“Don’t be such a stuck-up bitch!”
Welp, no stopping this bomb now.
“I-I don’t give a shit about you! You were just a step on the ladder to get with her! With the silver hair! So don’t get carried away, you ugly slut!”
Oh, so he was after Ginka. I don’t see the point in going after another girl to get the one you really want, plus she already hates him. You got no chance, buddy. “Paisen, lemme give you some friendly advice: Give up on her. That bar’s way too high in, like, every way.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that! She’s mixed up with someone like you, so she’s gotta be a stupid bitch too! I’d turn a freak like that down even if she begged me to bang her!”
“What did you say?” Insult me as much as you want. And threatening me? I can just call that bad judgment. No big deal—that’s how I avoid trouble. But Ginka... She fought so hard to protect the whole world and to protect people like us. I’m not gonna let an ignorant idiot like you say anything about her.
Ruka grinned. Hmm. Never expected anything to make me this mad. “Hey, you know how lame that was, right? The threats and stuff?”
“Huh?”
“Who says garbage like, ‘If you don’t want that to happen, you know what you gotta do’? Did you steal that line from a porno manga? Pathetic. You could’ve just told me you’ve never talked to a real girl before.”
“Y-You... You...!” Yoshiyama’s face went from red to pale.
Crap, I overdid it.
“Sh-Shut your damn mouth!” His eyes went wide, and he held his fist up in the air.
Am I seriously getting assaulted twice in one day? By the same guy?! Ruka got ready to dodge.
“Agh! Ahhhh!” Yoshiyama screamed just like he had earlier today. A black hand around his neck seemed to be lifting his body off the ground, and his arms and legs flailed around.
“Young lady, are you all right?” A white guy in a dark suit was looking down at Ruka with grayish eyes. He was at least two meters tall, and he didn’t look Japanese, but he spoke the language just fine.
“Y-Yeah, thanks...”
“Oh, no, there’s no need to thank me.”
“L-Let me go! Gaaaah!” Yoshiyama was still yelling and struggling, but the man did nothing.
He’s bad news. Way worse than any of the creeps from before. My instincts are screaming for me to run, but I can’t move my legs. Besides, I can’t just leave Yoshiyama... Even though he’s a scumbag.
“U-Um, that guy’s my pal, so could you let him go?”
The man’s lips twisted. “You most certainly don’t look like friends.”
“W-We fight ’cause we get along. It’s a Japanese culture thing.”
“Hmm...” The man’s grayish eyes narrowed. He reached into his pocket with one hand. “What if he’s not your friend anymore?” He pulled out a little bottle with a pointed tip and a sticky brown liquid inside. Then he broke off the tip with his thumb and shoved the bottle into Yoshiyama’s mouth.
“Pfff! Gmph!”
Yoshiyama tried to cough, but the man held the bottle in place. It seemed like Yoshiyama couldn’t even breathe anymore, since he was getting more and more pale.
“What the hell are you doing?!” Ruka yelled.
“I suppose I can call it a drug to make him more unfriendly.”
“I-I don’t get it, but let him go!”
Ruka kicked the man, but he easily caught her leg with one hand. She tried to pull back, but he was way too strong—she couldn’t move her leg at all.
“You would fight to save the man who assaulted you? You certainly are a brave one...” The man pulled Ruka’s leg up.
“Ahhh!” In a flash, Ruka’s world turned upside down.
“Brave, but foolish. You should take better care of yourself.”
“Wh-Wh-Whoa! Not like this! I can’t let anybody see what I’m wearing today!”
“What you’re... Ah, your underwear? My apologies.” The man was holding two people up in the air, but he was perfectly calm and composed.
Ruka desperately tried to pull on her skirt. Black clothes, pale skin, incredible strength, and he doesn’t treat people like human beings... That sounds a lot like what Ginka told me.
“A-Are you...a vampire?”
“Heh. Am I a vampire, you ask? How truly amusing.”
“S-So you are?” she asked again.
The man shook his head. “No, I am not. If anything, I’m the opposite.”
“The opposite?”
“Yes, I—”
That sentence got cut off by a silver-haired beauty sending him flying with a kick.
“Ruka, break your fall!”
“How do I— Ah!” Ruka slammed into the ground shoulder-first.
Better than falling on my head, but it still hurts like hell!
Ruka held her shoulder and stood on shaky legs. She saw Yoshiyama collapsed on the ground. The strange man, who looked imposing in his dark suit, was already on his feet. Ginka, in her long coat and covered in exoforce, stood facing him.
“Ruka, get behind me.”
Ruka circled behind Ginka. “Wish I knew judo...” she mumbled.
The hunter gripped her shining silver spear. She was ready to fight.
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Ginka?” The man looked calm. He even sounded friendly.
“What are you doing here, David Highgate?!” Ginka’s voice, on the other hand, sounded harsh and bitter.
Well, I don’t need anybody to tell me they’re not strangers.
The man dusted off his coat. “I am relieved to see that your skill in exoforce has not changed.”
“I asked why you’re here. Answer me.”
“Or what? You’ll cut me down? That’s all well and good, but if you don’t treat that boy soon, it’ll be too late.”
“Too late...?” Ginka finally noticed Yoshiyama.
Something was seriously wrong with him. His face was pale and he was drenched in sweat, plus his breaths were short and heavy. His eyes were closed, and his face was distorted from pain.
“It can’t be... Is he turning into a vampire...?”