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The crescent moon had already climbed above the oak tree when Hoshina lifted his gaze to the clear night sky.
Midnight was crawling closer to its chime. Perhaps only minutes away; that was what his hunch whispered to him. As the thought settled, he felt a pull beneath his ribs, and in the next tick, the realization unfolded from the dark corners of the night, sudden and sobering: it felt as though only moments had passed since he had been wandering among mortals, when in truth, time had slipped far beyond his grasp.
Never once had he lost his sense of time. Not until tonight.
He had absent-mindedly allowed himself to immerse too deep into indulgence: feeding a hunger that had gnawed at the edges of his reason for an entire day, a desire he had longed to satisfy in a long-awaited feast, because feeding only on wild animals the night before could never truly sate him, not as humans did. In his pursuit to quench that craving, he had grown careless; he hadn’t realized how close he was to losing control.
If not for the moonlight spilling over him, casting its silver threads through the dark, he might have slipped away completely, lost somewhere between the ticking seconds of time. And worse, he might have forgotten the promise he made to someone, to him, his precious.
“What’s got you lookin’ all spaced out, sweetheart?”
A man’s voice slipped into his ears, smooth and teasing, shattering the thought in his head. The playful lilt carried a sensation that made Hoshina’s skin crawl. But that wasn’t the worst of it. When he’d let his guard down for just a heartbeat, the man’s fingertips brushed against his cheekbones in a fleeting stroke, leaving a ghost of heat and disgust in their wake.
Hoshina turned, then stared at the man sharply. For a second, it looked as if he could flay the man alive with just his amethyst eyes. Yet the smile on his lips betrayed him, disarmingly convivial.
“I don’t recall giving ya my consent to touch me,” he said amicably.
The man chuckled casually, verily unbothered by what Hoshina had said. “Couldn’t help it. You’re stunning, you know that? Easily the most eye-catching vampire cosplayer in this whole lame Halloween party. And thought I’d help solve what’s on your mind.”
Hoshina huffed a laugh. “I’ll take that as a compliment, I guess,” he replied amusedly. “But just so we’re clear, what ya did was crossing a line. I’ll let it slide this time, though. My time for games here is almost up. You’re lucky.”
“Oh? Thanks. Then how about killin’ the rest of that time with me?” The man grinned, crossing his arms over his chest. “No trick, just treat,” he added with a wink and a low chuckle.
Hoshina tilted his head, moonlight glinting in his eyes. The smile he offered was soft yet dangerous—tender in its cruelty. “Ha,” he breathed. “Sure. But don’t complain if the treat bites back.”
His fingers circled the man’s wrist so swiftly that the motion was akin to a ghostly whisper, only realized when the tips pressed just deep enough to leave dips into skin. To tell the truth, the touch felt far too delicate for Hoshina’s liking; he restrained his desire, deliberately keeping all his actions in check, careful not to frighten his prey, though secretly, he wanted to crush that hand until the bones splintered into a million shards.
He was being kind, after all, accepting the offer of a prey who willingly wished to be hunted. Also, the mortal deserved a taste of his own medicine after his earlier insolence. This man would be the last prey of the night, he promised himself.
Hoshina’s grip tightened around the man’s wrist, just enough to meet the criteria for a casual gesture among humans, yet firm enough to reveal intent. The man raised an eyebrow, intrigued rather than alarmed. When Hoshina tugged him closer, the man let out a low chuckle.
“Look at you, all too eager,” the man teased.
“Clock’s tickin’. No time to waste,” Hoshina replied with a smile that revealed the sharp gleam of his fangs.
“Alright then.”
Those words sealed the vow between them.
In the blink of an eye, the world blurred; colors smeared; sounds folded in on themselves. And suddenly, the view of the noisy park crowded with people in costumes dissolved into silence. No more laughter, no more dangling ropes of light between the tents, no more sweet aroma of cookies in the air.
Now it was only the two of them, alone beneath towering trees. Moonlight filtered through rustling leaves. The dappled light, scattering silver fragments across the forest floor, danced in cadence with every breath of the wind. Damp moss, soil, and the faint rot of fallen leaves thickened the air; even the bark bled its woody scent.
“Huh? What the hell—what just happened!?”
Hoshina laughed softly at the bewilderment twisting across the man’s face. His eyes burned a deep crimson, and his fangs—longer and sharper—hooked against his lips in a feral grin. The air around him charged with a predator’s bloodlust, making the atmosphere crackle with an icy chill.
The man instinctively tore his hand free and stumbled back as he sensed the danger, only to find a tree blocking his path. Bark clawed at his spine.
The crunch of dead leaves under Hoshina’s foot rang out like a death knell. With every step he took, fear seeped deeper into the man’s blood; he could hear the frantic thud of the man’s heart, the blood rushing through his veins in time with ragged breaths.
“Let’s get to the treat already,” Hoshina said gleefully.
“Fuck you! Don’t you dare come an inch closer to me, you filthy monster!” the man barked, trembling with fury and fear. He spun on his heel to run, but before he could completely break free of Hoshina’s stare, a hand clamped over his face and along with it he was slammed back against the tree with a brutal shove, then pinned there by iron grip.
“Don’t worry, I’ll make it quick,” Hoshina whispered against his ear.
The man’s cries were muffled beneath his palm, and through the gaps between his fingers, wide eyes glared up at him, full of terror. Hoshina only grinned, signaling to his prey that he was utterly indifferent.
He was genuinely pissed. Normally, he didn’t treat his victim like this. He was always careful, sort of gentle, showing them a kind of mercy in his cruelty. He would hypnotize them first, make them drift into unconsciousness, so they could die peacefully while he took his fill. Never had he let them cry, never let them tremble like this.
But now, there was no mercy left in him.
“Leee… gooo… off… meee…”
“Ssshhh.”
Hoshina exhaled softly against the man’s jugular. The tremor beneath his cold fingertips was violent, and the quickening heartbeat in his ear was strangely like melodious music to him. Pressing his weight down, he stilled the man’s frantic struggles, ensuring he couldn’t slip away from him. His hand tilted the man’s head slightly, careful not to break it too soon, because feeding on the living had always been far more delectable.
The neck lay bare before him. He lifted his gaze and met the man’s anxious, glassy eyes once more.
Then, he buried his fangs into the flesh effortlessly, until they reached the trembling pulse of the jugular.
The man’s scream tore through the night, his body trashing helplessly in a desperate attempt to flee the blinding pain. A single droplet of blood welled up from the wound, sliding over Hoshina’s lips and flooding his tongue with that familiar metallic tang, warm, sharp as rust, and carrying a sweetness buried beneath its bitterness.
The man’s panic only made his heartbeat race faster, driving the blood to surge more violently. Soon it poured into Hoshina’s mouth in thick, pulsing waves, some of it spilling past his lips to dribble down his chin, tracing crimson paths over pale skin. His once-cold body began to stir with faint warmth, as though the blood itself were breathing life back into him.
He drank deeply, greedily, shutting out the world’s noise until all that existed was the taste on his tongue, the heat coursing through his veins. The more he fed, the more his senses dulled, his mind slipping into a hazy trance of indulgence. When at last the final drop slid down his throat, the warmth began to fade, like wind sweeping away the last ember of a dying fire.
With a shaky exhale, he released his hold. The drained body slumped to the ground with a dull thud at his feet. Blood still trailed from his lips to his chin as Hoshina stood there. His breath came ragged as he tried to calm himself, to sharpen his focus through the lingering haze of satiation. Soon after, it ebbed away from his mind.
Straightening his back, he slipped a hand into his breast pocket, drew out a handkerchief, and wiped away the crimson stain. His tongue swept over his teeth, catching the last taste before he swallowed them down, erasing the final trace of tonight’s feed.
The moon had already hung higher than when he last looked up. His time was thinning; midnight would sound its chime in seconds.
He spared one final glance for the corpse and smiled, soft as the wind breathing through the trees, before his presence dissolved into the night.
The bells pealed from afar, their chime weaving softly into the air to herald the coming of midnight. Hoshina arrived at the meeting ground just as their final echo faded.
The first sight to greet him stilled his steps: a great wolf perched upon a boulder, gazing skyward. The night breeze combed through its dark fur, revealing now and then fleeting strands of pink beneath, glimpsed only when the wind’s fingers parted the black.
Hoshina lingered there, smiling faintly as he watched, letting the stillness wash over him. Rarely did he glimpse this side of Narumi: the calm, the grace gilded by moonlight. He was far more accustomed to his petulance, his restless pride. But moments like this, rare and momentary as they were, felt almost like a reward meant only for him.
“You’ve been starin’ from down there too long. Love lookin’ at me that much, huh?” Narumi called out, turning his gaze downward with a teasing smirk.
“I didn’t have the heart to interrupt your sky-gazing,” Hoshina replied, grinning. “Besides, I’m here now, Gen.”
Narumi hummed low in his throat, then leapt gracefully from the boulder. “But you’re late, Soshiro,” he said, padding toward him with unhurried steps.
“Just in time, actually,” Hoshina countered lightly.
“You made me wait here with nothin’ to do but stare at the damn sky,” Narumi barked.
“You just came too early, that’s all. Missed me that much, huh?” Hoshina’s grin widened.
Narumi growled, a sound that, to Hoshina’s ear, was as good as a confession. Teasing the werewolf never failed to amuse him. It was because, after decades together, he’d come to know Narumi’s pride better than anyone, and learned to read what hid behind it. That pride had once irritated him, but now he understood: Narumi simply didn’t know how to show his true colors; pride walled him in too tightly.
Narumi circled him slowly once he was close enough, emerald eyes, those inner irises shaped like a cross with serrated edges, taking him in from head to toe. Hoshina stayed still, his eyes following him.
“Look at you, dressed all fancy,” he muttered, then leaned in until his muzzle was just beside Hoshina’s neck. He sniffed, once, twice. “But damn—you smell awful. You stink.”
“Stink?” Hoshina sniffed himself, brow furrowing. He caught nothing unusual. His senses were as keen as Narumi’s, or at least, they should have been, so the claim puzzled him. One possibility after another ran through his mind, until one stuck: perhaps his indulgence earlier had dulled them more than he’d realized.
“Am I?” he asked doubtfully.
Narumi morphed into his human form, though his wolf ears and tail remained. His eyes gleamed a deep ruby, and he now wore a shirt under his jacket, paired with sweatpants and sneakers.
He leaned in until their breaths nearly mingled, meeting Hoshina’s gaze through the fall of his two-toned fringe. After another quick sniff, Narumi frowned. “Ugh. Yeah, really stink,” he muttered, waving a hand in front of his face as though to clear the air.
Straightening his posture, he caught Hoshina’s hand and laced their fingers together, his touch unexpectedly gentle as he began to lead him forward.
“I guess, you’re right,” Hoshina conceded at last.
Hoshina gave his hand a small squeeze, letting the warmth of Narumi’s skin seep into his own. He smiled, the earlier thought of his smell or its cause fading from his mind. He didn’t want to dwell on it any longer, anyway. After a week apart, all that mattered now was the comfort of walking together again.
They walked side by side along the uneven path, darkness keeping them company, while a faint chorus of insects filled the quiet between their footsteps. The trees formed shadowed corridors around them. Their shoulders brushed now and then, every time Hoshina stumbled over gravel, Narumi’s hand would tighten reflexively around his. Softness always seemed to slip into Narumi’s actions without warning, the kind that caught Hoshina off guard yet filled him with joy, as though he’d pulled a rare prize from a blind box.
Hoshina smiled as he glanced at him. Just knowing Narumi was beside him again softened something in his chest, and the sense of being safe blanketed him. Falling into step with him felt effortless, like there had always been a space waiting for him there, not just beside him but as a part of his own breath.
“I know I’m handsome,” Narumi said suddenly, tugging Hoshina out of the way of an exposed root before it could trip him.
Hoshina turned to him, amused. “So suddenly, after all this silence, really?”
“You think I didn’t notice your secret-yet-obvious starin’?”
“I was just wonderin’ why you said I stink,” Hoshina said lightly, grinning. It didn’t bother him anymore; he only wanted to draw Narumi’s eyes back to him, which had kept looking away the whole walk.
“You stink like those humans. My nostrils burn every time I catch a whiff of it,” he scoffed.
Stink like humans?
A clue.
Hoshina’s grin spread before he could stop it.
Narumi stopped abruptly and so did he. He followed Narumi’s gaze, and the familiar sight unfolded before them, an expanse of water bathed in frail moonlight, the surface glittering like scattered jewels waltzing over ripples. No matter how many times Hoshina saw it, the sight always stole his breath. This place carved a special place in his heart.
They took their usual spot atop the flat rock, hands still intertwined, as they took in the shimmering lake before them. But the lake couldn’t hold Hoshina’s attention for long. His gaze slipped away, drawn inevitably to the figure beside him. Narumi’s bangs had lifted, revealing the pink strands hidden beneath the black. He turned his face aside again, the moonlight catching on the annoyance etched into his features, something Hoshina hadn’t noticed before.
Another clue: bangs lifted, annoyance.
“You’re a little too obsessed with lookin’ away from me, doncha?”
Narumi huffed. “Told ya, you stink.”
“I don’t smell anything on me. But maybe it’s ’cause I went a little too far tonight—took a bit more than usual, outta convenience, from that Halloween party.”
Finally, Narumi looked at him. “And those humans rubbed their reek on you.” He looked away again, muttering, “You don’t need to feed on them if you’d just feed on me before I go for rituals.”
Ah.
Now it made sense to Hoshina.
“You’re jealous, aren’t ya?” he teased.
Narumi’s head snapped toward him and scowled. “Me? Jealous? No way!”
“Yes, you are.”
“You keep refusing my offer—that’s what’s annoying, that’s all.”
“Then, you are jealous.”
“You smell like them, not me. That’s why you stink!
“Clearly jealous.”
“I’m not!” Narumi barked, then huffed and looked away again—but Hoshina still caught the faint tinge of red coloring his cheeks.
Hoshina chuckled. “You’re a terrible liar, ya know.”
Narumi growled.
“I can’t feed on you, Gen. You’re not my prey—and you know what would happen if I did.”
“You think I’m weak?” Narumi’s gaze sharpened, his tone serious.
“That’s not what I mean. It’s just…” Hoshina’s voice softened. “I don’t trust myself. I can be careless, callous.”
“That makes it more of a challenge.”
“It’s seriously dangerous,” Hoshina said, sighing. He reached up and traced a thumb over the furrow between Narumi’s brows, smoothing it away. “It’s better that you’re my lover, not my prey.”
A reluctant smile found its way to Narumi’s lips. “Tch.”
“Take that as a yes,” Hoshina said with a smirk. “You should give me a treat.”
“Nah, I’ll trick you instead.”
Before Hoshina could respond, Narumi transformed into his wolf form; he rubbed his nose against Hoshina’s face, then his neck, and blanketed Hoshina in warmth and soft fur. The heat, the scent, it was enough to make Hoshina’s arms tighten around his neck, his face buried deep in the comfort. Narumi smelled faintly of rain and cedar, a scent that eased Hoshina’s pulse and coaxed his eyes half-shut.
Narumi threw himself onto the ground, Hoshina landed against him, held safely in his arms. Narumi nudged his cheek with his nose, assuring him he was fine. Hoshina smiled; he loved whenever he got so territorial, the way it made him feel wanted—and how it somehow made Narumi endearing.
“Mine,” Narumi whispered.
“Yours,” Hoshina breathed.