Even after what Ai said she was going to tell me, I still couldn’t believe that I had met Ai before. Yes, her being around had always been a familiar feeling to me since the day she appeared in my bed. Something about her was different, something that I didn’t quite understand. Her voice, her touch, and her scent, all felt so familiar and not alien but I could never point my finger at anything since it made no sense.
"The thing was Kazu-kun, I dig a little into all this and even had a talk with Natsumi-san about this during one of your check-ups," Ai said. "Your memories were wiped off regarding any vampire and it was your parent’s request. They wanted you to not associate in this world and to live normally for as long as you it was possible for you. Now, it certainly isn’t possible so I can finally talk to you about this. You think you can trust my words from here on out Kazu-kun?"
Ai’s hand was scratching my head putting me in a full relaxed mood and I just nod my head. I also wanted to know, what was this familiar feeling I had about Ai, and whenever she was around, I was more calm than nervous. Me acting so nonchalant when I saw her in my bed always felt something weird for me to do. It was as if I was used to her being around me and I didn’t mind her being in the same place as me even though in my memories, that was the first time I had been this close to her.
"Tell…me…" I muttered and Ai smiled.
"Close your eyes Kazu-kun," Ai said and I did as she did and I felt her index finger right at my temple.
"Sadly vampires are not creatures who can bring back a person’s memory but they all have perfect memory. They also can share their memories with other vampires and see what they want to show to those vampires. If not used properly, it can even happen by mistake but that is a bit rare," Ai explained and held my hand in hers. "You are not a vampire yet Kazu-kun and I would honestly prefer if you stay as a human. Being a half-vampire is another option but the fact that we have such low life spans is also something that hurts to think of. That you may just die because you are old in your twenties."
Ai’s face stiffened a little thinking that and then it relaxed again and I saw her stare at my chin. She moved her hand over to my neck and caressed the part. "Your neck, right here," she pointed at a certain spot. "Till this day, I remember the exact spot I bit you that night. The night…that man…came after me and my family and killed my parents. I fled but I was really injured. All I was told was that we had a house somewhere and I was given the address of it on the keys. I kept running and then…I found you…my childhood love."
"You mean…"
"Yes Kazu-kun, I met you about five months before this incident. We used to play together a lot as kids and then one day, you even visited our house. We went up to my bed and decided from that day onwards, I would always call you Kazu-kun and you call me Ai. That’s where it all began," Ai explained but I didn’t open my eyes. Slowly images started to form in front of me as if some memories that were locked in were breaking loose of the chains.
An image of a little girl with white hair, red and green eyes, and pearl-white skin started to vaguely form. She looked…like Ai…I was holding her hand and was running around on the ground pulling her along with me. My hands tingled with her cold hands but I didn’t mind it.
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"My mom isn’t here yet…" she said and looked at me with teary eyes. "I’m scared of being alone."
"…."
My words were silent for some reason but I could see a big smile beaming on the girl’s face.
"Can we go to my room and play?" the girl asked her mother and she nodded. Happy, she held my hand and dragged me to her room quickly. We sat there talking to each other about random stuff and it all felt so nice. Being a kid really was an amazing time.
"..."
"Okay, so I will call you Kazu-kun," the girl said.
"That night, you found me injured and exhausted in the alleyway. I don’t know how or why you were even there but you found me in the alleyway and told me that you will help me," Ai said.
I looked into a dark alley and I saw the girl right there. Worried, I ran over to her and saw she was completely exhausted and even hurt. Her eyes were shining bright in the dark but it didn’t bother me. I found it pretty much more than anything else. I wanted to stare into them more.
"…."
"Don’t come near me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and growled. "Don’t do this or I might get you killed too."
Too? What did she mean by too?
Even so, I ran close to her and got out my handkerchief trying to stop the bleeding. Now that I had a good view of it, I was even more horrified by just how much she was bleeding, I couldn’t believe it myself. The blood had a certain metallic stench to it. I moved closer and pressed on the wound to stop the bleeding but it all went futile.
"Kazu…kun…"
"….."
"Kazu…kun…give…me…"
"…."
I looked at her and my eyes widened as I saw her teeth. They had grown out and were really sharp as if they were made to be used to tear things apart. To tear…flesh apart.
"Give me your blood!" she said and pushed me down on the ground. I saw her eyes glowing even more. She was looking down at me as if I was her prey ready to be eaten up.
"Kazu-kun?" I heard Ai’s voice. "Kazu-kun? Kazu-kun!"
I opened my eyes and saw Ai looking at me worried. I cannot even count anymore how many times she had seen me like this and how many times I have seen this look on her face. She placed her hands on my cheeks and wiped off some tears that fall down my eyes.
Huh? I was crying? Maybe because of all this.
"Ai…" I called out her name and she leaned down bringing her face closer to me. "I remember…"
Two words, those two words were more than enough to bring a wave of emotions out of Ai. Then and there, her eyes started to water up and a tear fell down my face. She cupped my face in her hands and pressed her lips against mine. I did not have much energy either way so I decided to not do anything and let Ai do what she wanted. Her tongue started dancing around in my mouth sucking on it and this kiss was more of desperation. With each gulp, I could feel what Ai was feeling. It was as if she was projecting these emotions onto me and I took all of them in.
For Ai, I am her mean to let out her emotions. Ai is not someone to hold back her emotions normally but there are still a lot of things she had kept but not anymore. I cannot let Ai suffer silently on her own. She has gone through a lot for the majority of her life. I on the other hand at least Natsumi-san, somewhat knew about my situation. For Ai, no one was there so she held onto the only thread that kept her intact: me.
I certainly do not see myself as someone special but I am put in a place where I know, Ai needed me the most and…I was the same…I need Ai to keep me in check too. I am slowly turning into a vampire and I know my actions need to be kept under check since they may just be reckless in the heat of the moment. So are my thoughts and I am using Ai as a support, because no matter what, she is always by my side. Natsumi-san has her job to take care of and though Koto is assigned to probably keep us under check, the one that is closest to me is Ai, and the one who Ai is closest to is me.
I think I realized what kind of relationship we have. We both are obsessed with each other; we both need each other to keep our sanity. If one of us were to disappear the next moment, the other one will completely lose his or her mind and I am very sure that can easily happen in our faces.
Yes, one thing I and Tsubaki Ai also have with each other…is co-dependency.
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