Ruka could almost hear the words Shijunana didn’t say—“because vampires are extinct.” She said that hunter alliance group she’s part of wiped out all the vampires. So what’s the deal with that retainer or whatever attacking me?
Shijunana shook her head like she was trying to clear out everything that didn’t make sense. “I would like to start by investigating why you were attacked. I will need time to prepare, so please wait for a moment.” She left the room right after that.
Ruka was still feeling unsteady, but she got up off the floor just long enough to plop down on the sofa. She didn’t even care how messy her hair was at this point. “This is some dark stuff...” she mumbled to herself. It sounded like Shijunana had been fighting with vampires and retainers all this time. What kind of life was she living till now? Surrounded by brutality... My life’s nice and peaceful, so I can’t even imagine.
“Oh, that’s why she took time off school,” Ruka thought out loud.
That battle to exterminate vampires had gone on for months. While Ruka had been hanging out with her friends, cooking for Ryoko, and chatting with Tokiwa at work, Shijunana had been fighting and fighting and fighting some more. She should’ve been a normal second-year high school student, but she’d spent all that time battling monsters instead. And she’d won.
“Wow. Seriously.” Ruka had to admire her classmate, who was only a year older than her.
Shijunana came back holding a flat box in one hand.
Ruka was pretty sure that was what Shijunana had needed to prepare for the investigation, but she couldn’t tell what it was. “What’s that?” she asked.
“It’s a kit for extracting blood. I will use it on you.”
“Wh-Wha?” Ruka tilted her head. First she saves me from a bloodsucking monster, and now she’s gonna take my blood?
Shijunana’s reply was expressionless. “Research conducted by the hunter alliance has proved the existence of additional blood types beyond those commonly known. Some types of blood make it easier to become a vampire, while others make it easier to become a vampire hunter. There’s even blood that interferes with vampire abilities... According to what you told me, that retainer’s target was a man at first, correct? And then it decided to attack you—the reason must be your blood. Besides, checking your blood will not harm you.”
Shijunana placed the box on the table and pulled out a cream-colored stack of paper and what seemed to be a baby bottle with some extra parts. Ruka was pretty sure it was a tool for drawing blood, but it looked more like a toy or maybe an ear piercer.
“Relax. This equipment has been certified by international medical associations. A needle will emerge from the tip and draw your blood into the vacuum interior. Placing the drawn blood on this paper reveals what type of blood you have. Simple, isn’t it?”
“Um, not super thrilled about getting stabbed...”
“Have you ever had any allergic reactions to alcohol-based disinfectants?”
“I don’t get a choice, do I...” After confirming she didn’t have any allergies, Ruka rolled up her sleeve and placed one elbow on the sofa’s armrest.
Shijunana grabbed Ruka’s wrist, and Ruka knew there was no way she could get out of this now.
“Relax your arm,” said Shijunana.
“Ugh...” Ruka groaned and turned her head so she wouldn’t have to see the needle—
“All right. Done.”
“So fast!” Ruka saw that the bottom half of the bloodsucking tool was red, and her arm was already bandaged up. Okay, she’s way too good at this. Did she pick up first aid skills from fighting vampires, maybe?
Shijunana dripped some of the blood on one of those papers, and the blood started changing color almost right away. Ruka’s blood had been a dark red at first, but it kept getting brighter and more saturated until it became a hot pink that almost hurt to look at.
Hina would probably love that color... Ruka glanced at Shijunana.
“The enticement quotient is quite high...” Shijunana murmured. “This is temptation blood.”
“Enticement quotient? Is that, like, a math thing?”
“Blood with a high enticement quotient, such as temptation blood, easily attracts vampires. Blood like yours is incredibly delicious to them, and they will prioritize attacking those who have it.”
Does that make me some kinda feast for vampires and retainers? No wonder that monster went after me instead of the stalker.
“So it’s just blood that makes vampires wanna attack me more?”
“No, that isn’t all there is to it...”
“Tell me. It’s my blood, so I wanna know.”
“This may be nothing but a foolish, prejudiced idea...”
“Out with it.”
“Well, erm, temptation blood... It’s said that many who possess it are lascivious...”
“The heck does that mean?”
“It means they have strong sexual desires.”
“So, like, horny.”
“Indeed.”
The two of them looked at each other, and it was awkward.
I got stalked, attacked by a monster, dealt with getting my blood drawn, and now she thinks I’m horny... Today is seriously the worst.
Shijunana said she would continue to investigate, so Ruka decided to head home for the time being. But since her temptation blood attracted vampires and retainers, Shijunana went with her. Shijunana had actually recommended moving through the sky with exoforce again, but Ruka was so done with that.
“Moriki, I know I am being persistent, but you must not speak of what happened to anyone else. Do you understand?” Shijunana asked as the two of them walked together.
Ruka rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it already. My lips are sealed. This might surprise you, but I’m actually pretty good at keeping my mouth shut.”
“You are...? Truly...?”
“For real. ‘Cross my heart and hope to die, eat a thousand needles if I lie’ and all that.”
“Even though you had issues with the needle when I drew your blood...?”
As they talked, Ruka’s house came into view. It wasn’t much, and it was different from Shijunana’s apartment in every way, but seeing it made Ruka so, so relieved. The tension in her shoulders finally lifted when she realized she was home.
“Well, I will see you again at school,” said Shijunana.
“Oh, yeah, see you then.” Ruka slid open the door. By the time she realized she forgot to thank Shijunana and turned around, though, the girl was already gone.
As she stepped into the empty house, Ruka pulled her phone out of a paper bag. “She put this app on my phone, but is it actually useful?”
On their way here, Shijunana had installed a vampire search app on Ruka’s phone. The app had been developed by the hunter alliance, and it was supposed to show a dot on a map if it picked up on a vampire nearby. Vampires were red dots, retainers were orange, and vampire hunters using exoforce were blue... Of course, it wasn’t showing anything right now.
“Well, I owe her my life and all, so I’ll just take her word for it.” I’ve got all kinds of thoughts about this whole deal, but she saved me. So I’ll put up with doing what she tells me to do even though it’s kind of a pain.
Ruka went into her bedroom and dumped the paper bag on her leopard-print bed. What was left of her schoolbag came tumbling out, plus the anti-vampire stuff Shijunana had given her: a UV light, a security buzzer, garlic chips, and a tiny bottle with silver powder in it.
Ruka picked up the bottle. The stuff inside was something called “sacred silver dust,” powdered silver with exoforce added to it. Chucking it at a vampire or a retainer was supposed to break the bottle and hurt the monster.
Hope I never have to use this... Ruka held the bottle up high, and her ceiling light overhead shone through the bottle and made the powder sparkle. “Sure is pretty, though.” As she stared at the pretty color that reminded her of Shijunana’s hair and eyes, an idea came to her. “Wait, that could work, right? Oops!”
The bottle slipped from her hand and bonked her forehead. It hit her hard enough to leave a red spot, but Ruka still smiled.
“Yeah, that jerk was totally cheating,” Meiri complained before homeroom the next day. “He was acting kinda sus, and I pushed him on it. He was like, ‘No, you’re the one I was cheating with!’ And ‘of course we were just messing around’ and ‘don’t make it such a big deal, it’s not like I did you or anything.’ Then, when I slapped him in the face, one of my press-ons came off.” She frowned and stuck a finger out. “It was the. Freaking. Worst.”
“That jerk” was the college guy Meiri had met at her modeling job, so it seemed like Ruka and Hinaru had been right about him being sketchy.
Meiri leaned up against Ruka. “Pamper me, ’kay?”
Ruka patted her on the shoulder. “There, there. It was rough, huh?”
“H-Hey, I’m the one who had a rough time... I wanted to go to bed early last night...” Hinaru sounded exhausted. Apparently Meiri had kept her up late last night complaining.
Ruka could see dark circles under Hinaru’s eyes, though she did do a good job hiding them with makeup.
“I mean, Ruka wouldn’t pick up her phone, so what else was I supposed to do?” Meiri asked.
Hinaru groaned. “It’s your fault, Ruka-chin.”
“What? It is?” Ruka was about to complain about that ridiculousness, but the classroom suddenly went silent.
It was the third day in a row. By now, it was obvious that Ginka Shijunana had walked in.
“You got Mei, Hina?” Ruka passed Meiri over to Hinaru and stood up.
“No way, I don’t wanna— Ahh! Too close!” Hinaru whined.
Ruka went up to Shijunana, whose expression was the same as it’d been yesterday. “Yo, Shijunana-san,” she said, while thinking that poker face was never gonna crack.
“Good morning, Moriki,” Shijunana got her brand-new textbook out of her bag and put it on her desk. She must’ve bought it just before coming back to school.
Ruka stuck her hands out in front of Shijunana’s face. “Ta-da! Thoughts?”
Shijunana looked bewildered. “About what?”
“My nails! Look!”
“Nails?” Shijunana’s gaze focused on Ruka’s fingernails. “Wait, you didn’t...!” Her face went stiff. “D-Did you paint your nails using sacred silver dust?!”
“Yup! Turned out awesome, yeah? Rawr!” Ruka roared like a monster, moving her hands back and forth as her silver nails reflected in Shijunana’s silver eyes.