like she's running a mile a minute and still hasn't slowed down.

"Drink from me."

"What?" She snapped out of it. The daze lightened up a little after his offer. "I can't, Senpai. I can't-"

"You're suffering, Rise." He cut her off as he moved his hand to cup the back of her head and slowly started raising her closer towards him. The ache grew worse the closer she got to his neck. She was panting by the time she was a hair's length away from his neck.

The smell of his blood was heady, the scent getting stronger and stronger with every pump his heart sent through his arteries.

"Drink, Rise." He pushed her head even closer.

Her control snapped. At his ushering, she opened her mouth, her fangs glinting in light, and bit down. Yu grunted in her ear.

And oh. It was like finally getting that drink of water at the oasis after wandering the desert for days. He was so sweet, so good as it flowed down her throat. It was so good she didn't want to stop. She didn't want to let go.

"Rise." She gasped, quickly parting away from his neck.

Yu was pale underneath her and breathing heavily. His eyes were slightly dulled, too.

"I'm so sorry, Senpai! I should've had better control!"

"It's…fine, Rise. I told you.. To," he assured her. "I'm fine. Just a little… drained right now."

She soured at the joke, fighting against the light smile at his poor sense of humor. "Not funny, Senpai. I'll go get you some water." She got to her feet and was on the way to the cafeteria until he grabbed her hand.

"You… look better, Rise. Glad to have… you back."

His words made her feel all warm and fuzzy in her chest. Over the two weeks she's been sick, he was there worrying and trying to help. That's her Senpai. The Senpai she loves. "Thanks, Senpai."

He let go of her wrist and she left the classroom to get them some water.

She knew she wasn't off the hook. She knew everyone had questions that she'd have to answer. But for now she'd focus on getting Yu back to full health, and leave the rest for future Rise to handle.