A Card Up My Sleeve

Deal with the Vampire

By the time the trio reached the train station, it was a quarter to eight. Dandy was waiting for them at the ticket counter, leaning his back against it and smoking a cigarette.

"Hello again, senhorita," the vampire greeted, then turned his face to the other two women, "I take it you decided to bring some friends in case the negotiations went wrong?"

"Yes," Asagi replied, studying the Alhambra.

"Very well," he shrugged, putting out his cigarette and throwing it in the trash can next to him, "Nice to meet you."

"Save your formalities for someone else," Yatsu replied coldly, causing the gambler to roll his eyes.

"And this is what I get for being polite," Tubalcain grumbled to no one in particular.

"Don't mind her," Sakura waved her off, "Mucchan is always grumpy."

"Stop calling me that already!" growled "Mucchan", "You know I hate that nickname!"

"Do they always act like that?" Y/N asked cautiously, looking at Asagi.

"Quite often," she sighed sadly, then walked up to the women and began to calm them down.

"So," the vampire said, waiting for Igawa to separate his friends, "Since you've calmed down," he walked up to them, "I suggest we begin negotiations."

After these words, he hugged the trio and teleported away with them.

"W-What the? What did you do?" Sakura cried out, nervously looking around.

"Teleported you to my headquarters," Alhambra explained, walking up to the table, "I decided that it would be much more convenient for us to discuss the terms here."

Before anyone could do anything, Murasaki pulled out her axe and tried to bring it down on Alhambra. Unfortunately for her, the vampire used cards to block the attack. Without giving the blue-haired woman time to react, he created a ring of cards around her throat.

"Attack me again and your head will roll," Tubalcain warned her, "But you don't want that, right? So, please put the axe away."

"And why should I trust that you won't attack me?" Despite the aggression, the woman's voice was calm.

"Maybe because he was only acting in self-defense?" Sakura commented innocently, putting her hands behind her back.

"You're not helping," Yatsu grumbled, but she put the axe away. In that same second, the cards surrounding her neck disappeared.

"See? I knew we could come to an agreement," the vampire meanwhile pulled out a chair and sat down at it, gesturing for the women to do the same. They hesitated for a moment, but accepted the offer.

"Before we start discussing this, I suggest we order something for dinner. Who wants what?" Y/N asked, reaching out for the intercom.

"So that you could poison us?" Murasaki suggested discontentedly. Tubalcain groaned in irritation at what he heard.

"Do you really think I'm going to use something so cliched and predictable? First of all, if I wanted to kill you, I would have done it back then, at the train station. And secondly, even if I decided to kill you here, I wouldn't use something so expected. I'm just offering you dinner."

"Can I get a menu?" Sakura asked.

"Of course," the vampire handed three copies to the women, who took them, though Yatsu hesitated a bit.