Revamped Life ~ Komahina Vampire AU

Chapter 2 - A Different Kind of Blood Money

　Hajime opened his eyes, finding that he was back in his apartment— moreover, that it was morning.
｟Was that real?｠
　He touched his neck. There were four scabs— two of them slightly larger than the others, as if something had snagged on his skin.
｟What in the...｠
　He sat up, and was greeted by the sight of a white-haired man in a long, black hoodie that reached his ankles. He froze.
　"Who are you?" he asked. "How did you get in?"
　The man swiftly and suavely held up Hajime's wallet. "Your name is Hajime Hinata; huh?"
｟That's the stalker!｠
　The hazel-haired man flung the covers away, grabbing the clock on his nightstand, and rushing toward the jerk who'd decided to break into his home and go through his belongings.【To be fair, you did give him permission to take your wallet.】
　This was easily dodged, however— almost as if the outcome was predetermined. Hajime clumsily fell in a heap on the carpet, the clock clattering across the wood flooring a couple feet from him.
　"Us vampires have this venom that induces adrenaline. It makes it so more blood gets pumped to the area we're feeding from," the intruder explained. "You struggled, so you lost too much blood to keep yourself conscious. You should really rest up 'til your cells regenerate."
｟He really thinks he's a vampire!｠
　"You're weird in the head," he snapped, trying to get up. "Get out of my home before I call the police!"
　"Your phone's dead," he said cheerfully, holding it up.
｟He took that, too!｠《😂》
　"I have neighbors; I can yell!" He shakily brought himself to his feet.
　"I can teleport. They'll think you're losing it." He grinned.
｟This nutcase doesn't give a s▇t about anything I'm saying!｠
　"Prove it, then!"
｟When he's distracted, make a run for the hall!｠
　Hajime glowered at him. The next moment, he was gone.
｟What?!｠
　"Believe me now?"
　He whirled around. Sure enough, he was right there. There was no way he could have had the opportunity to duck around him that fast. Hajime hadn't even blinked.
｟Question it later! There's nothing between you and the door now!｠
　He sprinted towards it, but the black-clothed man clipped back to where he was previously standing, surprising Hajime and causing him to skid to a halt. His socked feet slipped out from underneath him, and he fell backwards onto his elbow.《nnnooooo, I could feel that!》He grasped his arm, hissing bitterly.
　The man approached Hajime. It looked like he wanted to make sure he was alright. Naturally, Hajime used this strange behavior as an opportunity to attack, kicking him in the shin and putting him in a wrist lock.
　"Who the hell are you? How are you doing this?!"
　"I just want to have a chat," he answered, almost entirely unfazed.
　"Answer my questions, then," Hajime demanded. "Why did you break into my apartment?"
　The white-haired man quirked his eyebrow schemingly.
　"I found a note when I went through your wallet. You have unpaid debt."
　"That's none of your business."
　"If you let me stay here, I'll help you pay off that debt."
　"You assaulted me and invited yourself in! Why would I let you stay?"
　"You have ten thousand due at the end of the week; right? I'm not the most logical person, but from the tone of that note, I'd say your life is on the line."
　"I'm not getting help from a lunatic."
　His captive looked over his shoulder satirically. "At this point, what do you have to lose? It'd be foolish to turn down the chance to pay off a debt to the yakuza." His smirk thinned. "Wouldn't it?"
　Hajime pondered this proposition.
｟He hasn't attacked me— save for last night. I could finally be done with this debt issue for good.｠
　"...How would you be able to help me? It's over four million yen."
　The albino smiled.
　"I recently won the ten thousand lottery, and I have an easy way of getting more."
　"That's B.S."
　"I can take you to an underground gambling site. My luck is pretty overpowered there."
　Hajime chuffed. "Do you just have nothing better to do?"
　The white-haired man smirked. "At first, I only planned on drinking some of your blood, but there's something that keeps drawing me to you."
　"You sound insane; you know that?"
　All that received was a chortle. Hajime was growing fatigued from staying in this position. He just wanted to rest.
｟To hell with it.｠
　"If I let you go, do you promise not to attack me?"
　"I'm the one who brought you here. Like I said, I only jumped you for some blood."
　Tentatively, Hajime's grip loosened.
｟I'm crazy for allowing this.｠

⌔⌔⌔⌔

　Each man stood at an opposite side of the room. The albino spoke first.
　"So, how are you feeling? Calmed down yet?"
　Hajime shot him a glare.
｟Just because I'm hearing out your deal doesn't mean I fully trust you.｠
　"Hm... I understand your confusion after everything that's happened, so why don't we start off with an introduction?"
　"Introduction?"
　"You wouldn't want to skip out on learning a potential tenant's name; would you?"
　Hajime huffed, and he took it as the cue to proceed.
　"I'm Nagito Komaeda. If you take me on as your tenant, I won't take up much space, and I guarantee you'll be free of debt within at least half a year."
｟Out of context, this sounds like a steal.｠
　"As for the vampire stuff... I guess I'll just have you ask questions, and I'll answer them as best I can."
　Hajime closed his eyes, still reeling over the events that had taken place in such a short amount of time. Combined with the weakness his body was feeling, it made it a challenge to concentrate on the conversation.
　"Your face looks troubled."
　"NoOoOo... I'm not troubled or anything," he sneered.【This line was fun to type; lol.】
　Nagito smiled amiably.
　"It's fine. I have mixed feelings about this, too," he remarked. "Giving money to a complete stranger just because he struck me as interesting..."
　Each word he spoke gave Hajime the urge to punch him, but he reminded himself this deal could wind up being a stroke of luck for him.
　He gave a sharp exhale through his nose. "You already know my name," he ascertained. "I work at a sushi place that's probably about to get purchased and turned into a big gourmet restaurant, and it's likely I'm about to get laid off."
　Nagito continued ignoring Hajime's sour mood.
　"It wouldn't happen to be the Hanamura Diner; would it?"
　"...Yes," he replied warily, "That's the family buying it."
｟How does he know that?｠
　"I know one of the owners— Teruteru Hanamura. If I talk to him, he might hire you."
　"They'd never think of hiring me. I can only prepare simple stuff. I got recruited at the sushi place as a dishwasher."
　"What kind of food can you make?"
　"Uhh... Ramen, microwavable lunches... Basically stuff from the convenience store." He looked at the other. "I'm not gonna cook for you."
　"I'm a vampire. All I need is human blood."
　"What keeps you from eating food? Is it poisonous to vampires?"
｟I can't believe I'm going along with this.｠
　Nagito put his hands in his pockets. "Not in the traditional sense." Noticing Hajime had tensed up, he took his hands back out. "It weakens our immune system, and we end up barely being able to walk, but that's about it."
　"So, you could still enjoy stuff if you wanted to."
　"Other vampires like having 'cheat days,' but I find it too much of a hassle. I'd rather be able to move around." He shrugged. "Anyways, I just wanted to reminisce."
　"Okay..."
　He smiled.
　"I'll pay you twelve thousand a month. In return, you'll let me live here and allow me to feed once per day."
　Hajime folded his arms in a defensive way. "This is insane," he breathed.
　"I can see why you're hesitant to accept. It's not common to do business with someone who drinks blood."
　It wasn't just the fact this stranger thought he was some supernatural creature. It was the way he went about things with such a carefree attitude. It got on Hajime's nerves.
｟How else am I going to pay this month's sum, though? It's my blood versus my life. I'd rather lose dignity from this than be killed by yakuza.｠
　He sighed. Life had backed him into a corner.

　"You can stay."

｜Chapter 2のNotes｜

　I made a happy vampire emoji! ^⥐^
　Anyway, what helped me with the two waves of writer's blocks (because there will always be more; I assure you) was basing the transition of intruder to roommate on Nagito's Free Time Events (plus impatience and half-rushing through some stuff), and I cannot be more thankful that those exist.《I know that feeling of getting un-stuck, it's the best!》
　...I still feel like this is kind o' clunky, though. Might re-write it later.

✐ Fun fact: Nagito put Hajime's groceries in the fridge for him. (I didn't include this 'cause the chapter was running long.)