Of all the things for him to say— *Why not eat a little more?* And here he was, using that same mouth to say it.
Wasn't it just recently that this guy trashed the idea of eating meals? That he went on and on about how vampires had no business eating real food?
Give me a break.
No—actually, I know.
I know that this guy doesn't know a damn thing.
He doesn't understand that for a vampire, eating means ingesting blood. That's what he doesn't get.
But still.
How could he, with that very same mouth that once called me disgusting, have the nerve to tell me to eat more? Doesn't that make you want to strangle him? Because it does.
When I stared at him in silence, Laas made a slightly flustered face.
But he probably didn't understand *why* I was irritated.
"Eat more? So what you're saying is—I should drink blood? And this from the guy who just called me disgusting the other day?"
The words came spilling straight out of my head the moment I saw his dopey expression.
Hearing that, Laas visibly panicked, and honestly? That eased my mood a little.
"Oh wait—does that mean you'd be willing to provide the blood? I mean, you told me not to use hypnosis, and that implies getting the other party's consent, right? Nobody in their right mind would agree to that, though."
I unloaded every snide remark I could muster, savoring each one.
In a normal conversation, I'd probably never win a verbal sparring match against him. But since he'd just dug his own grave, I was going to settle every score from the other day.
"Hey. You went on and on about how pathetic I am the other day—but did you even have any idea how hard it is for a vampire to obtain blood without using hypnosis?"
Laas shut his mouth.
Apparently, this guy was the type to go silent whenever things turned against him.
"Sure, by human standards, maybe we vampires are evil just for existing. So what—should I just die for you, then?"
"That's not what I—"
"No? Because that's basically what you're saying. Don't use hypnosis. Which means I either attack someone without permission, or I have to pathetically beg for blood. Like I said before—do you really think anyone would *voluntarily* offer blood? Of course not. So attacking is the only option left. Personally, I think that's way worse."
In truth, as a True Ancestor, I didn't strictly need blood to survive.
But now that I'd tasted it, there was no way I could promise to live without it. No chance.
If anyone found out, it would get complicated. But they wouldn't find out if I kept my mouth shut, so that was that.
"When you use hypnosis, you can erase the memory of being attacked and even make the experience pleasurable. Did you know that? Apparently, having your blood sucked feels really good. I'm the one doing the sucking, so I've never experienced it myself—but I heard from someone I drained that it's comparable to a certain kind of pleasure."
"Both sides end up happy, right? The vampire gets blood, the other person gets a nice feeling without any fear. Isn't that a perfect win-win?"
The part about it feeling good was apparently true.
I'd never experienced it firsthand since I was always on the giving end, but the person I'd drained told me it was comparable to sexual pleasure.
So yeah—once the sucking started, things had a tendency to escalate in that direction more often than not.
Laas's face twisted with open disgust at my comments.
What was with this guy?
Was he a virgin?
"Hey—are you a virgin?"
"Bwah!?"
Laas spat out his drink like a slapstick comedian.
"W-W-W-What!?"
Oh. He was definitely a virgin.
Huh.
"Well, if you let me suck your blood, I could help you with that little problem."
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and even I was startled.
But Laas was far more shocked—he went completely rigid.
We stared at each other in silence for a long moment.
"I don't do things like that lightly."
Laas was the first to break the silence, his voice tired and stiff as he delivered that prim little statement.
"Are you a little too attached to the common sense of your past life?"
That one slipped out too—but it landed right in my chest like a stone dropping into still water.
He was right.
The past life was the past life.
In my past life, I had indeed been human. In this life, I looked roughly the same on the outside, but inside I was a completely different creature.
So of course my sense of common sense had changed too.
*"Miss—do you believe the person you are now is someone your parents could be proud of?"* The words Melazophis had spoken to me, words that had lived inside my chest for so long.
For the first time, I felt like I could see a hazy answer.
I couldn't quite put it into words yet, but I felt I'd found the thread.
I am me.
I am a vampire.
In the end, just as Laas said— Do I choose death while clinging to a human heart, or do I live as a vampire?
That was the only choice.
And if that was the case, I would choose to live as a vampire.
Thinking that, all the agonizing I'd been doing suddenly seemed absurd.
So be it. I'd be evil.
What was wrong with a vampire living like a vampire?
Trying to force human common sense onto a vampire—the whole premise had been flawed from the start.
"And what about you? Aren't you the one who's abandoned your past life too much, *Ms. Negishi Akiko*?"
I didn't know what he was after by deliberately calling me by my past-life name.
But this guy really was a master at rubbing people the wrong way.
"What's wrong with that? From where I'm standing, *you're* the one who looks far more twisted—someone who isn't even human anymore but keeps desperately trying to be, *Mr. Sasajima Kyoya*."
I fired back with his past-life name, just like a returning volley.
His face scrunched up so obviously it was almost comical.
Huh.
I didn't know why Laas hated his past-life name so much, but if it bothered him that much, maybe I should just call him Kyoya from now on.