𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 | b. keisuke

𝐭𝐞𝐧

this chapter is neither edited nor proofread, i apologize in advance for any errors.

A FEW MONTHS HAD PASSED, and rumors had begun to spread of a dark-haired, handsome man whom no one saw during the day but could always be seen stopping criminals at night. more rumors soon began to spread of how he was often seen buying fresh meat at the butchers and hunting animals with nothing to aid him but his hands.

it didn't take a genius to piece together that they had a strange vampire in their neighborhood, one who had mysteriously appeared out of the house that'd been quiet and untouched for days, one who didn't cause any harm to them.

even the skeptical old folk who had lived to see tragedy upon tragedy caused by the hands of vampires soon came around once he saved one or two of their grandkids.

despite how much they grew to accept that he didn't and wouldn't harm them, there was still some invisible barrier, one that prevented him from making friends with the neighbors. after all, no matter how much lifesaving he did, he was still a vampire, and it was still part of his innate nature to harm them- or so they believed.

yes, they held a great deal of respect toward him. yes, he had saved their lives more times than they could count. yes, he had managed to single-handedly transform their neighborhood into one of the safest ones around. but he was still a vampire. a vampire- such a disdainful creature he was, yes, he will not harm you but what if he does? so, while they knew he was not harmful and shot him thankful smiles, a smallish fear still lingered in the back of their minds of what would happen should he turn his back on them.

that fear was enough to make him spend long days alone, pondering what he could be doing if his friends were alive. envisioning someone who would listen to him, talk to him, really talk to him about their day, not just a subtle smile or a hey.

he wanted [name] to stay, to absolve him of the burden that was his loneliness. and he didn't know if he was wrong in desiring such.

❣︎

"where are we going?"

"It's a secret."

"you're going to kidnap me; I should've known you were too nice."

"right... 'cause you've been living in my house for this long and I didn't kidnap you then."

"It's probably a tactic."

the peculiar duo was in a car on a drive to an undisclosed location, though the picnic basket and the soft blanket wrapped around it were more than enough of a hint that [name] knew what they were going to do.

the car soon came to a stop, the low hum of the engine giving way to the sounds of chirping birds. as they stepped out of the vehicle, basket in hand, a flight of stairs stood in front of them- multiple flights of stairs.

a tough climb eventually led them to the top, and a beautiful sight befell them.

above was a blanket of stars, undisturbed by the fluorescent lights of the city, flashing satellites, airplanes, and clusters of galaxies- each detail could be seen and enjoyed away from the light pollution of the city.

as [name] visually consumed the sight, baji began to set up his store-bought pastries and drinks, he wanted to be sentimental and handmake everything, however, after realizing how he felt towards [name] he had begun to second guess himself, worrying that certain actions would make his feelings obvious- scare her away.

"you can come sit now."

as [name] sat she began to think of her last picnic, which had been with her father, years before he got diagnosed with cancer. it was at night, and he was pointing out various constellations and naming different stars for [name] when she began choking on the soup he made. at the time she had lied and said it was simply too spicy but truthfully, he had accidentally mixed in sugar instead of salt and the weird blend was enough to cause her to gag.

she smiled as she stared at the store-bought food baji got and he stared at her as though she were the light to his world, when she looked up at him he averted his gaze to the sky and the moonlight seemed to bounce off his skin.

"want some of this shortcake? it's really good. where'd you get it from?"

"the one store you got the skewer stuff from the other day, i know the owner and put in an order for pickup today so it's all freshly made."

'how do you know the owner?' [name] thought, she wanted to ask, she wanted to ask a lot about him because she realized she knew next to nothing. why did she want to know about him? was it how she ironically felt more relaxed around him than she had ever felt, walking on eggshells with everyone else around her? perhaps the charismatic air with which he carried himself? she didn't think it right to fall in love while while her father was dying in the hospital but she knew her father wouldn't want her to hold herself back for his sake. and besides, she didn't have to rush anything, she could turn into a vampire, save her father and then spend time getting to know him, they'd have forever after all.

a part of her doubted her feelings, perhaps she only thought she liked him, he was undoubtably handsome and a good listener. he was caring and kind and so much more that it'd be almost impossible to not fall in love with him.

in addition to that she had been extremely busy ever since her dad fell ill that she hadn't been trying for any romantic relationships, perhaps she was just confused after finally receiving attention from a handsome guy.

'why are feelings this complicated?' she thought as she served herself a slice of the shortcake.

broo i've had this chapter written for so long i just hated it soo much that i never published it cause i couldn't figure out what to fix about it,

anyways i hate this book soo much i really like the idea i had for it but im so bad at writing now that i can't even execute it right, soo tempted to just discontinue it, or speedrush the next couple of chapters, finish the book, start something new and then hopefully get my writers motivation back and edit this one again but idkk