Tea had become their final refuge, a faint glimmer of past luxuries. Thinking so, Yui set a kettle on the stove and turned the dial on her timer; she watched the seconds tick by until the water came to a slow boil. Yui sighed a little wistfully before continuing to prepare the tea.
She had started reusing teabags a few weeks earlier, believing it to be at least one step up (an admittedly miserable one) from having no tea at all. “I’m sure Reiji-san has already realized, but…” Yui smiled sadly as the tea steeped once more, releasing the lightest scent of bergamot. Surely he was pretending not to notice for her sake. It was that sort of awkward kindness in Reiji that she particularly loved.
“I’m home.” Reiji’s tired voice came from the door to their small shared flat. He was in the kitchen in an instant. “You’ve prepared tea, I presume?”
“Ah… Yes, it should be finished soon. Welcome home, Reiji-san!” Yui gave her best cheerful smile.
Reiji laid his briefcase on the kitchen table and then took a seat, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose lightly. Though vampires did not often get headaches, it seemed that the action was soothing to Reiji. He only ever fell back on it when very stressed, so when he subsequently let out a sigh—though she knew it was not directed at her—it broke Yui’s heart a little. “…Did you have a bad day?” she asked her husband delicately.
He would not say “I made no sales”, but Yui could sense his self-loathing and disappointment nonetheless. It hurt her to see the proud Reiji laid so low by hardships. Over time, Yui had come to understand and love Reiji despite (or perhaps because of) his taciturn, stuffy nature. She knew that beneath that, he was a fair and hard-working person. However, others rarely made it that far. His prickly exterior did little to endear Reiji to his superiors or potential customers.
Once the tea was done, Yui poured a cup for Reiji and placed it in front of him. He quietly sipped it, closing his eyes to better savor the taste. “…It’s not bad.” he offered simply after the cup was drained. It was not all that long ago that Reiji would have refused such tea on the spot and demanded that Yui do it over again with proper tea leaves and technique, but those days felt very far away now.
“It’s already been two years since we left the Sakamaki house…” Yui mused.
“Regretting it at this late hour, are you?”
“Not at all. Every day I can spend with Reiji-san is a happy one.”
Within the blink of an eye, he was upon her before she could sit down at the table. Reiji rested his head in the space between her neck and shoulder which seemed to have been created just for him. Yui waited for the painful yet sweet sensation she knew so well, but nothing came. “…Aren’t you thirsty?”
“As if I could bring myself to bite into someone so thin and unappetizing.”
“I’ve always been thin, Reiji-san.”
“…Not like this. Never like this.” he murmured against her neck. “What did you eat for lunch today?”
“Don’t tell me you skipped a meal again.”
“N-no! I ate…some bread and cheese.”
Reiji sighed. “See here, you. How many times do I have to tell you that I am a vampire? I don’t need to eat food, so there’s no point in you holding back like this.”
“I like eating meals together with you.”
“…What a bothersome person you are.” Though he said so, Yui could tell from his tone that he was a little bit happy. “Did you get the mail today?”
“Ah… Yes, I sorted through it earlier in the afternoon.” She gestured toward the trays on the corner of the table. The bills tray was quite full, it being mid-month.
“…Well then, let’s go through our finances, shall we?” Yui nodded in grim affirmation. The two of them sat down and spent a long while going over their expenses.
“Sales were slow these last few weeks. If I can meet my quota next time, we should be able to save a little bit more money. As it stands, however, we’ll have to cut our budget for the time being. …Living in the realm of humans is tricky business, indeed.”
“Reiji-san, the only expenses we have nowadays are food, rent, and utilities. I’m not sure if there’s much left that we can cut.”
“Well think of something—” Reiji stopped upon looking into Yui’s eyes. He stared at her for several seconds as if appraising something. “…You’re keeping something from me, aren’t you? Something else happened today.”
Yui knew that lying to Reiji was pointless. “Shu-san visited today. J-just for a little while… I made sure to show him out promptly.”
“Hmph. I’m surprised that good-for-nothing managed to come all the way over here and stay awake. What did he want?”
“…He was worried about you—us.”
“Worried? Him? Ha! Perish the thought.”
“Shu-san is your brother, after all. Is it really so strange for him to worry about you? You all lived together for so long…”
“That good-for-nothing is the last person I want to be concerned with my affairs.” Reiji said this calmly, but Yui could see that his handwriting had become heavier. He was pressing down quite strongly upon the papers with his pen.
There was still a gap between Shu and Reiji that Yui could not help bridge. As much as she loved Reiji, her existence was still too shallow—a mere handful of years compared to the centuries those two had spent misunderstanding each other.
“…Perhaps I could take a part-time job? I’ve heard of a few places in town that are hiring and—”
“That I will never allow.” Reiji growled. “When we left that house, I swore that I would support us both.”
“But during hard times such as these, surely—”
“You certainly have courage to be talking back to me, Yui, but not much sense.” Yui had expected, of course, to be refused; Reiji’s pride was too high for her to interfere. Still, she wanted to help as much as she could. Seeing the conflicted look on her face, Reiji reached for her hand and gently brought it to his mouth. “Audacious behavior such as this must be punished, don’t you think?” Before she could respond, Reiji’s fangs broke the skin on her palm and Yui recoiled a bit from the pain. Soon, however, all she could feel was the sensation of his lips and tongue. "Just when was it that your wrist became this thin…“ he murmured.
“I-I’m sure you’ll be able to meet the sales quota next week.”
“…Of course. Just leave everything to me. Don’t bother with that good-for-nothing or trying to find a job, Yui. You only have to stay here with me.”
In this sweet prison, these difficult yet gentle days would surely continue for the two of them, Yui thought. Despite everything, this was her happiness…
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