The Fallen Vampire

When Inadu opened her eyes once again, it was already morning and the light from the icy carvern ceiling was peeking through the window curtains.

Even though she was still a bit groggy, her fingers went straight to her lips.

She brushed against them without even understanding the reason why, and a faint smile showed up on her face.

It had been so very long since she had woken up feeling quite so… warm.

The feeling of happiness was so foreign to her now that this may as well have been her first time experiencing it.

It was so euphoric that she could have cried from the bliss.

"Umm…Ina?"

Inadu finally remembered the bulk of everything that had happened last night and realized that she was not in her own bed.

Of course, the familiar voice just above her head also helped to give it away.

Inadu slowly turned to face a stunned and nude Kieran, who had also seemed to have just recently woken up.

No doubt that seeing a new naked woman lying in the place of your husband was more than a little jarring.

"Ah… H-Hello, princess.."

"I've told you that you don't have to call me that, Ina.. but what are you doing in our bed?"

Inadu fell silent for a moment before belting out an answer knowing full well that it might have meant her death.

"I snuck in here to offer Taira my body as a thank you for letting me stay here. He did not accept me."

Inadu watched Kieran's face twitch faintly as she tried to come to terms with everything she had just heard.

It was easy to tell that she was wrestling with two different sides of her brain.

'Someone tried to touch my husband.'

'But it was my cute little Ina!'

'She came in here with the intent to fuck him! And slept in our bed?!'

'I-I think I can forgive her…'

'But how could she?! After all of the kindness I showed, her she does this?!'

'B-But I can't be mad at her with everything she's gone through!'

'Fuck!!'

"Girls, wake up!! I need you to help me process my feelings!"

Slowly, all of the girls started to stir awake and wiped away the lingering crust out of their eyes.

All except for Enyo who rolled over and groaned audibly before pulling the blanket further over her face.

Vermeil: "What…?"

Lucia: "Why're you yelling..?"

Aveena: "So early…"

"I-Inadu tried to fuck our husband!"

Lucia / Vermeil :""WHAT?!""

Aveena: "I know… what's for breakfast?"

Vermeil, Lucia, and Kieran stared at Aveena with slack jaws and disbelieving eyes.

"What do you mean you knew?! Why didn't you wake us or say anything?!" Vermeil questioned.

Gradually, Aveena finally shrugged off her exhaustion realized that they were going to have to have a necessary conversation very early in the morning.

She gently placed her hand over Inadu's and smiled at her warmly.

"Ina, why don't you go find Taira and see what he's up to, okay? My sisters and I need to talk for a moment."

"Are you crazy?! Don't send her to him, she might try to fu-"

Aveena clasped her hand over Lucia's mouth to keep her from finishing her accusation.

"It's alright, Ina. Just go find him and keep him company for a bit, yea?"

"O-Okay…

Inadu nodded slowly before crawling out the bed and wrapping herself in blankets.

She stopped just shy of exiting the door and looked over her shoulder with a somewhat uncomfortable expression.

"I am sorry I betrayed your trust… I made a very careless mistake and I beg your forgiveness."

Almost as if she were afraid to hear their refusal, Inadu ran out of the room and closed the door behind her, leaving everyone else inside stunned.

-

Inadu made a small pit stop in the bath and then her actual room to put on clothes before actually going to find Taira.

As she was still getting somewhat used to the place, it was rather hard for her to find him.

She briefly considered that he may have been hiding from her after the events of last night, but as soon as she had the thought she found him on top of the roof of their home.

He was sitting underneath one of the snow white cherry blossom trees with a small journal in his lap.

Inadu had learned that Taira had three of these notebooks according to Vermeil.

The one with black binding was used to record random drawings he thought of.

The second was specifically for nude portraits of his wives.

And the third was the most normal because it was the one he treated almost like an actual journal, though they weren't sure what exactly he wrote in it.

"Hello."

Looking up, Taira raised his brow in surprise as he realized just how much he had let his guard down.

Inadu had gotten quite close to him without his notice, so he was clearly very deep in thought.

"Hello Inadu. Did you sleep well?"

A brief smile formed on Inadu's face before it was chased away by a more guilty look.

"I… yes. I am sorry for any inconvenience that I may have caused last night."

"You did the furthest thing from it, do not worry."

Taira finally stood up and walked towards Inadu with before taking her hand in his and leading her downstairs.

"W-.. What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the kitchen. I've only recently realized how thin you are and it is concerning."

"There is no need for that. I have always been this weight."

"Truly? Well, let me watch you eat for a bit so that I can at least say that I tried take care of you."

"…As you wish."

Inadu followed Taira quietly, but she could not shake the feeling that something about him was different today.

Memories of things that were said and done last night came flooding back into her mind, and she felt even more embarrassed when she remembered how she shamelessly asked him to hug her.

After that, Inadu didn't remember much else but given how she woke up in his place in bed, she figured that she must have forced him out of it due to discomfort.

"That's a little bit of a silly thought, don't you think?"

"!?"

Taira suddenly paused in the hallway as he held up his and Inadu's connected hands.

"I wasn't listening in on purpose, but it's not a power that I can turn off. But I assure you that you did not force me out of my bed… I actually enjoyed your added company."

"I see… then why were you not in bed this morning?"

Physically Taira's face did not change when Inadu asked him that question, but she could swear that she could feel his very spirit tighten up.

"…Just a bit of difficulty sleeping is all." He answered.

"…Was it because of-"

"It was not because of you, no."

The pair finally reached their cabin style kitchen where Taira immediately had Inadu sit down at the mahogany table while he stepped behind the counter.

"Alright.. what do you like?"

"I will not be picky. You may give me anything you see fit."

"You aren't a prisoner here, Inadu. You are free to ask things of me."

"…"

"What was your favorite food to eat when you were a child?" Taira asked.

"…You will laugh."

"I most certainly will not. Just tell me what it was, and I will make it for you."

"…Apple porridge."

Taira froze dead in his tracks as he desperately tried to avoid looking Inadu's way.

"Y-You are laughing!"

"I am not."

"I do not believe you! Turn around!"

"G-Give me a moment, I have an upset stomach."

With flushed cheeks, Inadu stormed around to stand in front of Taira to get a better look at his face.

As she already expected, he had a faint smile on his lips that she found had a profound effect on her.

No matter how hard she tried, she found it hard to actually be upset with him when he was so unfairly captivating to her.

The idea of physical attraction was one that Inadu had never actually paid all that much attention to.

She did not fully understand her infatuation with Taira, but she did know that she found him to be magnetic in nature.

"I'm sorry for laughing, Inadu. It's just the idea of a child willingly eating something like oat porridge is… a bit on the amusing side."

Inadu folded her arms as she finally tore her eyes away from the fox spirit.

"I am aware that it is unusual… but it is the only thing I was ever able to eat on a consistent basis before I was allowed to join my family at meals. It also made me full."

Now, Taira felt even worse for laughing now that he knew that her tastes had such a sad story behind them.

He reached out to touch her face again before stopping just shy of her cheek.

"I get it… I promise I'll make you the best oat porridge you have ever had."

"…If you say so."

Inadu sat back down looking a bit dejected for some unknown reason, and a vaguely depressed air now surrounded her.

"Oh, that reminds me."

"Hm?"

"I'm going into the city today to make some preparations for our upcoming trip and see a friend of ours. I would like you to come with me."