Is it Tough Being a Friend? v2 Chapter 1 Part 5

“I’ve been waiting, Kobayashi Ichirou.”

Before long, time had passed and it was now three in the afternoon.

Once I entered Oumei High School, I visited the classroom I attend.

Since it was summer vacation, there were only a few students in the school for extracurricular activities. Naturally, it seemed that this classroom was being used as a meeting spot since…nobody would be here.

“Summers in Japan are hot and a bother. The cries of the cicadas are also incessant.”

While chatting some words, the person that I’m secretly meeting with gave a slight shrug of the shoulders.

She was well-ordered and flawless, with a beauty like that of a Western doll. Though slender, she had feminine, elegant limbs. She also had medium-long hair that was scarlet like a fire.

I can sense a high-class aura from her, but at the same time, she also has a commoner-like friendliness. She’s certainly the very picture of a mysterious girl.

“Anyways, your complexion isn’t too great. Did something happen?”

“Nothing in particular. Some slight food poisoning.”

“Take care of yourself. It’s easy for food to spoil during this season.”

While sitting on the teacher’s desk with her legs crossed, the girl made an elegant laugh with a “Hohoho.” I’d like it if you made it clear whether you’re well-mannered or ill-mannered.

…Her name is Elmira McCartney. She’s a foreigner from Eastern Europe that transferred into the class that Ryuuga and I are in.

However, that’s only an alias. Elmira’s true character is a vampire that’s called “The Blood-kin of Eternal Darkness.” To make matters worse, within her body dwells a guardian spirit, the “Vermilion Bird,” and she’s also a “companion character” of Ryuuga.

Her unusual power lets her freely manipulate fire. Perhaps that’s reason why her hair’s so brightly red. That’s her actual hair, so teachers don’t even give her a warning. (TLN: Japanese schools have/used to have some pretty strict regulations on dress code. One of those regulations is about hair, and not dying it, for example.)

“Now, is it okay if we begin at once? I’m already so hungry.”

Quietly getting off the teacher’s desk, Elmira made a beckoning motion.

I reluctantly complied and removed the top-most three buttons on my shirt.

I wanted to put on some deodorant spray as an act of etiquette, but she doesn’t like that. She had said “additives are unnecessary.”

“Come now, Kobayashi Ichirou. Sit over there.”

Once I sat on a nearby seat, Elmira went over to my back. Her elegant finger softly stroked my cheek, making my whole body shudder in reflex.

“Oh-hoh. It seems you aren’t that nervous now, right?”

“J, just focus and do it already.”

…Holding a secret meeting in an empty classroom, a man and a woman were getting close to one another. Looking at it, one might immediately think that they were starting some erotic conduct.

However, what’s starting here is a “meal.” To more correctly say it, it’s an “energy resupply.”

The vampire, Elmira McCartney, transforms blood into flames. However, the bloodsucking she does in order to do so is something that Ryuuga prohibits. The only blood she can absorb is Ryuuga’s…that’s the kind of promise she made.

And yet, why am I doing this?

Why am I hiding this from Ryuuga and secretly giving her blood?

──The answer is simple. It’s because my blood is tasty. After absorbing it one time due to certain circumstances, she’s become completely addicted.

Due to that…I very unwillingly became Elmira McCartney’s “exclusive donor.” I periodically cooperate with her on giving blood.

“Aah…I’ve been longing for this. I’ve been waiting ten days, you know? I’ve had withdrawal symptoms since yesterday, my hands were trembling.”

“Couldn’t there be some kind of dangerous component in my blood?”

“Hehe, I suppose you could say that.”

Her sweet whispers and long breaths tickled my ear. Before I knew it, Elmira embraced me from behind. I felt two soft sensations on my back, and…I’m not going to say it all in detail.

(If someone were here to see this, that’d be really bad.)

Particularly, if Ryuuga saw this, she won’t let me off easily. I could possibly get treated to a bomb of light bullets, which are nicknamed “Dragon Fang (what I’m calling it).”

“Kobayashi Ichirou, ease up the strength in your shoulder. Close your eyes, take slow breaths…like that, heh heh ho.”

“Isn’t this the Lamaze technique? I mean, we’re even in a location out of sight.”

“If you’re in the school, you can soon go straight to the infirmary, right?”

After following her instructions, Elmira sank her teeth into my neck.

I instantly felt a prickling sensation that then turned into a ticklish one once her tongue approached. Within the now-silent classroom, there were some suspicious slurping noises.

Though this kind of thing happens each time we do this, its suspicion knows no bounds.

In addition, each time we do this, my vision gradually flickers from anemia.

“Hey, Elmira. It’s about time now…”

“Not yet.”

“I think that’s already enough…”

“Not yet. I’m going to thoroughly drink today.”

“Stop thinking that we’re in a bar! The only one drinking here is you!”

“Quiet down, people will come over…*nom nom*”

“Hey! What are you eating?!”

“Dried squid. It goes well with your blood.”

“Are you an old man or something?!”

…In the end, it took three minutes until Elmira released me.

I collapsed onto the floor and looked upwards while dizzy, seeing her wipe her mouth with a handkerchief in satisfaction.

“*huff* Thank you for the meal.”

“I seriously could have died…if you sucked for even two more seconds…”

“That’s an exaggeration.”

“You’ve…become the MVP of part two…”

“What are you talking about? By the way, Ichirou…”

Not paying mind to what I said, Elmira changed the topic. It seems that she doesn’t feel any inclination to take care of me at all.

“I haven’t told you this, but I’ve actually…begun writing a novel.”

“A novel?”

I didn’t that she had such a hobby. She’s a surprisingly crafty vampire.

Well, I can say that this is preferable to having her investigate what happened during the final battle, similar to how Aogasaki did. I’ll go along with this line of conversation. Then I’ll promptly take a rest at the school infirmary.

“What kind of novel is it?”

“Heheh, you want to hear about it? Good, let me specially tell you about it.”

Putting on airs, Elmira cleared her throat with a cough. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed that she was itching to talk about it.

“It’s the story of a forbidden love between the close friends Ryuuya and Jirou.”

“Ryuuya and Jirou…”

There isn’t really a need to think deeply about who those two were modeled after.

“The two meet and progressively become more drawn to each other. Then before long, the fate of their previous lives are revealed…it’s a lovely, intense, and grand story about pure love.”

“But, it’s probably between men, right?”

“What kind of question is that?”

Elmira had gradually turned into a fujoshi. If she learned about Ryuuga’s true identity, she’d probably be devastated.

“There’s a lot of people who share the same interest as me in the literature club for this school. There’s an activity today.”

“So our meeting place being the school is for your own convenience, isn’t it?!”

I raised a voice of criticism while laying on the floor. I don’t have the spare energy to stand up.

“My work has garnered high favor.”

“Let me ask one thing! Which one is Jirou?! Don’t tell me…he’s a bottom?!”

“He’s a bottom.”

“A bottom!”

“He’s already gotten completely smashed. By Ryuuga, that is.”

“You mean Ryuuya!”

“Ichirou then cries out loud.”

“It’s Jirou, Jirou! That is something that’d me cry, after all!”

Afterwards, Elmira headed towards the literature club in high spirits, so I had to find my own way to the school infirmary while crawling like a slug. It took fifteen minutes.

By the time I was able to stand, it was already dark.

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