Ex6-2. Hide-and-Seek Doesn’t Suit Me

Author: Kiki
Raw: https://novel18.syosetu.com/n2498fn/62/
Translator: Lilia v4
Editor: Yuriko AYA

At midnight, Shuri came home from meeting the victim, looking thoroughly worn down.
The meeting had apparently been far away.
She unlocked the door in a sluggish way, took the knob, and slipped inside.

“Welcome home, Sis.”

The one who greeted Shuri was her younger sister, Senri.
Seeing her smile with her teeth showing, Shuri very nearly cried, to her own surprise.
That was how heavy the day’s events had been.

“I’m hooome!”
“Whoa!?”

As she said it, Shuri collapsed into a hug against her sister.
Senri, who had little strength, nearly went over, but managed to catch her and hold her ground.
“Geez, you’re hopeless, Sis,” she laughed.
But their mother, who should have gone with her, was not there.

“Huh? Where’s Mom?”
“Nn… she’s gone to report to headquarters. She told me there was nothing more I could do, so I should go home.”

Perhaps embarrassed after all, Shuri pulled away from Senri with her cheeks flushed.
Fatigue still sat heavy on her face.
Seeing her sister like that, Senri asked with worry.

“How was it? The woman, I mean. The victim.”
“…”

There was no answer.
Something had happened, but she seemed not to want Senri to hear it if she could help it.
Shuri took off her shoes and went up into the house still carrying her heavy bag and coat.
When Senri took the luggage of her own accord, Shuri said a small “Thanks.”
That said, Senri was already involved, if only indirectly.
Keeping silent would be against decency—Shuri let out a sigh, then began to speak.

“I’ll say this first: it wasn’t Mom and I who met her. We had a stand-in speak with her, and we listened to the whole conversation.”
“You never know what she’d do. I think that’s better.”
“Yes. Well, it was wasted effort in the end. First the conclusion: the woman was already no longer human.”
“…?”

She said it so matter-of-factly that Senri could not even manage a proper shock.

“Th-then she really had become a vampire? And she showed herself in front of you like it was nothing!?”
“That’s about the size of it. Precisely speaking, she called herself a Demi-Vamp, not a vampire.”
“She called herself…”

Senri could not quite grasp the situation.
An enemy who might as well have been a natural predator, possessing the power of exorcism, was right in front of her—why would a vampire name herself?
They kept talking as they moved to the living room.
Dinner Senri had made was laid out on the table.
Their mother and Shuri had often been out late before, so despite appearances Senri could cook reasonably well.

“She was so shamelessly open about everything that Mom and I were both stunned. I’d heard vampires were weak to light, but she sat in a bright restaurant looking perfectly fine.”
“Maybe that’s because of the ‘Demi’ part?”
“We didn’t ask that far, but probably. She’d become a Demi-Vamp, and that much stronger against light.”
“But half would mean her power is half too, right?”
“I wish it had been…”

Shuri sank deep into a dining chair, let out a long breath, and reached for the TV remote.
A news program came on.
A male reporter with a grave face was gripping a microphone in front of some family restaurant.
The interior was draped in vinyl sheeting, so they could not see inside, but it was clear that an abnormal atmosphere hung over the surroundings.

“That was the place. Where we talked with the victim.”
“Ehh!? But something’s happening there, isn’t it?”
“—Even after the conversation had settled, we couldn’t believe what she’d said. From our eyes she was certainly an unsettling presence, but only in a subtle way. We couldn’t say for certain she wasn’t human.”

Yes: even if she had not named herself, they had the “eyes.” They should have been able to tell at a glance that she was not human.
But perhaps because she was a Demi-Vamp, neither Shuri nor their mother could be sure the woman in front of them was a monster until they saw what came next.

“So she ran out of patience with us for not believing, I suppose. She said it herself. ‘Then I’ll show you my power.’”

Senri swallowed hard.
A tension far stronger than when she had listened to Saya filled the room.

“To tell the truth, I didn’t see anything. Right before it happened, Mom grabbed me on instinct and blocked my view. But I heard the sounds. The women’s screams in the restaurant—and the sound of blood scattering and striking the floor.”
“People… died?”
“Mom said a black whirl appeared all of a sudden and went into every man in the restaurant. Right after that, the heads of the men who had taken in the shadows all burst.”

—And so the tragedy now on the news had taken place.
Eighteen dead, all instant. Their heads had been blown away so thoroughly that identification was difficult, and the smell of blood hung over the area around the scene.
With this, humans would finally notice.
That this whole series of crimes was not the work of human hands.

“Looking back, they had never tried to hide their crimes. The men who were killed sometimes had their limbs torn off, sometimes were stuck on park poles like objects, as if the corpses were being used to play.”
“So there was no need to hide?”
“They have that much confidence in their power, I suppose.”
“…Sis, can you beat something like that?”

At Senri’s question, Shuri silently shook her head.

“It isn’t that we can’t win, of course. I’m still inexperienced, so it would be hard for me, but if Mom and the people from the main house move, I think it would be all right.”
“Mom’s that strong.”

Knowing only their mother’s everyday self, Senri could not imagine her fighting vampires.
She had thought that for a mere housewife her figure was good and her athletic ability excellent, but still.
They fell silent for a while and watched the television.
Vaguely, thinking that if she could help her sister, Senri had taken on the job of spreading rumors online with a light heart.
Thinking that if it would ease her little sister’s complex even a little, Shuri had asked with a light heart.
But now that so large an incident had happened so close, had taking on that work—had asking for it—been the right thing—

“…I’m kind of sorry, Senri.”
“Stop that. I was happy I could be useful to you, Sis.”
“But I may have pulled you into something dangerous.”
“You’re in it too.”
“It’s different. I have means to fight—”
“It’s the same!”

Senri raised her voice, which was rare, and Shuri was involuntarily cowed.
There was a strong will in it.
Even if it was dangerous, being left out of it was far worse.

“Senri…”
“Besides, even if it is dangerous, you’ll protect me, right?”
“Well, that’s the idea, of course.”
“Nihihi.”

When Senri looked pleased, Shuri, a little embarrassed, tucked her side hair behind her ear.

“Well, Mom told me to protect you too. But you don’t need to spread rumors online anymore. We know they’re moving in the open. They probably aren’t rattled at all.”

Being told that what she had done was wasted, Senri sank a little.
The main house and the police had been convinced that the culprit’s profile had not come into view because evidence was being destroyed.
The truth was otherwise.
Witnesses were all either killed, if they were men, or made into companions, if they were women.
From the start there had been no intention of hiding. They had simply done as they liked, and as a result no evidence remained.

“Isn’t there something else I can do?”
“Stay as close to me as you can, so you’re easier to protect. That’s about all.”
“…I see.”
“I’ll take the thought. Thank you, Senri.”

Shuri said it and gently stroked Senri’s head.
Each time that soft, warm feeling moved over her hair, something nostalgic welled up.
When they were little, Shuri had often stroked Senri’s head like this.
Back then Senri had not been so aware of the difference between herself and her sister—
Being stroked again after so long, she could feel that the older sister was the older sister, the younger the younger, and that they were properly family bound by blood.
For a while Senri let Shuri stroke her head and sank into nostalgia.

 

◇◇◇

 

The next morning, their mother still had not come home.
Their father, who had gone to bed earlier than Shuri’s return the night before, left the house at almost the same time Senri woke, saying he had a busy morning.
Because she had been treated to dinner, Shuri made breakfast.
To tell the truth, the older sister was not very good at cooking.
Sure enough, what came out was a collapsed thing that might have been scrambled eggs or a fried egg—

“Senri, what’s with that look. From any angle that’s a rolled omelet!”

A rolled omelet, apparently.
With that, grilled fish Senri had cooked because she could not watch, white rice Senri had set on a timer the night before, and instant miso soup.
For someone who had said she would cook, Shuri’s share of the work seemed rather small, but it was a decent enough meal.

“…I can’t accept this. I followed the steps.”

Even after breakfast was ready and they were both in their chairs, the older sister kept muttering complaints. Senri put on a wry smile.
And she felt just a little superiority.
There were almost no fields in which Senri could beat the excellent Shuri. Cooking was one of the few.
If Shuri seriously studied cooking, of course, she would be overtaken at once.

“If you keep sulking we’ll be late. Come on. Let’s eat.”
“Let’s eaaat.”

They put their hands together and picked up their chopsticks.
Ordinarily Shuri left early for morning practice, but from today she would apparently go to school with Senri.
Walking to school together as sisters at this age was a little embarrassing for Senri, but the happiness outweighed it.
And not only that: she would take time off kendo as well, and stay close as a bodyguard.

“Sis, you said you’d protect me, but you didn’t have to skip club.”
“I do club to gain the strength to protect someone. Prioritizing training at the critical moment would be putting the cart before the horse.”
“Isn’t a tournament coming up?”
“I’m not interested in rankings anyway.”

If someone from the same club had heard that, they might have hit her.
But it was probably her true feeling.
She did it only because it was necessary, not because it was what she truly wanted.
At the very least, Shuri’s wish to protect Senri was real.

“Or was it a nuisance, having me cling to you, Senri?”
“Not that, but… well, if you say so, I won’t worry about it.”
“Yes. Don’t.”

Shuri smiled gently.
The expression was, if one had to say it, somehow transcendent.
It was the smile of someone who had lived with values fatally different from Senri’s, directed from above to below without meaning to—not out of spite, not even consciously, but looking down all the same.
It made Senri feel that her hand would not reach, that the distance was far too great.
However much they temporarily recovered the sense of family, unless their fundamental positions changed, she and her sister would not meet.
Carrying a bite of Shuri’s poorly made omelet to her mouth, Senri thought that.

 

◇◇◇

 

Even with a vampire’s hand drawing near, daily life did not change dramatically.
Before morning homeroom the classroom was as always, students split into groups and making a racket.
Saya approached Senri as usual after she hung her bag on the hook beside her desk.
More occult talk, Senri supposed.
She turned toward her and said “Morning,” and then stopped dead at the sight of her face.
There was a sense of wrongness.
The hairstyle and the thick glasses were the same, but something was clearly different.

“Saya, are you wearing makeup?”
“…Y-yes.”

Just makeup around the eyes and tidy brows changed the impression considerably.
The freckles were fainter too, and perhaps because of glossy lip gloss, her expression looked unexpectedly grown-up.
On top of that, her reaction was meek.
She was almost like a proper girl.

“How… is it? I… I-I did my best, in my own way.”

And she had even said “I.”
Senri clutched her head.
She had thought that, Saya of all people, such a thing was absolutely impossible at least while they were still in high school.
Flushed cheeks, speech that was trying to sound feminine, and sudden makeup.
This was probably unmistakable.
Even Senri, who had no connection to such things, could tell.

“Don’t tell me you got someone you like?”
“Wha—wha-wha-wha! As if that could happen to me of all people! I-I only happened to become acquainted with a rather beautiful person, and they taught me makeup, that is all!”
“A beautiful person? So it’s a woman?”
“Mm, precisely. Therefore not someone I like, but someone so beautiful she is far beyond my station, who was nevertheless extremely kind, and for whom I developed the tiniest bit of admiration…”
“Huhn. It’s rare for you to go that far, Saya. Must be something.”
“It was a beauty that fairly surpassed the human.”

Saya was so exaggerated that Senri nearly burst out laughing.
Still, with good raw material, makeup made her a pretty girl enough to stand out a little even in class.
If she fixed the messy hair and the Showa-era glasses, she would probably be cute enough for boys to confess to her.
The person herself, however, seemed to have not the slightest interest in boys’ confessions.

“But you’re basically an indoor type, Saya. Where did you meet a beauty like that?”
“By chance. I went to the convenience store, and she spoke to me inside…”
“She came to you?”
“If you wear makeup you will absolutely become cute; you are already cute enough; please let me do it. At first I was wary, thinking it was a pickup, but she was the same sex and did not seem a bad person, so I went along.”
“And she did your makeup there.”
“And I received the tools on the condition that I would ‘come to see her again.’”

The story was far too convenient. Senri found it suspicious.

“…Isn’t that sketchy?”

Saya seemed to have thought the same. She put a hand to her chin and considered.

“Indeed, as you say, Senri. Honestly, the distance is close, or rather, more than the makeup, I have the sense that she is interested in me, if I had to put it…”
“She’s a dangerous person. You shouldn’t get too into it.”
“That said, I don’t feel bad about it either.”
“Saya’s about to open a new door… all right, I get it. I’ll watch warmly from a great distance!”
“N-no, it isn’t like that!”

Saya hurried to explain, but having already used the word “admiration,” she had little persuasive force.
A beauty even women would fall for—imagining what that woman looked like, Senri suddenly recalled yesterday’s conversation.

“Hey, Saya, doesn’t that sound kind of… Carmilla-ish?”
“Hahaha! You don’t mean to say that person is a vampire? Such an occultic notion is unlike you, Senri.”
“But come on, a huge incident just happened yesterday!”

Eighteen men’s heads had burst without warning, all of them dying instantly.
The bizarre phenomenon had shocked the whole country.
Even students who normally never talked about the news were discussing the case with uneasy faces.
Some even said, “Maybe vampires really exist?”—striking the truth itself.
But Saya laughed and denied it.

“Even if she were Carmilla, I have never heard of a Carmilla who has a male lover.”
“A male lover?”
“Over the phone, that is, but I heard her speaking with a man who seemed to be her boyfriend. Therefore there is no chance of opening a new door, and she is not a vampire.”
“I see… then I guess it’s all right.”

Senri was no expert and could not say for sure, but if the woman had a male lover, there was probably no need to worry.
The Demi-Vamps were continuing to kill only men without mercy.
They had not left a single wound on women.
Well, the possibility that Saya was being targeted as a woman who already had a boyfriend was not zero, but—

“Just be careful, okay?”
“How many times must I say there’s no need to worry…”

Saya sulked a little at Senri’s persistence.
Soon after, the homeroom teacher entered the classroom, and the chime rang at the same time.
Homeroom began.
Another unchanged day went by.

 

◇◇◇

 

After school, Senri headed for the school gate, where she was supposed to meet Shuri.
She had been on cleaning duty, so she was a little late.
She took her shoes from the shoe cubby and trotted out into the yard.
Even with a muffler and a coat, the winter wind found gaps and stabbed the skin.
The moment she was outside she hugged herself with both arms and shivered.
Repeating “Cold, cold” to herself, she headed for Shuri, visible in the distance.

“Siiis! Sorry, sorry, I was on cleaning duty so I got late… wait, were you on the phone with someone?”

The instant Senri called out, Shuri put her phone away in her bag.

“Yes. It was Mom.”
“What’d she say?”

Shuri spoke in a muffled voice, her brows drawn down in a troubled look.

“She said she’s going to Romania.”
“Ru-ma-ni-a?”

Senri’s head tipped to one side with a little clunk.
For an instant her mind could not understand what the word meant.
Then she realized it was a country, and was as confused as her sister.

“Romania… the one in Europe? Not a shop with that name!?”
“Yeah…”
“Why would she go somewhere like that!?”

In the clear winter air, a loud voice carried well.
People around them looked startled and all turned toward the two of them.
They had not meant to attract attention; the volume had come out on reflex.
Senri felt awkward and let out an involuntary “Ugh.”
Unable to watch, Shuri took her hand and started walking, to get them away from there for now.

“Sis, sorry. It was so sudden I kind of lost it.”
“It’s all right. I had a similar reaction when I heard it.”
“But why Romania again?”

The incidents were happening here, in Japan.
With the number of dead still rising, there should have been no room for a European trip.
Of course Senri did not think it was a mere trip, but having no interest in the occult, she had no way of knowing what connection vampires had to Romania.

“Because it’s the birthplace of vampire lore, there are more specialists there, apparently. After yesterday, the main house judged that our current strength can’t stand against Demi-Vamps, so they’re sending Mom.”
“That main house has enough influence to have connections in Europe too.”
“Seems so. I was surprised myself. I’d always thought they were just unpleasant old men sitting around looking important.”

Shuri spat it out, displeased.
From that tone, she did not think much of the organization called “the main house” either.
If not for that strange power, she might not have wanted the role at all.

“Anyway, that means Mom won’t be able to come home for a while.”
“Does Dad know?”
“It looks like he was contacted first. Our parents get along surprisingly well, even so.”
“Nihihi. Yeah, pathetic Dad and pushy Mom make a pair.”

The Shirogane father was a typical adopted son-in-law.
If their mother’s family was that high-status organization called the main house, his position would be all the more cramped.
Still, he worked without a single complaint to support the household, which was admirable.
Their mother often scolded their pathetic father, but the children knew the two of them were a close couple all the same.

They kept talking about their parents and arrived at the station before they knew it.
They passed the ticket gates, barely made a heated car, and let out a breath of relief.
In a train packed nearly full, Senri worked her phone while hanging from a strap, and Shuri gazed wearily out the window.
It was about twenty minutes to their home station.
In that time there was almost no conversation between them.

When they left the station and walked under the cold sky again, a patrol car approached from ahead.
Through the windshield they could see a familiar woman.

“Yaho. Cold today, isn’t it.”

The side window opened, and Kana appeared, waving her hand.
Perhaps because it had been a while, Shuri’s eyes lit up the moment she saw her face.

“Kana! It’s been so long! Have you been well!?”
“Whoa, Shuri’s with you today. Rare. I’m fine, yeah—my bosses always say energy is my only selling point.”
“That’s not true. Your brightness is a selling point too.”
“Ahhahaha, Shuri, that isn’t a save at all!”

Because it had been a while, the talk was lively, and the two of them were chattering away.
Left faintly outside the mosquito net, Senri looked into the car with nothing to do.
She happened to meet the eyes of the officer in the passenger seat.
The other woman nodded, so Senri dipped her head lightly.
Apparently it was a different person from yesterday. Did the pairing change every day?

“Ah, actually, yesterday’s girl is out sick today.”

As if reading Senri’s mind, Kana said it.

“I’ve been calling, but she seems off somehow. I was thinking I’d take a sports drink by on the way home and look in on her.”
“I see. You’re surprisingly good at looking after people, Kana.”
“I am a capable senior, I’ll have you know.”
“I bet they say you talk too much.”
“Ahahahaha… sharp, Senri.”

A bull’s-eye, and apparently a land mine.
Kana looked a little weary. Perhaps a memory of being scolded by a superior for being too noisy had come back.

“Actually, if you were walking home alone again today, Senri, I was going to say it’s dangerous and you’d better be with someone.”
“So it wasn’t a coincidence we passed each other.”
“I didn’t know the exact time, so it was more like, if I was lucky I’d see you. And it was a perfect bingo. My instincts aren’t so bad. But well, if Shuri’s here it should be all right.”
“Yes. I’ll protect Senri.”
“You say it so definitely… that’s sisterly love for you. That said, even two of you shouldn’t wander at night, so please don’t go out.”

Raising a forefinger, Kana spoke as if she were very much a police officer.
Then, perhaps because of yesterday’s reflection, she cut the conversation short, gave a light “See you,” and the patrol car drove off.
Senri and Shuri kept waving until it was out of sight.

 

◇◇◇

 

The next day, on the other side of the screen the victims kept increasing as usual, but Senri and Shuri’s daily life did not change.
In the morning, the moment Senri woke she turned on her computer.
In the stream of information, topics about vampires were mixed in here and there.
The rumor had already reached the stage of spreading on its own, whether Senri did anything or not.
Whether she stopped the diffusion or not, the situation would not change.
The occult cluster Saya belonged to was energetically absorbed, from late night into morning, in debate about vampires.
But—Saya’s account name was not among them. She did not seem to be in the conversation today.
When Senri had finished her round of checks, she headed for the living room.
Shuri, who had gotten up first, greeted her with a gentle “Good morning” and a smile.
They started preparing breakfast side by side.
A little later their father came down, and for the first time in a while the three of them ate together.
And, truly for the first time in a while, the three of them left the house at the same time.

On the way to school they passed Kana again.
Today they only exchanged a light greeting, but her color looked a little bad.
A cold was going around, apparently, and her subordinate was out with it as well.

“I hope you don’t catch it, Kana.”

When Senri said that, Shuri wrinkled her brow and gave a weak “Yeah.”
After that Shuri’s steps were heavy, and Senri matched her and walked slowly.

They arrived at school and headed for their respective classrooms.
Because they had left with Shuri, it was earlier than when Senri came alone.
Even so, the empty seats seemed conspicuous. Was a cold—or maybe influenza—going around here too?
She did not like them much, but she might want to have a mask ready, she thought vaguely as she sat in her chair.
After she had killed a little time that way, the seats began to fill bit by bit.
At the usual time, Saya arrived as well.
But… the moment Senri saw her, her thoughts stopped.
The makeup was the same as yesterday, and she was still wearing glasses, but her wavy hair had become straight.
That alone changed the impression considerably. Even Senri, for an instant, had not known who it was.

“G-good morning…”
“Morning, Senri. Is it… weird?”
“If I had to say, I think the way you talk is weirder than how you look.”
“She said she prefers it when I talk normally, so I tried going back to my natural state.”

Senri was so dumbfounded she even forgot to snipe that that had not been her natural state.
She was also surprised that Saya was so absorbed in that woman that she would change her speech to match.
So it really had been “admiration” in that sense—she thought of pressing, then decided not to.
It felt like poking a bush and finding a snake.

“If you took the glasses off too, I feel like I wouldn’t know who you were at all. Nihihi.”
“I wonder. She said my eyes would be taken care of tomorrow or the day after, though.”
“…Your eyes would be taken care of?”
“Probably contacts, I guess.”
“Ah, yeah. Right.”

However skillful that woman was, she could not possibly manipulate eyesight itself.
Senri felt like laughing off the self who had doubted even for an instant.
After that they talked until homeroom, and aside from the speech there was no sense of wrongness.
Only the appearance had changed. The inside could not change.
It was obvious, but speaking with her directly made Senri feel it, and she patted her chest in relief.

 

◇◇◇

 

After school, Senri and Shuri met at the gate again and started home together.
Shuri still looked dark, her mind elsewhere.

“Sis?”

When Senri called her name, she came back to reality with a start. “Eh? What?”

“No, you just looked like you were thinking hard. I wondered if something happened.”
“Ah… no, it’s nothing much. It’s just, Kana seemed off this morning, and it’s been bothering me.”
“You mean vampire-related?”
“I wonder. I’m probably overthinking it, but looking at Kana when she seemed unwell, I had this vague bad feeling.”

Perhaps because the anxiety had so little specificity, Shuri sounded apologetic.
She did have a strange power, but she did not have precognition or an especially excellent sixth sense.

“Today eight people in our class were out with colds. It does seem to be going around.”
“Right. Seven were out in mine too… so maybe Kana just has a cold.”
“If you stay too wound up, you might be too tired to go all-out when it counts. At times like this, relax, relax.”

As she spoke, Senri went around behind Shuri and rubbed her shoulders.
The hands were a little rough, but a smile rose to Shuri’s mouth.

“You’re right. My job is to protect you.”

They walked along, jostling each other.
On the road home under the sunset, the wind was cold, but their hearts were warm.
In a stretch of peace so complete, Senri found herself thinking that maybe the vampire talk was all a lie, and that the days would just go on like this with nothing happening.

 

◇◇◇

 

Their father was going to be late again, so the sisters ate the white stew they had prepared together, just the two of them.
Shuri had taken part in the cooking, so honestly the taste was only so-so, but they had made it themselves. It could not fail to be delicious.
They got carried away and ate too much, laughed for a while showing each other their rounded bellies, then Shuri sat alone in front of the TV and Senri went back to her room to face her computer.
She turned it on, and when it finished starting, what met her eyes was a red “1” floating over an icon.

“A direct message… unusual. What do you want with me, I wonder.”

She clicked the icon and opened the message—and at the first line, Senri stopped moving.
She sat still, staring at the string of characters on the screen.

“Good evening, Ms. Senri Shirogane. My name is Chigusa Hinata, a Demi-Vamp.”

This, surely, was what it meant to be struck with dread.
A chill ran through her whole body, her skin stood up, and she could not move.
Her body was so cold, and yet her heart pounded, and sweat seeped down her back.
Neither the surname Shirogane nor the given name Senri was common enough to hit by chance.
And Senri had been thorough about leaving no personally identifying information online.
In other words, only someone who knew her in the real world could pull a stunt like this.
And yet—the name Chigusa Hinata meant nothing to Senri at all.

“Thank you very much for your assistance in spreading the existence of vampires through the world. Thanks to you, the number of humans who believe in us seems to be steadily increasing.”

The polite tone only heightened the unease.

“Whether we were noticed or not would not have changed what we do, so I could have left you alone, but when I looked into it, yours seemed a most entertaining family, so I took the liberty of contacting you.”

Senri had strongly hoped it was only a prank, but that possibility vanished as well.
Because the sender knew about the Shirogane house.
Even Saya, her closest friend, did not know that. Why did Chigusa Hinata know so much.
Assuming the name was an alias, Senri searched her memory for anyone who would send such a message, and even in her not-very-wide circle of acquaintances there was not a single candidate.

Then the message lingered on Shuri in a way that made Senri’s spine freeze for a reason other than fear.
Through the display she felt as if a clinging gaze had been laid on her sister. The target did not seem to be Senri herself, but if it was her sister, it came to the same thing.

“By the way, one last confirmation: your address is ○○ Prefecture, ×× City, △△ Town 2-chome 3-4, is that correct? If any part is wrong, please reply with a correction.”

The message ended there.
If they knew the address, they might already be watching from outside.
A chill hit her. Senri stood up from her chair with force and roughly shut the curtains she almost never moved.
But—shutting the curtains did not change the fact that the other side already had their personal information.
Hiding would not let her escape.
They knew. The name, the bloodline, the address, everything.
This text was, without a doubt, a threat aimed at her.
Her estimate had been too naive.
Routing through a few proxy servers was not enough to outrun Chigusa’s tracing.
She had been found. They were drawing closer. Surely even now, steadily, little by little.
It was no longer someone else’s affair, and no longer indirect.
She had been pulled in, completely, directly.
Senri’s hands began to shake.
She clenched her fists hard to stop it, and then her whole arms began to tremble.
Knock, knock.
There—perhaps because there was nothing to watch on TV and she was bored—came the sound of Shuri knocking on the door.
Senri was in no state to answer, and of all times, this was when her sister did not come in on her own.

“Senri?”

The calling voice.
Senri somehow stood on shaking legs and approached the door.
She opened it, and the instant she saw her sister—she threw herself against that chest and held on.

“Whoa!? What, what’s wrong? Payback for earlier or something?”

Of course Shuri was startled to be hugged without warning, but she noticed Senri’s trembling and hugged her back at once.
She patted her back gently, as if soothing a child.

“What’s the matter? Did something unpleasant happen?”

At Shuri’s question, Senri, her face still buried in her chest, pointed at the computer.

“Hm?”

Not yet grasping the situation, Shuri first moved to the computer that had been pointed out.
She peered at the display, and the instant she read the text, she forgot to blink or breathe and went as still as Senri had a moment before.

“This is… it can’t be…”

That was the first sound she managed, after a silence.
Then Shuri’s expression tightened in an instant, and she switched.

“…Senri, let’s get out of this house quickly. We don’t know when they’ll come for us.”
“But where do we go…?”
“For tonight let’s stay at a hotel. If I ask the main house, I think they can arrange it at once. I’ll contact Dad and Mom, so get ready, quickly!”
“G-got it!”

Pushed by the strong tone, Senri left Shuri’s chest and began to pack.
She stuffed underwear, uniform, and clothes from the closet into a bag, checked her phone, charger, and wallet, and took the bag with her laptop as well.
Shuri, for her part, went back to her own room and packed the minimum.
Then the two of them left the house.
Carrying heavy bags, they started walking hand in hand toward a hotel near the station.
The sky was dark. Because of the clouds, there were no stars, and not even the moon.
The world was full of shadow.
That a night exactly like this was when Demi-Vamps could exercise their power most fully was something Senri and Shuri had no way of knowing.