“HEY! I told you to wait, Kou! Where the heck do you plan on going?! Someone who slept for two whole days shouldn’t suddenly jump to their feet and run around!”
“Move out of the way, Subaru.”
Kouya and Subaru were arguing in the mansion hallway. They faced each other with deep frowns. The servants anxiously watched them glare daggers at each other.
“Master Akashi’s decision is final! Even you, his son, can’t overturn one of his decisions! Give up on Azusa! That’s the order!”
“I never said I was going to where she is.”
“Then where, might I ask, were you planning to go? In the middle of the night? With a hole in your stomach?”
“…For a walk.”
“Just how long do you think I have been your friend? Did you seriously believe you could get by me with such a transparent lie?”
“……”
“I nearly had a heart attack when I saw you carrying Ichi back to the mansion. If our enemy is someone capable of doing that to you, we can easily bank on an outrageous number of our people getting slaughtered just to bring back one girl. The research into the Ancients hasn’t moved an inch since the day Shinji Saito disappeared with the pregnant Yayoi.
“You can pretty much say it was abandoned. I’ll admit the research might have gone somewhere with Azusa here. But it might not have. She was just a possibility. We can’t risk the lives of our people for a possibility. Master Akashi determined this is the best course of action.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know! You are one of our people, Kouya!”
“I have no intention of risking my life.” Kouya grabbed Subaru’s shoulder and moved him aside. Subaru snatched Kouya’s arm as he tried to pass by and pulled him back with all his strength. Perhaps it was all the excitement and emotion that caused the red tinges in Subaru’s eyes even though he hadn’t drank any blood.
“Blockhead! What can you do when you’re stumbling around like a newborn foal and are in need of blood? If you plan on coming back alive, go contract with someone this instant before heading off!”
“Can I contract with Ichi then?”
Subaru’s eyes turned completely red at the mention of Ichi’s name—she was still unconscious in her room. Subaru grabbed Kouya by the collar and head-butted him. Kouya’s body swayed from the sudden attack, but he regained his footing before he fell over.
“I know it’s a joke, but you’re seriously going to make me lose it, Kouya!”
“You’ve already lost it.”
“Get it together! Where do you plan on going when you don’t know where Azusa is? You should have contracted with her for real to prevent this! You would have known where she is if you had.”
The contract was a system based on a vampire’s special ability to make anyone whose blood they drank into their familiar. If two vampires drank the other’s blood, they could turn each other into familiars to monitor and control one another as equals—that was the true system behind the vampire contract. The extent of what the vampire could do with the contract varied with their power, but in general, most vampires had a grasp of where their partner was and a basic idea of the situation they were in.
Kouya came to a halt as if Subaru’s words had spurned some new realization in him. He spun around to face Subaru.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m going to the laboratory.”
“The lab? Don’t tell me you’re—” Subaru paled at the foreboding possibility that crossed his mind. The possibility turned into reality with Kouya’s next words.
“I am.”
“Are you insane? We drew Azusa’s blood samples over two months ago, y’know?! We only drew a small amount the day she was kidnapped! You’re definitely going to have an upset stomach!”
“Have you tested it before?”
“As if I would! I feel like throwing up just thinking about drinking blood more than two months old!”
“I’ll manage it one way or another.”
“You will?! Can you?! Can you even drink blood?”
Kouya fell silent.
Subaru pat Kouya on the shoulder. “See? Don’t force yourself.”
“…Nah, I was just thinking how thirsty I am now.”
“Kou…”
Looking at his friend who wouldn’t budge an inch, Subaru heaved such a long sigh it seemed like he was letting out all the air in his lungs. He knew full-well there was nothing he could do when Kouya got like this. He wanted to stop him, but he was incapable of stopping him. He was well aware the man in front of him appeared cool and calm on the outside, while a fiery temper simmered under the surface.
“It’ll be your first taste of blood in a long time, right? Don’t pass out. I don’t want to nurse you and Ichi back to health, Kou.”
“…You’re coming with me?” Kouya asked wide-eyed when Subaru walked beside him. Subaru glowered at him.
“I’d be an extremely heartless fool if I nonchalantly saw you off after all this.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did though.”
“Just what kinda person do you think I am? Obviously, my pride wouldn’t let that one slip. Plus, I was just thinking how much I’d love to punch out the guy who hurt you and Ichi.”
“I see.”
“Now that it’s come to this we’ll definitely get Azusa back!”
“Yeah.”
Subaru stopped walking as something dawned on him. Kouya followed suit and stopped too.
“By the way, why are you so attached to Azusa? When it comes down to it, she’s just a normal human, right? She’s not kin. Aside from her blood, she’s a normal human who has only been around for two months. You don’t have the kind of relationship to merit putting yourself in danger to rescue her.”
“About that…”
Kouya hadn’t told Subaru he knew Azusa since she was four. It’s not that he feared Subaru would inform Akashi if he knew. He merely didn’t see a need to inform him. All there was between them over the years were the letters sent to him once every six months by the spy he placed near her. Reading the letters was the extent of his knowledge of her since the day he disappeared from her life. He believed never seeing each other again would be best for both of them, and that it was unnecessary to mention anything about it when they reunited. But perhaps the time had come to tell him.
With that thought, Kouya opened his mouth to explain, when—
“Are you in love?”
“Huh?” he accidentally let out a dumbfounded groan.
“I see! I see! It’s the springtime of your life! Rose-colored days finally came to you!” Subaru went on excitedly, a complete change from the dire tone he spoke in earlier.
Kouya punched him in the head, holding back just enough to keep from killing him.
Subaru went flying down the hallway and tumbled before he smashed into the wall. Nearby staff squeaked as they rushed to help.
In a loud groan Subaru moaned out, “That hurt!”
“Good. Quit babbling about stupid stuff. If you’re coming, let’s get a move on,” Kouya said with an exasperated expression and walked off leaving Subaru behind. Subaru brushed the dust from his body and ran to catch up.
“Okay, okay. Aaah, I sure hope we don’t die.”
“Run away before you die.”
“I planned on doing so even if you didn’t tell me to.”