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.
End Notes:
All the places briefly mentioned in this chapter are real tourist sites I found on the official Yokohama tourism website!