“Three minutes.”
It’s Sunday, and I’m at the local temple where I play shōgi with the old men. The temple is tucked in the back of a woodsy park here in Himeji, and the players are nice. Harmless. I haven’t been in two Sundays because of the gala and then dinner at Sora’s house.
Hiroyuki—he runs the matches—told me someone new is vying for the top spot. A young vampire has started coming each week, and he’s already beaten the two best players beneath me. I have to play him today to potentially reclaim my spot. Just as I’m beginning to wonder where the hell he is, I realize someone is standing over me. I look up. My jaw drops.
“Haruka?”
He blinks his owly, burgundy eyes. I swear they’re always glowing. “Hello, Doctor Davies. What a nice surprise.”
“I didn’t know you played shōgi?” He sits on the cushion across from me, with the shōgi board in between us.
“Of course, I have played privately, in the past,” he says, neatly folding his long legs. “Never competitively, like this. I am here at your recommendation. Remember?”
I think back to our last conversation. It was only a few weeks ago, but it feels like forever. “Right. Getting out and doing something you enjoy…” I frown, because I’m an idiot and realize we’re speaking English. I have never spoken to Haruka in English before this moment. “How did you know I spoke English?”
Haruka casually pushes the sleeves to his black jumper up his forearms, examining the board. “Your last name is Davies. And Sora told me that you transferred here from England. You always initiate conversation in Japanese. Is that your preferred language?”
“I—No. It’s fine—”
“Ready—start!” Hiroyuki calls out. There’s a hush of concentration over the room.
“Shall we begin?” Haruka smiles coolly. The confidence radiating from him is thick.
I nod. Confident myself. “Yes, let’s.”
I’m exhausted by the end of the tournament. I literally have a headache. But I ask Haruka if he’s willing to have a cup of tea with me at a nearby café. It’s built into the temple grounds, and a lot of the tourney players go there afterward. There’s a garden, a bamboo grove and a lovely rock waterfall outside the open patio. It’s a very peaceful, Zen atmosphere.
Once we’re sitting and we both have our tea, I share the good news. “I plan to submit the proposal to Junichi this week. My goal is Wednesday. I still have a lot of finite details to work through, but if he approves, we could launch the test program as early as December.”
He smiles, and it reaches his mesmerizing eyes. “That is wonderful news. You were able to complete the proposal in an impressive amount of time.”
I shrug. I’ve been making the most of all these sleepless nights. “I know it’s important to you and Nino, and I’ve been thinking about doing this for so long. Junichi helped me a lot, too.”
“Junichi is an impressive vampire,” Haruka says, bringing his teacup to his mouth. I nod. He really is. After our first phone conversation, I searched him on the Internet. I don’t know why I hadn’t thought to do that before. Junichi is a private designer with notable clients all across the world. There were pictures of him with politicians and celebrities I actually recognize—historical figures as well. He made an outfit for David Bowie, for God’s sake.
He also owns and manages the hospital solely out of his own pocket. The hospital, Gianna Gracia Medical, is named after his mother, like he told me. But there’s also a picture of her at the main entrance. I’ve been walking past it almost every day for the past four months without even knowing the connection.
It’s a black-and-white portrait and she’s magnificent in it—long dark curly hair falling over her shoulders, mocha skin and a bright, wide smile. Sora saw me staring up at the picture one morning and told me Gianna moved here from Santo Domingo to marry Junichi’s purebred father in a political arrangement. His mother is Dominican. Mystery solved. It always is if you wait long enough.
“Doctor Davies?” Haruka asks.
“You can just call me Jae.”
“Jae, what is your biological ancestry? Do you know your family history?”
I blink. That’s a random question. “Well, are we talking racial ancestry?”
“Bloodlines, specifically.”
“Human. My father is a South Korean, human. No vampiric ancestors as far as I know. My mother was orphaned. She… I don’t know her biological ancestry.” That’s a can of worms that I would rather not get into. I like Haruka, but I’m not ready to drop my maniacal conspiracy theories on him.
“Your mother was orphaned…” Haruka considers, folding his arms. “Where is she now?”
“She passed away a really long time ago. She was sickly her whole life, but she managed. She got much worse when she got closer to forty.”
“I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks, Haruka.”
“If you don’t mind my asking, what was her ailment?”
Can of worms. I wonder why he’s digging. Does this have to do with his and Nino’s deciding I was vampiric in nature a few weeks ago? I am not.
“The doctors always said her body just couldn’t absorb nutrients like it should. They tried supplements and a ridiculous number of treatments. There was nothing they could do. Eventually her heart failed.”
He’s nodding and obviously thinking about something. I decide to take advantage of his silence. “How… did you and Nino get together? How did you know he was right for you?”
The process of creating vampire bonds is explicitly concealed from human culture. It’s incredible how they manage it, as there are literally no written documents or research on the topic. For all I know, Nino and two other vampires did a flamboyant mating dance in front of Haruka and he chose the one he liked the most.
Or vice versa, I suppose. I can’t easily picture Haruka doing a mating dance. If he did, it’d be glorious—with silk and flowing robes… Actually, I think I would quite like to see that.
Jokes aside, everyone assumes sex or feeding is involved. You’d think someone would have officially spilled the beans somewhere along the way. Some aspects of vampire culture are very private like this. No stinky humans allowed.
“Everything between Nino and me felt natural when we met. We openly communicated with each other and submitted to our instincts. Neither of us fought the organic pull between us.”
“That sounds nice.” I smile. It truly does. “Is that how it is for most ranked vampires?”
