Achievement
When Sirius mentioned going to the hospital, Yan thought he might call an ambulance, but instead, Sirius went to the main road to hail a taxi. However, perhaps because news of a vampire’s appearance had spread, there wasn’t a single car or even pedestrian in sight. Eventually, after walking quite a distance, they finally spotted a yellow cab.
“Ivy Moon Hotel, please.”
Sirius stated their destination as he closed the taxi door. Bewildered, Yan couldn’t help but ask, “What?” Regardless, the taxi departed toward its destination.
“A hotel? Weren’t we supposed to go to the hospital?”
His mind, which had been halfway gone since getting his wrist bitten, seemed to have finally returned. Though his reaction was delayed, Yan questioned Sirius. He casually wiped the blood from Yan’s lips with his thumb and replied.
“Are you injured anywhere?”
“No, but…”
He was tired but not in enough pain to mention it. Still, he had come out to go to the hospital and was about to demand why they were headed to a hotel instead, but couldn’t bring himself to do so because of the gentle touch cleaning his dried blood.
“Yan, I know the first aid procedures for vampire attacks very well.”
“Of course you would.”
“You can trust me on this—I have more experience than doctors in that area.”
“I trust you. I do trust you, but still, Sirius, it’s not like you can prescribe antibiotics or anything, right?”
No matter how much a love filter might be coloring his vision, wrong was wrong. When Yan retorted sharply, Sirius turned Yan’s shoulders to face him and said:
“What you need right now isn’t antibiotics.”
“Then what is it?”
“…Blood.”
“What? Do I need a transfusion?”
Sirius’s face contorted. It wasn’t because of Yan but rather seemed to be from the agony of figuring out how to explain this. After a moment of choosing his words, he spoke again.
“Yan, you now have contaminated blood inside you, right?”
“Ah… yes. Probably.”
“For an ordinary person, those few drops wouldn’t be a problem. But for you…”
But for me, what? What’s going to happen to me? Yan listened intently, but Sirius closed his mouth at precisely the most curious part.
“Sirius?”
“You… have a unique constitution.”
“…Me? I’ve never heard anything like that before…”
“Sometimes one’s constitution changes as they grow.”
This was torturous for Sirius, who wasn’t good at making up excuses. But he couldn’t exactly explain, ‘Because you’ve gone through a binding ritual once, you’re a bit different from normal people.’ Someday he would have to tell him, but that didn’t need to be now.
“So what should I do?”
“It’s simple. You need to drink pure blood.”
“Pure blood…?”
“Yes.”
To be precise, it was “pure vampire blood full of healthy power,” but Sirius didn’t mention that either. Sometimes it’s better not to know certain things.
Perhaps because it was an awkward time of day, there weren’t many cars on the road. The taxi moved smoothly toward the hotel. Sirius spoke quietly into Yan’s ear, making sure the driver couldn’t hear.
“Drink my blood.”
“…What?”
“Drinking my blood will disinfect you.”
Yan clenched his fist on his knee. A deep baritone voice like it was coming from a cave! Yan was weak for such voices. It was so good that he almost lost consciousness. But a strand of reason still remained.
“Sirius, I’m sorry but… do you perhaps believe in some strange religion? Or are you a pseudoscience enthusiast…?”
“…”
Sirius remained silent for a moment. He knew his way of speaking was somewhat clumsy, but to be treated like a cult member or pseudoscience believer? And here he was making up explanations for Yan’s sake.
“I have no choice. I didn’t want to go this far.”
“Huh?”
“Look into my eyes.”
Sirius gripped Yan’s shoulders again. His blue eyes were still beautiful, but Yan spoke confidently.
“It won’t work. I may be weak for handsome men, but not to this extent. Your pretty-boy tactics won’t—”
Yan’s pronunciation gradually slurred until he couldn’t finish his sentence. Sirius just watched him without blinking once. Only after confirming that the green pupils had become unfocused did Sirius release Yan’s shoulders.
“‘Yan Circuitz will obey Sirius’s words.'”
“…”
“‘When you enter the hotel, you will drink Sirius’s blood without any suspicion.'”
“…”
“Do you understand?”
Sirius shook Yan’s body lightly. Yan responded with “Yes, yessss…” trailing off as he blinked. Even while speaking, his expression showed he had no idea what he was doing. The hypnosis had taken effect properly.
“To think it was this simple.”
“Pardon?”
“Nothing, it’s nothing.”
Sirius smiled faintly and gazed out the window. Having the now docile Yan beside him, no longer looking at him with suspicion, brought various thoughts to mind.
He had worried whether his ability would work well during daylight, but fortunately, it had succeeded, which was good. However, he still felt uneasy about hypnotizing Yan Circuitz, who knew nothing. Hypnosis—when he was younger, he used to resent why, of all things, such a creepy ability was his unique power. He knew it was a precious ability, but Sirius would have preferred something more ordinary, like Procion’s. That’s why he rarely used this ability normally, though it was certainly convenient.
‘If Yan drinks my blood this time, it would count as his second binding ritual.’
But whether it should truly be called the “second” was ambiguous. Including the ritual performed with Procion, it would be the second, but it would be the first ritual with Sirius specifically. Sirius himself wasn’t sure what effect this would have on Yan’s body. The only thing he could be certain of was that it was better than drinking the contaminated blood of a crazed bound one who had lost their binder.
‘I’ll have to explain the situation to Yan someday.’
For some reason, his chest tightened as if caught by something. It took Sirius a long time to realize that this was the emotion called “anxiety.” Not only that, but fear and guilt… emotions he hadn’t felt for a long time were mixing and stimulating his heart.
‘…He’ll be angry.’
No matter how oblivious he might be in some areas, he wouldn’t just laugh it off after learning he’d unwittingly gone through binding rituals with vampires twice. Before that, he might get angry for being deceived about their species. From Sirius’s perspective, it wasn’t so much lying as “deliberately not mentioning it,” but he had indeed deceived Yan.
“Sir, we’ve arrived.”
By then, the taxi had reached the Ivy Moon Hotel. Sirius paid the fare and got out of the car. His steps were unwavering as he entered the hotel with Yan. Whatever the case, he needed to save Yan’s life first.
***
His body felt heavy, as if submerged in molten lead. Unable to move a finger, his consciousness gradually returned. Somehow, the feeling wasn’t unfamiliar. He remembered having this experience before. Yes, when he was attacked by vampires with Procion.
“This isn’t like you. What were you thinking?”
“I had no choice. I couldn’t let his body rot away from the contaminated blood.”
Even in his foggy state, he could tell there was a commotion at his bedside. Two men were arguing intensely, though in quiet voices.
“You’re not in a position to criticize me, Procion. You did the same thing.”
“That was the first time!”
“This is my first time too.”
“I mean it’s the second time in total.”
“As long as it’s not three times, it should be fine.”
“Are you sure, Sirius? If he gets bitten by another vampire in this state…”
“Come on. What are the chances of such bad luck?”
The mental disturbance, paradoxically, helped him return to his senses. Yan recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness. So, as soon as they entered the room, Sirius had cut his own wrist and filled a glass with his blood, offering it to him…
‘Gasp…’
He couldn’t understand what had possessed him to gulp it down. Objectively, he knew it was a grotesque situation, but honestly, it didn’t feel that strange. Yan vaguely realized that his condition was abnormal, but he couldn’t quite figure out what the problem was.
‘The blood tasted good. Is a loved one’s blood always delicious?’
And then sleep had washed over him. Perhaps it was due to the intense lovemaking the night before followed by a busy day, but his body felt very languid. The last thing he remembered was falling asleep without being able to resist the drowsiness.
“It seems Alesha is getting impatient too. Sending out such amateur minions.”
“It’s about time. There are voices of discontent starting to rise within the kingdom…”
