Makoto awoke to soft whispering.

"Oh, it is her! I saw the gun on her hip when we came in."

"What's that black stuff on her clothes, daddy?"

"Vampire blood, I bet! I've never seen any before."

"Wow! Can I be a vampire hunter when I grow up?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"I'd be very sad if you got eaten."

Makoto's eyes opened. The blurry outlines of a forest of sake carafes shifted into focus. Sojiro was at the other end of the bar, serving a room full of customers. She blearily looked around the room- two dozen people suddenly seemed like they'd suddenly shifted their attention away from her. Makoto winced against a light headache. She'd only had a few carafes, so it wasn't a full blown hangover, but her sleepless night had obviously caught up with her. She turned to look out the window behind her. The sun's light was pretty yellow. It looked like early afternoon. She moved her tongue around a dry mouth. It felt like cotton. She'd fallen asleep with it open, right on the counter.

Embarrassment began to creep into her. She was unbathed. Drinking in public. In the morning. And sleeping at the bar in a saloon! She was a disgrace.

You're useless to me.

Makoto rubbed her face with both palms. It wasn't quite as easy to disagree with Sae at the moment. She felt like a hot mess of failure. What had she been thinking? Nothing, obviously. She'd been a stupid fool following a dhampir to a saloon with no plan- no reason. She'd just wanted to. Then she'd just wanted to drink. And now look at her. What would her father think?

"Oh, you're awake," said Sojiro quietly as he wandered down the bar. "You seemed tired, so I didn't want to wake you."

"I'm sorry for taking up your counter space," said Makoto.

"Are you kidding? Rumor got out that you were here and- well, look at this place! I've never had so much business at one time before!"

"That's-" Makoto didn't know what that was, actually. She settled with: "That's great. Where's Mr. Amamiya?"

"I haven't heard a thing out of him. He's still down there, doing whatever people like him do, I guess. I'll need to go down there for some things if business keeps up like this, but I'm a little nervous to do it, actually."

"Do you think he's a danger to you?"

"No. With that debt? No. But… well- he's still- you know?"

Creepy.

"Yeah," agreed Makoto. "I know what you mean."

She paid her tab and walked out into the afternoon sun, wincing from the glare of it. It would be several hours before the sun set, so that probably would be when Amamiya re-emerges from the cellar- to do whatever he was in Tock-Yo to do. Makoto intended to be here and follow him. She'd invested her time, and some of her self-respect, into the project of learning about Amamiya, so she didn't want to lose that by giving up after one little miscalculation over sake. Oof. Though she should probably think about getting a real meal. And a bath.

Her eyes traveled the street as she calculated the best path home. If she were going to wash up, she would need to head back. Maybe she could avoid Sae and-

Makoto's roving eyes stopped on the business sign directly across the street from Cafe Leblanc. Happy Maid Public Bath and Laundry. How's that for luck?

Makoto walked down the short alleyway between buildings and came to a long open window. A very bored looking black-haired women in a low-quality maid's outfit was sitting on the inside of the window, reading a paper. At the end of the alleyway, a yellow door awaited with the symbol for a public bath. Makoto approached the maid.

The woman looked up as Makoto approached. She was quite a bit older than Makoto originally thought. She set down her paper and bowed as Makoto walked up to the window.

"I'm so happy to see you, master!," said the woman with wide eyes and a forced smile. " Welcome to the Happy Maid! I'm Becky! I just can't wait to serve you! What do you desire?"

Makoto's nose wrinkled despite herself. What the hell kind of place was this? Was it trying to cater to men? Weird men? This woman in the cheap maid outfit was surely not the owner.

"Please. You can cut the act, Ms…. Becky?"

The maid's face immediately went back to looking very bored. "Kawakami, actually. And thanks. What do you need?"

"A bath. And I need my armor cleaned. I want to wear it when I leave."

"Rush job is extra."

"Fine."

"The woman's bath is to the right. I'll come inside and get your clothing once you take it off." Kawakami bent down and pulled out a towel, a robe, and soap. She placed them on the windowsill. "I'll see you inside."

Makoto took the items, entered the yellow door, and then went through the right-sided door inside. The first room was the main wash and rinse area. This was actually the first public bath Makoto had used in a long time. In fact, the last time was with Sae back when their father was alive. Ever since his death- both of them spent most of their free time in the house, and there were two full baths there.

A side door opened and Kawakami entered. She put her hands on her hips and stared at Makoto. What was she doing? Was Kawakami just going to stand there and wait for her to get naked?

"Well? Come on. Take it off, girl."

"Right now?"

Kawakami looked at her like she was stupid. "Yes, right now. I need to get started. Washing is quick, but drying isn't. Hurry up, already. "

Makoto felt her cheeks blush. Get naked in front of a stranger? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Maybe she should just- No! No. Niijima's didn't run. Most of the city used public baths like this. Not very many people lived in mansions like Makoto. Women got naked in front of other women every day of their lives. If they could do it, she could do it. She would do it. Right… right now.

She took off her gauntlets and set them on a nearby bench. The maid immediately reached for them.

"Watch out for the blade release."

Kawakami froze. She looked at Makoto with wide-eyes. "The- the what?"

Makoto kept her face passive, but she grinned on the inside. She couldn't resist a little bit of revenge for that look Kawakami so recently gave her. Now who was stupid?

"The blade release. If you hit them, the blades will shoot out."

Kawakami moved away from Makoto's gauntlets. "What?"

"Here." Makoto reached into the structure of here gauntlets and hit the blade releases. Long blades shot out of both gauntlets. She left them extended. "There. Now you don't have to worry about them. Just handle them like you would any sharp weapon."

"Li- like any sharp weapon… of course." But Kawakami picked them up gingerly and turned to leave with them. Then she stopped. "What's this black stuff?"

"Vamp slave blood. Never cleaned it before?"

"No."

"It comes off a lot easier than human blood."

Kawakami shot Makoto a concerned look, but didn't say anything else and left with the gauntlets.

Makoto sighed. Maybe she'd gone too far. But she hated when people thought she was stupid. She was not stupid. Just... inexperienced in certain things. Like public baths. And getting naked in front of people. But it was easy right? Just... take off the clothes.

She stripped out of the armor, laying out the outer parts and the undergarments neatly. Kawakami returned, hesitated.

"Are there any other um- blades?"

"No, no surprises. It's just clothing and armor."

A reassured Kawakami gathered everything up in a messy clump and walked back out. Makoto frowned. Well- so much for organization. But she decided to let the woman do her work, and she'd not even glanced at Makoto's body. She wasn't even interested. That made Makoto more comfortable. She examined the faucets and discovered this place featured piped hot water, so at least this place had a boiler.

Makoto washed herself. Rinsed herself. Did it again. And then moved for the main bath. She opened the door and found only one other woman inside. She had short black hair, brown eyes, lithe figure, and long shapely legs clearly visible through the clear water. A beautiful woman in full maturity. The woman's half-lidded gaze locked onto Makoto as she entered. Makoto felt intimidated, like she was a schoolgirl again. But she shook it off. She was a Niijama, a vampire hunter. She strode in confidently.

"My! Look at your body!" said the woman in the bath.

Makoto felt her face go hot, her stride faltered "What? Excuse me?"

"Oh, get in, dear." said the woman with a wave of her hand. "I was just impressed by your musculature. Your muscles are obvious, but then those breasts, those thighs, that waist! You must drive men mad."

"Um-" said Makoto as she settled into the hot water, too off-balance to enjoy the feel of herself submerging. "Thanks?"

The bathing woman gazed at her with half-lidded eyes. "Oh. I see, now."

What did she see? Who was this woman?

"Who are you?"

The woman closed her eyes and smiled a small smile. "I suppose that's fair. I was trying to praise you, but now I see I've been rude." She opened her eyes, half-lidded again. "I'm Takemi Tae."

"Niijima Makoto."

The half-lidded eyes opened fully. "Niijima? THE Niijima?"

"No. That was my father."

Tae blinked. "Of course," Tae's eyes shifted away. "I'm sorry for your loss."

Makoto's jaw clenched. Easy. She is just trying to be polite. "A hazard of the occupation."

Tae didn't say anything to that. But she gracefully changed the subject: "Speaking of professions, then. You're a vampire hunter, obviously. And I'm a witch."

"What?"

Tae laughed. "Kidding. I'm a physician. I'm only called a witch sometimes."

"Why would people call you that?"

"Various reasons. But I like to think it's because I'm an innovator."

An innovator! Like Iwai. Makoto's curiosity started buzzing in her head. Her body self consciously relaxed and she focused intently on Tae.

"An innovator? Like with new medicines. New techniques?"

"Yes, both." She eyed Makoto appraisingly. "Actually, this may be a fortunate encounter, Ms. Niijima. My specific professional interests are somewhat in line with yours. I research vampirism."

"You research- vampires?"

"And vamp slaves. If you could bring me corpses. Parts. Anything. I would pay you."

"Why?"

"To encourage you to bring the parts to me."

"No, I mean, why are you researching them?"

Tae blinked. "Because we never bothered to before. We know nothing of vampires. Or vampirism. I mean- in technical terms. We don't know how any of it works. Who knows what we could find out! There might even be a cure!"

This woman was mad. Study them? Learn about vampires? Insanity. And a cure? A fool's dream. Why not create the alchemist's stone while she was at it? Transmute some sand into gold or whatever.

Wait. I'm thinking like Sae. I can almost hear her voice in my head.

Makoto cleared her head and looked at Tae's intense face. What if? What if she was right? What did people know about vampirism? None of the common knowledge was much better than folk wisdom and legend. What might an eager scientific mind discover with proper materials? And vampire nobles- their lairs, their objects, their vehicles- it was of a stuff so beyond what humans could make, it was practically magic. But maybe it was just that- practically magic. Meaning it wasn't magic. But technology. What might a man like Iwai do if he got his hands on some of the amazing things her dad and Sae used to talk about seeing: mirror walls that shot out burning beams of light; Doors that opened on their own: Machines that made things without anyone operating them.

"I'll try and bring you things, Ms. Takemi," said Makoto.

"Excellent!" She broke into a wide smile, her small mouth revealing an impressive set of white teeth. Another rarity in Tock-Yo.

"And maybe you will find this of interest," said Makoto, "A dhampir vampire hunter, with a writ of citizenship, arrived just today and is dwelling in Cafe Leblanc just across the street."

Tae's eyes went wide. "What!" She stood up, splashing Makoto, water running down her lithe form. "A dhampir! Right here! You don't jest?"

Makoto stared at the woman with wide eyes. It was not the reaction she had expected. "Ye- yes. He's in the Cafe's cellar right this moment."

"Thank you, Ms. Niijima!" Tae turned and strode out of the bath and into the changing room.

Makoto watched her go. Then settled back down into the hot water, the bath now all hers. The physician's excitement was extreme. It made Makoto feel a little less foolish for following Amamiya this morning herself. Maybe her instincts were right. Maybe this dhampir was as special as she'd sensed.

~Ren.~

~Ren!~

Amamiya Ren dragged his consciousness from the dark place of rest. He felt annoyed. He was still weary from the sunlight this morning.

What? What is it, Morgana?

~Someone is here. In the cellar. She's looking for us.~

The vampire hunter from this morning? Alarm bells went off in Ren's mind. He snapped his eyes open. The cellar was dark, but his eyes did not require light.

A woman was indeed in the cellar. She was fiddling with a lamp, apparently having forgotten to light it before coming down. It was not the vampire hunter woman. It was someone else. Lithe of body. Short of hair. Long of leg.

What do you smell, Morgana?

~Soap. Herbs. Corpses.~

A physician. But why was she here? Ren decided he was probably not getting anymore sleep today.

"What do you want?" Ren did not try to hide the annoyance in his voice.

The woman froze. Her eyes searched the darkness, but she would not see him. He was in the corner, half buried in the ground under a blanket of dirt.

"I want to meet you, Mr. Dhampir."

~Hee, hee… you got another one, Joker. Have fun.~

Shut up!

Mr. Dhampir? God. Not one of these types. The last person Ren wanted to meet was some foolish woman who romanticized vampires. Enthusiastic fanatics like this were a major problem. They throw themselves at Ren, he rejects them, they go mad, and then the townsfolk arrive with the pitchforks and torches shouting things like mind-control and hypnosis.

"So you barge into my living space? Did you ask permission? Did you announce yourself?" Ren snarled. "Should I wish to meet you, should I walk into your bedroom while you sleep? Will you want to meet me, or would you scream for a vampire hunter?"

The woman froze. She abandoned the lamp. Reached for the wall, found the stairs, and climbed back up the steps and out of Ren's sight.

~Maybe she has some sense, after all.~

Ren was surprised that worked. He closed his eyes. Tried to sink himself back to the place of rest.

"Mr. Dhampir!" called a voice from the top of the cellar stairs. "May I enter? I wish to meet you."

~Hehehehehehe!~

Ren sighed.

"Hold there, then!" he shouted. There was no helping it. He might as well see what this woman wanted. Her switch of behavior had aroused his curiosity. Anyone who could accept making a mistake and change their behavior was worth knowing.

Ren rose from his half grave, dirt sliding from his bare body. He retrieved a fine horse hair brush and swept off the remaining dirt from his pale skin.

~You smell good. Like coffee. I think there is a lot of it mixed in the soil down here.~

Thanks for the irrelevant information.

~You're about the talk to a beautiful human woman. Smelling good is important.~

How would you know?

~I know all sorts of things.~

Ren didn't have a response for that. He dressed himself. Donning his armor. His long coat. He let the hat be. He didn't need it down here. Nor did he need his spectacles, which were mainly for protecting his eyes from the direct glare of the sun.

He lit a lamp. "Very well! You may enter!"

The woman descended the steps again, her face grew eager when she saw that Ren already had a light for her. She was staring at him wide-eyed. Maybe this was a bad idea. This woman looked far too eager.

Then she seemed to calm herself and bowed respectfully. "Please forgive my earlier rudeness. It is inexcusable, but I was overcome with excitement. I am Takemi Tae. I'm a physician."

Ren decided he would wait on his own introduction. "What about me excites you, Ms. Takemi?"

~The feel of your fangs on her neck… she longs for it…~

Ren clenched his left hand.

~Ow! I'm just teasing! Ow! Stop!~

Ren loosened his hand, and Morgana went silent.

"I want to study you."

Ren was surprised. This was a first. "Study me?"

"Yes! I'm researching vampirism. And your… nature is a unique opportunity."

"In what way?"

"Well- because you're a hafu. Half-human. Half-vampire. You might very well carry the secret that will help me develop a cure."

"A cure? Are you saying I'm half diseased?"

"No! No. A cure for vampirism. Not for vampires. Being a vampire isn't an infection. Vampires reproduce sexually like us. Everyone knows that. I'm talking about vamp slaves! A cure for them."

~This woman is a fool.~

Ren pursed his lips. A cure to vamp slaves? The transformed leftovers of a noble vampire's meal. Ren didn't know much about the technicalities of it, but he doubted it was a disease- or at least a disease as humans understood them.

However, this woman wasn't a complete fool. She wasn't like those people who thought noble vampires made other noble vampires by biting humans in a certain way. Where did people even get that idea? Do people bite a cow and expect it to become another human being? It was moronic.

"An interesting ambition, Ms. Takemi- but why would I want to be your guinea pig?'

To Ren's surprise, the woman actually became excited, not discouraged.

"Like I said, I'm a physician. I can make all sorts of medicines and poultices for you."

"I heal well enough on my own."

"Okay. Well, then what do you eat?"

Ren didn't respond. It was not wise to discuss eating around humans. It tended to make them uneasy.

"Blood, I would think," continued Tae, "But you don't feed off humans directly, otherwise you would not have a writ of citizenship. So you must have some sort of supply. Some sort of ration for yourself. Something you can attain without harming people."

~Okay. Maybe she isn't a fool, after all.~

"Show me what it is. And I bet I could make it."

Ren was interested. That would be useful. That would be very useful.

"Very well," said Ren, "I will show you, and then you tell me if you can make it."

He went to his saddle and dug into his rucksack. In the very center, in the most protected part, he kept the sack which contained his entire food supply. He took out two of the small red capsules, and put the rest back into the rucksack. He was actually getting a little low. He still had enough. But not a comfortable surplus.

He returned to Tae, who was waiting in the lamplight. There was a bottle and a clear drinking glass next to the table lamp. Ren poured a glass of water. Held up one of the red capsules for Tae to see, and then dropped it into the glass of water. As soon as the capsule hit the water's surface, it began dissolving, turning the water red. Blood red.

"I see," said Tae. "A dried concentrate. Interesting."

"You saw to the heart of the it quickly. But this is what I eat. But I cannot make them myself. Few know the method, and the demand is minimal."

"I can imagine. There are fewer and fewer dhampirs in the world."

"Fewer and fewer nobles to make them."

Tae looked at him seriously. "You hunt them. Don't you? Aren't you hunting your own kind out of existence? Do you want there never to be more dhampirs?"

"Yes."

Tae regarded him with interest. "Well, I can't complain about it. I'd like to see the world and not get eaten."

Ren handed her the undissolved second pill. "You can keep this one to examine.'

"And you'll let me study you?"

"Make me more of these, and document the method of its creation, and yes. You can study me to your heart's content."

"I'll need money."

"What? I'm going to pay you by being your guinea pig."

"No, not for the pills. I need money to pay the blood donors."

"What?"

"Isn't it obvious? I need blood. But no one is going to give me some for free. But if I offer money, I can get as many people as I want to sit in a chair for a while and let me drain some of your dinner from them."

Ren scowled. "Just- never say that again. Say you are studying something. Anything. Talk about drinking blood and you'll summon the lynch mob. We'll both burn. Well- you will. I'll get away."

"Why me?"

"Because I'll tell them it was your idea as I ride away."