月の下で [5]

In the Moonlight © aicchan

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There was another long silence then. Asmita waited for the others' reaction patiently, repeatedly shifting her gaze between Cardinale and Shijima. Neither showing signs of them going to give him a sermon, but he did catch them trading glances with each other, as if communicating through mere eye contacts—he won't be surprised if they do have that kind of ability, considering the long history they had together.

"... well, what would you like to hear?" Shijima finally speak after the long wait, which surprised Asmita. Not because he didn't expect him to be the first one to speak, no, but more toward the context of his question.

What would he like to hear? He certainly didn't want to hear another preach, possibly a long one, in the topic of letting himself be treated by some humans and risked his identity to be revealed. He can go for the option of answering 'no, I don't want to hear anything' and maybe they can put a stop to this awkward situation and head out to rest in their respective rooms. But does he really want it? Or perhaps he does want a long speech, albeit with a completely different subject than what he first thought—a speech about mates and what to do with them upon finding them.

Yes, that sounds like a good idea, especially since it's his first time dealing with this kind of thing and surely senior vampires like Cardinale and Shijima knows a lot in this field.

So he told them.

And was replied with another surprising answer:

"We don't really know what to do with Mates."

Asmita allowed a baffled expression to grace his normally composed countenance.

"We are a vampire couple, you see." Cardinale absentmindedly twirled the tip of his sidebangs with his fingers. "We don't really care about our mates. We don't have the slightest intention to look for them either. We are the hunting-type, not the settling-type."

"But you do have an experience with your mate, once," Shijima corrected his lover.

"Right, but it didn't work like what you might expected when you imagined the phrase 'fated lovers'. I ended up killing her because she annoyed me to no end."

The corner of Asmita's eye twitched visibly at the mention of 'kill'. He'd heard of vampires killing their supposed mates in order to keep their hunting skill and instinct intact, yes, but he never actually met one of those who practiced it. Not until Cardinale.

"And Shijima never met his, or have any plan on looking for-"

"- that...?"

"-what?"

"How did you manage to do that?" Asmita repeated his question, louder this time. "Killing your mate. Didn't you feel anything when you ended her life?"

The blond Italian heaved a sigh before answering, "It was painful, of course. Like an invisible hand jabbed into my chest and tried to clutch my heart, to destroy it. The link between vampires and their respective mates is strong. Certainly not something that you can underestimate. I don't know if I'm just cold-hearted or it was because I only dated her for a short while, but I survived the pain and moved on."

Silence once again filled the room. Asmita drowned in his thoughts, of what actions he should take regarding himself and Defteros. But even as he ruminated on it, he still could hear Cardinale sighing again and Shijima changed his position, moving as though he's going to get up.

"In any case, I think you should get to know him a little more before you make any decision," the redhead started, "then you can choose one of the two choices: to kill, or to drag him into our community. Okay?"

The suggestion sounded like the best thing that he can do for now, so Asmita nodded. Shijima now rose to his feet and straightened his back. He moved to approach the youngest vampire in the room, who sat still, to gave a light pat on the blond's hair.

"Rest well."

Asmita watched him entering his bedroom together with Cardinale and decided to leave the room when the door finally closed behind them.

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