While Draluc took a shower and got ready in the bathroom, Ronaldo started getting dressed in their living room area.
“John, has he been that sick since he woke up?”
John nodded sadly with a quiet “Nuu…”
Ronaldo frowned, getting dressed the rest of the way. He was wearing a red dress shirt and tie, with black slacks. Draluc’s family tended to have formal parties, so Ronaldo was debating putting on the suit jacket right now. However, Ronaldo decided against wearing it right now, pacing back and forth in their living area instead.
Ever since Draus had shown up unexpectedly at their office apartment, Ronaldo had his contact number just in case the man’s “darling boy” ended up in real trouble. The hunter had the elder vampire’s contact open, ready to call or text him. On one hand, Draluc hadn’t made a big deal about his “hangover”, but the man often had a habit of downplaying stuff when he thought it would only create (annoying) problems. But Draluc truly looked and sounded sick. If even Ronaldo could notice, surely his family would notice too right? And if they didn’t think it was a big deal, maybe it was some vampire illness that he has no business knowing about.
Ronaldo’s mind kept going in circles. Before he could make the decision to contact Draus, Draluc exited the bathroom at that moment, fully dressed and ready to go.
“Let’s go Gorilla! We can’t be late!” Draluc shouted through the door. Ronaldo, broken out of his disaster spiral, huffed at his stupid idiot friend. He picked up his jacket and John, and exited the living room.
“I’ve BEEN ready, dumbass. You’re the one who’s making us late”
+++
The trio arrived at the party thirty minutes late. By the time they arrived, the party appeared to be in full swing, buzzing with vampire activity. Ronaldo felt a tiny impulse to reach for his gun given the sheer amount of vampires, but fortunately he had left it at home. It clearly would have been rude for the hunter to show up with his hunting tools. Plus, as Draluc had said before, his family were amiable vampires who got along with humans.
That did nothing to ease his PTSD from the last family party Ronaldo had the pleasure of attending though. Luckily, it seemed like the main pain-in-the-ass, Draluc’s grandfather, was too busy to attend this party.
Sighing, Ronaldo readied himself for a night of mild pleasantries and correcting others that he was never a pole dancer.
Ronaldo walked over to the appetizers while Draluc was approached by his cousins.
“Draluc it’s been so long!” one of his older male cousins, Luca, said as he hugged him gently. Draluc returned the hug warmly. He saw Ronaldo walk away from the corner of his eye, but guessed it was to give the vampire some time to catch up with his family without the awkwardness of talking about family drama in front of an outsider.
“So how’s your boyfriend doing? I’m surprised he came with you after that disaster the first time!” Luca laughed. “He looked good in that bunny suit though.” He waved at Ronaldo.
Ronaldo saw Draluc’s cousin wave at him while snacking on the hors d'oeuvres, and waved back with an awkward smile.
Draluc would have probably done a spit take if he had picked up a drink, but instead he just froze, unable to speak. After a couple seconds passed, he cupped his hand and let out a hushed “He’s not my boyfriend!”
Luca looked at him with disbelief. “It’s okay, you don’t have to hide it from me. You haven’t ordered your blood supplements in a while right? I can see it on your face. You must be in-between blood meals right?”
Draluc face-palmed. There’s no way this party wasn’t going to be a disaster. He had to leave right now if he was going to escape without his loving, overbearing father causing a scene about his health.
“We’re not dating, I just forgot to drink recently.”
Luca scoffed, giving his younger cousin a shit-eating grin. “You haven’t told him yet? You guys have been living together for a year! Isn’t your coffin in the same room as him?”
Draluc couldn’t take it anymore, and covered his face with both hands, red blossoming on his grey face. He was glad Ronaldo had walked away, too absorbed in the great appetizers provided by the chefs hired for the party. Did his whole damn family already know about his stupid crush on that ridiculous hunter!?
Draus saw commotion near the entrance to the party hall, and made his way towards it. No doubt, his darling son was late, and was being surrounded by their family for greetings.
+++
Draus approached his son, wading through the crowd. He was currently conversing with Luca. “Draluc, I’m glad you could make it!” Draus went to embrace his son in a tight-but-gentle bear hug.
“Father!”
Instantly, he felt that something was off. Draluc felt much cooler than he normally was, and he could see the slight pallor on his cheeks and lips.
Draus grabbed his son by the shoulders, giving him a hard look.
“Son, have you been eating recently?”
Draluc was waiting for this. He had come up with the excuse in the shower, and to be fair, it wasn’t even that untrue.
“Geez, you’re overreacting! I went drinking yesterday and drank too much. I had a hangover when I woke up this evening.”
Draus narrowed his eyes, searching for the boy’s friend. “Where’s Pole-kun?”
Before Draluc could deflect, Draus spotted Ronaldo not too far away, sitting at a chair near the wall, next to Gorgona. She appeared to be describing something vivid to him, moving her hands wildly.
Draus marched over to Ronaldo, Draluc in tow.
“Father, wait! It’s not what you think!” Draluc pleaded, following behind.
They reached Ronaldo in no time, the hunter noticing Draus’ tense approach. Ronaldo figured the old man had probably come to bitch about Draluc’s condition, but honestly that stupid idiot deserved to get chewed out for not taking care of himself. He had questions anyway.
“Ronaldo-kun, glad to see you joined us here! Care to explain why you haven’t donated to Draluc recently?”
Ronaldo stared blankly at Draus, getting up from his chair. “Donate? What are you talking about?”
Draus blanched, turning around to face his son. “Pole-kun wasn’t your donor? When was the last time you had a meal? You asked me to stop sending supplements from your donor, so I thought….”
“I....” Draluc didn’t know what to say. There was nothing he could say in this situation that wouldn’t immediately reveal his no-doubt-unwanted feelings, and he would rather die than reveal them this way. Instead, he disintegrated into a pile of sand.
“Draaaaluc! My poor baby! Don’t worry, Papa will take care of it!”
Ronaldo stood there, flabbergasted at their exchange. He knew Draluc died easily, but he didn’t understand what their conversation was even about. However, it seemed like Draus had noticed that his son wasn’t feeling well.
The hunter sighed. Whatever it was, at least it was being taken care of by someone who knew what the hell was going on.

After regenerating, Draluc spent the rest of the party dodging questions from the other family members, and especially dodging having to explain himself to Ronaldo. Every time the hunter came up to him, Draluc invented a reason to run away.
Rather than spend the whole party chasing after him, Ronaldo decided he’d catch him on the way home. They had to take a taxi home anyways, so obviously they’d be sharing one. (Draluc would never waste money annoying Ronaldo when he could easily put that towards his next game)
The party was starting to wind down, and many of the guests had already made preparations to leave. Ronaldo made eye contact with the annoying vampire, an angry expression on his face. He nodded towards the door, signalling that it was time to go.
Draluc sighed, squeezing John comfortingly. John let out a soft “nuu” and patted his chest. Before the vampire made his way over to the hunter, his dad approached him one more time, with a small wine bag in his hands.
“Take this, it’s bloodwine. This should hold you over until your next donor shows up.” Draus said.
Draluc grimaced, but took the bottle gratefully. Bloodwine would definitely lessen his symptoms, but it was no substitute for the real, fresh thing.
“Father, you really didn’t have to do that so quick-”
“Don’t be a fool Draluc. The whole family can tell you’re love-sick and haven’t been feeding. Until you get this sorted out with Ronaldo-kun, we’ve asked one of your old donors to come donate again.” Draus let out a knowing smile. “I was the same way with your mother, so you can’t fool me!”
Draluc pouted, not wanting to hear this nonsense. How his family figured out so quickly when he hadn’t told anybody was beyond him! He gave his father a quick hug before running after Ronaldo.
+++
Ronaldo and Draluc had stayed completely silent the entire time they were waiting for their taxi. The two of them climbed into the vehicle with none of the arguing normally characteristic of them. Draluc dreaded the upcoming interrogation that was surely about to start.
Ronaldo noticed that his partner was acting cagey about something, and decided to start with a more friendly tone.
“So, what was that all about? Back there with your father? He said something about donating, but I know he wasn’t talking about money.”
“Well...it requires an explanation of vampire society, so it’s quite a long explanation…” Draluc said.
Ronaldo crossed his arms, looking at the other man intently.
“Alright, fine! I’ll explain it to you so your puny gorilla brain-”
Ronaldo punched Draluc on the arm, causing the man to sand again.
“OWW! Was that really necessary!?”
“JUST START TALKING!” Ronaldo shouted. The taxi driver flinched, but kept facing forward. Today was not going to be the day he interrupted a scary man in a suit.
“Fine! Fine! Just calm down! Anyways, my father was talking about blood donations.
As you might know, lesser vampires need blood to survive. However, that’s not true of superior vampires. At least, not the adult ones. When superior vampires reach adulthood, they pretty much only drink blood for leisure, like humans with wine. But young, pure-bred superior vampires still need blood, I mean they’re still growing children!”
Draluc paused, sighing a bit before continuing.
“And since I’m so frail, I’ve needed to drink blood regularly ever since I was young to keep up with all the regenerating I do. We can’t just go around hunting humans since we’re civilized, so superior vampire families usually pay a human family to donate exclusively.”
Ronaldo frowned at the idea. “So you guys treat humans like cattle?”
“Perish the thought.” Draluc countered. “They’re trusted allies who help raise our young. One of my childhood friends was a donor. My donor actually.”
Ronaldo sat there, deep in thought.
After a moment, he spoke carefully.
“So… why did your family think I was donating blood to you?”
Draluc grinned. “Why Ronaldo, aren’t we just best friends?”
Ronaldo tamped down the urge to punch him again. He faced away from his friend, glancing out the window. They were almost home.
Something about this whole situation just didn’t make sense. If Draluc’s family already had donors, why would they expect his hunter friend to donate?
And if Draluc had needed blood so badly, why hadn’t he asked him? If he had other “donors”, then why hasn’t he been drinking in the first place?
Ronaldo glanced back at Draluc. He wanted to ask, but Draluc looked tired. Really tired. These questions were probably best saved for another time.

A couple days passed, but Draluc never brought up the subject again. Ronaldo sat at his desk with his laptop open, apparently writing the next section of his manuscript. Sneaking glances at the other man sitting on the couch, he could see him humming along to the battle tune of a game the vampire was currently playing on his Vintendo Switch.
Ronaldo would have been annoyed, but this was the healthiest he’d seen Draluc in the past week. He no longer looked as gaunt, though the man was always ridiculously skinny. The bloodwine that Draus had given him seemed to have done the trick, the vampire was insufferable as usual.
There was a knock at the door. It was still late afternoon, too early for the vampires to be roaming outside and causing problems. The curtains were drawn in the main office where they were sitting.
“Go get the door.” Ronaldo said, as he pretended to type another word.
“I’m in the middle of a level! I can’t save.” Draluc spat back.
Ronaldo tsked at the man, and went to open the door with his best customer service face.
He opened the door to reveal a man at least a few inches taller than Ronaldo, which was surprising considering that the hunter was already taller than the average. He looked up and saw a face that wouldn’t be misplaced on a cologne or fancy menswear ad.
The man wore an alarmingly nervous but polite smile. Ronaldo remembered that this was probably a job, and remembered his manners.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“Hi, this is Ronaldo’s Vampire Hunter Agency, correct?” the mystery man spoke, with a pleasingly deep voice.
Ronaldo nodded. Damn, this guy is probably some sort of famous foreign actor right? What the hell is he doing here?
“Is Draluc here?”
Ronaldo’s brain fizzled out, all processes stopped working. “Uh…what?”
“Draluc, your vampire partner, is he here?” The other man repeated again, politely.
Ronaldo’s brain couldn’t find any words to say to the man, but he opened the door wider, letting him in.
The mystery visitor took the cue, and walked in. Draluc heard different footsteps walk in, and saved his game quickly. It was probably another person with a request, so he would at least pretend to help. Setting down the game console, he finally looked up to see a buff man taller than Ronaldo, probably close to his 30s, walk into the room. He had curly brown hair and hazel eyes that looked oddly familiar.
A second passed, before Draluc exclaimed, “Mihai?! What are you doing here?”
Ronaldo heard an unfamiliar accent slip out of Draluc, one that he had never heard before. Normally, the man spoke perfectly standard Japanese. But it seemed like he had instantly switched back to his mother tongue after a quick exclamation.
Mihai smiled, speaking more confidently in his native language.
Ronaldo felt annoyed at being left out of the conversation, but closed the door and went to sit back at his desk. Whatever the case, this visitor was clearly just a friend of Draluc’s and not an actual customer. John waddled in from the other room, clearly curious at the commotion, before he spotted the visitor in question.
John quickly ran up to the visitor, circling around him and “Nu”ing excitedly. Mihai picked him up joyously, cuddling the cute creature.
[John! Sweet precious John! I’ve missed you so much buddy!]
“Nu nu nu!” John responded.

image credit - Kur0wa @ twitter

[Mihai, really, what are you actually doing here?] Draluc asked.
[I heard about your condition from Draus, so I came here as quickly as I could! Geez Draluc, why haven’t you been feeding?] Mihai glanced around the room, noting his surroundings, before studying Draluc’s partner sitting at the desk. He smirked.
[Trouble in paradise?] he said, pointing to the hunter. Ronaldo didn’t know what the two were saying, but he definitely noticed this stupidly handsome bastard pointing at him and smirking.
[Can you not! Do that! Maybe!] Draluc screamed, covering his face. Why did everyone already know about this already?!
Ronaldo glared at the intruder, annoyed and curious about what was going on. Mihai took pity on the poor man and started speaking in Japanese.
“Sorry, I haven’t introduced myself yet! My name is Mihai, I am a friend of Draluc’s.” The man said in charmingly accented Japanese.
“Oh…Okay? Nice to meet you.” Ronaldo managed to blurt out, manners having rebooted and started running on autopilot.
“I’m here to be Draluc’s donor!”
“WHAT!” screeched Draluc.
The vampire’s face, against all laws of physics, turned bright red. Ronaldo didn’t even know that Draluc had enough blood in his body to blush.
In the span of 5 minutes that the mystery intruder was here, Ronaldo had already seen two things that he’d never seen Draluc do before. And somehow, he felt an unexplainable annoyance at the cause being this new guy’s sudden entrance into their lives.
+++
After Draluc had managed to calm down, he scurried off to the kitchen to make their guest tea. Mihai sat down on the couch, petting a comfortable John in his lap.
Ronaldo closed the laptop with a thump, leveling an unimpressed glare at the guy. “I heard about the donor thing from Draluc.”
“Yes?” Mihai said.
“How does that all work? Did you get a blood draw before coming here?” Ronaldo asked.
“Normally, yes, I would just send some blood packets after getting them drawn for donation. They can be refrigerated and saved for quite a while.” Mihai returned a mischievous look. “But since he’s not feeling so well, I decided to come here in the flesh so that he can take it raw!”
Ronaldo tightened his fist, trying to hold in his surprise at what he just heard.
Mihai saw the other man frown deeply, unaware at just how displeased he looked. He decided to tease the issue further. It’s not like he was lying anyways. He put on an innocent facade before continuing.
“Yes, Draluc needs to drink from someone directly. Draus contacted me since we’re childhood friends, and I just so happened to be in the area.”
Ronaldo crossed his arms, frowning further. “How could you be childhood friends? He’s more than 200 years old, and you’re human.”
Mihai grinned.
“I met him when I was 17! My family has been donors to his family for generations, and one of my relatives is married to a distant cousin of his. I saw him at the wedding, and we had a fun time dancing and just hit it off”
Ronaldo’s face blanched.
“At the very least, he’s my childhood friend. I think I started donating to him not long after that actually.”
Mihai observed that Ronaldo was clutching the side of his jacket sleeve, effectively pouting. He had never met someone whose buttons were so easy to press, he could see why Draluc was so intrigued by this hunter.
Draluc walked in humming, carrying a tray of tea and cookies. He set down the tray elegantly, before handing Mihai a cup.
“Two sugars and a splash of milk, just how you like it, right?” Draluc asked. Mihai beamed and took the cup graciously.
“Thanks!”
Draluc then brought over a cup to Ronaldo.
“Gorilla-kun, why do you look so constipated?”
Ronaldo was about to have a stroke.

Ronaldo was really trying to keep it together. He really was. The hunter thought that maybe this initial visit by Draluc’s stupid and annoying friend wouldn’t last long, and he could get back to working on his precious manuscript.
To the hunter’s chagrin, the other man had declared that it was rude to do the blood donation with Ronaldo present, and suggested that they “do it” in his hotel room later, when it was properly dark outside. Ronaldo almost threw his tea cup at the man for the insinuation, but Draluc liked these cups. So instead, he cleaned up the tea and snacks, taking Mihai’s cup before he was done and depositing the dirty dishes in the sink.
Ronaldo started washing the dishes angrily, but gently, blasting through the teawares as well some plates and cups from breakfast that had been left. Normally Draluc would do them, but he needed an outlet right now.
Draluc walked into the living area and heard the commotion from the kitchen. He could hear the clanking of dishes being rapidly cleaned and placed on the drying rack. Ronaldo was in one of his rare stressed-out moods, and tended to do the chores sometimes to take his mind off things. The vampire had witnessed this behavior before, but usually it was when there was a manuscript deadline looming. But Ronaldo still had a month before his next deadline, so Draluc was at a loss for the cause. He watched his roommate’s behavior, puzzled.
Mihai followed Draluc’s gaze to the hunter, and smiled.
[I wonder what’s got him all worked up?] He said.
[No idea] Draluc replied.
The vampire brought out a tv and a console from the closet, and started setting it up. John helped, handing Draluc the cables. Mihai browsed through Draluc’s game collection; it would still be some time before Draluc could safely venture outside, so they both had the same idea to pass the time with some couch co-op gaming.
John rummaged through one of their storage bins, and brought out four controllers. Draluc smiled at his familiar, and then faced his roommate.
“Ronaldo-kun, wanna play Vario Kart with us?” Draluc said casually.
Mihai waved behind him. “The more the merrier! We could play in teams of two to make it more fun.”
Ronaldo finished the dishes and then turned around. The other two men were sitting on the living room couch, with the TV propped up on a makeshift table. When Ronaldo and Draluc shared the couch with John, normally John sat in the middle with the other two on either side. However this time, Draluc was sitting in the middle with Mihai on one side and John on the other.
Ronaldo wasn’t one to entertain guests in his home, and understandably, none of his furniture was meant for the purpose either. The couch wasn’t big enough for 3 adult men, and he wasn’t about to make John move from his comfortable position in order to try and squeeze 3 people together.
The hunter scoffed, “I still have work to do, go ahead without me” and walked out of their living area, back to his desk to mope at his laptop.
John “nuu”-ed softly, disappointed at not being able to play together.
Draluc petted the armadillo on the head and scratched his belly. “Don’t mind that grumpy gorilla, we’ll play again later!”
With that, the three of them started their Vario Kart tournament while Ronaldo contemplated his life choices.
Why didn’t I get a bigger couch…
NO! The issue is that stupid handsome-faced bastard making himself at home in MY HOUSE! Who the hell does he think he is!?
+++
A couple hours passed uneventfully. In their tournament, Mihai ended up dead last against Draluc and John, which was the expected outcome anyways. Going up against Draluc in a gaming competition was like challenging a famous olympic swimmer to a casual swim. Even if they were going easy on him, he was still handily in last place, even against the NPC competitors.
Mihai sighed. “What’s the fun in playing if I’m not even a good opponent?” He set down the controller.
Draluc laughed. “Oh don’t be a sore loser. You were never going to be a match anyways. And I totally went easy on you this time.”
Mihai glared at his friend with a you definitely didn’t go easy on me look before checking the time.
“It’s probably late enough for us to go, we should get you fed at least a little bit tonight.”
Draluc glanced at the door leading into the main office area, where Ronaldo was sitting, and sighed.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Draluc got up to tidy the controllers, but remembered how upset John looked about Ronaldo not playing.
“John? Do you think you think you could try asking Ronaldo to play games with you once Mihai and I leave? He’s probably not making much progress on that manuscript anyways, and he needs the break.”
John looked up at his master and nodded, pointing at himself as if to say “Leave it to me!”

Draluc went to don his cape (hanging over the sofa) and grabbed his phone and keys. He probably wouldn’t need much more than that, considering this wouldn’t take very long. He nodded to MIhai, and then made his way out to the office space.
Mihai followed behind, debating what to say next to the poor hunter; another quip about the feeding was sure to cause more chaos.
When he stepped through the doorway, he found that Draluc had already beat him to it.
“Oi, Ronaldo!” Draluc said.
“Tch, what is it?” Ronaldo replied, typing furiously. He had been browsing the internet, procrastinating on his work by reading articles recommended to him about sappy marriage proposals until he heard the other men shuffle around, getting ready to leave. He had quickly opened a blank document and paged-down a few times, hoping that Draluc wouldn’t notice the absolute nothing on the page.
Ronaldo finally stopped typing and looked up at his partner.
“I’m going to go…” The severity of what he was about to say finally dawned on Draluc, considering he had kept his hunger a secret for so long. But he continued anyway. “I’m going to go…feed with Mihai, I’ll be back after a bit.”
Prideful as he was, there were some things he was having a hard time keeping concealed recently, like his feelings for Ronaldo. Openly admitting what was usually a private matter for vampires was making him more embarrassed by the second, so he turned around quickly and walked out through the main door before Ronaldo could see the growing flush on his face.
Mihai flashed a knowing smile at Ronaldo. “Don’t worry, I’ll have him back soon.”
Ronaldo was left, staring at the door as it closed behind the gaunt vampire and his model-like childhood friend.
+++
Ronaldo sighed, before slamming his head on the desk in front of him, narrowly missing his laptop. John heard the loud thump, and ran out to find Ronaldo in distress.
John jumped onto the desk. “Nu! Nununu Nu!”
“Oh, John, sorry for scaring you.” Ronaldo started rubbing his forehead to ease the pain from his frustration.
“Nu nu nu…” John spoke comfortingly. The armadillo climbed into Ronaldo’s arms, and then patted the side of his head.
“I know buddy, I don’t know why either.” Ronaldo petted the armadillo back. “I just feel so stupid, there’s something about Mihai that just ticks me off! ”
“Nu.” John said. Internally John was thinking Maybe you need to think about why that is!
“But you and me, we both saw how Draluc was a week ago. He needs this. There’s no real reason to argue against it.”
John crossed his arms. “Nu nu nu!”
“But why does it have to be from a guy like that! ”
John sent Ronaldo the best withering stare he could muster, before jumping out of his arms. The hunter nearly teared up, before seeing John run into the next room and come back with a controller.
“Nununu Nu!”
“You want to play games with me?” Ronaldo asked
John nodded. The hunter sniffled a bit, wiping away dust from his eyes. Clearly he wasn’t crying because he thought John might have started to hate him.
“Alright, you pick the game!”

Draluc and Mihai made their way into the cold Shin Yokohama air, walking brusquely. Mihai had picked a hotel not too far from where Draluc lived, so that it would make their feeding sessions easier.
As lively as their conversation had been in the apartment, the walk had been comfortably silent, the two of them simply enjoying the view of the city and its lively residents. They arrived at the hotel, and walked through its grand entrance. The receptionist at the front smiled and bowed politely. When she raised her head to actually identify the guests, she couldn’t hide her shock.
As an avid fan of the Ronaldo War Chronicles, she recognized this particular vampire easily!
“He’s with me” Mihai said, taking out a keycard to show that he had already checked in at the hotel.
The receptionist nodded, composing herself, and motioned towards the elevators. “Please enjoy your stay, sirs.”
Draluc and Mihai walked into the elevator. Meanwhile, she sneakily took out her phone, and started rapidly typing on Twitter.
When they got into the elevator, Mihai pressed the button for the top floor.
[A luxury suite?] Draluc questioned.
Mihai shrugged. [Your dad insisted! And I’m not the one paying so why not, y’know?]
When they arrived at their floor, they walked down a gleaming hallway, and stopped at a set of ornate double doors. The taller man swiped his keycard for the room, and opened the double doors to reveal a lavish living room, with hallways leading off into other additional rooms.
[I guess your family assumed I would be staying here for quite a while.] Mihai said with a wink.
Draluc rolled his eyes. The vampire walked into the room and plopped himself on the comfiest looking double-seat sofa.
[Let me get equipment, I’ll be right back!] the human said, before scurrying off to the master bedroom somewhere down the hallway. Mihai returned with a red phlebotomy box, a sharps container, and a pack of latex gloves, and alcohol wipes.
Draluc observed as the other man laid the phlebotomy equipment out on the coffee table, and then smiled. “I thought you were going to let me feed from you directly?” He chided in Japanese.
Mihai returned a devious smile. “I’d be happy to let you do so, but I think I’m not the one you want to be sinking your fangs into?”
Draluc had the slightest dusting of blood in his cheeks, before frowning. “I don’t think that’s happening anytime soon.”
Mihai sighed, taking off the suit jacket and dress shirt that he had on, leaving only a white, clean tank top. He put on a clean pair of latex gloves, then tore open a small square alcohol wipe, using it on the inside of his left arm, right above his elbow at a nice thick vein. He then reached for a butterfly needle, relaxing his arm before inserting the needle methodically. He held the needle in place with his right hand, nodding to Draluc. Fresh, red blood bubbled into the long thin tube.
Draluc, experienced in the procedure, grabbed the small plastic vials in the box, and attached them to the valve on the other end of the long tube attached to the needle. When one vial finished, he disconnected it and replaced it with another. The first 2 vials filled up quickly, blood spurting into the rounded end of the tube.
The third vial filled up at a moderate pace, rushing in smoothly like a waterfall.
The blood filled the fourth vial much slower. Mihai opened up his left fist in order to let the blood in his arm drain a little faster. Blood trickled in gently.
“How many should we do?” Draluc asked.
“I think 5 vials should be good for today.”
Draluc nodded, connecting the last vial.
Once the last vial was full, Draluc disconnected it and placed it next to the other full tubes. Mihai removed the needle from his arm and deposited it into a conspicuous red container meant for sharps. He then quickly grabbed gauze and held it firmly against his wound.
Draluc sat there, still, staring down at one of the tubes in his hand. If it was anyone else in that room, they might have thought that the vampire was being pensive, deep in thought. But Mihai knew better. Even though he wasn’t as old as Draluc, he had known him for a good portion of his own life, and had gotten used to deciphering his microexpressions when he was hiding anything that was troubling him.
Draluc had a wistful sadness in his eyes, unable to hide his longing.
Mihai couldn’t bear seeing his friend in such a sorry state. “Is there a reason why you haven’t told him?”
Draluc sighed once more, screwing open the cap to the tube, and taking a small sip. The warmth of the blood filled him with tenderness. He felt like he was going to dust at this rate if he drank it as fast as his hunger compelled him to, so he held back. He took the tiniest sips possible.
“Do you know how Ronaldo and I met?”
Mihai nodded.
“Then you know how that boorish, stupid fool would never entertain the possibility. He’s too painfully straight, and the reason we’re both currently living together was a mere whim of mine.” Draluc said. “It’s not like he particularly asked me to stay.”
“On top of all those reasons, I don’t want to ruin what we currently have.” the vampire said, with a wistful smile. “Grandfather reminded me once, to take care of my human friends. That includes you too, of course. But you can imagine how unbearably awkward it would be, if I told him that I had feelings for him and he didn’t return them!”
“I would never recover from the embarrassment! I’d definitely want to leave the city, if not the country! Goodbye Japan, Welcome Home Draluc!”
The brown haired man struggled to keep his expression straight, a laugh breaking through his serious face. [You didn’t consider what would happen if he did like you back?]
[Of course I did! And I found that highly unlikely! That breast-obsessed gorilla? Interested in me? I would like to know what exactly it is that everyone is smoking, that they’re so convinced he likes me!] Draluc exclaimed.
Mihai couldn’t keep it in any longer, his laugh growing into a deep, belly shaking guffaw.
Draluc pouted, sipping his blood vial in between glares at his friend.
After a good few minutes of continuous laughter, Mihai finally gathered himself, stomach muscles aching from the workout they just got.
[I am one hundred percent certain that he likes you, and I’ve only known him for a couple hours.] the human said, taping down the gauze to his arm. [In fact, I can prove it. I’ll bet you my limited edition signed copy of Dragon Quest 11.]
Draluc’s eyes widened. Mihai loved that game, it was his favorite. He had played that game at least 3 different times, each playthrough at least 100 hours long. [You’re joking.]
[I’m not.] Mihai smirked. [Your poor boyfriend will have his neck ravaged by the time I’m done]
[What’s in it for you?] the vampire asked. Draluc didn’t really want his friend’s prized possession, but he now understood how serious he was being.
[I want the special edition DQ Vintendo Switch, when I inevitably win. They’re hard to find, but I’m sure you could acquire one with your publishing connections.]
Draluc facepalmed, but held his right hand out. Mihai reciprocated the handshake.

Although he had originally intended to stay a short while before going back to the apartment, Draluc couldn’t drink the blood vials as fast as he wanted. Everytime he tried to gulp down a mouthful, the warmth of it would heat up his entire body to the extent that he felt like he was melting into sand.
Mihai initially looked energetic after the blood draw, happy to help out a friend that he hadn’t met up with in years. But slowly, the combined fatigue of losing blood and jet lag washed over him, making it harder for him to keep his eyes open.
“Sorry Draluc, I don’t think I can last any longer.” He stood up, stretching his arms above his head. “Let’s talk more tomorrow…”
He shuffled through his wallet and took out a hotel key card. “Feel free to drop by anytime.”
With that last gesture, he gave the vampire a tired “goodnight” before heading off to bed.
Draluc debated whether he should just take the vials with him and go back to the apartment, but the thought of having to drink in front of Ronaldo kept him planted firmly in his seat. He would finish his meal and take the rest with him. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
Bored with nothing better to do, the vampire took out his cellphone and opened up Twitter. He really wished he had brought his QSQ, but settled for reading some funny memes and catching up on the news.
He was shocked to find that “Dora-chan” was trending in the local area, and clicked on the tag to find that a picture of him and Mihai walking into the elevator at the hotel was circulating, reposted hundreds of times with all sorts of comments:
‘Oh my god, who’s that cute guy with him?! Is that his boyfriend?’
‘LOL, cucked Ronaldo’
‘Did Ronaldo break up with Dora-chan? I’m REALLY about to go over there and teach him a lesson’
‘NOOO DORA-CHAN!! MY DREAM WAS TO MARRY YOU!’
‘I was really rooting for RonaDora as my OTP ;_; ‘
Draluc locked the phone and threw it on the couch. If he had a slim 0.01% chance of confessing to Ronaldo and having it work out before, he had an absolutely ZERO chance right now. Also, did all of Shin Yokohama already assume that he and Ronaldo were a couple?! That was absolutely preposterous! They never did anything couple-like at all!
But he did happen to make Ronaldo a heart bento as a joke, he could see why people got the wrong idea. And the time when he gave him chocolates (just obligatory ones!) on Valentine’s day. And sometimes they even went grocery shopping together (without John) and talked about what to make for dinner the whole way.
One time, that idiot even dragged him to an early premier midnight showing of a movie in a series he had never watched. But Ronaldo was excited about it, so he obliged him, because John was too busy that day.
Yup, nothing couple-like at all!
+++
It had been several hours of playing video games. John and Ronaldo had ordered pizza as a treat (since Draluc wasn’t there to scold them). The armadillo had easily beat the hunter at Vario
Kart several times, and now they were playing a much more low-key puzzle game about snipping pieces of paper.
Just as they had finished a level, Ronaldo’s phone rang. He glanced at the caller ID and blanched, scrambling to pick it up immediately.
“F-f-Fukuma-san! What do I owe the pleasure of your late call?”
Ronaldo heard Fukuma sigh at the other end.
“Ronaldo-kun, I’m not in the business of prying in private affairs, but there appears to be quite the scandal brewing on Twitter. I just got the call from one of my interns and thought I should pass along that information.”
Fukuma yawned, making sure to keep the phone away from him when he did. “I’m not sure what course of action, if any, that we’ll need to take, but we can discuss that at a later date. Goodnight for now.” He hung up quickly.

Ronaldo was utterly confused. Why would Fukuma contact him about some social media nonsense? The elite editor was a busy person, and had no time for drivel.

Curious, Ronaldo took out his phone and logged into his secret Ronaldo Chronicles fan account. He didn’t use it often, but he liked responding to comments from a fan perspective, without people knowing that it was him.
Once he logged in, he could see that his timeline was inundated with comments from fans in the area, freaking out about Draluc. He scrolled through the many subtweets and comments, searching for the initial cause of the outcry.
I bet that idiot is just being a public nuisance, I’m sure it’s nothing serious-
There it was. A slightly wonky picture, blurry at the sides due to how quickly it had been taken. It was posted by some anonymous account, with the comment: ‘This is the cutest Dora-chan I’ve ever seen!’
The picture itself was completely innocuous, showing Draluc walking into the elevator with Mihai being a gentleman and holding the door open. But the picture had caught Draluc right as he was looking straight at the handsome bastard.
And his expression was… his expression was kind and joyful, completely open. Nothing like the smug smiles or smirks that he would often throw around when had a funny prank in mind. Not at all like the mischievous grin he would wear when he was bullshitting while talking to a client or friend.
And it was absolutely different from the sad smiles that he saw appear on the vampire, when he caught him out of the corner of his eye…
Draluc had underestimated Ronaldo’s kinetic vision, and the hunter was often looking at him secretly for various reasons, mostly as an anti-celery attack measure while he was cooking. But although that was the original reason, he mostly looked for fun now. He could see Draluc’s excellent knife skills, and often thought about cooking himself once in a while.
It was less than two years since he had met him, but Ronaldo had really thought that he had come to know the vampire quite well. He had never really thought to put a name to the feelings himself, but he could tell that Draluc had become someone important to him in that time.
Someone he wanted to take along to the movies now and then. Someone who he wanted to learn to cook for. Someone he wanted to protect from the other idiotic lesser and greater vampires that often ended up causing his death.
And yes, someone he wanted to punch when he was hogging the QS5 when Ronaldo wanted to use Netflips to watch a new release.
Hot tears started to well up, stinging his eyes. John, who was already looking at Ronaldo when he had taken the phone call, had rushed to his side, anxiously tugging on his shirt.
What if Drac was always waiting for Mihai? Did he miss him so much that it hurt that much when they were apart?
The tears fell freely, rolling down his cheeks. Ronaldo embraced John, crying openly.
“..John…. I’m an idiot! I’m a huge idiot! I can’t believe it took me this long to realize..”
He took another sorrowful look at his phone. “And it’s too late now.”

After having just a minor, tiny breakdown from seeing the drama on Twitter, Draluc convinced himself to finish his meal and then go back home.
He took the two remaining blood vials with him, and then headed out the hotel door.
It was early in the morning; too late for any of the night life to be open, and too early for the regular daytime buzz to start.
Draluc strolled through the quiet streets, thinking about his next move. Nobody else was walking around, and an eerie fog had settled, giving the city an abandoned look.
I’m sure Ronaldo will just brush this off as the fans being too excitable. It has nothing to do with him anyways.
Draluc imagined the hunter’s reaction, and chuckled. Now that he wasn’t starving and had a moment to relax, he realized there was nothing to be worried about at all.
Ronaldo had probably just huffed at how Draluc was getting all the attention for simply existing in town, and rolled his eyes about how wrong people were about the relationship between the two.
Everything would be just fine, he just had to brush it off in a similar fashion until they both forgot about this.
Smiling at the thought, he arrived in front of their main office door.
He took a deep breath, and then opened the door slowly. Nobody was in the office area, so he walked into the living room.
He found Ronaldo curled up on the couch, cuddling John. Draluc couldn’t help feeling fondness well up inside him, and went to get a blanket for the two. They had clearly stayed up most of the night playing games and eating junk food, leaving a mess of pizza crumbs everywhere.
He would chastise them for that later.
He retrieved a blanket from the closet, and approached the couch. Draluc gently laid the blanket over the two, and tucked John in. Once he got closer, he noticed the tear tracks on Ronaldo’s face.
Draluc brushed Ronaldo’s bangs out of the way to get a better look. The hunter had a prevalent scowl even in his sleep, and didn’t seem to be getting much rest.
Don’t tell me that little “scandal” upset him that much?
The vampire sighed. Normally he wouldn’t have minded rubbing his popularity in the hunter’s face, but nothing about this situation was normal. Now was not the time to add gasoline to the fire and try to address the issue.
He glanced at the window. John had remembered to draw the curtains when he went to bed, but he could tell the sun was just barely rising.
Draluc decided to get a headstart on making breakfast, something a little more lavish than he would make. He walked into the kitchen, and started quietly prepping ingredients.
Ronaldo, scowling in his sleep, heard the familiar sounds of the kitchen and relaxed, drifting off further into his dreams…
+++
Ronaldo woke up with a start, and checked his phone immediately. It was late in the morning, almost noon, and he still hadn’t received any messages from Draluc. He noticed that John had gotten up before him, and rose from the couch, peering over the back.
The coffin was securely closed, as it usually was during the day. Draluc had come back.
Ronaldo sighed, relieved that the vampire had come home. He had been half-worried that maybe the Draluc would have realized his long lost love for his childhood friend, and had already made the decision to move out, packing his bags during the night.
He wouldn’t have the chance to talk to the idiot until it was evening, but Ronaldo knew that he was getting absolutely nothing done today anyways.
He got up from the couch fully, and spotted food on the dining table. Normally Draluc made something quick and nutritious for both him and John, insisting that they keep a normal meal schedule.

But today was different, as everything had been in the past 2 days. On the table was an elegant full course meal, complete with scrambled eggs, a flatbread pastry dish with veggies in it, sliced bread, and an assortment of spreads. He had even set out some cut fruit in a cup.

As far as Ronaldo knew, Draluc only went to this level of effort when there was something he really wanted, or when he was in a really good mood.
His heart sank. There was no explanation other than the obvious one. He didn’t want to hear it, but Draluc would probably announce his intention to leave soon enough. He sat down at the table and grabbed the cutlery. Ronaldo carefully cut into the pastry and took a bite.
A wonderful assortment of flavors burst into his mouth, mixed in ways he wasn’t familiar with. It was probably a dish from Draluc’s home country. Whatever it was, he could feel the blissful nostalgia in each bite.
If Ronaldo had any tears left to cry, the waterworks might have started up again. But the well was empty and dry. But his heart rose just a bit, resolved.
If he really, truly loved Draluc, then he had to let him go. He couldn’t stand in the way of his happiness.
+++
Draluc awoke in the evening, slightly exhausted from staying up late making breakfast. He grabbed his phone from underneath his pillow to check for messages.
Mihai: [Hey! While I’m here, let’s go do some sightseeing! Which places should we visit?]
Underneath Mihai’s message, a deluge of links to the official Yokohama tourism site were posted. The man was definitely scheming, but the vampire didn’t know what his friend’s plan was, especially after all of that buzz yesterday. Being seen together in public again would be sure to cause further misunderstandings and mayhem online for the Ronasen fans and Ronaldo.
But perhaps it didn’t factor at all into his plans, Mihai probably just wanted to really go tour the area after coming such a long way out.
Draluc smiled, and texted him back. He would play this cool, and it seemed like a fun distraction. Surely Ronaldo wouldn’t begrudge him a couple days off from work (he wasn’t even a hunter anyways) when his childhood friend was in town.
After finishing the texts, he lifted the lid off the coffin and climbed out.
John was sitting on the couch, reading a book. After hearing his master wake, he excitedly climbed the couch, and “nuu”-ed good evening.
“John, how was it last night?”
“Nu-nu-nu” John replied, shaking his head with his arms crossed.

“That bad!? He was super upset about MIhai?” Draluc frowned. He glanced briefly at the table.

It was pristine as usual, the dishes washed and put away. The hunter had definitely eaten his morning meal.
“At least he ate breakfast. That’s somewhat of a good sign?” How was he supposed to tell him about his plans for the next couple days if the hunter was in such a bad mood? He was definitely going to be dusted at least a few times by Ronaldo’s hands today.
Draluc went to the bath to get washed and dressed in his regular attire, and then paced around the apartment. The hunter wasn’t anywhere to be found, so he was probably out on assignment.
After getting bored of simply waiting, Draluc took out his QSQ and sat on one of the couches in the office area. John followed and was cuddled up to him on the couch, reading his book.
Sure enough, not even 15 minutes had passed when Ronaldo had returned.
“I’m home!” Ronaldo said out of sheer habit, not really expecting a response.
“W-Welcome back” Draluc responded, struggling to keep a normal, casual expression on his face. Seeing Ronaldo in the flesh thoroughly brought back the embarrassment from the twitter posts last night, so he decided to smile through the awkwardness.
Ronaldo took one look at Draluc, and could see that the vampire looked considerably healthier and happier since the last time he had seen him. He nodded at his companion before making his way to his desk to get started on some official reports to the Guild.
He was definitely being ignored. Ronaldo didn’t even talk about his day, or complain about whatever small time extermination he was sent to do. Normally the man was full of grievances that he needed to air towards Draluc, but he didn’t say a single thing. He didn’t even mention the breakfast that Draluc had worked so hard at making in the morning.
Even if the hunter had a gorilla brain, he usually managed a “Thanks” or some comment about how good the food was (it was always amazing, and Draluc was sure he had outdone himself this morning).
He pouted, but like John had said, Ronaldo was not in a good mood today at all.
He approached Ronaldo’s desk quietly.
“Ronaldo-kun.”
The hunter braced himself. He gathered his courage before looking Draluc in the eye, using sheer willpower not to fall apart at the seams.
“Yeah?”
“John and I are going to be busy for the next couple nights. Mihai asked me to take him sightseeing around Yokohama.”
It wasn’t the worst case scenario he was imagining, but still, Ronaldo’s voice wavered. “Al~right, have fun!.....”
Draluc kept staring at him to see his reaction, but Ronaldo broke eye-contact. “There isn’t any urgent work that needs you, don’t worry about it.”
Sighing, Draluc walked back to the couch and picked up his QSQ before making his way into the living area.
“That’s good then! I’ll make sure to get you some souvenirs.”

Ronaldo assumed that Draluc would be out completely for the next couple days while they were out sightseeing (going on dates). But instead, the vampire seemed to come back home during the early mornings, often right before the sun rose.
He didn’t see the vampire much during those days, but he could feel his presence. Every morning, Draluc cooked up Ronaldo’s favorites, and portioned them out into meals so the hunter wouldn’t go hungry.
The first day Draluc did it, Ronaldo assumed that Draluc had packed “lunch” for their trip to Yokohama Sea Paradise, and had simply made enough for Ronaldo to eat too.
But the food was too messy for a picnic, and it was Ronaldo’s favorite flavor of fried chicken hot wings. He scarfed them down quickly for dinner, wishing he could let Draluc know in person how good it tasted.
One day, soon, maybe, he wouldn’t be able to tell him.
The second day, Draluc woke up a little later than usual, shuffling into the bathroom. Ronaldo heard the shower and tub running. But more than forty five minutes had passed, and he still didn’t hear him come out of the bathroom.
Worried, he knocked on the door.
“Oi, Drac! Are you alright in there?” he said. He heard shuffling and the clinking of some items on the bathroom counter, before the door opened.
Steam filtered out of the room, as Draluc opened the door. The man was always well dressed, but even Ronaldo could tell that the suit he was wearing was particularly nice and fancy, with a nice subtle print and an adorable bowtie. His hair had been styled into its usual style, but it looked like not even a typhoon would break the kitty-eared look he always wore.
The hunter could smell a light, musky fragrance wafting off of the vampire.
Ronaldo froze in place, unable to take his eyes off the man. Without the cape that he normally wore, the lines of the suit drew him in, leading him to scan the vampire down and back up. Draluc’s normally small waist was accentuated even further, and Ronaldo wondered if he could fit his hands around him. Unmistakably, his face grew warm at the thought.
The two of them stood on opposite sides of the doorway, neither moving a muscle.
After a few seconds passed, Draluc folded his arms and leaned against the molding. Ronaldo’s face was bright red, and his eyes hadn’t made their way back up to his face.
“I don’t look that weird, do I? We’re going to a very high-class establishment.” said Draluc.
“W-wha…” Ronaldo sputtered. “N-no!” He turned around quickly.
“You were taking so long in the bathroom, I thought you might have passed out or gotten sick again…”
“Hmnnn….?” Draluc hummed. Ronaldo wore his heart on sleeve, so it was easy for Draluc to read him and understand what was going on in his head. But he didn’t dare draw conclusions from what he had just witnessed. He knew he looked great in suits when he wasn’t hiding behind his cloak. That didn’t necessarily mean anything about any deeper emotions.
“Well young man, thank you for the concern.” Still, that didn’t stop giddy feelings from bubbling up, knowing he had this effect on the other man. Even if it was only temporary.
A knock was heard at the main office door, and was answered by John, donned in a bowtie that matched Draluc’s. Mihai greeted the armadillo, and then picked him up, cooing at his cute outfit.
The man was dressed in a rather modestly boring, but appropriate, black suit and tie. Seeing neither Ronaldo nor Draluc in the main office, he walked into their living area.
“Draluc! We’re going to miss our reservation if we don’t leave now.”
“Sure, I just need to grab my wallet.” Draluc responded. After finding it in his coffin, he took one last look at Ronaldo; the man was hiding his face from the vampire’s eyes.
The hunter had walked away with the pretense of making himself some coffee. The tips of his ears were bright red, giving away the blushed expression that he was doing a bad job of trying to play off.
Draluc almost laughed out loud, but barely kept it under control.
Smirking, he said, “I left you some dinner in the fridge, make sure to heat it up in the oven before you eat it!”
Then, the two well dressed men and a well dressed armadillo left the apartment, on their way to a fancy restaurant in the same district as a Noh theater they had tickets to attend.
+++
At the restaurant, once they had settled into their seats, Draluc studied Mihai.
[Oi, do you have some kind of magic powers that I don’t know about? Like, something that turns what you say into reality?]
Mihai attempted to keep a straight face, but started laughing instead.
[I’m definitely human, so no. The only magic power I have is seeing the obvious. I’ll be expecting my new system to be in pristine condition, just so you know.]
[Yeah, yeah. I’ll start checking around at the game stores].
+++
At home, Ronaldo couldn’t keep himself from scrolling through Twitter. Even though he knew what Draluc’s actual plans were, he felt an impulse to check online to see if anyone else had witnessed the man in his finery. Sure enough, there were plenty of comments.
‘Oh my god, Dora-chan is on a date!’
There were a few discreet pictures taken of them entering the restaurant.
‘Do you think they’ll announce the breakup soon?’
‘I just really want this all to be a lie T-T. My otp can’t break up like this!’
I wish this wasn’t reality either , Ronaldo thought to himself. Were they really so close that almost everybody in Shin Yokohama already assumed they were committed? How had he never noticed?
Although Ronaldo asked himself these questions, he knew the answer. He had taken his partner, and all the things he had done for him, for granted. If he had even thought a little deeper about his inclinations, deep down he had wished that their lives would have continued like this, unchanging.
There were plenty of human customs designed to indicate that you wanted someone to stay by your side forever, now weren’t there?
Ronaldo struck that thought from his mind. Too late now, clearly. He kept scrolling.
‘D/ora-chan’s ass looks *chefs kiss* in those pants.’
Ronaldo was inclined to agree, but he threw his phone in frustration anyways.
+++
The third day of their excursions, Draluc was dressed in a kimono, as if going to a festival.
“Where are you guys going today?” Ronaldo asked.
“Mihai wants to see the Sankeien Gardens, and thought it would be fun to dress up in traditional Japanese attire.” He answered, adjusting the cloth belt. “We’re going to a sea-side bathhouse afterwards.”
“I see, sounds fun.” Ronaldo answered, deflated.
Draluc paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. He took a quick intake of breath, before asking quickly:
“Would you like to come with us? If you don’t have any requests today.”
Ronaldo’s eyes widened. Why was he asking him to come along? Wouldn’t it be awkward to include a third person on their date? He really wanted to just say yes, even if just to ruin the quality time that the handsome bastard was getting with Draluc.
Pushing down the burning desire in his heart to say yes, Ronaldo averted his eyes.
“Unfortunately, I have business at the guild so I can’t.”
Draluc sighed, and nodded. “Of course, it’s too short notice. I hope you’ll look after John while I’m out.”
With words unsaid, Draluc left their apartment once more.
John, busy playing with his DJ set, turned to look at the hunter. When Ronaldo met his gaze, the armadillo shook his head in disapproval.

It was a beautiful, clear evening, with a full moon. There was a light breeze, but luckily the kimono Draluc was wearing was heavy enough to make up for the lack of cloak. Mihai and Draluc had leisurely strolled around the gardens for approximately an hour, stopping every so often to take pictures. Although he couldn’t see it, Draluc could feel the presence of someone , lurking in the shadows.
Draluc really hoped that it was paparazzi and not Nudenium. As much as he was showing Mihai the sights of Yokohama, that was one sight he would rather avoid, thank you very much.
[You know, I was thinking about what you said earlier. About how I might have a chance with that stupid hunter.] Draluc spoke, clutching the side of his sleeve. [I tried inviting him today on our trip]
Mihai clapped his hands. [That’s wonderful! What did he say?]
[He said no, because of hunter work.] Draluc sighed.
Mihai smiled. [Oh really? That’s still a good sign though, right? That means he still wanted to come.]
[You’re definitely thinking too positively.] Draluc retorted. He crossed his arms. [He has been acting differently though, ever since we’ve been hanging out.]
Mihai grinned. [Oh, has he? I’m sure he’ll surprise you yet.]
+++
Ronaldo wasn’t lying about having work at the guild. The guild master had asked him to compile some incident reports for the VRC (as a favor from Yomotsuzaka), and had given Ronaldo the task. Although it was a pain in the ass, Ronaldo really was the quickest and most efficient writer among the bunch.
After giving John a warning not to open the door for any strangers, Ronaldo found himself in front of the Hunter’s Guild. It looked like it was packed tonight.
He entered the bar, and was met with a rousing greeting from most of the hunters.
Ronaldo waved, and handed off his reports, before sitting at one of the tables with Satetsu and Sheena.
Koyuki dropped off a pint of beer for the man, same as what the others had ordered.
“I didn’t order this?”
“Father says it’s on the house!” she replied cheerfully. Ronaldo raised his glass to the Master as thanks, before taking a sip.
“Draluc-san isn’t with you today?” Satetsu asked earnestly.
Ronaldo took a bigger gulp than he originally intended, before setting the tankard down. “He’s out sightseeing with a friend.” He sighed.
“Oh my god, don’t tell me he’s with that good looking man in all the photos that are being spread around on twitter right now!” Sheena exclaimed. “Honey, what are you doing here?!”
Satetsu looked between Sheena and Ronaldo in confusion. “Who?”
Sheena took out her phone quickly, and pulled up the original photo of Draluc at the hotel. “I assumed it was some kind of mistake, like CGI or something…”
“Whoa, this guy looks like an actor!”
Ronaldo took an even bigger sip of his beer. There was only half left now.
“He’s apparently his childhood friend! They’ve been getting along suuu-per well these past couple’a days” Ronaldo hiccuped. “That guy is apparently a blood donor for Draluc.”
“Oh my….” said Sheena.
The group lapsed into silence.
“...But…isn’t Draluc-san your…uh…partner?” Satetsu asked carefully. He had a kind look in his eyes that pierced straight through Ronaldo’s stupid idiot past self.
Ronaldo finished the rest of the glass and then slammed his head on the table. The other two could hear a faint, muffled “Yes, but no!” and “I’m lower than a hornworm!”
Puzzled, Satetsu patted Ronaldo’s back comfortingly. Sheena, however, had quite the serious look on her face.
Hearing the commotion, the other hunters also approached the same table.
“I thought Ronaldo was making Dra-chan his wife, yes?” Ta-chan asked. Some of the other hunters also nodded.
Tearfully, Ronaldo lifted his head to actually look at the other hunters. “He’s a man though?”
Vamone facepalmed. He didn’t teach his disciple to be so dense.
“Dear, are you sure that Mr. Childhood Friend is Draluc-chan’s blood donor?” Sheena asked seriously.
Ronaldo nodded.
“Well then, this is only from what I’ve learned doing my own research into vampire culture, but it’s pretty common that designated blood donors are a vampire’s best friend or lover.”
“Yeah, so wouldn’t that make Ronaldo a donor?” Satetsu answered.
“Yup. You haven’t been fighting with Dra-chan for some stupid reason have you? When was the last time you fed him?” Sheena said.
Ronaldo stared at the hunters around him with a blank look.
“What are you guys talking about? He doesn’t usually drink blood from other people, though he’s been sick recently…”
“Wha-!” Sheena looked aghast. “Don’t tell me you haven’t fed him since the day he moved in with you?!!!!” she screamed.
The other hunters looked just as horrified to learn the implications of what they had just heard.
“You sadist! You’ve been starving him this entire time! Poor Draluc-chan!”
“He’s never asked me though!!” Ronaldo yelled back.
Shot shook his head. “Did you forget that you’re a hunter? There’s no way he could have asked outright without knowing if you were okay with it.”
A horrific flood of emotions started welling up in Ronaldo’s chest, threatening to burst out. “But now he doesn’t need me anymore!”
“Are you okay with that other man taking him away from you?” Sheena argues back. “Draluc-chan won’t be making you dinner in the future if you let that homewrecker steal your man! Grow some balls and get your boyfriend back right now!”
The other hunters started to echo Sheena, drunk off their ass.
“You can do it, Ronaldo-san!” Medoki cheered.
Ronaldo scanned the room, and even Vamone was giving him the thumbs up. The hunter’s eyes lit up, full of hope.
“Thank you, everyone!” He said quickly, as he then dashed out the main doors.
The other hunters went back to their original seats, discussing how dense Ronaldo was.
“Sheena-san, how did you know so much about vampires and blood drinking culture?” Satetsu asked.
Sheena pulled up a website on her phone, and showed it to Satetsu. It was the official “Human-Vampire Care and Feeding Association” website. On it, were several tabs of information targeted towards newly turned vampire humans and animals as well as their caretakers. Sheena then navigated to the “About Us” page, and pointed out one of the founders.
“This is the same man that was pictured in the paparazzi photos. Since I have a lot of vampire lovelies, I reached out to the founder through email months ago, asking for advice about taking care of them. We’ve been corresponding back and forth, so he even asked to meet up at a bar a couple weeks ago. I got a lot of great advice about making and storing blood vials!”
Satetsu looked at his friend, stunned. “Does that mean you knew what was happening the whole time?”
“Oh darling, call it a maiden's intuition~!”

Draluc and Mihai were relaxing in their shared room at the onsen, enjoying a dinner full of different seafood varieties. They had just finished their bath at the communal hot springs, and were wearing much lighter yukata. After walking around all evening in the heavy kimonos, Draluc was thankful for the break.
A small chime played on Mihai’s phone, and he picked up quickly. Reading the text, his face morphed from mild amusement to surprise. He then started laughing heartily as he texted back a reply.
[Draluc, I think I better get going soon.] Mihai said.
The vampire raised his eyebrow. [Why?]
[Well your boyfriend is coming, so I think I’d best make myself scarce.]
“Huh?!” Suddenly, Draluc felt panic rising in his chest, and felt like he would very much like to run away too. He stood up quickly, walking around the table they were sitting at.
He grabbed Mihai’s arm. “You’re just going to leave me here! Alone with that angry gorilla hunter who is definitely going to kill me?!”
“I thought that happened a lot, anyways?” Mihai replied. He stood up and started gathering things to pack up. Once he was finished, he began changing out of the yukata and into street clothes.
Draluc sighed as he turned around. “That’s not the point! Why did he suddenly change his mind anyway?”
[Hell if I know. I want to hear all about it tomorrow though! Don’t forget to call me.]
With a wink and a thumbs-up, Mihai left the room in a flash.
“Bastard…” Draluc muttered under his breath. He grabbed his cellphone, and then left the hotel room to head down to the lobby. If that idiot hunter was caught making a scene with the hotel staff, it would reflect severely on his public image. And Draluc didn’t know what his state of mind was, so it was just better for him to wait where he could see him, rather than cause problems for the poor receptionist.
Not more than twenty minutes had passed before he got a call from Ronaldo. Draluc answered, but it turned out to be unnecessary, as he spotted the bright red outfit of the man in question at the entrance to the lobby. He was panting heavily; clearly, he had run here as fast as possible. The vampire’s heart fluttered at the thought, his head full of clouds.
Draluc hung up the phone, and waved instead. Ronaldo spotted him after a few seconds of searching, and walked towards him robotically.
As soon as he got within five feet, the hunter began to speak, slightly out of breath. “I..I actually-”
“Not here.” Draluc said curtly, as he turned around. “Follow me.”
Quietly, the hunter followed behind, as Draluc tried to keep his undead heart from having another heart attack and sanding right there and then. If he was going to die an undignified death, it was at least going to be in the comfort of their room where they could actually relax without prying eyes.
He used his phone to unlock the door, and the two of them walked into the room together.
+++
Draluc motioned towards the window, where there were two reclining seats angled towards each other with a small low table in the middle.
Ronaldo nodded and walked over, sitting up ramrod straight. Draluc picked up a sake glass from the dinner table (he needed the drink) and then sat, reclined properly. He crossed his legs and then took a sip, eyeing the hunter with curiosity.
From the outside, Draluc looked perfectly nonchalant, maybe even a little annoyed at his plans being interrupted.
Ronaldo glanced around the room.
“Where’s your friend?” He asked.
Draluc took another sip. “He left as soon as he heard that you were coming, I don’t know who told him though.”
Ronaldo nodded again, lost and unable to conjure up the words he had rushed over here to say.
C’mon, you’re Ronaldo the Great! Talking about some stupid feelings is the least of your worries. You just have to say them!
After a long pause with Drac staring at him, he took a deep breath.
Voice wavering, Ronaldo began to speak. “I.. I just wanted to say…”
“I wanted to say that I’m sorry!” Ronaldo said, waterworks beginning. Huge, ghibli-raindrop tears poured out of the man, staining his face.
Stunned, Draluc sat up, leaning forward. “Wha-.... why are you apologizing?”
The floodgates opened, both in Ronaldo’s tear ducts, and his heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SO sorry that I never noticed, you were getting sicker and hungrier and I never even offered, even though we lived in the same apartment-
I’ve never even said thank you for everything, you must think I’m so ungrateful. You always did the majority of the chores even though I tried to help here and there. A-and It must have been annoying living with such a, such a useless asshole.
And I know it’s too late now, especially since you have Mihai now, but I wanted to tell you before you leave, that even though I never realized it before, that I love you. And I’m sorry that I’m an idiot and that it took so long for me to realize.” Ronaldo sobbed.
While Ronaldo was crying profusely, Draluc moved to sit on the coffee table in front of him.
“I know you might want to forget about me after everything I’ve done wrong, but I hope that I can still call you sometimes for recipes or to just chat maybe? I know that’s kind of weird to ask someone who’s moving out to live with their-”
Draluc cupped his hand over Ronaldo’s mouth, and gripped the hunter’s wrist as firmly as possible.

“Ronaldo-kun! Stop, stop talking!”

The hunter sat, speechless. Draluc moved his hands, cupping Ronaldo’s face now. He angled him so that they would be facing each other, eye to eye.
“What you just said, did you mean it?”
“About me calling you?” Ronaldo said earnestly.
Draluc gently wiped away his tears with his sleeve. “No, I meant the part before.”
“I…uh…yeah. I… love you. Maybe I’ve always loved you.”
A happy blush spread across Draluc’s face, as he started to smirk. “Idiot.”
The vampire leaned forward and kissed the tear tracks on the hunter’s face, and then he planted a light kiss on his lips.
“Wh…I..” Ronaldo.exe rebooted again.
“Me too, idiot.”
+++
After Ronaldo calmed down, and the hotel staff had come to clear away the dishes and utensils discreetly, they both laid in bed under the sheets. It was the early hours of the morning,
Ronaldo had taken off his hat, gloves, belt, and hunter’s overcoat. He was lying in Draluc’s embrace, arms encircling the other man’s thin waist easily. Meanwhile, Draluc had been gently cording through the hunter’s hair.
Ronaldo could hear the inhumanly slow heart beat in Draluc’s chest.
“Hey Drac?”
“Yeah?” Draluc responded sleepily.
“How come you never asked?” Ronaldo asked quietly. “Even if you didn’t like me, you could have asked as a friend right? To donate blood. Or drank someone else’s when you were that hungry”
Ronaldo could hear Draluc’s heart rate speed up a bit. He hugged him even tighter.
“Well…” Draluc paused. This was too embarrassing to talk about, but he figured he owed Ronaldo a response given their current situation.
“You have to promise me you won’t get mad.”
Ronaldo nodded.
Draluc shuffled down a bit, and leaned in close to Ronaldo’s ear.
“The amount of times I’ve thought of pushing you down and biting directly into your plump little neck has occurred to me more times than I can count.” Draluc whispered. He then bent down slightly and licked Ronaldo’s carotid before planting another kiss.
“Even if I had asked, I couldn’t keep it friendly. And I didn’t want anyone else’s, just yours.”
Ronaldo shivered. He had never imagined that before, but now he severely wanted it. He pulled Draluc into a searing kiss, sticking his tongue in to lick at his fangs gingerly. A small cut developed on Ronaldo’s tongue, and Draluc suckled greedily. The vampire dared not to waste a single small drop of his lover's blood.
When Ronaldo pulled away, he leveled a heated look at the vampire. Even in the dark, Draluc could easily see how wide Ronaldo’s pupils had dilated.
“Then do it, bastard.” He quickly shucked off his turtleneck inside the sheets, throwing it somewhere else. “I’m all yours.”

Draluc gazed into Ronaldo’s eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation. “Ohoho, mesmerized by my charm already, Ronaldo-kun? How do you know you aren’t under my vampire thrall?”
Ronaldo got up from bed, giving the vampire a nonplussed look and a show of his toned upper body. After a second, he grabbed the yukata Draluc was wearing and tore it off his shoulders.
“Wha-! You brute! You totally ruined the mood-”
Ronaldo smirked. “Are you sure that you didn’t get swept off your feet by the irresistibly charming world famous hunter?” he quipped back.
Both of them stayed silent for a beat, before bursting into laughter.
“If you put that in your book, I’ll definitely find a way to embarass you in the news.” Draluc replied
“Yeah, even I cringed when I said that.” Ronaldo returned.
The vampire pulled the other man down for another gentle kiss. With both of their tops off, he could feel the burning heat radiating off of Ronaldo even more, as well as the strong -thump thump- of his excited heart. This close, it felt like Ronaldo’s rhythm was forcing Draluc’s to speed up to match his own.
After another leisurely kiss, Ronaldo separated and flipped them around, so that the vampire could straddle him. He gave him one last look of reassurance. He was ready.
Draluc licked his lips, before baring his fangs. He leaned forward, suckling a little further down than where he had kissed prior. He bit with little pressure at the junction between the neck and the shoulder, giving Ronaldo one last time to refuse. After no response other than a deep breath, he sunk his fangs into his lover, for the very first time.
Ronaldo would be lying if he wasn’t somewhat apprehensive about the ordeal, despite knowing that Draluc wouldn’t dare hurt him. The very first lesson taught to hunters was to resist the temptations of vampires, as they would do anything to lure their prey into a false sense of safety. He clenched his fists at his sides, before consciously opening up his hands, and grabbing Draluc’s back instead.
Curiously, instead of blood flowing out, it felt like something was being pushed in. Along with the physical pain of the fangs, a deep, burning sting developed in his neck at the site of the bite, and Ronaldo winced at the pain. It wasn’t unbearable, so he bit his lip, trying to calm his body down. The hunter wondered how other humans had been able to let vampires drink from them directly if it hurt this much…
Just as he had finished his thought, the stinging, burning sensation disappeared, being replaced with pleasant warmth. Ronaldo’s mind felt woozy all of the sudden, like he couldn’t keep his thoughts in order. His heart felt like it was about to pump out of his chest.
Draluc finished inserting the fangs, and let go of Ronaldo’s shoulder, licking the small traces of blood off his lips. He looked back up at Ronaldo, and saw the other man completely zoned out, pupils dilated.
Draluc grabbed Ronaldo’s face again, his cool hands grounding the hunter.
“Listen, you’re going to be okay, alright? You’re just having a strong reaction to the vampire venom since this is your first time. It probably hurt a lot at first, but it won’t hurt anymore”
Draluc stroked Ronaldo’s hair, before angling the hunter’s neck the other way. The blood was initially coming out at a trickle, but the venom had taken effect, and it was coming out just a little faster. The vampire licked the bite wound, suckling at the area like he would a hickey.
As the flow rate increased, he began to sip, and then drink, from Ronaldo. The strong iron tang of young blood filled Draluc, strengthening him. There was nothing quite like drinking from the source, Ronaldo filling Draluc’s belly with an unmistakable heat of a living, breathing human.
Meanwhile, the venom had finished spreading inside Ronaldo, relaxing him completely. He had heard what Draluc said (barely), and was slowly regaining control of his mind and body. He couldn’t do much more than grip Draluc closer to him, but that didn’t seem to bother the vampire anyways.
Every suckle, nip, and lapping of Draluc’s tongue against his neck felt like it went straight to his cock. Embarrassingly, he could only grind his clothed dick against the other man. Thankfully, Draluc returned the motion, grinding his hips against the hunter, as much as the limited space between them would allow.
Clearly, not taking off his pants before starting was a mistake. His member had grown erect quickly, straining at his pants and underwear. The more Draluc suckled, the harder his cock tried to break out. Given the strength of modern pants, this was turning into another painful sensation.
“Dra-Drac, p-please. Please. Please.” he panted, incoherent. “I can't,” He moaned.
The vampire snorted, “I can’t believe you’re making me do all the work here”. He leaned back and started undoing Ronaldo’s belt. The two of them briefly got up, simultaneously shoving both the pants and underwear off of the poor man.
Ronaldo jr. stood up proudly at full mast.
Realizing that Draluc’s yukata was fairly loose, Ronaldo reached underneath where it was open in front. Instead of helping Draluc out of his briefs like any reasonable person, he ripped the middle section open, essentially creating crotchless panties.
Feeling euphoric after drinking fresh blood, Draluc couldn’t find the will to care about how Ronaldo’s stupid gorilla strength had ruined his clothes.
Draluc leaned forward again, placing his lips towards the open wound on Ronaldo’s neck, licking hungrily. A little bit had regretfully dripped down from Ronaldo’s shoulder onto the sheets beneath them, but most of the blood had flown from the wound, down past the center valley between his pectorals, and pooled neatly in a little dip right above his abs. Draluc’s long tongue excitedly followed the trail, lapping up the red liquid, leaving nothing behind. In addition, he reached down to the hunters now accessible dick, lazily and lightly spreading the precome dribbling from the tip. That particular meal would have to wait for another night.
While the vampire was entertaining his chest, Ronaldo had other intentions. The rest of his body may have been relaxed, but Ronaldo jr. was raring to go. He would have worked on his cock to completion himself, but something told him that Draluc was only happy to round the bases with him tonight.
Ronaldo licked his fingers thoroughly, getting them as wet as possible. He then reached for Draluc’s slight ass, teasing and fingering the vampire’s taint and perineum. When Ronaldo brushed past his hole, Draluc moaned, enjoying the blissful feeling. Ronaldo continued to tease his ass, speeding up his circling motions.
As good as this felt, they both knew that if they wanted to go any further, they needed better lubrication. Loath to remove himself from such pleasure, Draluc ground down on Ronaldo’s fingers, letting the sweet sensation overtake him.
In a rush, Ronaldo flipped them over, so that he now dwarfed the vampire beneath him. The blood had mostly dried by this point, barely a drop had been seeping from the bite wound.
“Please tell me you have lube on you” the hunter said desperately.
Draluc smirked. “You animal, you expect to ravish me on the first day?”
Ronaldo frowned, and shuffled closer, his dick lined up with Draluc’s. He slowly began thrusting his hips. Pre-come from the two of them created a slick, delicious friction. Every powerful thrust was bringing them both closer to climax, raising the level of heat and pleasure exponentially.
“I’m fine finishing this way.” Ronaldo groaned.
After another thrust, Draluc finally broke. “Wait, wait! I have a small bottle in my bag.”
Sighing fondly, Ronaldo got up and searched Draluc’s tote. Just like the vampire said, there was a small pouch nestled among his day clothes, containing a small bottle of lube and a discreet medium sized vibrator. He grabbed the bottle and returned to the bed.

“Were you.. Y’know, planning on using this tonight?” The hunter’s sad puppy eyes were out in full force.

Draluc grabbed the bottle, spreading his legs, and then pouring some on his fingers. He slowly worked them into his ass, scissoring them in full view of the other man.

“The overnight stay was just for me, I wanted to take advantage of the private time.” Draluc replied.
Ronaldo hummed in assent, grateful for the other’s forward thinking. He leaned over Draluc’s prone body once again, his eager face in full view. They kissed slowly, while Draluc continued preparing himself for Ronaldo’s fairly impressive sized dick (Obviously nothing the experienced vampire couldn’t handle without ample time and prep, of course).
A few minutes later, Ronaldo finished their kiss, sitting back up. “Can I help?” he asked.
Draluc quirked his eyebrow, but then nodded, somewhat reluctantly. He was just about done with his preparation anyways. The vampire carefully removed his fingers, moaning a little at their removal.
Ronaldo poured too much lube on his fingers, and then immediately rubbed them at Draluc’s entrance. Initially, he slowly inserted his index finger, feeling around the other’s ass gently. The cold lube surprised Draluc, but it quickly warmed up in Ronaldo’s warm-blooded hands.
Ronaldo’s fingers were thicker and hotter than Draluc’s, so when he inserted a second, and then third finger and began scissoring them, it became almost too much for the vampire. Each small pump caused the vampire to pant, moaning in between. Just on his fingers, Draluc was already ready to come.
“Ro♡naa” Draluc whined, his body shaking. “No more~ I’m ready”
The hunter was as hard as he had ever been, so he was glad to hear it. He used the remaining lube on his fingers along with the pre-come to slick up his dick, and lined himself up with Draluc’s entrance.
With one more look of understanding exchanged between them, Ronaldo grabbed Draluc’s hips, and pushed in.
Even though Draluc was prepared, he still wasn’t mentally ready for how big Ronaldo really ended up being. When the other man entered, it felt like he was stretching every part of Draluc, molding him into a shape that would remember his cock. And the heat. Even with all their exertion, there was still a temperature difference between the living and the undead. The heat radiating off of Ronaldo from the inside felt like he was being slowly driven crazy in a fever pitch.
After waiting a minute or two, Draluc was finally able to get adjusted to Ronaldo’s size. He nudged him with his foot, and the other man got the hint, starting to thrust gently. They both started to pant heavily.
Draluc’s ass slowly became more relaxed and willing to accept Ronaldo’s size in its entirety. Noticing the lack of resistance, Ronaldo started thrusting deeper, aiming to rub deep and towards the top of the Draluc’s entrance.
The vampire started moaning loudly with every thrust, indicating that he was already close to climax. He started thrusting against Ronaldo himself, matching his timing to make the cock hit deeper than he had really reached before with his toys. Ronaldo felt like he could come just from hearing Draluc, but held on, attempting to make the other come first.
Less than a minute later, he felt the other man clench tightly, a hitch interrupting his moans. His hips raised up from the bed as a rush of pleasurable heat overtook him, and waves of orgasm washed over him as he came, spilling semen against his thin body. Those same undulations in his stomach massaged Ronaldo’s cock, causing him to cum inside the other man. Ronaldo thrust into Draluc one last time, actively coating the other man’s insides.
Ronaldo wanted to collapse on top of Draluc right then and there, but he knew better than to crush, and inevitably kill the other man, as durable as he was right now with fresh blood in him. He laid next to him, angling the other into a spooning position and wrapping his arms around Draluc’s waist. Draluc was already sleepy, so he allowed himself to snuggle against the man and resigned himself to cleaning up in the morning, when he realized that Ronaldo hadn’t removed himself from his hole.
“Hey, idiot, we can’t go to bed if you’re still inside.” He tried to turn around to face Ronaldo. He couldn’t because of Ronaldo’s iron grip holding him in place.
Ronaldo licked and kissed at the gap between the vampire’s shoulder and neck, before reaching down to play with Draluc’s spent dick. “Who said I was done?” he thrust lazily once more.
Draluc could feel Ronaldo’s soft cock hardening once more, and realized that they probably wouldn’t get any sleep tonight.

It was an hour before checkout time, and the two men had maybe gotten a few hours of sleep due to their nighttime activities. Draluc had awoken to his alarm, and realized that they had very little time before they needed to check out and get back home to avoid the morning sun. He shook the other man awake.
Ronaldo opened his eyes at the gentle prodding, but reached out for Draluc, dragging him back into his embrace.

Draluc rolled his eyes. “I feed you too well, you don’t need that much stamina”

“Shut up you hedonist psycho, I wasn’t the one screaming for more after the 4th time.” the hunter said with very little disapproval in his voice and a smirk on his face. He couldn’t stop smiling.
Draluc pushed Ronaldo away, and stretched his back like a cat, before realizing the state they had fallen asleep in. Feeling the certain substance trickle out, he rushed to the bathroom. Ronaldo followed so that the two of them could get cleaned up.
+++
A couple days after the incident, Ronaldo and Draluc had discussed their relationship with Fukuma, and had planned an official press release alongside Ronaldo’s next novel, so that they could put an end to any rumors.
That didn’t stop them from being a shy couple in public, but everyone who knew the two personally breathed a sigh of relief. Ronaldo and Draluc had always been stupidly obivous, and not having to tiptoe around the issue was totally worth it.
About two weeks after Mihai left Japan, he received a fairly large package from Autumn Shoten with a Thank You note from Draluc. He unwrapped it, and sure enough, it was the Limited Edition Vintendo Switch that he had been dying to get his hands on!
He laughed, holding it in his hands carefully. [Babe, you have to come see this!]
Another vampire, who looked about 40 years old in human years, walked into the room holding a half-empty cup of coffee. He had slicked back white hair and glasses with thick, dark librarian frames. He was wearing a golden ring on his left hand.
Underneath his shirt, Mihai was wearing a golden ring on a necklace, too.