Friday (03/19/XX) 6:35AM
Today was the day.
I looked at myself in my bedroom mirror one last time before walking out. I met Sen and Ryunosuke outside the school gates before entering the building. To think that after today I’ll no longer have to come here every weekday seemed unreal.
“Are you guys excited?” Sen asked.
Ryunosuke pushed up my glasses. “Somewhat. I still have night school, so I'll still be attending classes here.”
Sen pouted. “That's rough.”
I could hear our teacher calling the students to gather in the gym. We followed the large crowd moving towards the exit and eventually arrived at the gym. It wasn't until I entered the gym that graduating felt real. With a shaky deep breath, I sat down in my assigned seat. I nervously adjusted the red boutonniere on the left side of my chest as I waited for the ceremony to begin.
-
Loud cheering echoed on the school grounds. Students visited their classrooms to thank their teachers and say goodbye to their underclassmen. Girls and boys were crying and hugging one another; crowds of friends were taking group photos. Ryunosuke, Sen, and I left the school hallways and walked outside for some fresh air. We were all trying not to cry, mainly Sen and I.
In the corner of my eye, I saw something quickly flash towards me. I turned around and almost screamed.
“CONGRATS ACCHAN!”
I embraced the hyper wolf. “Thanks, Kazu.” I let go and gasped.
His ears and tail were replaced with human ears covered in several piercings: three piercings on both lobes, a tragus on each ear, a triple helix on his left, and a double helix and industrial on his right. His golden earrings matched the golden necklace he wore. Despite the soft sage green sweatshirt and black cargo pants, he truly looked like someone from the mafia.
“What's wrong?” He looked down at himself.
“Your ears!”
“Oh!” He grinned. “Ryu-chan made sure I wouldn't stand out.”
A familiar tall figure was behind him. I looked up and gave a warm smile.
The cold-stoned vampire held a bouquet of pink roses and other flowers that looked similar to the ones back at his family's castle.
“Congratulations.” He extended his arm out to me.
I accepted it with my free hand. “Thank you.” I walked up to Nikolas and hugged him.
He pulled me close and held my head. Nikolas moved away and placed a peck on my cheek.
Behind us, I heard some loud noises. I moved my head to see what it was. My eyes widened as I saw two tall figures run up to me. I felt the air leave my lungs as I was squeezed between the twins.
I had no idea what they were saying, but I assumed it was something like “Congratulations!”
Nikolas clenched his jaw and tried to pull them off of me. It wasn't until they saw Kazu did they finally stopped hugging me.
“My brothers were eager to come…” Nikolas let out a heavy sigh.
I felt a delicate hand on my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Nezera. She handed me a large white foreign flower. “Congratulations, dear.”
I gave a slight bow and smiled.
“What are your plans now?” Nezera questioned.
“I passed my entrance exam, so I'll be attending a local university.”
“That's wonderful!” said Nezera. “You must be very smart.”
I sheepishly chuckled. “I'm far from that.”
She waved her hand, disagreeing with me. She pointed to the plastic wrapping around the flower. “When you have time, please look inside. I left a present there.”
I nodded and thanked her again. She hugged me and then went to go talk to Kazu and the twins. I saw Nikolas and Ryunosuke talking with each other, so I decided to go up to Sen.
“Who are those guys?”
I nudged towards the twins. “They’re Nik's older brothers.”
Sen’s jaw dropped. “His brothers are just as tall as him…” He glanced at Nezera who was scolding Nodin and Niles. “Wait, is that Nikolas’s sister?”
I nodded. “That's Nezera.”
“Damn! She's hot.” Sen put his fist to his mouth. “I guess looks do run in the family.”
I glared at him as he said that. “What's that supposed to mean?”
“I can't compliment your boyfriend's family?”
I lightly punched his shoulder to show I was joking. I looked down and saw Sen was anxiously fidgeting with his blazer.
His breath was shaky as he said, “I'll be right back.”
I nodded and watched him walk towards Ryunosuke and Nikolas who were behind Kazu and his siblings. I saw Nikolas give Sen and Ryunosuke a nod and walked up to me.
He wore a black bomber jacket that had red and white embroidery in the back, a white undershirt, and baggy dark gray jeans. I noticed he was wearing the earrings I bought him along with some other earrings he owned.
He leaned towards me so he could speak softer. “There's something I need to talk to you about.”
“Yes?” I turned to Nikolas, but my mind wandered to what was behind him. I peered behind Nikolas and he did the same. I saw Sen hand his blazer button to Ryunosuke. Sen looked away the entire time, his cheeks burning up. Ryunosuke was taken aback at first but quickly smiled. He fiddled with his blazer and placed his button in Sen’s hand.
I blinked several times to realign myself. “Sorry, Nik, you were saying?”
He shook his head. “I'll tell you later.”
I nodded as I removed the second button of my blazer and placed it in his hand. Nikolas tilted his head as he played with it.
“Giving a person the second button on your blazer means you like them,” I mumbled.
I saw a faint smile drawn on his lips. His face turned back to its stoic self. “It's too bad I love you instead.”
My eyes widened in shock as he said those words. I bashfully covered my face with the bouquet. I could feel my mouth twisting into a smile. I removed my grinning face from the bouquet and replied, “I love you too.”
Nikolas chuckled, finally with a genuine smile on his face.
Kazu eagerly suggested that we all eat and celebrate at a hot pot place. The eight of us gathered at one table eating our hearts out. I found out the Ardelean family was loaded, so his sister treated all of us.
Kazu sat on my left and Nikolas sat on my right. Sen and Ryunosuke were sitting across from Nikolas and me while the siblings sat on the right of Nikolas. Niles, Nodin, and Kazu were eating triple as much as anyone at the table. Nikolas seldom ate, only eating the food that I offered him.
While I was chewing on a piece of chicken, Nikolas nudged me with his elbow. He gestured forward with his head.
I glanced and looked at why Nikolas grabbed my attention. There seemed to be something going on between Ryunosuke and Sen. Ryunosuke leaned his head on Sen's shoulder from time to time and the two would give each other shy passing glances.
I giggled which drew their attention. I brushed it off and continued to eat.
I decided to look into the bouquet that Nezera gave me. I moved the flower and noticed a large bundle of cash. I mentally counted the money and came to a total of 300,000¥ ($2,100). My jaw agape, I looked at Nikolas who was sipping water from his cup.
His family IS filthy rich! I thought to myself.
Nodin and Niles started earnestly talking to me but quickly realized I couldn't understand a word they were saying.
Ryunosuke snapped his fingers and I felt my ears pop.
“OW! What was that for?” I rubbed my ears.
“You’re welcome.” Ryunosuke arrogantly replied.
I turned to the twins who were still talking to me. “Does that mean Akio can become one of us now?”
“Niles, what are you even saying? Humans can’t become assassins.”
Nodin shrugged. “We can teach him.” He gave me a smirk.
“He’s attending university,” Nikolas responded coldly in his native tongue.
Niles swayed his head from side to side. “He can learn from us and it would be free!”
“I think you’re onto something, Niles.” Nodin’s eyes lit up. “He does have the build to be an assassin.” Nodin put his elbows on the table and placed his chin on his hands. “Akio, join us for our next mission!”
Nikolas wrapped his arms around my waist and shook his head at his brothers. “He’d get killed under your watch.”
Niles leaned forward and got a glimpse of Sen. “What about that guy? We could recruit him.”
Sen raised a brow in confusion. Ryunosuke turned to his left and narrowed his eyes at Niles, his emerald eyes glowing menacingly.
“It was worth a shot.” The twins said in unison.
Nezera pointed at Kazu. “You should ask Kazu. He would love to go.”
Kazu smiled with a mouth full of meat and nodded eagerly. If he still had his tail, it would be swaying frantically. We all laughed at Kazu’s reaction.
By the time we finished our meal, it was already evening. It was refreshing to have a meal at a restaurant with friends. Kazu left with Nikolas’s family to learn about the twins’ next mission, Ryunosuke and Sen walked home together, and Nikolas accompanied me on my way home.
“Thanks for walking me home.”
Nikolas gave a nod as he stood outside of the walls surrounding my house. He waited patiently while I unlocked the gate.
After pushing the gate open, I turned to him. “Do you…” I muttered. “Want to stay the night?”
Nikolas’s eyes widened, but his face was still expressionless. “Are you sure?”
I looked down and grabbed onto his hand. I gave him a slow nod. We stood there for a few moments before I let him inside. My parents weren’t home and Anji was staying over at Sen's house.
I placed my graduation certificate and bouquets on my desk before sitting stiffly on my bed. Nikolas followed suit.
“Um,” I said while standing up. “I'll be right back. I have to use the restroom.”
Nikolas nodded as he took his phone out of his pants pocket. I quickly made my way to the bathroom and tried not to scream.
“Akio, what were you thinking?” I anxiously whispered to myself. I had my head in my hands. My heart and breath were shaky as I rinsed my face with cold water.
After a couple of minutes, I was done washing up. I walked to my bedroom and closed the door behind me. Nikolas was still lying down on my bed staring at his phone.
I stood beside him and took a peek at what he was looking at. There on his screen was a photo of me smiling with the bouquet he gave me.
“When did you take that?”
He turned off his phone as if he were hiding a secret. “When you weren’t looking.”
I smiled and pushed him playfully. I then remembered something. “Hey, Nik, didn't you want to tell me something at dinner?”
The vampire’s eyebrows rose as he also remembered. “Yes, I do.”
I nodded and waited for him to continue.
His face turned solemn as he unexpectedly reached for my hand while looking down. “I've been thinking about our future for quite some time.”
My brows furrowed at the sudden change in subject.
“The fight we had with Zaros reminded me of my fear of losing you.” His hand began to tremble, “I can't bear the thought of you dying before me.”
My heart dropped at the shift of tone in our conversation. “That's a while from now.” I held his hand tightly as I tried to smile. “We'll deal with that when the time comes.”
Nikolas stared down into his lap before speaking again. “During my suspension, I asked Ryunosuke to do me a favor.”
“You did? What did you ask him?”
The vampire finally looked me in the eyes. “I asked him to turn me into a human.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. The room was quiet for a while before I spoke. “Is that possible?”
“He's trying to find an ancient spell. When he does find it, he'll use it to make me human.”
Surprised and uncertain as I was, I felt internally happy. Can I be happy? I thought.
I frowned. “What about your family?”
“The first time you visited my home was the day I told my dad about my plan. I talked to my siblings after you left.”
“What if the spell doesn't work? What if it kills you?” My breath hitched at the thought of that. I could feel my eyes stinging as my fingers clenched onto the fabric on his shoulders. “You don't have to do this for me. I knew what I was getting myself into when we started dating. So please–”
Abruptly, Nikolas grabbed my waist and placed me on his lap. My body felt stunned as I looked down at his ruby eyes.
“I’m willing to sacrifice my immortality to be with you. Even if I have to endure agony and hell, I'll do it.” Nikolas nuzzled his face into my shoulder, his arms squeezing my torso.
Tears streamed down my face. There were still things I wanted to say, things I wanted to protest, but the throbbing pain in my throat stopped me. I could only croak, “Why?”
“Because I love you, Akio.” Nikolas leaned back and held my face in his hands, his fingers softly wiped away my flowing tears. “I want to spend my remaining days with you. I want to grow old with you. I'll do it because it's for you.”
I wept loudly as I pulled him into a hug. I was overjoyed but scared at the same time. The vampire caressed my back until the intensity of my crying died down.
After a few minutes, I was finally able to talk properly. “You better not die,” I mumbled, my forehead leaning against his shoulder.
Nikolas’s body moved as he chuckled. “I won't.”
“How long will it take Ryunosuke to find the spell?”
“One or two years.”
“Tell him to hurry up.” I chuckled. I leaned back and looked Nikolas in the eyes.
He faintly smiled as he wiped the remaining tears on my cheeks. Nikolas placed his lips on my neck. I felt a chill on my nape as he kissed down to my collarbone.
Nikolas gently grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers. “Are you ready?”
Hesitant but eager, I quietly replied with a yes.
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