Editing Silver Cross and Draculea:Volume04 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

"...Why are you here?"

That night, two people sat opposite each other at the dining table.

Rushella and Mei.

Hisui and Eruru had left. After school, Mei and Rushella returned to Hisui's home together.

Along the way, the two girls remained silent. After getting there, Mei had gone to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Currently, beef steak, cooked vegetables, salad and consomme soup were on the table.

Of course, the food had portions for two.

"Hi-kun's not here so it's not like I want to be here. I am here to keep you under surveillance. You have to understand your current position. Now that you've sucked someone's blood and made him turn into a vampire, using human terms, you are a criminal. I have to watch you so that you don't go to jail or get into more trouble. Hurry up and thank me."

"Like anyone would..."

Rushella turned her face to the side, sulking.

Mei started to eat without saying anything.

"Hurry and eat, don't waste the food I made, okay? My cooking skills were meant to perform in front of Hi-kun, but I never expected you to enjoy them first."

"It's not like I asked you."

Despite not backing down verbally, Rushella still started to eat.

But as soon as she put a piece of meat in her mouth, she frowned.

"...This is overcooked. The meat has no juice left!"

"Shut up. I eat it how I like it."

"The salad's nothing special either. Hisui's is better."

"And whose fault is it that you can't eat that tasty cooking right now?"

Struck in a sore spot, Rushella shut up.

Mei pressed the advantage.

"...Say, you didn't notice anything unusual about Hi-kun when sucking his blood?"

"...Shut up."

"Why exactly do you stay with him, have you never thought about that? Hi-kun's constitution doesn't mean that he will be immune to vampirization forever, right? Even if this time it turns out fine, perhaps one day it will come to an end. This time is okay, he is still turning, but if you didn't notice soon enough, he could have turned completely into a vampire with no chance to go back. Ah, perhaps that might be better for you... Isn't that your goal all along?"

Mei stared at Rushella and asked.

Indeed, she used to keep mentioning this catchphrase.

"I'll make you mine!"

And right now, Hisui was officially Rushella's possession.

If Rushella wanted, they could share senses even when separated far away.

She could even call him using thoughts.

But Rushella did not do that.

Rather than unable, she chose not to do it.

"I don't want..."

"Don't want what?"

"I don't want things to be like now... I don't want this kind of Hisui..."

Rushella whispered in loneliness.

Seeing her act quite far from her usual conceit, Mei did not press further.

"Pay more attention before drinking blood. I guess Hi-kun really should live in my house after all?"

"That guy is in the middle of vampirization, you know? You, umm... want to make babies with a human, right? Right now... No, even back then, he's not an ordinary human no matter how you look at it. Even so... You're still willing?"

Rushella went on a counter offensive.

Mei was also struck in a sore spot and pouted unhappily.

"Well... That's true. Although he keeps calling himself nothing more than a high schooler, that's clearly impossible."

"...In that case."

"However... In my heart, that doesn't really matter although I'm quite surprised too. But... Isn't this true love? Without reason, following no rules, going against logic... This feeling of wanting his babies❤ in spite of everything?"

"...Hmph."

Rushella scoffed unhappily, scowled and continued to eat her food.

Meat was supposed to be her favorite and the taste did not seem bad. Even greatly displeased, she still shoved food into her mouth.

"Hey, I've got a lame question."

"What?"

"Since vampires have no concept of starvation from lack of food, you don't really need to eat, right? Why are you wolfing things down?"

"The body wants..."

"Yeah, I've heard a theory before, like so-called phantom limbs hurting. When a human turns into a vampire, the brain retains the feeling of 'hunger' from its time as a human, so the body wants it even if it doesn't need food... But you're a True Ancestor, right? That feeling shouldn't exist in the first place?"

"...W-What's wrong with this? Besides, that parent of Hisui's also eats and Hisui says she's very particular about food!"

"Well, since she's lived for so long, surely she tasted human food before and it became a kind of habit? But... what about you? How long have you lived? Or, how old are you?"

"No idea... If I did, it wouldn't be so tough for me."

Rushella's memory of the past was still a total blank.

She had appetite.

And was picky.

But speaking of flavors she missed, her past favorites--she could not recall any.

If anything--She liked everything Hisui made.

"What a girl who's hard to serve."

"You're noisy, shut up! Stop talking about this unimportant stuff... How's Hisui?"

Rushella was more concerned about this most important issue.

The originally sort of harmonious dining table atmosphere instantly grew much heavier.

"You should know better yourself, right? Curing vampirization means destroying you... Or finding Hi-kun's doppelganger to merge them. Is there a third solution?"

"But what if finding that guy's doppelganger doesn't recover it...?"

"Then Eruru-chan doesn't need to take the trouble. I'll personally put a stake through your heart when the time comes. Don't worry."

Mei boldly claimed the last piece of meat with her fork.

The flying meat juices seemed to predict a battle between them as the worst outcome.

"Just you try."

"I won't show mercy."

Sparks flew from their gazes as smiles emerged from the corners of their lips.

Vampire and artificial human, formidable contenders for the throne of the strongest monster--Who shall be the victor, one day it will be decided.

"Say... Umm, Hisui's doppelganger, that guy..."

"If you want to search, you need permission from Eruru-chan first. But Hisui's over with her, so it's better to leave things to them.  Do you have any ideas on where Hi-kun frequents? For the last year would be best."

"I only met him in April, you know? I don't know anything about before that... He usually just goes to school and comes home, shopping as well..."

"To accommodate your lifestyle, his circle of activity has shrunk all at once. Oh well, let's try searching this house first. The basement is very spacious, right? He could be hidden there."

"...Maybe. But there's the Tzara Blade down there, I don't really want to go..."

"Then I'll go. You search some other place."

"Don't order me around!"

Despite retorting, Rushella still followed the suggestion and began searching the house seriously.

Mei went to the basement to look for the other Hisui... Naturally, the search turned up nothing.

"That sword... Where did it go?"

A room resembling a study in layout, a vast library, storeroom, wine racks, searching the basement thoroughly, she did not see the cross-shaped sacred sword, the Tzara Blade that Hisui took out occasionally.

A careful examination of the floor showed signs of where the Tzara Blade was originally embedded but it was empty now.

That sword could not be found anywhere.

"Taken away... Who did it? It must be Hi-kun, right...?"

The answer could not be known, Mei's only choice was to leave the basement.

It was late at night, so she headed over to Hisui's room.

Although he was not around, since she was already at his house, of course sleeping in his room was the right thing to do.

"To welcome Hi-kun's return any time, I have to mark his bed with my fragrance❤"

...Making up this sort of reason, Mei put on the highly revealing babydoll she had worn before and jumped on Hisui's bed.

But greeting her was not the sensation of the mattress springs but a soft yet elastic body and bosom.

Yes, Rushella.

Rushella still kept her habit of wearing Hisui's uniform shirt and had taken the bed first, giving off steady breathing noises.

"...Why are you here!?"

Mei grabbed her collar and shook Rushella forcefully.

Woken up, Rushella rubbed her eyes in annoyed anger.

"So noisy, shut up!! Where I sleep is my freedom!"

"Go sleep in your own room! Or perhaps you're seeking his warmth in his bed since he's not home!? Why do I find this situation so familiar!?"

"So noisy, once you're here, I can't smell that guy's scent anymore! Scram!"

"I'm the one who wants to blame you! Hand over Hi-kun's pillow right now!!"

"Like anyone would give it to you!"

Rushella buried her face into the pillow and began to rub it as though showing off.

Then shoving the pillow in her bosom, she swore to defend it to the point of death.

"A battle of superiority here after all...? Hi-kun's bed is mine!!"

"Shut up, it's mine!!"

The battle for the title of the strongest monster began for this super stupid reason.

Finally, striking each other simultaneously, the two girls rolled off the bed onto the floor, falling asleep on the cold wooden floor. That happened an hour after the battle started.



"...I feel a chill down my spine, like some disaster is going on behind my back in my domain."

Hisui grumbled while lying on the sofa.

Despite sleeping on high class stuff, it was someone else's home after all and it felt unfamiliar.

Unfamiliar ceiling, furniture, air, even that unfamiliar stranger--She was taking a bath.

After skipping afternoon lessons, Hisui was first taken to Seidou Hospital.

Then going through vampire tests, there was a detailed examination of his vampirization rate. He heard that he had received this kind of testing before, but he had no memory of it.

Due to Rushella sucking too much blood at once, compared to one instance of blood feeding, the vampirization was quite severe. Reportedly, his blood loss had reached 60% of full vampirization.

"So that means I'm closer to the vampire side now, huh."

Hisui touched his lengthened fangs and sighed.

These series of questions left him scratching his head.

Along the way, he had asked that Eruru girl about the situation.

To be honest, a lot of it was totally incomprehensible and difficult to believe.

But she did not look like she was lying and the one year blank in his memories was real.

Whether newspapers or television, everything proved the passage of time. Only he was out of touch with the times.

It looked like what those girls said about another him was true.

But just the fact of his constitution was incomprehensible.

Despite his unusual upbringing, a constitution immune to vampirization was unheard of.

No wait.

Miraluka seemed to have mentioned it.

The key to unraveling the link between humans and vampires.

One of the theories exhibiting the possibility of coexistence.

"No good, I still can't recall it... I remember her talking about something after drinking too much red wine..."

The foster parent who had raised him, more than a thousand years old, occasionally murmured incomprehensible things filled with philosophical flavor.

That itself was fine, but the worst thing was that every time she got totally drunk, she ended up hugging him.

Despite such a slender body, those breasts pressing against him were unreasonably massive... Plus the ear-biting attacks, it was too stimulating for a boy in puberty.

Rumor had it that getting blood sucked by a vampire was accompanied by arousal and pleasure, that could very well be true.

Although getting his blood sucked this morning was super painful.

Really painful like dying.

Apart from that... Truly so beautiful.

Those lips touching his neck, the tongue licking every drop of his blood, all was beautiful to the point of suffocation.

However, when that girl found out he was turning into a vampire, her face went pale as though she saw the end of the world.

Why?

Clearly she was a vampire.

"I really don't get it..."

Hisui muttered blankly, stood up and checked out his surroundings.

After the hospital examination, Eruru took him to her house.

It looked quite a classy high rise apartment and she lived alone.

Just as he was hesitating at the door, wonder if it was appropriate to enter, a kick to the shin sent him inside.

"Am I always treated like this?"

It seemed like he was particularly popular with girls since high school, this unsettled Hisui.

Speaking of which, how did he get to know this person?

With such questions, Hisui looked at the spacious living room.

Earlier, she said feel free to drink anything from the fridge.

He wanted to just grab something to quench his thirst but when Hisui saw the other fridge, he could not help feeling curious.

The other fridge was only half the size of a personal fridge and looked like those simple ones in hotels.

Living alone, a single fridge was more than enough. However, Hisui did not find this fridge out of place.

Because it was the same in his home.

There was the normal fridge for his and Miraluka's food.

Beside it was another small fridge.

That was exclusive to Miraluka, he had never opened it before.

Rather, Miraluka forbade him from opening it.

If this fridge here was the same, contained inside was--


"Are you thirsty?"


Just as his hand touched the handle, Eruru appeared in the living room after her bath.

She was still using the bath towel to dry off the beads of water dripping from her hair.

Eruru was dressed in cute pajamas of pure white, decorated with abundant frills like her casual clothing. For some reason, her tone of voice was so cold.

"This fridge does not have anything for you to drink. Please open the adjacent one. There should be mineral water and milk."

"Isn't this one more suited to the way I am now?"

Hisui pointed at the small fridge.

Eruru turned her face away, basically saying yes.

With that, Hisui was certain of the fridge's contents.

"Inside this fridge... It's blood, right? Blood packs."

"..."

"Because my parent did that before. She has meals normally as well but the main staple sustaining her life is this. But she never allowed me to see her drinking blood and forbade me from opening that fridge. Actually I don't really mind. What's so strange about vampires drinking blood. But you..."

"I am a dhampir."

Eruru confessed without looking at Hisui's eyes.

For Hisui in his amnesia, this was her first time revealing her identity.

But Hisui did not seem to panic.

"I see... That's why you understand vampires so much."

"This has nothing to do with parents. It is the result of my own learning. Also, it is totally your fault that I keep blood packs for backup...."

"Huh?"

"Y-You were the one who told me to stop taking those drugs for suppressing the urge to drink blood, that is why I...!"

Unbelievably, Eruru actually lost composure and started to explain.

Naturally, the current Hisui did not remember what he had said.

He simply scratched his head and imagined what he felt at the time.

"...I said something like that huh. But yeah, dhampirs are like vampires, there's a limit to endurance, so drinking in moderation is better..."

"I know that! Otherwise, sanity cannot be maintained. Truly tragic. Say... Are you actually thirsting for blood?"

Eruru leaned over and asked, clearly without displeasure, apparently worried about Hisui's body for real.

Dhampirs inherited dual traits from vampires and humans. In this sense, they were quite similar to victims of vampires.

Just as a dhampir craved blood, vampire victims also thirsted for fresh blood as though trying to refill the blood that had been sucked away from them.

"No... Not really. I can still bear it. On the other hand, I'm a bit thirsty."

"...Very well. Tell me if you cannot bear it. I will send you to the hospital for a transfusion.

"..."

In principle, blood should be taken orally as a vampire's food, transfusion had little meaning in this sense.

But for a victim in the process of vampirization, it was still possible to suppress the urge to suck blood as a method for replenishing lost blood, hence it was an effective type of treatment.

Even if losing rationality from severe vampirization, transfusions could produce an alleviating effect to some degree to maintain sanity.

"But... Isn't drinking blood less of a hassle?"

"You want to choose such a horrifying solution?"

"Who knows."

Hisui took out a bottle of mineral water from the normal fridge and sat on the sofa.

Drinking a bit of water, he spoke slowly.

"When I was small, I fell over in front of my parent. My knee was scraped and it bled."

"..."

"There was a lot of blood and it was very painful. I ran to her, crying. Then.. She licked her lips."

"Very normal. A vampire after all."

For a vampire, blood was the desire prioritized above all thought.

Even with a young child holding the injury and crying, as long as there was blood, in the first instant, their eyes would ignore all else.

Instinctively, she wanted to suck blood.

No vampire could escape this fate.

"...Right, as a vampire it's perfectly natural. But when she noticed me looking at her, her face went pale all at once. She  held her breath and turned her gaze away from the wound, bandage it frantically. It was my first time seeing her in a panic."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Nothing much... Her look that time was very similar to Rushella's expression. When Rushella sucked my blood and discovered I was turning into a vampire."

"Since she regrets it, why not avoid sucking blood in the first place? If self-control does not work... Then she should not live with humans."

"Maybe. But Miraluka also never did anything to me... I really don't mind. Although I didn't mind in my heart... I never told her. Of course, I never mentioned that incident after the fact."

Hisui recalled his parent back then.

After his wound was bandaged, he still could not speak out.

Towards the vampire side his parent displayed--He must have felt fear back then.

Then afterwards, all along... all along, he failed to tell her.

Then what about himself during that blank period?

Himself for the past year?

Did he say it out?

"Say... Where's my parent, do you know?"

"..."

Eruru was unable to answer.

She tried to be an expressionless listener throughout the entire process but no matter how she feigned calmness, her wavering face could not be controlled.

"I looked at the house before going to school today. Her room feels like it's changed, but there's no note. She used to leave notes for me when leaving the house and there's no record in my cellphone either. The calls and text messages are all from you girls. What exactly... happened to her?"

Hisui stared straight at Eruru. She was at a loss for words.

To be honest, the current Hisui was in an unstable state. Eruru was very hesitant on revealing the bad news to him.

But Hisui was surely going to find out the truth on his own soon.

Redundant fake kindness might hurt him even more.

"I heard she passed away. You told me."

"...I see."

Unexpectedly, Hisui's answer was very calm.

He neither broke down crying nor was angry, simply accepting the truth indifferently.

"Are you not curious? Her death and the whole story... Although I know very little. Or do you remember vaguely?"

"No, no impression at all. I also feel that I'm supposed to be very depressed... I didn't expect to be this calm. What happened over the past year?"

"I only met you in April. If anything huge happened, there was only your meeting a vampire."

"...How unlucky am I exactly?"

Hisui smiled in self-mockery, lying back on the sofa.

Eruru did not ask about his past anymore and switched to more practical issues.

"To avoid speeding up the vampirization, please do not make contact with Rushella-san. If she visits you, do not let her in."

"...What if she breaks the door down?"

"I will shoot."

"Okay, I won't see her."

"On our side, we will also track down your doppelganger. Please do not... take action alone. Right now, you are totally an ordinary human."

"I know."

Hisui muttered and closed his eyes.

Probably due to the sun's rays, he felt no strength in his limbs.

Combined with the symptoms of vampirization--his anemic body was also causing him suffering.

Sighing, Hisui drifted off to sleep.

Eruru covered him with a blanket but Hisui was unaware, having fallen in to deep slumber.



"...Is that okay?"

Reina was standing in a dark alley that looked like a gangster hangout.

More accurately, it was the other Reina--Her doppelganger.

The girl's main body had returned home already, most likely gone to bed.

But the other her was still in school uniform, loitering in the streets at an hour that would surely elicit questioning from the police.

Also, she was meeting someone in an alley downtown.

No, whether the other person was human was still unknown.

While wandering the streets, a tall, dark shadow called to her.

Then she was given the drug that gave rise to her birth.

There was only one command received--Make Kujou Hisui smell the drug.

Only that.

The girl only agreed because she wanted to know Hisui's true nature hidden in his heart. She wanted to know how much she meant to the boy who hung around Rushella all day, occasionally showing sighs of sorrow.

Of course, supposing his doppelganger was born, it might not be a good thing for her necessarily.

Relying on uncertain phenomenon only meant obtaining uncertain results. No one could guarantee this could help her.

If it were her other self, if it were her who was always considerate of others, surely she would not choose this path.

--Hence, I shall be the one to take this path.

"You are really seeking your own destruction. As expected, your main body is still more human."

"Are you praising me?"

Reina answered briefly to the seductive voice.

Her voice sounded more like a boss lady from a night establishment pulling customers from the streets rather than the usual honors student.

"You will eventually disappear. But if you do not return to the main body, that body cannot escape the fate of weakening. That is how doppelgangers work. If the other self gains too well-defined an ego, then both will disappear. But if you return to the main body, you will be sunk into the depths of consciousness again. That highly self-disciplined true self will not allow you to see the light of day again."

"...What do you want me to do?"

The other person did not answer.

That person shrugged in an exaggerated manner, looking like it did not matter.

Taking the small bottle from Reina's hand, she had no intention of issuing other missions.

"You are free. Do as you wish. Do something the other you cannot do."

"...Who are you? Why do you... Kujou-kun...?"

"I want to understand him more. Also, I want to test that irregular 'True Ancestor.' These are my only two goals."

"...?"

"We will probably never meet again. Act according to your wish, that's all."

She lifted her long cape and vanished into the air like a bird spreading its wings.

Reina was left alone under the night sky.

Her translucent body outline would make one wonder if the entire world had abandoned her.

Finally, the girl's figure was swallowed amidst the scenery of the streets at night.

The next day, there were many rumors among students--The serious and hardworking class rep was seen late at night downtown. Of course, the serious person in question had no idea of any of this.

There was another rumor--Under the color of night, a boy was roaming the streets with a cross-shaped white package carried on his back.

He did not do anything special, simply frequenting shops and convenience stores then shaking his head in loneliness.

Only one ramen shopkeeper had seen him before, together with a woman who seemed to be his relative. When he saw the boy standing outside his shop, the shopkeeper made conversation with him.

"Hey, little lad, I think you used to come here frequently..."

"Yeah, I came with my family. The flavor here is not bad and you don't use garlic."

"...Hmm, eh, what happened to the pretty lady?"

Hearing the shopkeeper's question, the boy simply smiled with loneliness.

It was a tearful smiling look, concentrating infinite sorrow.

He turned and left without answering.

As the shopkeeper watched him leave, he heard a pitiful sigh:

"Miraluka..."
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