Thank a lot for the 250 power stones! Here's the bonus chapter
At 450 Power Stones, I'll drop another bonus chapter.
×××
Friday morning.
Normally I should be at school right now, but today I decided not to go. Well, being honest, I've been skipping quite a bit lately because of the Rize situation, where I had to go save her, then again because of Rize, since I had to teach her some things these past few days so she'd get used to her new life, and today I figured missing one more day doesn't make much difference.
Instead of staying alone at the Takagi Mansion without seeing Mrs. Yuriko or Saya I decided to come visit Rize at her new place.
I knock on the door twice and wait.
"Who is it~?"
"It's me."
"Oh. Come in, it's open."
I open the door and enter the house. The interior is small, with only basic furniture in the living room.
There are also books on the coffee table. The stuffed animals we bought last time are the only decoration this room has.
Rize is sprawled on the couch with a book in her hands, wearing only a big t-shirt that reaches her thighs and with her hair loose. Seems she just woke up recently because she still has a sleepy expression on her face.
"Mm. Good morning."
"Good morning, Arata~"
She doesn't look up from the book she's reading. With a lazy gesture, she extends her free hand toward me, palm up.
"I'm hungry."
"...You just woke up and you already want to eat? You could at least greet me properly first or something."
"I already greeted you. And yes, I'm hungry."
How direct this girl is. Though I guess I should be used to her personality by now after these past few days.
I walk to the couch and sit beside her. She immediately sits up, sets the book aside and takes my wrist between her fingers.
"Thanks for the meal~"
She says that with a smile before sinking her teeth into my skin.
Every morning I come here, she drinks my blood, and then spends the rest of the day reading. That's her routine.
Wanting to escape Sunlit Garden, but upon doing so, she secludes herself in her room... Though I guess it's a way for her to better adjust to this world that's new to her.
After a few minutes, Rize pulls away from my wrist and licks her lips with a blush of satisfaction on her pale cheeks.
"Mm~ Delicious, I could drink you every day."
"Forget it. Drinking me every day is too much."
She leans back on the couch with a relaxed expression she has after feeding. The book she was reading is forgotten beside her as she closes her eyes.
"You're not going to school today either?"
"No. What about you, what are you going to do?"
"Mm... I think I'll stay here reading. These books we bought are very interesting, especially the horror and romance novels."
She smiles lazily without opening her eyes.
"Besides, I have Yuki-chan with me, so I'm not bored."
She vaguely points toward the corner of the room where the floating eye is looking this way. I gave her one of my eyes so she could communicate with me if she needed anything.
"And you come to see me every day, so I'm not really alone."
She says that last part in a sing-song tone that sends a chill down my body for some reason.
"...Well, I'm leaving."
"Eh? You're leaving already? But you just got here..."
"I have things to do."
Rize pouts while looking at me with abandoned puppy eyes, but in the end doesn't insist too much. Probably because she's already satisfied after drinking my blood and has her books to entertain herself.
"Okay~ But come back soon, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah."
I leave the house and close the door behind me while hearing a "see you later~" from inside.
×××
It's already afternoon and the sun is high in the sky, making the heat pretty annoying as I walk through the streets.
I've been at Anteiku until now serving some customers just for fun.
Now I'm heading to Touka's school. We attend different schools for now, though she's planning to transfer to where Saya, Rei and I study because she says it's more convenient or something like that. But I understand her real reason. The three girls get along well despite denying it or insulting each other from time to time.
Anyway, today I wanted to see her so I decided to come pick her up when her classes end. Not that I have something specific to tell her, I just... well, I just wanted to see her. Is that weird?
After walking for about twenty minutes under the scorching sun, I finally arrive at the school. It's a Japanese middle school with white buildings, a large sports field, and students in uniforms walking here and there.
I look at the watch on my wrist and realize there's still about an hour left before classes end.
Mm. And what do I do meanwhile? I should've calculated the time better before leaving.
I decide to walk around the school grounds a bit to kill time. I can't go inside because obviously I'm not a student here and it would be suspicious, but at least I can wait outside without anyone bothering me.
I sit on a bench near the main entrance and stare at nothing. Time passes very slowly when you have nothing to do.
Twenty minutes pass.
Then thirty.
Forty.
I'm about to fall asleep from boredom when my ears pick up a sound coming from somewhere secluded, probably behind the main building. They're voices, several of them, and they don't sound friendly.
I get up from the bench with curiosity and walk in that direction. I'm so bored that anything is better than continuing to sit doing nothing.
'Today's good weather for punching someone.'
Ah...
I wonder when I became a battle maniac?
Turning the corner of the building, I find myself with a scene that seems quite familiar.
A group of girls, probably five or six, are surrounding another girl who's sitting on the ground with her back against the wall. The girl who seems to be the group's leader has a phone in her hand recording what's happening.
"Hey, why don't you say anything? Are you mute or what?"
"How boring you are. At least cry or something, that would be more fun."
"Look at those breasts, aren't you ashamed to have that body at your age? You look like a dairy cow."
The girl in the center of the group has long silver hair and wears thick-framed glasses. Despite being my age or a year older, her chest is quite large.
She's silent, not saying a single word or trying to defend herself. She looks at the ground with an empty expression. Does it seem like her mind is elsewhere? Despite the other girls continuing to mock her and say cruel things.
The reason this seems familiar is because this scene is the typical school bullying you see everywhere.
By the way, a group of kids tried to bully me before, especially because I hang around with Rei and Saya, and though I'm not particularly proud of it, I've punched those kids.
"Mm?"
I notice something.
Among the girls surrounding the victim, there's one who's not participating in the harassment. She's standing a bit apart from the group, sucking on a lollipop with a bored expression on her face whike looks around, it seems like she's looking for something?
This girl has long black hair that reaches her lower back and brown eyes.
Besides that...
I can sense a slight frequency emanating from her. That frequency produces a faint beep in my mind.
A parasite?
I activate my Vampire Vision to examine her, expecting to see the green silhouette that parasites have in their hosts' bodies.
But there's nothing? This girl is a normal human because there's no parasite that's stolen her head or any other part of her body.
So what the hell is that frequency I'm sensing?
Interesting.
Normally I wouldn't care to get involved in this. It's not my problem, I don't know any of these people, and I have no reason to intervene in other people's business.
But isn't that just an excuse?
I like to intervene where I'm not called, and cause a bit of chaos.
Therefore, I decide to intervene in the situation.
I approach the group. The girls are so focused on bothering their victim that they don't notice me until I'm practically behind them.
"Hey."
"...!?"
They all turn around hearing my voice, with expressions of surprise and confusion on their faces.
I ignore their looks and walk toward the girl on the ground. I crouch in front of her and extend my hand.
"Are you okay?"
She looks at me with big, surprised eyes behind her glasses. She seems not to understand what's happening. Without saying anything, she looks at me as if I were a strange creature that appeared before her.
Seeing she's not moving to accept my help, I grab her hand and pull her up from the ground. Then I turn toward the other girls with a wide smile on my face.
"What are you doing to my girl?"
The reliable lie as always.
"...!?"