Again, Hikigaya Hachiman Gets the Wrong Idea

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We arrived at our destination after six hours of travel. Kiss-Shot had mentioned that it wouldn't take us an hour had we run on our feet. She seemed somewhat irritated but didn't grumble even once during the entire trip. Still, she bothered me the entire time by either nudging me or fiddling with my digits. I felt like a fidget toy, but it surprisingly wasn't unpleasant.

Hikigaya Hachiman is not a hopeless man. He just finds his female companion's act endearing, so he can't bring himself to be annoyed.

The mountain we were visiting was rarely visited by people. Despite this, the small village located there still had resorts and onsens decent enough to attract tourists and visitors. Kiss-Shot and I had prepared for camping, so we naturally avoided the resorts. We went up the mountain until we reached the uncivilized area, which was not that far from the small village.

Getting out of the car, we thanked our driver before watching him drive away. The surroundings immediately turned quiet as we were left on our own. It made me even more aware of how eerie the place was. Even though I could run away from this place with inhuman speed, I still found the thought that the driver would pick us up in two days comforting.

Despite being a Vampire, Hikigaya Hachiman can be paranoid too, you know?

Unaware of what I was thinking, Kiss-Shot handed me her rucksack before turning around and venturing into the forest. Accepting my role as the porter, I wordlessly followed after her. I had realized that all of my senses had been sharpened after becoming a Vampire, but coming to the forest made me even more conscious about it. I could hear the rustling leaves meters above us, the movements of the small animals on the ground, and Kiss-Shot's faint breathing.

I found myself relishing the sounds that oddly made me relax. My slight fear of the forest was instantly gone, leaving me with curiosity about what the forest had to offer. I looked around, idly noting the little monkeys on the trees watching over us warily. Some of them were lax enough to snack on fruits and I could smell them even at such a distance.

"I think we should immediately get to the business," Kiss-Shot said, stopping in her tracks. I shot her a questioning look, prompting her to respond with, "What is the first thing we should do in this place?"

"Set up a camp," I answered with a questioning tone.

"Take photos of our outing!"

"Right…"

I fished out my phone and it immediately got snatched by Kiss-Shot. Grabbing my hand, she pulled me closer and took a selfie. To my credit, I didn't look stupid in the photo even if I had been caught off guard. Like most girls, of course, Kiss-Shot wasn't very satisfied with the result. She clapped her hands twice and the little monkeys watching us from afar immediately rushed to our side.

I blinked my eyes in surprise but didn't comment anything. It was weird but nothing out of the ordinary. Kiss-Shot was a Vampire—so was I—therefore it must be one of her perks. I wondered if I would be able to do the same thing. I wanted to summon a thousand cats and pet them in front of our haughty Kamakura just to spite him. He would regret not ever letting me pet him. I am your owner, goddamn it!

Click!

The sound of the photo being taken woke me up from my musing. I soon realized that I had one monkey getting comfortable on my shoulder and another one getting comfortable on my head. They were kind of cute, though, so I didn't shoo them off. I didn't even need to do it as they immediately scrambled the moment Kiss-Shot said she was satisfied with the result.

I extended my hand and was about to say thanks when Kiss-Shot pocketed my phone. I looked at her in bewilderment and she immediately raised an eyebrow as if asking if I had a problem with it. Shrugging, I let her do what she wanted. Moving on, we ventured deeper into the forest. We climbed up some elevated grounds, climbed down some steep grounds, and passed through a river before deciding to stop.

Kiss-Shot immediately told me to erect our tent after choosing the best spot—in her words—and then sat on a rock nearby. I thankfully had the knowledge to do that, so I didn't embarrass myself. After erecting the first tent, I looked for another one and found that we didn't have any. Already used to sleeping with Kiss-Shot, I didn't even bother asking her about it.

"I notice that we don't bring any food with us. Did you forget it?" I asked as I approached Kiss-Shot.

I wasn't concerned about it since Vampires could survive without food for a year but still had to ask it. After all, it would be better to be able to feast in the forest while admiring its beauty. Kiss-Shot turned her head to me in disinterest. She looked at me silently for a couple of seconds as if trying to figure out if I was joking.

"We hunt, of course," she said as if it was the most obvious thing. "What's the fun of camping if you don't hunt for your food?"

"People camp to spend some time away from civilization and enjoy the silence; not struggle for their food."

"What a boring concept of camping you have."

"I bet yours is fun," I quipped sarcastically.

"It is," Kiss-Shot replied in conviction.

I sighed lightly and watched as Kiss-Shot stood up. She gestured for me to follow her before running off. I followed suit and caught up to her soon. I wondered where we were going until she told me we were going hunting.

"Put your enhanced olfactory sense to good use. Smell the blood running in the veins of our prey," Kiss-Shot said sternly.

"We are not hunting humans, are we?" I asked, just in case.

"No…but if we encounter one, we might as well get some fresh blood."

I immediately cringed at the thought. However, remembering the taste of blood, my mouth helplessly watered. I didn't want to loathe myself, so I conveniently ignored my bodily reaction. Focusing on the smell that hit my nose, I tried to discern each of them until I found the one faintly resembling human blood. I did it not long after and given Kiss-Shot's reaction I had found the right one. Changing our course, we headed to the owner of the blood.

When we were in the proximity of the target, we slowed down considerably and hid our presence. It came as natural to me as I didn't even need to try hard to silently move toward the oblivious deer. The smell of its blood was getting stronger, but I didn't find myself that fond of it. It wasn't repulsive per se, but I would choose human blood any time.

"We can survive consuming animal's blood, but it will weaken you slowly because it doesn't have much nutritional value. That's why you instinctively don't like it," Kiss-Shot informed softly.

"Are we going to drink its blood just to get the taste of it?" I asked; curious but reluctant nonetheless.

"No. We are going to spitroast it and enjoy it like a human."

"Good." I unconsciously sighed in relief.

"Now, why don't you take that deer down?"

I was about to ask Kiss-Shot how when she pointed at my nails. They had got longer again. This time, they were sharper and tougher too. I didn't know when I learned it but I found myself already understanding how to control my weapons (nails). Exhaling softly, I came out of the bush and rushed to the deer. Flattening my hand, I swung it at the deer, and let my nails effortlessly cut through the deer's neck.

I watched in wonder as the deer's blood splashed to the ground, idly noting how unfazed I was by the scene. The deer fell to the ground two seconds after staggering. Its head was almost removed from its neck as it seemed I had cut deeper than I thought. Turning to Kiss-Shot, I met her approving look. Thinking that she would call it a day, I was fairly surprised when she told me to hand over the game and hunt some more.

I watched as she extended her hand to the side and stored the game in the air. For the first time, my jaw dropped. Holy shit, she has a dimensional storage! Will I get one also? I can carry my light novels with me all the time with it. What a convenient power! I dreamed about what I would store in the dimensional storage for a couple of seconds before shaking my head and taking off to hunt some more.

By the end of it, we got four deers and two boars.

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Honorary Mention:

Venerable Immortal AsheCrow