Misunderstood Vampire Bakasane-chan

Blood splatters before my eyes.

I hate red. It’s only natural, considering it’s what I saw far too much of at the moment of my death.

Red signifies stopping, an end. I remember sinking into a sea of red blood in my previous life.

“Fufufu”

Then, quite abruptly, the scene changes, and the smiling face of someone I only remember appears. They are smiling so beautifully again.

It’s unsurprising that a beautiful thing smiling brightly would leave a strong impression.

That’s why I saw the unpleasant red and recalled someone I liked to comfort myself. That must be all it is.

But oh, that woman, why did she suit the blood-red color so well?

“Tch”

Just as I was indulging in these reveries or delusions, only a brief moment passed.

At that time, the flower that bloomed between me and Ix had wilted and fallen to the ground.

I know what emerged from my chest, torn open by the vampire’s wings.

“This is Momo-senpai’s… cross?”

Yes, the flower that scattered like blood and dripped was painted. The cross was torn, revealing its contents.

So, the red spread around was from the crimson cross given by Momo-senpai. The resin that had sadly lost its red now dangled from my insufficiently cushioned chest.

It makes sense since I wore it on my chest; it was bound to be hit by the clumsy Ix, even by accident.

However, it’s a bit strange for an accident. It’s like it moved on its own to protect me.

Is it just my imagination? I tilt my head. In response, a strand of hair flows smoothly over my white blouse, now ruined with red stains.

“Sigh”

Then, with a sigh. Still with wings spread, Ix speaks to me with a bitter look.

“I missed… or was I made to miss? Really, such a detestable tool… Escaping from the curse of my feathers, must a superior shaman be near this one?”

“Huh?”

“Fufu… nothing, just reaffirming how cool Japanese culture is.”

“Whoa, I didn’t get it at first, but I see! Japanese culture is cool with things like sumo and abacus, right?”

“Sigh, really, unexpected.”

With a sigh, the word ‘unexpected’ is woven. Indeed, that makes sense.

Japanese people are often praised by foreigners on TV for going beyond imagination. Probably the same with culture.

Ix, who suddenly started talking about Japanese culture, looks annoyed, still pointing her wing at me. It’s like that day when a cockroach crawled over the manga she was proudly reading.

Most women hate them, don’t they? Ignoring the screaming Ix and Saori-san, Hikaru calmly delivered the slipper’s blow.

Not that it needed killing. There’s something to learn from the agility of those oil bugs.

Such daydreams. I was escaping reality.

Mistaking the suddenly bloomed red for blood, John speaks, holding the fainted Jane and making a face like he’s chewing a bitter bug.

“So you were aiming for that child… Cannibalistic intra-species eating.”

“Fufu. Oh,

I prefer the epithet ‘poisonous dog-eat-dog.’”

“…I don’t know anyone as crazed over a single person as you.”

“Is that so? Mr. Righteous Vampire. Is being a Vampire Hunter fun?”

“The struggle is the pleasure.”

“Yet you look so bored?”

“Hmm?”

And so, they start talking about things I need help understanding, like carnivals and dogs, seeming to enjoy themselves. But it’s true; John does look uninterested.

That’s right, he looked like this even when he said that struggle was his pleasure earlier.

Hmm, I don’t quite get it, but…

“John. Do you hate fighting?”

Many dislike such things. And it wouldn’t be strange if this seemingly gentle older man was one of them.

John says to me, tilting my head, letting my twin hairlocks play.

“…I’d rather not think so.”

“But you probably really don’t like it, right?”

“Well, yes, but… you see.”

Holding the tiny Jane snugly against his chest, John furrowed his brows in thought.

Fighting means getting hurt. It’s normal to dislike that. Bakasane-chan is a genius, so she’s different. She likes things like fighting games.

But this older man, who seems like a vampire, just won’t quit fighting.

He said something unexpected as he made the shadows, which I had just mocked, overflow like living creatures.

“After all, I can’t give up the joy of defeating evil.”

“Huh?”

Defeating evil. It took me a moment to understand his words.

Wait, but John is a good guy aiming at Ix, wanting to do bad things but disliking evil… It’s just so confusing.

To begin with, where is this ‘defeating evil’ he’s talking about? Everyone here is good.

Something seems off. Funny.

“Fufu”

Look, even Ix is laughing scornfully.

In the darkness, it’s hard to tell the difference in light. Both are beautiful, only slightly different in color. It’s okay to cherish both.

When I was too confused and almost tripped over, John, having used the shadows to place Jane somewhere distant safely, came over and said to me.

“Kasane. You seem confused, but there’s no time for that.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s get straight to the point. Miss Ix is deceiving you.”

“Eh?”

John, ready for battle with his shadows swirling, doesn’t take his eyes off Ix, still with her wings pointed.

No way, this genius Bakasane-chan is being deceived? That’s something this older man would say.

Sure, I always get tricked by my mom’s birthday surprises, but that’s because my birthdays in my previous and current life are different.

I’m even good at guessing the secret ingredient in curry. I’m not easily deceived.

And Ix, she’s the dear one of that serious Hikaru. She wouldn’t lie to people so easily.

I want to believe that.

“Deceiving, how absurd.”

“Yeah, right.”

“It’s just that we didn’t say the crucial thing – that we’re much worse than this old evil here.”

“Eh”

But the reality was unbelievable.

Like the fact that I was reincarnated, it seemed so false.

Because ‘we’ means…

It means Hikaru is bad, too.

“Seems you’ve forgotten… vampires, unless they’re as old and barely eating as that one there, basically…”

A sharp, rising smile marred her beautiful face. Narrowed eyes not with joy but malice. And her fangs were as strong as ever. Ix’s smile was utterly ominous.

“Kill people and take their blood, right?”

Laughing, she rolls out such cruelty like a devil.

“Sigh”

Then, with a deliberate sound of footsteps, I turn my gaze.

There, as if naturally belonging to the darkness, was Hikaru.

No, is this the case? Something is wrong, strange. Because…

Ignoring me, coming to a realization

Hikaru, looking down at me as if I were an insect, said,

“Let’s stop here, Ix.”

“Oh, Hikaru, why?”

“No matter how or what, if it comes to this, we can’t exploit that kid’s weakness anymore.”

“Oh. Too bad. The blood of our kind is so sweet.”

With apparent disinterest, Ix converts her wings from blades back to just wings for flapping.

Standing beside her, Hikaru then tells her,

“Besides, Ix. Your wings are being mocked, you know?”

“Hmm… really.”

“Seriously, such a hopeless child… should just die.”

And then, they dismiss me.

Sharp gazes. Scornful expressions. All directed at me.

Ah, that Hikaru. The kind one.

Why? I just don’t understand.

“…So you’re the rumored Undertaker, the gravedigger?”

“That’s right. Though I hardly ever make graves, I’ve let most of the immortals around here die.”

“Why did you target Kasane?”

“Well, initially, I didn’t understand this kid. That’s why I approached. But the more I thought about the identity, the more foolish it seemed. If it’s incomprehensible, it doesn’t matter. It’s fine to kill, I concluded.”

“…Is that so?”

“Yeah, pretending to be a fool with hardly any vulnerabilities, it’s troublesome. She misconceived herself, and the best chance seemed to be during your battle, but…”

“It didn’t go as planned?”

“Right. There seems to be something more to this kid. I should have thought more about how to kill her.”

Our eyes don’t meet. Hearts don’t connect, fading without reaching.

I don’t understand. His words make no sense.

What is he talking about?

Hikaru is strange, wrong, funny.

“Fufufu”

So, while laughing…

“Don’t you dare… call me a fool.”

I got angry.

“Eh—”

“Tch”