Chapter Text
Walking down the street beside Otto Suwen, was a beautiful young woman with long raven-black hair.
“Mr Nats- uh, Miss Schwartz, do you have to be dressed like that?”
Although she was already rather tall, Miss Schwartz wore heeled boots that clicked against the cobblestones below. Her hips swayed as she walked, covered by a long black mermaid skirt that was coupled with a matching capelet over a frilled white blouse.
At a glance the ensemble was clearly expensive. Only those with (or friends with) coffers fit to burst would wear such a thing so casually.
She laughed in response to Otto, and, oh, it was a beautiful laugh, a refined laugh, fit for the finest and most lovely of ladies. Which in that moment, she was.
“Of course I have to dress like this, Otto! The meeting wouldn’t have gone as smoothly otherwise now, would it?”
The wonderful Miss Natsumi Schwartz winked, having just accompanied Otto to a meeting with a potential benefactor to the Emilia Camp. The man they had just met was interested in two things: money, and women. This fact was very well known, even among those who didn’t know him well. Even with such facts about him, it was also known that he was a skilled businessman, with an interest in breaking into the world of politics.
Otto, being the Camp’s resident merchant and Internal Affairs Officer, originally intended to go alone to this meeting, hoping that his skills of negotiation alone could seal the deal. But when Natsumi offered her services, Otto couldn’t help but say no.
He then proceeded to say no until he was worn down by explanations of how much better the meeting would go if he was aided by someone with a feminine touch.
Of course, the man that they were meeting could have no idea that the lovely Miss Schwartz was none other than the Emilia Camp’s knight, Natsuki Subaru.
Subaru, whose performance as Natsumi was so good that she charmed not only their potential ally, but also several of the household staff.
Determined to convince her to stay the night, the man invited Natsumi to dinner. She played coy, and told him that she and Otto would love to dine with him that evening. Which had both men think somewhat unpleasant thoughts about her.
Now, after sundown, Otto and Subaru were walking back to the inn where their Camp was staying. They were staying only staying at the inn for the one week as they needed to be in the next town the following week.
There was to be a small gathering of high-ranking knights in the area, to which Subaru was invited. Luckily any potential embarrassment at being seen this night would be avoided as the others weren’t due to arrive until the morning. ‘The others’ being the Knights of the Karsten and Hoshin Camps, along with some others that Subaru didn’t know.
While walking back to the inn, named The Faded Allium, Subaru couldn’t help feeling like he was being watched.
It wasn’t as if he was unused to stares.
Both good, bad, and anything in between. Stares have followed him wherever he went. It was just that usually he could see whoever was doing the staring.
On any other night, he would just wave it away.
Natsumi was beautiful and she knew it. Subaru knew it too. Everybody knew it.
She was also the perfect disguise. No one would ever know it was Subaru under the wig and makeup.
It was nice to be Natsumi, Subaru thought. If only it weren’t for the worry of his friends making fun of him or calling him some sort of freak.
“You’re too good at this, you know that, right?”
“Kyaahh! Don’t insult one of my only skills!”
Subaru held great pride in his ability to pass as a woman. After the traumatic experience of being clocked in high school, he spent his days perfecting every last aspect of femininity, lest it happen again.
The sensation of being stared at followed Subaru all the way to the inn. He didn’t want to acknowledge it while outside. If he did, it could draw attention and something bad might happen. Especially since the innkeeper had warned them not to stay out after dark.
According to the innkeeper, a lot of young women had recently gone missing, their bodies discovered a few days later, dumped by the side of the main road. This had been happening once a decade for the last hundred years or so. Rumour had it, that all of the victims had been-
At this point, the innkeeper was interrupted by some other guests fighting over a game of cards at a table in the corner of the inn.
The deaths of the young women was the reason for the gathering of knights, in fact.
The letter Subaru had received from the Capital stated that the Mayor of the town had requested aid regarding a series of deaths which had plagued the town. It would be the job of the knights to investigate, identify, and catch the killer.
The identities of the other knights who had been invited were as yet unknown to Subaru, but the letter informed him that they had been chosen for their prior deeds apprehending dangerous criminals.
None of the town’s guards had been able to find the killer, as they had been unable to find substantial evidence at the crime scenes. Well, there probably was evidence that the average person wouldn’t know which was to be revealed to the knights who had been brought in as investigators at the meeting tomorrow.
Rolling his eyes, Otto opened the front door to the inn, joking to Subaru sarcastically, “Ladies first.” Suddenly, Subaru heard a rustle of fabric behind him. As he turned towards it, he was grabbed and pulled into a nearby alleyway.
Terrified, Subaru screamed, yet even above his screeching, he could hear Otto’s desperate cries.
Subaru was dropped onto the cold cobbles. Before he could get a good look at his attacker, the neck of his blouse was torn open. A hand grabbed his head, yanking it backwards and to the side. While the assailant’s other hand reached under his body to hold him up. Subaru felt a sudden sharp pain in his neck. The immediate sensation was not unlike having one’s throat slit.
Subaru kicked out and tried to push his attacker off, but before he could, he felt the pain melt into a dreamlike bliss. As the feeling spread from his neck he could feel it permeate throughout his body.
Kicking legs turned almost limp and his pushing hands turned to grasping at a silk shirt.
His screaming became moans. Little ‘Ah, ah, ah-s’ that slipped out between breaths. Whatever was in Subaru’s neck felt really fucking good.
Growing lightheaded, he heard several sets of footsteps running into the alley.
The something was pulled away from his neck and a tongue began lapping at the wound. Subaru felt himself being lifted as soft kisses peppered across his neck.
As he blacked out to the sound of shouting voices Subaru thought:
‘Holy shit I’m being kidnapped by a vampire.’