As For Kawasaki Saki’s Choice…

Up to 20 advanced chapters on Patreon: Fiction Haven

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[Hikigaya Hachiman's POV]

A vampire had come to our school and assaulted one of my classmates. Life had been quite peaceful for quite some time, so I had forgotten how different I was compared to others. The first thing that Kiss-Shot told me about being a Vampire was to always watch your back. I had been training to prepare for that situation and I had forgotten one key point: I was living among humans. Some innocents might get caught in the crossfire.

It was most likely the reason why Kiss-Shot had been distancing herself from humans. There were some loose heads out there who would not only target her but also the people who knew nothing about the Vampire's society. The sobering realization washed over me like a bucket of cold water in the early morning. I was wide awake, heart beating in fright. I only had two choices: to nip the matter in the bud or distance myself from everyone.

The latter would be the best choice, but I still had to do the former. Given that bastard's personality, he would likely go for the people I knew just to play with me. I clenched my hand in frustration. It was quite a close call for Saki. If I hadn't gone downstairs to solve that ridiculous issue, I wouldn't have been able to save her. It was obvious that the bastard was coming for me, so I wouldn't hesitate to call what happened my fault.

It was Saki this time and who knew who would be the target the next time? It could be another classmate or just a random student of our school. It could be my family—Komachi or Mom. Imagining what happened to Saki happened to them was enough to make my blood boil. It honestly frightened me to have this thought, but I had a great urge to kill that bastard. I should have pierced his chest and ripped his heart out of his body.

"You are going to kill someone with your glare," Kiss-Shot remarked, putting an end to my violent thoughts.

I turned my head to look at her. Now that we were at her apartment, she had made herself comfortable by wearing a white crop top and a pair of grey sweatpants. She was looking at me in worry, prompting me to calm down. She knew the bastard who attacked Saki, so she must be feeling guiltier than I did. I didn't want to make her feel that way, so I had to assure her she shouldn't be held accountable for what had happened which meant I had to accept that I wasn't responsible for what happened either. I could easily do that.

"I am going to kill that bastard," I said calmly, masking the rage that I felt. "That loose canon will only cause an unnecessary conflict between Vampires and the Vampire hunters. I am content with how peaceful my life is as a Vampire, so I don't need a Vampire hunter to come for my head just because he thinks I am the cause of all the unreasonable killings that the bastard commits."

"Do you have the strength to do that? Killing and hurting a life are two—"

"I knew I was ready the moment I saw him. Ending that bastard's life won't make me feel guilty," I interrupted.

"Geez. You need to cool down," Kiss-Shot sighed. "Go take a shower and change into a more comfortable outfit. Let's discuss what happened and what we are going to do to deal with it with cold heads. Your whole existence is screaming murder right now."

I looked at my reflection in the glass and then instinctively put my hand over my mouth. My sharp eyes were narrowed close to a slit, only revealing some part of the red iris. A light frown marred my face, telling the world I was the danger. I looked so ominous that I wondered if I was looking at myself for a second. It was crazy what the need to protect did to someone. I almost looked no different from that bastard.

Exhaling heavily, I loosened up as much as I could. Heading to the room Kiss-Shot and I shared, I took my casual clothes out of the walk-in closet. Upon entering the bathroom, I turned the knob to the coldest setting and let the cold water from the shower hit me. My head cooled down, but my rage remained. I just stood under the shower for a couple of minutes before deciding it was enough. I dried my body, put on my briefs and pants, and then walked out of the bathroom with my T-shirt in my hand and my towel hanging around my neck.

I walked to the living room out of habit and heard Kiss-Shot talking to someone. It was at that moment that I remembered that we had brought Saki to the apartment. Alas, it was too late. I had already walked into the living room bare-chested. Thankfully, it was not that out of the norm for a man to go around bare-chested.

"You already have me and you still want to seduce another girl with that body of yours?" Kiss-Shot asked with an amused look on her face.

"Don't spout nonsense, Kiss-Shot," I deadpanned, ignoring Saki who was gaping like a fish as she was looking at me. "Has she calmed down, by the way?" I asked as I sat beside Kiss-Shot.

The girl sitting across from us looked down, not daring to meet my eyes. I was not a pervert—no matter how proud I was of my body—I took that as the cue to put my T-shirt on.

"She has always been calm when you are not around," Kiss-Shot said cryptically, causing Saki to flinch. "But I know what you mean, so I suggest you not worry. Saki was shocked but not traumatized."

"Can you confirm that for me?"

Saki lifted her head and looked at me with her red face. "Y-Yeah, I am fine. The injury I got from that bastard has healed also," she explained bashfully.

"Good to hear that."

Silence descended upon us as we stared at each other. We were quite at a loss at how we should proceed. We would like to erase Saki's memory and send her home, but it was out of the question. Whatever that bastard did to her made her immune to our brainwashing. Kiss-Shot said that it could be taken care of as soon as she made her a thrall, but then it would be useless to erase her memory as she had become a Vampire.

It would be a disaster if we made a Vampire forget about Vampires and live as a human. By the time we knew it, she would end up getting charred by the sunlight or even unknowingly kill someone close to her as she couldn't control her hunger for blood. The most practical solution to keep our identity a secret and keep things under wraps was to kill her.

"Continuing our talk earlier, Saki, do you know what we are?" Kiss-Shot said calmly while lightly tossing her hair.

"Yeah…" Saki answered quietly. "You guys are Vampires that suck people's blood to live, right?"

"That's not entirely correct but not wrong either. We consume blood to sustain our lives, but we mostly buy blood bags instead of sucking blood off people."

"Can you…you know, turn someone into a Vampire?" Saki asked hesitantly as she glanced at me.

"Yes. Hachiman here is my thrall. I turned him into a Vampire in an accident. He could have remained human but wouldn't have been here if I had let him be."

"I see…"

The living room got silent until Kiss-Shot addressed the elephant in the room. "You may have expected it, but we want to keep our identity a secret. Usually, we could have just erased your memory, but something happened to you which made it impossible. I can turn you into a Vampire to keep your mouth shut or I can just shut your mouth forever. Now, what do you want me to do?"

Saki tensed up as she looked at us. She balled up her fists, crumpling her skirts. She had just taken a bath to freshen up but was sweating again. The frown marring her face indicated she was deep in thought. The time passed in silence. After what felt like an eternity, a sigh escaped her mouth and her shoulders slumped. Putting a hand over her mouth, she looked at us wearily. She seemed unsure of what she was going to say.

"Can I just remain a human? There is no merit in exposing you guys anyway. While I don't know much about you, Hachiman is my friend. He even saved my life. I am not an ungrateful asshole, so I won't tell anyone."

Kiss-Shot shot Saki a smile, baffling her slightly. "It is good to hear you say it on your own. I would have suggested that solution even if you didn't." Then, Kiss-Shot turned serious, causing Saki to tense again. "But you know what entails that decision, right? You were clueless about us but still became a target of our enemy. Now that you are involved with us, you might encounter the same incident in the future."

Saki scoffed in exasperation. "I would be targeted either way, so what's the difference? At least, I can remain human. I have nothing against you guys, but I don't think I will ever be able to live as a Vampire."

"Do you not fear for your life?"

"You would die too if I stab you in the chest, right?" Saki's eyes flashed dangerously. Her frustration got to her.

Kiss-Shot went silent before smiling gleefully. "She fits to be one."

"What?" I opened my mouth for the first time in a while.

"Vampire hunter." As my eyes widened in surprise, Kiss-Shot continued, "I am going to call Meme back to Japan. I need him to train her until she is capable enough to defend herself."

"Who is Meme?"

"Oshino Meme. You know, the one who named me Shinobu."

"I thought he was dead," I said in surprise. Kiss-Shot looked at me as if I had grown another head. "You said he was no longer here."

"Yeah, 'cause he is not in Japan."

I sighed and begrudgingly admitted she was not wrong.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal Bowzer

Venerable Immortal Drowz

Venerable Immortal Funéral

Venerable Immortal Keksimus Rex

Venerable Immortal Orion

Venerable Immortal P. Felipe

Venerable Immortal W. M. Jones

Venerable Immortal x_iLaggedOut_x