Living Together With A Vampire
It looks like we have arrived at the door of a residential unit that's inside some building… It's a menacing-looking, heavy iron door, but the girl easily opened it and said, 'Come in.
"Sorry for intruding..."
"What are you saying? This is our home from today on."
There were two things I noticed after leaving the hospital I was at earlier.
The first is that we're inside a base surrounded by walls, like in a certain manga with titans.
The second is that I seem to have somehow stopped being human.
I found out about the wall thing while we were walking…and the part about me no longer being human was something I confirmed from the vampire girl earlier.
'That's right, Masato! As I've told you many times, you're my kin. You're no longer human, but you're not a vampire either. Hahaha!'
She said that while we were walking here, so I didn't even have time to be surprised.
I just brushed it off with an "Ohh…"! Wasn’t that kind of a big deal?
"Um, now that we've arrived, you'll answer all my questions about why I'm not a vampire either, right...?"
"Well, hold on… First of all, welcome home, Masato!"
"...!"
Normally, one wouldn't be happy to hear that from a girl they don’t know... But when shown a smile so bright it seems to light up her surroundings, I couldn't help but feel genuinely happy. I'm not a lolicon... My preferred type is closer to someone like Fujiko Mine…(TLN:So the sexy onee-san type)
Yes, this happiness I feel isn’t from the girl’s welcome, but from the joy of hearing 'welcome home' after so long...It’s not because I'm a lolicon, I swear!
"Yeah... I-I'm home..."
For some reason, I feel embarrassed... I can’t believe I would be embarrassed to respond...
"Good! Now let's talk inside."
"Okay..."
After taking off my shoes and stepping inside, I found that the living room was spacious enough to fit about six tatami mats (TLN: Around 106 sq. ft.). In the center of this simple white space was a single bed, and there was one large window.
There was a proper kitchen, complete with a refrigerator and everything... but because of how out of place it felt to see a bed in the living room, I wasn’t even fazed by the vampire girl, who was waving me over with a smile after she jumped onto the bed with a 'poof' sound.
Have I gotten used to this already? Or is it just the sense of incongruity that's making me feel this way? I can't even tell anymore.
"Hm? Come here quickly and sit down. This bed is so soft."
"No... I'll sit on the floor... Yes... Please let me do that..."
"Hm? Alright."
I felt like I was going to give in. I pinched my thigh hard to bring myself back to my senses.
"So? What do you want to know first?"
She asked while sitting on the bed.
"Well... What do you mean when you say I'm neither human nor vampire?"
My throat makes a gulping sound.
"So you wanted to ask that after all...You’re neither human nor vampire because I simply made it so. The moment you became my kin, you ceased to be human. But you're not a vampire yet. Becoming a vampire isn't that simple."
"...What do you mean?"
A vampire is what you humans call monsters that suck blood. A kin is created from a curse that allows a vampire to control living beings by flowing their blood into them. The curse first destroys the soul of the living being—in other words, it causes death. Then, it interferes with the soul and transforms it to be like a vampire's. However, your body hasn’t transformed yet. The blood-sucking urge you felt was the first awakening, triggered right after you woke up because your soul changed.
"So... if I had drank blood in that state..."
“Hm, you would have reached the second awakening. At that point, you could be called a vampire. After all, sucking blood is the essence of being a vampire... But since I prohibited you from sucking blood, you wouldn’t be able to do that now. That's why you're in a half-state, with a vampire soul but a human body. Do you understand?”
"So vampires can create kins that easily... If they just keep giving their blood to corpses, wouldn't the world be full of vampires by now? Why hasn't that happened?"
"... One reason is that most normal vampires have only undergone their second awakening, and also... because they don't have special blood like me."
The girl's face darkens after talking about blood...
"For you to understand this, I’ll need to tell you a bit about myself... It's a long story, is that okay?"
"It's still daytime, so I think it's fine."
"Very well... I-I’m called a princess in the vampire world... Different from royalty, I'm pretty much like a god to vampires...I’m from a special bloodline called the Primordial. I should warn you... If you want to hear more, be prepared for the consequences... Okay?"
Her gaze is so intense that it feels as if the background has turned black. I feel my throat go weak as her heavy gaze draws me in like a black hole.
"*Gulp*... Please, continue."
Alright! In light of your resolve, I shall speak. The Primordials are the seven vampires who were permitted to bear the bloodline of the first vampire. Due to the anguish of longevity, many of us committed suicide before passing on the Primordial name, and our numbers dwindled until only I remained. You must have heard the legend that when a vampire sucks blood, the victim also becomes a vampire... That's not entirely wrong. As you’ve experienced, Primordials have the power to do that. Only we can create kins; we have the ability to increase the number of our brethren.
So basically... Only Primordials can increase the number of vampires, and that Primordial vampires are monsters who spread a curse that controls living things by giving them blood?
"So... you're saying that you are a Primordial vampire that survived... and you're being targeted by other vampires because you're the only one who can increase the numbers of vampires?"
"You're a quick-witted kin. I've already told the humans about this much. Vampires are the children created by our brethren... And even among vampires, children can be born, but only by those close to the level of Primordials, and it can't be done just by sucking blood... It's done by... Ahem... Ahem... Doing that thing! Ahem! Ahem!"
"Are you alright, Ms Vampire?!"
"Ugh! Like humans... We can have f... h-have sexual intercourse to create children... Hah... Hah... But children cannot be born from a human and a vampire."
"R-right... I see... Haha..."
The vampire was going to say something but managed to keep it at a school-level health education standard.
"So… why is that?"
"It's simple: the souls are different. Children are copies of their parents' souls. Humans and vampires are fundamentally distinct. Just like the saying in Japan: 'As different as the moon and a turtle.' We may look similar on the surface, but we're completely different beings."
"...I see."
"Hm? What's wrong? Something you’re not satisfied with?"
"No, I was just thinking: if a mermaid turns into foam after falling in love with a human, would a vampire disappear in a different form if they fell in love with a human...?”
"That would never happen. To vampires, humans are food. We don't fall in love with them."
She answered clearly, as if she were cutting down my thoughts without hesitation.
"I guess that's true."
"Yup, such a thing would never happen. If it did, things wouldn't be as they are now."
"...Yes... I suppose you’re right."
Suddenly, silence followed my response. After about two minutes of brief silence, I asked the vampire the last thing I had been intending to ask today.
"Um, there's one last thing I'd like to ask."
"Hm, what is it?"
"Your name. I've been thinking about asking for your name last. Usually, one would ask this first, but for an unusual vampire like yourself, I thought I'd ask last."
"Masato... you really are a strange one. I admit I'm not normal in the sense that I'm different from humans, but isn't it rather rude to call such a beautiful girl 'not normal'?"
"But it doesn't change the fact that you're not normal, Ms. Vampire. Considering our future relationship, asking for a name is perfectly normal in human society."
“But normally, you wouldn’t ask, right? Since I’m not normal.”
"No, I'm saying this as someone who's still neither human nor vampire. If I'm in between, it wouldn't be interesting not to take both paths in the end."
"Sigh... You really are odd. I've made a strange human my kin... My name is long due to my ancient lineage, so you can call me Mil for short. No honorifics needed, just call me Mil."
"I understand, Mil."
And so, I came to learn a bit about the vampire girl named Mil, who nodded in satisfaction. She still seems to be hiding something, and even though I don’t have the courage to ask right now, I have a feeling that I will inevitably find out in the future, whether I want to or not."
Is that all for our talk? If so, follow me. I’ll show you where the bath is so you can prepare it, because I want to take one.
"Oh, there's a bath in this unit?"
"Of course there's a bath. Isn’t it common in modern times?"
"I thought there might not be one here. This place is bigger than I expected."
I was told that this place would be big enough for four people to live in... but there won’t be any more residents in the future, so you don’t have to worry about that.
"I see. Ah, is the bathroom here?"
When I opened the door, I found a typical household bathroom with a bathtub.
"It's quite spacious, isn't it?"
"I haven't used it all that much, but... it's been cleaned, right? Now, heat up the bath. I don't know how to heat a modern bath."
"Eh? How have you been taking baths until now?"
"It was always ready when I came back. The people who were here used to do it for me, but now that you're here, Masato, they said they won't do it anymore."
It seems I've been assigned as Mil's caretaker. I now understand that I’ve become like a housekeeper, responsible for everything, including cooking, laundry, and cleaning.
"I see... So this is why the Prime Minister forced us to live together..."
"Yup... That man is even more devious than you think. It won't end with just this... yawn... For now, heat up the bath. I'll take a nap until it's ready..."
Mil rubbed her eyes sleepily and started to walk out. I pressed the button to heat the bath as instructed and decided to wait in the living room until it was ready.
It’s boring just waiting... Oh, I should check what’s inside the refrigerator...
When I opened the fridge, I found packs filled with what looked like a dark red liquid. This must be blood... It's natural for Mil to have packs of blood since she's a vampire... There's nothing wrong with that, but... it’s a bit unsettling. Not that I’m hungry, but I feel a slight reflux of stomach acid.
"Phew... What else... Water and... nothing else. Ah!"
There wasn’t much else in the fridge, but in a cardboard box next to it, I found instant rice and curry.
"I guess I’ll eat this today... Come to think of it, is it okay for me to eat? I’m half-vampire, after all..."
I decided not to wake the vampire girl, who was snoring soundly, and instead planned to ask her after the bath was ready. Then, I went out to the unit’s balcony to gaze at the walls of the base.
