Chapter 33: Common Sense
Chapter 33: Common Sense
“HOW did it come to this…”Azusa mumbled in the garden surrounding the mansion.
People, not flowers, spanned as far as the eye could see. Every single person wore a casual dress or suit. Azusa was no exception as she donned the pale scarlet dress prepared for her. White tables lined with light snacks and drinks were scattered about the vast garden and were the focal gathering point for people to chat while they ate appetizers.
Azusa went to the farthest edge of the garden to be a wallflower—far enough for her back to actually be against the mansion’s outer wall—but people still took turns coming up to greet her. Of course they would.
“Azusa, you are beautiful. I would expect no less of today’s star,” Ichi complimented.
“Once again, congratulations on your contract, Azusa,” Subaru congratulated.
The party was being held to celebrate Kouya and Azusa’s newly established contract.
“Ichi, Subaru, this isn’t what we discussed. No one told me I had to do this.”
“Er, this was Master Akashi’s suggestion when he heard about your contract… Sorry about this. I am seriously sorry,” Subaru frantically apologized upon seeing Azusa’s embittered expression.
“We originally planned on having it take place without making a scene, but we were incapable of refusing Master Akashi’s proposal… Please forgive me for not saving you from this nightmare. It is normal to throw a meager party like this whenever a new contract is made. You would do best not to let it bother you. Everyone just wants to drink and go wild,” Ichi cajoled.
“Yup, yup. The real reason for the party is for everyone to remember the faces of both contractors so they can keep an eye out that no one else drinks their blood without consent. The goal is a bit different this time though.”
“Both…contractors…you say? Then where the heck did the all-important other contractor go!” Azusa fumed.
The other star of the evening, Kouya Doumeki, was nowhere to be found. Ichi and Subaru exchanged wry smiles and shrugged.
“Kouya most likely will not come.”
“After all, Kou hates things like this. His coming of age ceremony was held without him too… I feel bad for you, Azusa, but you shouldn’t expect much from him today.”
“Even though he’s more the star than some strange human girl like me?”
“Yeah.”
“Indeed.”
Their words put Azusa on the verge of tears. She didn’t mind being greeted by vampires. But she despised the way they sized her up with their eyes. She was the infamous Akaoni’s contractor and the contractor of the current Patriarch’s son. The guests came to the party to see what amazing woman could land a contract with him, only to find an average little girl you could dig up anywhere. And she was human at that.
It’s not hard to see why they would stare at me inquisitively. It makes sense, but still…
“I want to go home…” Azusa cried.
“Please endure for another two hours, Azusa.”
“Uggh…” Azusa sighed. Ichi pat her on the shoulder.
“By the way, Azusa, did you take care of that?”
“……” Azusa quietly turned blue.
Ichi’s face twitched. “Don’t tell me you…”
“…Then don’t ask.”
“What on Earth are you doing?! Today is the last day! And to make matters worse, there is an extremely high chance you will not see Kouya today!”
“It’s impossible for me! How could I get him to drink my blood one more time?!”
The paper Ichi gave Azusa the other day detailed the necessary steps to establish a contract. One sentence in particular bothered her.
“After the contractor drinks the contractee’s blood once, they must wait twenty-four hours and then drink the contractee’s blood within seven days.”
“These are the steps required to create a kindred familiar, and is common sense among vampires… or rather instinctual to us, but I created this list to help you understand it,” Ichi told her at the time, but her voice fell on deaf ears.
That conversation took place six days ago. Thus, today was the last chance to fully establish the contract between them by allowing Kouya to drink her blood for the second time.
“Didn’t you say you did not mind having your blood sucked?!” Ichi shouted.
“Depending on the time and situation! I didn’t think the next time would come so soon!” Azusa retorted.
“I understand you find it disagreeable, but if you miss your chance today, you will have to start the whole process over again! Meaning you will need your blood sucked two more times!”
“More than finding it disagreeable…I’m embarrassed!”
“Is it an embarrassing thing to do?”
“It is!”
Seeing Ichi’s confusion reconfirmed Azusa’s suspicion that humans and vampires felt differently about bloodsucking.
“…At any rate, Subaru and I will look for Kouya! Please stay here, Azusa! Let’s go, Subaru!”
“Hmm. I don’t think we need to go though.”
“Quit complaining and start helping!”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Azusa waved at Subaru as Ichi dragged him out of the garden by the collar. She sighed heavily once they were out of sight. She was swept back into the storm of greeting people and being the center of curious eyes. It was customary for the leading lady to wear a red dress, meaning everyone looked for the red dress as soon as they entered the venue.
Among the guests were people who were already drunk or out of sorts. All she had to do was listen and nod to their incoherent babbling to get them to happily go away, which actually made them more preferable.
One hour of greetings passed. The guests coming to greet her had grown sparse, allowing her to finally get her hands on something to drink. Downing an entire nonalcoholic cocktail in one gulp was less than elegant, but her mental exhaustion gave her little room to care about manners.
“You sure know how to drink, lass.”
Azusa turned toward the owner of the rasping voice to find a red-faced middle-aged man cackling with a glass in his left hand. His plump figure and thinning hair was a wretched sight to behold.
“How do you do? I am Azusa Saito. I am deeply honored by you coming to join us at this party. I am still but an inexperienced child and would be greatly blessed if you could guide and encourage me in the years to come,” Azusa mechanically repeated the same greeting she said for the nth time that day. She had rote memorized the cue cards Subaru prepared for her.
The plump man snorted. “Lass, that marks the second time I heard you say that. Try to at least remember the faces of the people who greeted you.”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
The man somehow looked elated by her flustered apology. “Well, it’s inevitable. Can’t do much about it. You haven’t done anything wrong, lassie. You had the great misfortune of being forced here against your will.”
“U-Uh, okay,” Azusa vaguely nodded along with him. He smacked her shoulder hard enough to rattle her bones. The man laughed hard. Spittle flew out of his mouth as he took another heavy gulp of his whiskey.
“It’s no different from your life having been sacrificed for appearances sake, huh! After all, it’s abnormal for a vampire not to have a contractor at his age. No one in these parts would dare attempt to contract with the red-eyed lad. And if there was someone, they’d have to have balls of steal or be out of their mind. Our great Patriarch sure got some brains to kidnap someone from elsewhere because he couldn’t dig up anybody locally!”
Everyone close enough to hear started muttering to each other.
All the adults who came to greet Azusa recognized her as, “the contractor Master Akashi forcefully brought from the human world for his son.” What else would they think? Not a single thing about Azusa’s blood or the battles surrounding her was made known. But this man was the first to voice it. Many of the guests whispered about it among themselves, but seeing as it could be taken as slighting the Patriarch, no one put what they thought into words.
The man paid no heed to the gathering eyes as he rattled on, “Have you met the red-eyed lad yet, lass? You were scared to death, weren’t you? Did you faint?”
“No, I was fine, thank you,” was all Azusa could say. Frightened by his intensity, she took a step back and her heel hit the wall. Staying in the corner to be a flower on the wall backfired on her now—she had nowhere to run.
“I see! What a gutsy lass you are!”
“Not at all.”
He smacked her painfully on the shoulder again. She was certain he wasn’t a bad man, but her complete lack of experience with drunks made him tough for her to deal with.
“Wasn’t he despicable? Odious, sarcastic, reprehensible! He’s got a scary mug, and his eyes could burn holes through you!”
“……”
Azusa didn’t have the energy to skillfully parry his comments in her exhausted state. She couldn’t stop from huffily grimacing. The man grinned like he understood where her expression came from.
“I’m right, aren’t I? How could I be wrong? You obviously think so too, don’t you?”
His grin snapped the last fiber holding Azusa’s temper in check.
“Kouya is kind, you know? I believe his scarlet eyes are beautiful like rubies. I can’t say much for the way he looks at you, but it’s not bad once you get used to it. If you find him sarcastic and reprehensible, isn’t that only because you have made him that way toward you?”
“Ooh?” the man hummed, impressed, and sidled up to Azusa. Azusa only realized her slip of tongue once she was stuck between the man and wall. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth, but there is no way to take back words once they are said. “You seem considerably attached to the red-eyed lad, lassie.”
“Nah, no…I mean, I’m sorry.”
“Nay, lassie. I’m the one who’s sorry! Looks like I misunderstood you!” he broadly grinned. The man’s voice suddenly took on a bright tone and he turned toward the guests throwing his arms out and loudly declared for all to hear, “Lass, you weren’t kidnapped, but actually pursued the red-eyed lad here because you love him, right? I’m sure that’s it!”
“What?!”
“What an extraordinarily commendable lassie you are! Our great Patriarch must have thrown this grand party because such a lass came for his son! I see! I see!” His booming voice, which seemed partially like an act, caused uproar among the guests. Azusa’s shock rendered her speechless.
“Looks like everyone else had the same misunderstanding as me! Come now, lassie, declare it to the lot of them! Shout it from the rooftops that, ‘I chased the red-eyed lad here!’”
“Excuse me?!”
The man pushed Azusa from behind as her face froze with an indescribable expression involving her gaping mouth. The guests chuckled at the banter between them.
“I guess the Patriarch wouldn’t kidnap someone.”
“But it’s hard to believe she’s in love with the Akaoni.”
Curious whispers came from the crowd. Apparently, their common understanding about Azusa changed from, “the contractor Master Akashi forcefully brought from the human world for his son” to “the strange girl who came to contract with the Akaoni.” On the whole, it had changed to a more favorable impression, but Azusa found it hard to swallow.
“Can you leave your teasing at that, Uncle?”
Azusa’s eyes widened at the person who pushed his way through the crowd.
“Kouya?!”
“Hiya, red-eyed lad. I was just having a fun little chat with your contractor.”
“……”
The guests were abuzz for a different reason this time. The center of their attention was stiff-faced and held his left hand to his head. He was clearly beyond annoyed. He briskly cut through the crowd to where the man and Azusa were and snatched Azusa’s hand.
“I have business with her. I will greet you properly later.”
“Wow, someone can’t keep his hands to himself! You’re a passionate one, lad!”
It probably wasn’t Azusa’s imagination that she heard Kouya click his tongue.
“Kouy—”
“Let’s go.”
Azusa later told Ichi she had never seen a scarier face on Kouya than when he spoke to his Uncle that night.