Quinn looked at all of the items Layla had brought with her.
The primary purpose of today was to find out if there was any way to either reduce the sun's detrimental effects on himself, or even get rid of it altogether.
And since Layla had such a keen interest in Vampires, as even she herself had admitted that she had grown up reading fantasy books about them, she was the perfect person to ask for help.
She seemed to know everything about them.
Then, his eyes locked in on a clove of raw garlic, a metal cross, and a piece of jewelry.
Quinn turned to Tsukuru, eyebrow raised in confusion, as he pointed at the clove.
"What's with the garlic?" He asked.
In response, Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
"Oh, that." He muttered. "Sometimes, Vampires have a specific weakness to garlic. Although, the exact effect ranges wildly. Sometimes, it's poisonous to them. Other times, it's merely a repellant."
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"To be honest, it's one of the more dumb Vampire weaknesses."
Instantly, Quinn's head snapped to him.
"And being weak to sunlight ISN'T a dumb weakness?!" Quinn shot.
"There's dumber." Tsukuru and Layla replied in unison, both in a deadpan tone.
"Oh, lovely." Quinn replied, rolling his eyes. "Like what?" He asked.
"Well, for starters, you don't need to sleep in a coffin." Layla replied.
Tsukuru glanced over at her. "A coffin that needs to be filled with dirt from your place of origin." He corrected.
Layla glanced over at him.
"Oh." She replied in realization. "Right, there's that, too."
Tsukuru then turned to Quinn.
"Also, some Vampires can't even see their own reflection." He replied.
Layla glanced over.
"Some Vampires can't cross running water." She added.
Tsukuru snorted, and turned to her.
"Hell, some Vampires can't come into contact with water, period."
Quinn turned to him.
"Why? What happens when they come into contact with water?" He asked.
Tsukuru glanced away.
"Eh, it ranges from them burning like acid's been poured on them, to it electrocuting them on contact." He answered.
Layla then turned to him.
"What about the 'invitation' thing?" She asked.
In response, Tsukuru rolled his eyes.
"Oh, don't even get me started on that bullshit!" He snapped back, annoyed.
Quinn felt his headache getting worse and worse.
He felt like he was caught between two arguing children.
"Alright, I get it!" He replied, bringing his hand up to his head. "Let's just focus on one thing at a time! Just give me that damn umbrella!"
Tsukuru reached his hand out towards the umbrella, and activated his Ability.
The sound of electronic interference could be heard, and an aura of glitching pixels enveloped both his left hand and the umbrella.
A moment later, the umbrella glitched out of existence.
It then reappeared in Tsukuru's hand.
He reached over, and handed the umbrella to Quinn.
Still slightly grumbling, Quinn stood still and popped open the umbrella.
Due to it being solid black, the material absorbed the light hitting it, ensuring that the light couldn't penetrate it.
Quinn adjusted the umbrella a few times to make sure his body was completely covered by the shade produced by the umbrella.
Then, to Quinn's surprise, a System message appeared.
[All Stats have returned to normal.]
Seeing the message, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
"Even though that does seem towork, Quinn, there's no way you can fight like that." He replied.
In response, Quinn stretched his arm out from underneath the umbrella so the sunlight was touching him.
The predictable System screen appeared.
[You are in contact with direct sunlight. All Stats have been halved.]
"Yeah, you're right." Quinn agreed. "The second I move, the sunlight touches my body again, and I feel weak again."
Quinn narrowed his eyes.
"Not only would I have to fight one-handed, but it's also a big target for my opponent to hit." He replied.
Hearing this, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes.
"Yeah, good point." He muttered, glancing to the side. "You'd be like one of those video game bosses with the big, glowing weak point."
Layla thought for a second.
"It'd probably be fine for just walking around." She replied, before turning back to Quinn and Tsukuru. "That's a special umbrella. It's designed to block out almost 99% of UV radiation."
Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"'UV radiation'?" He asked.
"It's the radiation produced by the sun." Tsukuru explained turning to him. "It's what's responsible for giving people sunburns. And it's also why it's a bad idea to look directly into the sun."
Layla nodded. "And too much of it can be harmful." She replied. "It's how some people get skin cancer."
Quinn raised an eyebrow.
"Is this radiation what's making me weak?" He asked.
Tsukuru glanced to the side.
"Unlikely." He replied. "The Vampire's weakness to sunlight has always been a more religious thing. Vampires have always been viewed as unholy creatures, and especially in ancient times, sunlight has always been viewed as a personification of god's light. It's the same reason why demons and the like are said to be weakened by salt in my culture."
Layla looked at Tsukuru in confusion, trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about.
Then, realization hit her.
"Oh, right." She replied. "You're Japanese."
Tsukuru shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Half-Japanese, actually." He replied.
Layla and Tsukuru then both looked down at the sun cream in her hand.
"You really think that's gonna work?" He asked, looking up from the sun cream to her. "I can't recall a single time a Vampire has used sunscreen to avoid the detrimental effects of sunlight in any form of media."
Layla let out a sigh.
"Yeah, me neither." She replied. "But it's worth a try."
Tsukuru glanced away.
"'It's not stupid if it works', right?" He asked, repeating a quote he had heard before.
Layla nodded.
"Right." She replied.
Tsukuru then watched as Layla walked over to Quinn.
She squirted some of the cream into her hand.
"Ready, Quinn?" She asked.
Quinn gulped, and his face went a little red from thinking about Layla applying the sun cream to his body.
Now that Layla was out of her school uniform, Quinn realized that she was kinda cute.
So what if she seemed a little strange, and knew a bit too muchabout Vampires?
Everyone had some sort of geeky thing they were obsessed with.
As Quinn glanced over at Tsukuru, he couldn't help but think back to the rows of "figurines" lining his desk in their dorm as he thought this.
It was then that Quinn felt something cold on his leg.
Layla had taken Quinn's silence as a "yes", and had started to apply the cream.
She covered all of the exposed parts on his body.
Afterwards, she placed the pair of black sunglasses over Quinn's eyes.
"Sorry." She replied. "I can't apply the sun cream directly to your eyes."
Layla then took a step back.
"Well?" She asked. "Anything?"
Tsukuru stared at Quinn intently.
But no longer how long he stared, the System message telling Quinn that he was no longer being affected by direct sunlight didn't appear.
"I still feel exactly the same." Quinn replied, him still feeling hot and weak under the sunlight. "This stupid cream didn't help at all!"
Hearing this, Layla's shoulders slumped in disappointment.
Honestly, on some level, Quinn was glad the sun cream hadn't worked.
The idea of having to apply sun cream to his body every day made him grimace.
Additionally, the cream would wear off at some point, too.
Quinn cringed at the idea of having to ask his opponent in the middle of a fight to stop so he could apply sun cream to himself.
He cringed even harder as he imagined asking Vorden to apply the sun cream in the spots that he couldn't reach.
Quinn was broken from his musings, as Tsukuru spoke up.
"Well, at least you don't have to worry about getting a sunburn today." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
Both Quinn and Layla turned to him.
They honestly couldn't tell if Tsukuru was joking or not.