Chapter 15: An Unbridgeable Distance
Chapter 15: An Unbridgeable Distance
AZUSA mulled over how to break the deadlock between them.
“Kouya, won’t you walk with me?”
“I’m good. No problem doing it this way.”
Azusa couldn’t hold in her sigh. She planned this outing to get to know him better and this was the result. She was alone in the center of downtown. Or more accurately, it was her and an animal. A black cat sat at her feet and meowed adorably at her.
Everything went smoothly until they departed the mansion grounds. The mansion sat on a tall hill a fair distance away from town and was surrounded by verdant trees like it was in the center of a forest. The distance between town and the mansion required a car. Kouya stayed with Azusa until they got out of the car at the town entrance and handed her a black cat he pulled from who knows where.
“I captured this guy yesterday for today. You just need to tell him if anything happens,” Kouya had said and walked off before Azusa could stop him.
Now she was alone in a town of vampires with a black cat nudging her leg.
“Is this cat your familiar or something like that?” Azusa asked the cat.
“Something like that,” answered a deep manly voice unbefitting the adorable cat’s mouth.
“Where are you right now, Kouya?”
“I’m keeping within a half-mile radius of you. I can rush to your side in seconds at this distance. You’re safe, don’t worry.”
“……”
He had no intention of joining her.
Sounds like he really has no intention of walking with me. I didn’t think he hated me so much he couldn’t stand being seen with me. Azusa hung her head. Looking back on all that had happened between them, she couldn’t deny the trouble she had caused him.
I guess it’s inevitable he hates me. He doesn’t categorize me as an ‘annoying woman’, but a ‘spiteful woman’. A sigh naturally escaped when she came to that conclusion. Azusa picked up the cat and rubbed her face against his back to alleviate the twinge of sadness. The cat’s fur smelled like sunlight.
“Hey, you’re blocking my field of view.”
“Be quiet. I give up. I will go for a walk alone! I will walk around with the kitty in my arms like this!”
“I don’t mind, but why are you in a foul mood?”
“I don’t know why.”
“What?”
Azusa pursed her lips and began her exploration of the town. It really looked like a normal town, with a residence area, downtown, and grocery stores that sold normal meat and vegetables. At first she thought she would find blood packs being sold, but there was nothing like that—it was no different from a normal town. No one would believe it was a town of vampires if they came across it.
“Is this really a vampire town?” she asked Kouya through the cat.
“Yeah. About eighty percent of the residents here are vampires. The last twenty percent is made up of human children born between a vampire and human couple, human spouses, human allies, and whatnot.”
“So there are vampire children who don’t become vampires?”
“The correct term for them is dhampir. Ability-wise they aren’t too different from humans. They are physically stronger though.”
“I see. Everyone here looks like a normal human.”
“Our outer appearance isn’t all too different after all.”
Conversation flowed smoothly between them. Perhaps it was because they were discussing a specific topic that she felt like they were holding a real conversation for once. Her soured mood gradually faded.
“A normal person wouldn’t notice anything if they happened to come here, huh?”
“Normal people almost never enter this area. This town isn’t on any maps. Our accomplices that infiltrated the upper levels of government and public office alter the data concerning our location, family registers, and other related information to keep us concealed.”
“I feel like I just heard something that would make conspiracy-theorists giggle with glee.” She was depressed by the news. In other words, she was on a solitary island cut off from the human world. She wanted to ask him how they acquired clothing, food, furniture, and other necessary items to survive, but she had a general idea of what the answer would be.
“A lot of vampires work in human cities to support this town, right?”
“Yeah, we couldn’t do it without them.”
I didn’t know that. That basically means the old lady the next apartment over or my foul-mouthed landlord could have been vampires too.
“What do you plan on doing today?” Kouya questioned her through the cat.
“Ah, right, I was thinking of buying fruit to make a fruit tart for my dad who came home today!”
“Won’t the servants get it for you if you ask?”
“Fruit is one of those things you must pick out for yourself to find the perfect one!”
Color, size, shape, and sweetness all vary even when picking out the same kind of fruit. She wanted to choose her own fruit when she had the opportunity to.
Azusa looked over the map Ichi had drawn for her. She had Ichi tell her in advance which place sold the best fruit.
“According to this map, it should be beside the bookstore here—wait, there’s no bookstore.”
A large building was under construction where the bookstore should have been. She tilted her head thinking she got lost on the way.
“I think there used to be a bookstore here,” the cat said looking at the building under construction.
“Good to know! I wonder if they are making it a different kind of store,” Azusa marveled as she walked past the construction site. A man who looked human leisurely walked by with a steel beam resting on his shoulder.
“This really is a town of vampires.”
“I’ve been saying that since we got here.”
“I just got a real sense of that is all.” Azusa wondered if vampires had any need for heavy machinery. “Oh, it’s here! This is the place!”
“……”
A small greengrocer was located on the other side of the construction site. Despite its small size, the front shelves were lined with an assortment of fruit.
A seemingly jovial and kindhearted older man called out to her as she examined the fruit, “Welcome, lass! Oh? …I haven’t seen you around here before, have I?”
“Hello! Um, I am a human staying at Mr. Akashi’s place!” Azusa answered, remembering how insistent Subaru and Ichi were before she left about not revealing her circumstances. Her response was the one they had prepared for her in case anyone asked.
“Oh, I see, at Master Akashi’s place! This is a fine town. Enjoy your time here!” the owner smiled, flashing his pearly white fangs. Coupled with his mild-mannered looks, his attitude made him seem like a good person.
“Thank you very much.”
“What can I get for you today?”
“I was thinking of making a fruit tart. Do you have any strawberries? Also, white peaches. I don’t mind if you only have canned. Please give me some of those oranges too!”
“Sure thing, lass! I’ll throw these in for free too!” the owner said, putting ripened red apples into the plastic bag with her other fruit.
“Thank you very much!”
Azusa happily showed the cat the apples and smiled, “Please look at this, Kouya! I got these for free! Don’t they look like your eyes?”
“……”
The owner’s face stiffened at her comment. “Lass, did you just say Kouya? Are you referring to that cat? Could it be that cat is Master Akashi’s Kou—”
“Meow,” the cat interrupted him with a cute cry and jumped from Azusa’s arms onto the ground where it proceeded to lick itself. The owner sighed with relief.
“As if that’d be possible. Don’t startle me, lass. You went and made me think a cat was the Akaoni.”
“Akaoni?”
“Yup, Master Akashi’s second son. He’s the red-eyed vampire who doesn’t drink blood, which is why we call him Akaoni. You know, for the red ogres seen as the symbol of evil in Japanese legends? He’s infamous in this town. Well, he’s like an urban legend around here. It’s rumored no one has seen him in this town for close to twenty years.” The owner was talkative now that he was at ease.
“There were some who called him the red-eyed monster too. Some of the younger folk might not know of him, but everyone in my generation was scared to death of him. I mean, there are even rumors his strength is on par with Master Akashi’s! Well, if his power came with morals he would’ve made a fine Patriarch someday. Too bad he’s a kin killer. That’s the worst you can be, even for us.”
“Kin killer?”
“That monster went and killed his older brother! Master Akashi had mercy on him and didn’t dish out punishment for it though! Actually, rumor has it that the monster’s been entrusted with getting rid of the Fs now. The perfect job for a nasty monster that loves shedding his kin’s blood,” the owner declared in a huff, looking wholly satisfied by his gossip.
Azusa listened to him with a frown, not quite able to take in what he told her. “…Um, excuse me! I don’t think I’m going to buy this after all! I’m sorry!” she said abruptly, pushing the bag back to the owner.
“Why not, lass?”
“L-Look out below!”
Azusa looked up at the warning from above—her line of vision filled with the thick steel beam soaring down at her. Just past the beam she saw the pale look on a construction worker’s face. He likely dropped it by accident. Azusa closed her eyes on the spur of the moment.
But the impact she was expecting never came.
“Are you all right?”
That’s right, he’s with me. Azusa remembered his presence when she heard the deep tenor of his voice. She opened her eyes to see Kouya standing beside her, his hand holding the steel beam over their heads. The force of the impact bent the steel beam around where Kouya’s hand had stopped it.
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!” the owner’s scream reverberated through the town the instant his eyes locked onto Kouya.