Midnight Rose (Kaimaki vampire AU)

Chapter 24: Secrets Revealed

Kaito gestured to a spot next to Maki. He wasn't sure if she would be comfortable with him sitting next to her, but he felt glad when she nodded. Kaito smiled, proceeding to crawl over to sit next to her. The bed was softer that he expected it to be. Every move that he made caused Maki to bounce a little until he sat next to her. He didn't want to start right away. He wanted Maki to ask first. If it took too long then he'll step up. He already knew what he wanted to ask anyway. With Maki, it was different. She had never been in a situation like this before. All the training that she endured could never have prepared her for talking to a vampire, let alone knowing or seeing one. Maki thought carefully. She had such an endless list that she wasn't sure where to start off first. It made the whole silence uncomfortable and it was starting to bother Maki a little, even if she tried not to show it. Kaito didn't rush her, knowing that she needed a moment to think.

"How long have you been a vampire for?" Maki finally asked. Easy question. At least that's what Maki thought that as a good starting point.

"Since the day I was born." Kaito explained with a slight frown. "You're either born or you're turned to be a vampire."

"Must be tough." Maki commented, sensing Kaito's discomfort.

"It has its moments." Kaito shrugged, trying not to think about the struggles that he had to deal with as a kid. "So how did you know how to kill like that?" Maki looked down, kneeling the covers in her now tensed up hands. Maybe that was too soon. Kaito didn't think it through enough. Maybe he should've thought of something else to ask first, like her favourite colour, or her favourite place to be.

"I grew up in an orphanage and I got adopted into an assassin cult." Maki sighed. She didn't want to go into all the details. She wanted to answer as quickly as possible to avoid a long conversation. Kaito thankfully didn't press further into the matter.

"That's sick, making kids kill." He groaned, feeling an uncomfortable twisting in his stomach. He didn't know what was worse. Maki being an orphan or Maki being forced to kill strangers that may or not be innocent.

"I agree." Maki sighed again. She didn't add anything onto that as she absentmindedly traced a couple of scars on her arm. Kaito internally winced at that. He wanted to ask how Maki was littered with so many scars, but after hearing what Maki had said, he put the pieces together all too easily. "So...what do you have as a blood source?" Maki looked uncomfortable when she asked that. She was probably worried that Kaito would try to bite into her neck the second she let her guard down.

"Animal blood." Kaito smiled. Maki wasn't sure why, but whenever she saw him smile like that, she always felt calm. Maybe it was because she felt close to him or something. Kaito continued to explain. "There's a time of the month where all vampires are meant to feast. My family and I call it the "Hunter's Moon", but everyone else refers to it as the full moon. We can feast outside of it, there's no law against it. But we have to feast at this time to keep our strength up or we suffer from a terrible withdrawal. Every Hunter's Moon, when I'm at school, I sneak down into the basement and devour the blood of the rats down there. I've never had human's blood. And I never will." At least that's good news for Maki. She started to relax more. With Kaito however, he forced himself to suppress a shudder. He unintentionally reminded himself of what had happened with he first encountered Maki. He didn't want to think about it, but his hands suddenly felt hot just remembering the touch of Maki's skin coming into contact with them.

"You don't have to answer this if it makes you uncomfortable, but why does almost everyone call you the "slut"? Especially when it's not true." He finally asked, trying to shake off that dreadful feeling. Maki bit her lip a little and looked away again. She seems to be a little disturbed by that question. Kaito was ready to say that he could ask her something else if she wanted but Maki had already started to answer.