“What?” Tsukki repeats, thinking he misheard. The cure against the vampire virus? Kentaro must be crazy. There’s no such thing.

“I know what you think. You think it’s impossible. You think I’m just the fucker who enjoys killing vamps and takes some mythical nonexistent cure as an excuse. But it’s true.”

Tsukki didn’t think Kentaro was just a killer, but he doesn’t say anything, going on with sipping blood and waiting. He wonders whether Kyoushi would tell him anything else. But silence fills one minute after another, packet by packet of blood emptied.

“Whoa, you were quite hungry, huh?” Kentaro breaks it finally, after taking away from Tsukki tenth packet.

“Well, I’m not sure when I’ll have the next chance to eat, so…” Tsukki licks his lips, covering the escaping drop of blood with his tongue.

“What makes people willingly let you drink them?” Kentaro asks, looking at the thin red stripe left on the Tsukki’s chin.

“Wanna find out?” Tsukki feels dizzy and cheeky now when his stomach, arteries, and veins are filled with life. If he wasn’t chained to the bed by handcuffs, he could jump out and dance, celebrating it. That’s how he felt, at least.

“Thanks, but no, thanks,” Kentaro frowns a bit. It makes Tsukki scowl.

“If that disgusts you, why are you feeding me?” he asks.

“It’s not… I’m not… It’s complicated.” Kentaro sighs. “And I’m feeding you because I like you.”

Tsukki’s brows jump up.

“What, you don’t believe me? I wouldn’t do anything like this for anyone else, Tsukki.” The voice is sad, mourning even. “I would be glad to feel different, but… I don’t want to harm you. I want to…” Kentaro stops himself, making Tsukki curious about what he is about to say. When he doesn’t go on, Tsukki notices:

“You don’t seem very happy about it.”

Kentaro chuckles, but the sound isn’t full of joy.

“All my life I was raised as a hunter. Even if recently, due to the research we make, I don’t kill vampires straight away, I still bring them pain, bring their lives to an end,” Kentaro scowls when Tsukki fidgets uncomfortably, his body trying to get away unconsciously. “I cultivated the sixth sense in finding vampires, I can feel them on a subconscious level. But when I met you…”

Kentaro wipes the face with the palm. Tsukki’s breath slows down. It’s not the kind of confession you want to hear when you’re a vampire.

“All my instincts should scream ‘Kill!’, ‘Get him to the lab!’” Kentaro grabs Tsukki’s wrist. The last flinches and Kyoushi rushes on, “But they’re silent, Tsukki. They’re silent about you.”

In the way Kentaro says it, Tsukki hears the painful undertone. He can understand that. When you live your life in a certain way you know what’s good and what’s bad, and what you should do about bad. So when something that stands out of your routine happens, it’s hard to wrap your head around it. You get lost, you need to rewire your compass and realign the checkpoints.

Maybe it’s even worse for Kentaro, the situation they’re in now. Tsukki had to change the country, escaping the inevitable. Kentaro has to change his way of thinking, the rules that were etched into his personality with every training he was given in childhood. Every vampire who tried to kill him carved these rules inside his mind. He soaked them in with his mother’s milk.

And now he has to fight against them.

“Can you tell me more about that cure?” Tsukki asks hoping it’s gonna change the track of Kentaro’s thoughts. And he, himself, wants to know the information it anyway.

“Ah. Where to start…”

***

The history of the vampire virus goes back to the dawn of the humanity. The recent research discovered there were vampires in the ancient tribes.

“But how come no one knows about it if the scientists…” Starts Tsukki, but Kentaro goes on without hesitation.

“Most of the evidences were considered as fakes. As you know, there aren’t very many vampires. There weren’t a lot of them back then.”

The vampire hunters were the natural response. And they somehow decided it’s better to keep it secret from the rest of the people - that there are creatures who walks and talks like human but not fully happens to be them. Since then, anywhere the information about vampires come up, the hunters tried to clean it away.

Back in the days the nature of the vampirism was mystical. Those of hunters who were into science, explored the subject.

“How did they do it? They had nothing…” It surprises Tsukki for how long all of it goes on. Ran had never told him the hunters always existed alongside vamps, and it felt like they were a fling, something expandable. They were, in sort. Taking in account the longitude of their lives compared to their prey - the hunter could fight the vamps, but he couldn’t beat back the aging and death while vamps should be just careful enough not to meet any of the hunters to live centuries.

“Don’t people always find a way to sort out the problems?” Kentaro chuckles. The sound of his voice reminds Tsukki their date. He thinks Kentaro is pretty eased with him - was back then and feels now.

“Only in the last century when science started to hit one milestone after another, they found out that vampirism is a virus. Quite unusual one.” Tsukki raises a brow. Kentaro looks at him. “You should know. The typical virus tries to spread as wide as possible. But this one… Vampires are quite reserved aren’t they?”

Tsukki nods.

“That’s why it was harder to find out more. But since then, the hunters started to find a cure. It wasn’t really successful search. A lot of the vampires who got caught, died through experiments.”

Tsukki’s heart flips as he remembers the vamps on the video.

“It was until recently. The group in the Europe, the oldest one, The Hellsings,” Kentaro says the name with awe, like talking about an idol, “They told they’ve might created the cure.” The glint in Kentaro’s eyes is feverish, somewhat crazy. “There were some vampires who even tried it already, coming there willingly and…”

Tsukki holds the breath. Did they cure? Is it possible? Can he cure?

“Who would wish to become the regular human again?” He asks though, not sure how he feels about the possibility.

Who would desire the life that’s far too short, full of diseases, of misery, of…

“Mortality?” The question was too obvious in his eyes and Kentaro sounds it out.

“Yeah.”

“There are vampires who lived way too long, who’s done with all this mortal coil I guess.”

“Still. There are not that many…”

“The thing is, Tsukki,” Kentaro shimmies closer, Tsukki can feel his body heat, going out in steady wave, “The Hellsings told me the last research shows that all the qualities a person gains as a vampire, remain even after treating the virus. You just lose the craving for the blood.”

That doesn’t sound realistic.

“That’s a bullshit,” Tsukki scrunches his nose. “What’s the point of leaving the best qualities and taking out the worse. Unless…”

The guess is chilling.

The humanity always has searched if not for the immortality then for the prolongation of the life.

“They want to create immortal people?” Tsukki didn’t realize his voice dropped down and barely got through the throat, looking surprisingly at the glass of water Kentaro has given him.

“The virus had already created them, Tsukki. The Hellsings just modified it.”

“Sounds like you’re not happy about it,” Kentaro nodded on Tsukki’s suggestion.

“These creatures…” He hesitates. “They’re still people. And to experiment on them…” He hears the dry chuckle and averts his eyes, knowing perfectly that if that vampires wouldn’t agree to participate, they would be killed. And some - from his hands.

“I just wonder, you know,” Tsukki muses, “How can you put it together in your head. I think it would drive me mad.”

“What exactly are you talking about?” Kentaro looks him in the eyes, bewildered.

“You seem compassionate to people and at the same time you kill the vampires, who are still mostly human.”

“Is that so, Tsukki?”

Now Tsukki is the one who looks confused.

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve heard it changes you a lot, internally and emotionally, becoming a vampire.” Kentaro cocks his head. “Tell me, Tsukki, is that right?”

There’s a glint in his eyes, like he really wants to know the answer.

“I guess it is different from person to person,” Tsukki starts slowly. He feels this conversation takes yet another turn that might open the doors he would rather keep closed.

“How is it for you, Tsukki? How did you feel when you’ve became a vampire? Do your parents know? Your friends? Your girlfriend?” Kentaro catches the slightest crook on Tsukki’s lips and doesn’t let it slip, “Or was it a deceiving manner to draw me away? It was!” He exclaims when the strangest expression, something between smirk and guilt appears on Tsukki’s face.

“How could you!” Kentaro shoves the finger into Tsukki’s chest, “How could you lie to me!” His voice is all wounded pride, but the eyes are smiling and Tsukki can’t help but laugh himself.

“What should I do? I thought I’m a goner for sure! I knew you’re a hunter and I thought you’re after me!” He even forgets for a second he’s in handcuffs and tries to get up.

It stops all the excitement at once.

Kentaro looks at him thoughtfully. Places the palm over Tsukki’s heart. He can’t feel its beating, not at the rate it works in the vampire’s body. But Tsukki is for once sure that’s his heart gives a push to meet the warmth of Kentaro’s skin.

“Do you feel something when I do this, Tsukki?” Kentaro asks.

‘I wish I didn’t,’ Tsukki thinks and nods.