“G-Ginka-chan! You saved us!” Hinaru skipped over to Ginka, grabbed her black-gloved hands, and shook them up and down.
Ruka and Meiri followed her.
“Gin-neesan, did you have fun on vacation?” Meiri asked.
“It was all right,” said Ginka. “I bought some candy, but you don’t eat sweets, right?”
“I do if they’re souvenirs!” Meiri replied before glancing at Ruka.
Are Ginka and Hina waiting for me to say something? I feel like Mei’s waiting too. That’s kinda embarrassing, but...
“Welcome back, Ginka,” said Ruka.
Ginka gave her a gentle smile. “It’s good to be back, Ruka.”
Ruka and Ginka had Meiri and Hinaru head back to their classroom first. Then the two of them went to a quiet stairwell to talk about everything that had happened.
After defeating David, Ruka and Ginka started treating the people who almost got turned into vampires. People in long coats showed up at the parking garage, and Ruka and Ginka worried that they were David’s allies and reinforcements.
But they were actually from the hunter alliance’s Japan branch, and they ended up helping with the treatment. Exhaustion and relief hit Ruka once she found out who they were, but Ginka got angry at them for responding so slowly and not being careful enough. She scolded them and they thanked her, back and forth, over and over.
Ginka leaned back against the railing on the staircase landing. “David was deported, and he is under investigation at headquarters.”
The man who had attacked Ruka and plotted to revive the vampires was in England now. Apparently he still hadn’t named his collaborators, but he no longer seemed interested in carrying out their plan.
“He had a message for you, Ruka.”
“Wait, from Davy-san? For me?”
“Yes, though I don’t particularly want to tell you.”
“Aw, come on!”
Ginka reluctantly nodded. “He said, ‘Thank you for saying we worked so hard.’”
“Oh, that.” Back when Ginka was trying to interrogate David, Ruka had talked about how the vampire hunters had protected the world. She’d said all that for Ginka’s sake, but apparently it had affected David too.
“Part of the reason that man ran wild was his desire for acknowledgment. He must have been happy to hear your praise... What a foolish man,” Ginka grumbled.
I don’t know how they’re gonna punish him, but I hope he gets the chance to find a different path for himself and his friends.
After thinking that, Ruka glared at Ginka. “Y’know, something’s been bugging me for a while...”
“What is it?”
“You’ve got a real mouth on you sometimes.”
“Hrm, really...?”
“Yeah. Like when you told Davy-san you were gonna keep putting knives through his arm.”
“I was attempting to interrogate him...”
“Plus you called vampires vicious and underhanded.”
“That much is true. And it’s important to shake your opponent’s composure in battle...”
Ginka looked embarrassed, which made Ruka smile.
She’s upset because she knows she hasn’t been acting like herself, and that bothers her. So cute!
Just then, Ruka remembered what she’d forgotten to say that night. “Ah!”
“Yes?”
“You said you didn’t have any dreams for the future.”
“What are you talking about...?”
“Just hear me out. You did say that, right?”
Not so long ago, Ruka had asked Ginka about her dreams. But she’d forgotten to tell Ginka that it was because she didn’t have any herself. This seemed like a good chance to bring it up again.
As Ginka looked out on the school grounds, her silver hair fluttered in the breeze through the open window. “I told you before. My goal as a hunter was to exterminate all vampires. After that, my dream was to go to school. Nothing in particular remains.” She looked at Ruka like, Why did you ask me that?
“I don’t have a dream either.” Ruka propped her elbow on the railing and looked out the window too. “But Mei told me I could just look for one. I thought that made a lot of sense.”
Ginka rested her chin on her hand and nodded. “That’s certainly true. If you don’t have a dream, you just need to search for one.”
“Yup. Wanna look for one together?”
“I wouldn’t mind that.”
“’Kay, that’s what we’ll do!”
They exchanged gentle smiles before staring at the scenery outside together. All the noise and chatter from down below grew distant. The wind dancing through the leaves on the trees performed a soothing, relaxing concerto, and—
“Hee hee...!”
“Pffft...!”
Ginka stifled her laugh with her arm. Ruka bent over, and soon neither of them could stop giggling.
“E-Even I can tell that was too much.”
“Oh man, that’s the best laugh I’m gonna have all day.”
Ruka wasn’t messing around about wanting to find a dream, and she was serious about wanting to do it together. But it just sounded too funny. And Ginka always had a blank look on her face, so maybe seeing her giggle like that really got Ruka going. That made Ruka wonder if she had the same effect on Ginka too.
They kept laughing until the school chime rang. Break was over.
“Let’s give afternoon classes all we’ve got!” said Ruka.
The two of them started heading downstairs together, but Ginka looked troubled.
“I suppose it’s about time for me to decide on extracurriculars,” she said.
“Oh yeah, I guess VH stuff doesn’t count as a club activity. And you can’t be in tournaments or anything ’cause of the precepts, right?” Ruka asked.
“That only applies to sports teams. Other clubs should be fine. Maybe something with home economics or art...”
“Gotcha... Ah, I guess I should go to dance club, huh? It’s been a while...”
“You’re in the dance club?”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you that?”
“I’ve never heard anything about you dancing. You’ll have to show me sometime.”
“I mean, I only joined to help them have enough people in the club. I can only dance a little.”
“That’s fine.”
“So persistent... Welp, maybe if I feel like it.”
They kept chatting about nothing in particular on their way to class. Meiri and Hinaru were probably doing the same thing. So were Chinami and her friends, and everybody else.
In the hallway outside their classroom, Ruka remembered how Ginka had said she was kind.
I don’t really get it, but I’ll treasure the memory because she’s the one who told me that. I just feel like it’s more fun that way!