“Drained dry, the poor thing,” answers Dr. Yuuta Okkotsu from the other end of the morgue, where he’s busy with another body. “These two came in as a pair.”
“Ah,” she says, noticing the sloppy puncture marks on the young man’s neck. “He didn’t go down without a fight, though.” She notes the cuts, shallow slashes, and other such damage on his skin. Some broken bones, even; what a fight that must have been. “Good on you…” She glances at the tag on the body. “Mr. Megumi Fushiguro.” She turns to Dr. Okkotsu. “Was yours drained, too?”
“Yeah, but not for the same reason,” the doctor says. “This one’s our culprit. Your guy interfered when he was trying to feed on someone else. That someone else then pumped my guy full of lead first chance they got. Lost too much blood too fast to regenerate.”
“Probably for the better,” Kasumi says, before realizing her rudeness. “Uh, no offense,” she adds hastily.
Her boss laughs. “None taken.”
“Hmm… his veins are really weird for someone who got drained,” Kasumi notes. “You said your guy was shot a lot. What are the chances Fushiguro here got some of that blood in him?”
Dr. Okkotsu pauses, deep in thought. “That’s… not impossible, but still unlikely, I’d say. An unintentional turning like that is unheard of; you’d need buckets of blood. Besides, it’s been some time. If he was gonna turn, he should’ve already.”
“Well, guess I’ll just give you a heads up if he starts healing mid-autopsy,” she jokes.
The two of them work in silence, prepping their respective bodies. It’s just another long night shift among many, but Kasumi has been feeling the effects of each one more and more. She’s a little jealous of her boss, who—as a vampire—is naturally nocturnal and never seems to get tired. Or *look* tired, for that matter. She knows more than a few people who’d kill to have skin *that* pristine without moisturizer.
It’s so unfair, but she forgives him since he’s a nice guy who, more often than not, lets her clock out early.
Before Kasumi can start on her cadaver, her scalpel slips out of her hand. She curses faintly, bending down to see where it fell. It takes her a second because of the strangely fuzzy shadows under the gurney, but she spots it. When she goes to grab it, though, the darkened floor gives beneath her fingers and the scalpel sinks into it.
“What the hell?”
“Problem?” Her boss asks, looking over with concern.
“Uh, nothing,” Kasumi says, unsure of it herself. “I… should probably get some coffee. What was I thinking? Should’ve known one cup wouldn’t be enough, haha.” She stands. “Be back in a min—”
The sound of metal echoes throughout the nearly empty morgue when the corpse of Fushiguro Megumi arises from the gurney with a start and grabs Kasumi. He traps her with his arms wound tight around her like steel restraints, her back against his chest. She feels more than hears his animalistic growl, with his fangs mere centimeters away from the flesh of her neck.
“Oh dear,” Dr. Okkotsu says.
Kasumi screams when she feels the fangs break her skin, but suddenly, there’s movement faster than her eyes can keep up with, and she finds herself on the floor after being pushed away. The doctor is now the one restraining Fushiguro, pinning him against a wall, though it looks like it’s to some difficulty.
Fushiguro thrashes against his hold, face contorting into a snarl. His previously green eyes are now a glowing red. With fangs bared, he hisses and growls—the very picture of savage hunger without lucidity or self-awareness. A creature of pure instinct. A monster.
“Miss Miwa.” Dr. Okkotsu’s voice breaks through the cloud of her paralyzing shock. “The only way we’ll be able to calm him down is by feeding. I’m going to need you to go over to my bag and grab my thermos. Stand up slowly, no sudden movements.”
Kasumi stares at him with wide eyes. She wills her fear-stricken body to move, but it won’t listen to her. Her throat is constricting, and she can feel tears streaming down her cheeks. Damn it. What a time to be useless.
“Miss Miwa,” Dr. Okkotsu says again, calm and careful. “Please breathe. Deep breaths. Breathe in… then out. In… and out. That’s good. You’re doing very well. No, no, don’t look at him. Keep your eyes on me. That’s right; don’t be afraid. Just breathe. In… and out. In… and out.”
Slowly, the tears stop, and Kasumi’s mind regains a semblance of clarity.
“Now, can you stand?”
She nods. Dr. Okkotsu’s bag is all the way on the opposite end of the room. She turns her back on him and walks slowly. Her hands shake as she clutches at the zipper, but relief blooms in her chest once she’s finally got the thermos in hand.
Kasumi makes sure to keep her distance as she hands it over. She watches with bated breath as Dr. Okkotsu holds the feral vampire’s jaw open and pours the contents of the thermos down his throat.
At first, Fushiguro sags in his hold, but it doesn’t last. Whatever he’s been fed only agitates him further, and now the doctor must hold him back with greater strain.
“What happened?!” Kasumi exclaims, panic returning as both vampires sink up to their ankles in the shadows. “Why’d he only get angrier!?”
Her boss grimaces. “That was sheep blood. He wants a human.”
“W-What’s going to happen to me, Doc?” Kasumi sobs.
“Please calm down, Miss Miwa. Don’t worry. I won’t let him harm you, but you’ll have to work with me here.”
“Meaning?” She asks, more of a whimper than a proper utterance. She already knows the answer before he even says it.
“I’ll need to spot some of your blood.”
The tears flow anew.
“Breathe, Miss Miwa, please. Focus on the sound of my voice. Are you listening?”
Kasumi inhales shakily, but nods.
“Good. I won’t let him drink from you directly; that’s too dangerous. What you’re going to do is get a syringe and draw the blood out first. Can you do that for me?”
She nods again, less scared this time, and follows the doctor’s instructions. He reassures her all the way, and she lets his voice wash over her as she watches the syringe she’s holding fill up with her own blood. Dr. Okkotsu guides her into doing this a few times until she’s filled up his thermos again. It’s not enough blood loss to make her feel faint, but it’s a near thing.
Even though he takes care not to make her feel the pressure, Kasumi can hear from the shifts in his voice that what Dr. Okkotsu is doing—holding Fushiguro back—can’t possibly be easy, or something he can do indefinitely. She tries her damnedest to do everything in a timely manner, her heart pounding all the while.
Thankfully, second time’s the charm.
When the doctor holds the thermos against Fushiguro’s lips this time, he gulps down Kasumi’s blood eagerly. She sees him regenerate in real time as he feeds: the discoloration on his skin disappears, cuts and wounds close up, and bones pop back into place.
The shadows around the room lose their… fuzziness, or whatever that was, spitting back out the objects that had started sinking into them. Kasumi hears a *clang* as her scalpel reappears where she had dropped it earlier.
Exhausted, the fledgling vampire passes out in Dr. Okkotsu’s arms.
+++
Uraume is minding their own business on a night like so many others before it, surveying the grounds surrounding their master’s estate, when they hear the call.
It comes as a surprise, since Sukuna has tended strongly towards solitude these past decades. When he *does* leave the estate, it’s to hunt, a seldom thing, or on business with the covens, which is rarer still. Even Uraume only visits as often as they suspect he’ll tolerate, which is why they pack each trip with as much busywork as can be accomplished in a few scant nights.
By the time they reach the main house, the lamps and torches littered throughout have flared up with newfound ferocity. More exceptional than that is Sukuna, who has emerged from deep meditation in order to admire the moonlight with a thoughtful frown and a faraway gaze.
“What is it, My Lord?”
Sukuna regards them with nothing but silence for a long moment. He inhales deeply and closes his eyes—and then Uraume witnesses something, the sight of which they had almost forgotten: a smile on their master’s face.
“He has arrived,” Sukuna says. “The shaper of form. I can sense him, at last.”
“Will you search for him?” They ask, half a mind already drawing up a list of preparations, but Sukuna shakes his head.
“There’s no need. He will come to me, in his own time.”
+++
Megumi sits on a gurney under the harsh lights of the morgue, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders less for the cold and more for preserving his dignity. Because he can’t feel cold now. Or hot. Or, much of anything really.
He’s only half-listening to Dr. Okkotsu’s explanations about his current situation. He catches some fragments about the sun, garlic, and having to throw out his silver cutlery if he has any since it’s “as good for you now as those old radium-containing utensils were to humans.”
“Something on your mind?” Okkotsu snaps him out of his reverie.
“The woman… from the club,” Megumi says. “Is she okay?” She didn’t end up here like him and that bastard, this he knows, but there’s a wide berth between that and ‘okay.’
“I wouldn’t know,” Okkotsu admits. “But, based on the way these things go, she would have had to be taken into custody and questioned. If she could be held there for anything, it’d be for illegal firearm possession.”
“Oh.” Megumi deflates.
“Have you got any family, Fushiguro? A lover, perhaps?”
The questions make Megumi’s brows furrow. “A sister, in a coma. No significant other.”
“I see. You’re in university, right? What for?”
“To be a veterinarian.”
The doctor frowns at that, but it disappears quickly. “Well, if you ever change your mind, or you just need a job in the meantime, we have a few openings here. I can put in a good word for you.”
“Thank you,” Megumi says, sincere. Though, he can’t see why he would want to switch majors. And the job offer is nice, but he already has a part time job as well at a shelter. “And sorry… for earlier.”
Okkotsu smiles warmly. “It’s nothing. If there’s anyone you should apologize to, it’s Miss Miwa over there. You scared her real good!” He gestures at the technician across the room, who Megumi has noticed giving him nervous glances from time to time.
Megumi turns to face her. “Miss Miwa, I’m sorry I tried to kill you,” he tells her. “I wasn’t myself.”
She shakes her head. “Um… it’s fine. You’re forgiven. We’re both lucky Doc’s here.”
An hour later, after Miwa has clocked out for the night and Megumi is ready to go himself, Dr. Okkotsu taps him on the shoulder.
“You were distracted earlier, but we really do need to talk about blood,” he says, expression serious. “First off, how do you feel about it?”
“I… don’t like that I need it.” Megumi retreats into himself a touch. “I’d prefer not to drink any at all.”
Okkotsu huffs in slight amusement. “I figured. But you don’t have to be so scared. The image you have in your mind, of reckless feeders like the man who turned you hunting humans and draining them dry once the hunger becomes too much—that’s not your only option.”
“Oh?” Megumi asks warily.
“There’s blood bags, for one. Humans get those all the time, too, for transfusions. You can think of needing to feed as needing regular transfusions, if that makes it less unpleasant. Some vampires like to contract with a specific donor, to feed directly, so they always know where the blood comes from.”
Megumi grimaces. That doesn’t sound too appealing either.
“You have to feed regularly, Fushiguro, if you don’t want to lose yourself to the hunger again and hurt those around you,” Okkotsu says. “I was here this time, but you won’t always have someone to help. The vast majority of vampires aren’t like me; some of them would gladly use your hunger to control you.”
“What else is there?”
“If the thought of having human blood repulses you that much, there’s always animal blood. Most people who go this route choose pig blood, but personally I can’t stand it, so I go for herbivores like cows and sheep. Whichever you choose, you can take your pick of where to get it, too, since lots of farms and slaughterhouses sell blood on the side.”
“Okay. I’ll look into it,” Megumi says, not looking forward to doing that at all.
Okkotsu gives him a smile and a squeeze on the shoulder. “I’m glad to hear that. Good luck, and don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it. You know where to find me.”
+++
There are a number of adjustments to be made.
First among them is Megumi’s dorm room with its east-facing window. It becomes a whole ordeal to get transferred since it’s the middle of the semester, but thankfully, he ends up in a new room with a north-facing window instead that’s easily blocked by another nearby building.
The sun in general is a pretty big and annoying thing to work around, but it could be worse. At least he lives in Tokyo now; in his rural hometown, it would’ve been impossible to get most things done after 6PM. The staff at the university hospital’s charity ward are nice about it, too, and haven’t given Megumi a hard time about mildly flouting visiting hours for Tsumiki.
He tries to put off the whole blood thing at first, but just like he had been warned, all the energy bars and instant ramen he has stashed in his dorm—which he’d been relying on since he first started living on his own—taste no better than loam to him now. Also, it’s jarring to suddenly become aware of how much of social interaction is structured around food and drinks now that that’s something he can’t participate in anymore.
When Megumi feels the first stirrings of *the hunger* deep in his bones, he wants nothing more than to simply ignore it. He goes out after sundown, aiming for the library, but that’s when he notices it. The smell of blood is *everywhere* around him: in that woman and her friend jogging across the quadrangle, in that old professor carrying a stack of papers, in that gaggle of jocks chatting loudly and animatedly on the grass. All of them are filled to the brim with that one thing his body wants. The hunger clouds his mind, tells him, ‘What of those books? Is that *really* what you’re concerned about right now?’
After that, he’s much less reluctant to make the trip to the nearest butcher. It feels like some kind of betrayal to his past self, who would never have willingly approached such a place, but Megumi’s more scared of the hunger now, so in the end it’s not that big a deal. The idea of pig blood disgusts his lingering human sensibilities, but at his first actual taste of it, any and all reservations are overtaken by the relief of being full, of clarity, of once again seeing humans as people and nothing more, and certainly not as food.
Blood situation taken care of, Megumi figures it’s time to stop slacking on his job and classes. Only…
It appears that Dr. Okkotsu—damn him—had conveniently failed to mention the part where any animal Megumi touches will now, at best, recoil aggressively from him or, at worst, go into a furious tantrum at his mere proximity. So that’s why he’d been so sure Megumi would need to switch majors.
His boss, coworkers, and the volunteers at the shelter are sad to see him go, and Megumi tries not to show it, but he’s just as dismayed about having to quit.
Guess he’ll have to see about that morgue job after all.
+++
“I’ve only been a vampire for a bit, but I feel like I’ve been dead for longer.”
“Why’s that?”
“Immortals in novels and TV shows are all depressed because they always outlive the people they care about, right? Well, that’s *been* my life, even as a human, after Tsumiki. Foods I used to enjoy taste like dirt now, and animals can’t stand to be around me anymore—which sucks—but other than that… it’s not all that different.”
“Megumi, can I ask you a rude question?”
“Go for it.”
“At dawn later, do you plan on going into the sun?”
“…No. Guess I don’t.”
“And do you want to go into the long rest, too, like me?”
“Not really.”
“I see. How about the morgue—do you plan on working there forever?”
“No. After a while, I’d want to do something different. I could switch to paleontology.”
“Now, I might be completely off-base here since only you can know for sure, but I’m getting a couple of things from your answers. First, at least *some* part of you wants to keep living. Second, you’re waiting for something, and you don’t want to miss it, so the long rest is out of the question.”
“Uh-huh. That thing I’m waiting for, what is it then?”
“What else could it be? It’s love.”
“Well, you’re wrong there. Love’s never even crossed my mind.”
“You better thank me, then! I might’ve just saved you from decades of obliviousness.”
“Nah, don’t think so.”
“I think it’s admirable, keeping a flame of hope alive in your heart. Wishing you the best of luck with that, truly.”
“Wh—you know what? Never mind. You’ll be in hibernation soon and I won’t have to listen to anything like this anymore.”
“Aww, I know you’ll miss me. That is exactly why you’re coming with me to Shinjuku tomorrow night.”
“I’m doing what now?”
“There’s someone I want you to meet, so even when I’m asleep, you’ll have at least one other friend who understands.”
“I thought you kept your distance from other vampires because things tend to get dangerous.”
“Yeah, I do, but this guy’s harmless. Might just be the most harmless one of them all, actually. I think you two’ll get along great—oh, don’t look at me like that.”
“If all that psychoanalysis was just a way to get me to—”
“Don’t worry, you’re not his type. Come on, what do you say?”
“…Fine. Drinks on you.”
“Attaboy. See you then!”
“But, if this turns out to be another blind date, you’re gonna wake up in a coffin 30 meters underwater off the coast of Egypt.”
“Sure, go for it, if that’s what it takes to make you go on vacation!”
+++
“Are you Dr. Megumi Fushiguro?”
“Who’s asking?”
“How lucky, I got to you first! Tell me, what does the name Toji Zen’in mean to you?”
jurassic_cunt on Chapter 1 Thu 22 May 2025 04:55AM UTC
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akahomie on Chapter 1 Fri 23 May 2025 02:40PM UTC
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