#obiyukiweek25

Guidelines:

All work must be your own (eg. no plagiarizing other sources, tracing, pose stealing etc)

Absolutely NO AI works are accepted for this challenge

The main pairing is Obi x Shirayuki

Must follow the day’s prompt, however loosely

Must be tagged #obiyukiweek25 within the first five tags

With Tumblr’s tagging system on the fritz, please also @ snowwhite-andtheknight in your entry

Please label with the day’s number!

All NSFW content must be tagged and under a Read More!

You may submit multiple entries for each day!

Be nice

“Nobody forced you to drink that much cider.” Obi matched him glass for glass, and yet he managed to be up at dawn like always.

Suzu squints harder, turning his grimace on Obi just for a moment. “That was not a complaint,” he says. He slides the rest of the cake onto a plate, skipping the knife entirely, then plops into a chair with a wheeze. “We should do it again. When is your birthday, anyway?”

This is the fifth time Shirayuki has heard Obi be asked this question. She holds her breath.

“Just round the number up at New Years’ like a racehorse,” Obi says, waving it off like he has done every time before. “I don’t need parties.”

Yuzuri pokes her head in, waving a thick envelope at Shirayuki. “The mail’s here!” Suzu immediately steals her attention and it takes Shirayuki three swipes to snatch the envelope from her hand as she wanders past. “You aren’t seriously eating all of that at once, are you?”

There’s only one thing this can be, and it’s the fruit of a year of secret research. She rolls the envelope and sticks it deep in her pocket, hoping Obi’s too distracted by Suzu’s iron stomach to ask. And then, when he is indeed distracted enough to follow Yuzuri to the other side of the room to join in the heckling up close, she runs a finger through the letter’s seal to peek at the papers within. The name at the top is one she knows, the ones beneath strangers to her. But the most important line, to her at least, is the date- and it’s only two days away.

Obi turns, and she presses the paper against her side, burning with possibilities.

***

He does find out, of course, about the event because Obi collects gossip like birds make nests. She’s never gotten one past him before; it really would have been a surprise to get even this much organized without his hearing about it.

“If you wanted cake that much, you should have just told Suzu he couldn’t have all the leftovers. There was no need to throw another party!” Obi leans over her shoulder, closer than anyone else stands just to tease. Perhaps if he weren’t so close, she wouldn’t hear the quiet “It’s not like it’s actually my birthday.” 

It takes a concerted force of effort for her not to answer. Instead, she sends Obi on a booze run, because he’s never going to be satisfied with anything she could pick out, and when Suzu shows up with the cake in tow, she places a thick envelope on the table beside it. If she doesn’t say anything right away, he’ll find it later once he’s in a good mood-

“What’s this? Is it for me?” An arm reaches over her shoulder, long fingers closing on the envelope.

She did this all for him. Her own curiosity was a factor, of course, there’s no denying that, but in the end it’s all his. She hasn’t read the contents, beyond a single date. “Happy birthday, Obi!”

He slips a finger under the flap of the envelope, smiling carefree and feigning greed. “What’s this? Paperwork for my birthday? You shouldn’t have-”

His voice trails off before Shirayuki can object. A better friend would have held onto it until a more private moment, sometime he wouldn’t have to process it all in front of everyone. This was a mistake, and her heart falls to twist queasily in her stomach.

Obi’s as still as a cat at a mousehole, only his eyes moving, darting around the page to take it all in. His breath rasps in the moments before he finds his voice again. “How did you even find this?”

“Research,” she says. Years of letters, relying on the smallest clues he drops with his accent and the foods he likes and the places he never mentions traveling to. So many names and leads crossed out in a notebook Obi never found. Not for the first time, she blesses Clarines’ endless reams of paperwork and their systematic record-keeping. “Is it you, then?”

His eyes never leave the page, but his chin dips down in what she can only guess is a nod. “I think so,” he breathes. “I have a birthday.”

“You always did,” Shirayuki says. The room swims and she wipes her eyes with the corner of her sleeve.

“I have a birthday, and it’s today!” She’s never heard Obi’s voice so joyful, so light. “It’s right after Yuzuri’s! I need to tell her,” he gasps, and she’s not the only one with tears in her eyes. She’s enveloped in black, Obi’s heartbeat against her ear and his arms squeezing her as though she would ever try to get away. “Thank you,” he whispers.

Obi’s metaphorical stake in her back doesn’t loosen until they arrive in the garden, where she can practically hear the imaginary wood clatter onto the ground. The vampire hunter doesn’t audibly gasp, but his steps faltering in the tangled entrance reveal a man in shock.

Shirayuki turns around to find his face frozen in a moment of awe, his watchful eyes relaxed in the light of the moon above. It’s quite the sight; a predator caught in a moment of vulnerability surrounded by glowing white blooms.

Her lies are so easily revealed, the knots of weeds and tangles of flowery vines covering everything but the truth. This garden has been long abandoned. 

Whoever had maintained this secret garden is long gone, perhaps even killed by another of her kind.

The buzzing life of the forest around them does nothing to silence her thoughts. She should strike— he’s a tough adversary and this might be her own only moment with his guard down. She’s lived too long -killed too many- to let herself die now. This man can likely say the same, there’s no guilt in feeding from a hunter like him.

“It’s beautiful,” he whispers, still entranced.

Her thoughts are like water slipping through her fingers, thoughts of blood and violence escaping so far downstream. Obi looks so young, the intimidation that normally lines his face replaced with a new sense of wonderment for the nature around him. He isn’t truly someone who’s meant to be a part of her sins.

It reminds Shirayuki of her own discovery of night blooming flowers as a vampire— her first remembrance of the value of life since finding herself so lost in death to survive.

“They need a lot of sunlight, even if they’ll never bloom under it,” Shirayuki tells him, longing flooding her voice.

“Are you going to take care of it?”

It almost makes her laugh, the idea that she could take care of anything with actual life at this point.

“No,” she answers hoarsely, “I’m going to continue north.”

“There’s not much that can grown in the north,” he observes, perhaps a little unsure.

“No, not really,” she admits.

It’s difficult to lie in a garden like this, where nature runs free without fear.

The smile he gives her is knowing, a secret whispered between the two of them that can never be spoken.

The two of them in this garden are who they truly are. A vampire and her hunter, each serving as both predator and prey. Shirayuki wonders if the regret lining his face is mirrored in her own, etched so deeply from regretting an entire existence. 

It doesn’t matter.

There is only one way out of this garden, the only path forward is with blood. Another sacrifice for her own survival.

Obi slowly takes a step forward, his face unreadable as he closes the gap between them.

Shirayuki tenses, every fiber in her being screaming at her to run or fight- instead she bites her tongue.

Obi reaches a hand around her neck, gloved fingers pressed where her pulse should be. Shirayuki parts her lips, finding herself still unable to fight back— she wonders if she’ll die as frozen as a mouse beneath the stare of a cat.

Whether its terror or shock that keeps her as unmoving as her dead heart, Shirayuki finds herself at his mercy. Maybe she’s been alive too long, existing in a state of perpetual loneliness, but there’s something so familiar about this man. It’s difficult not to see a mirror in Obi’s eyes, a determination to survive despite not having any right to.

His proximity almost makes her remember the feeling of humanity, perhaps its because closeness to him is the same as being near death. 

Then Obi releases her neck, a lock of her red hair held in his hand as her hood drops to her shoulders.

Without a hint of surprise, Obi laughs- letting her hair slip out of his fingers as he does so. Shirayuki steps back from him as soon as she can but it doesn’t matter. Obi is gone quickly, melting into the woods and leaving her in a quiet garden again.

~~~

As soon as she returns from the forest, Shirayuki frantically starts packing her things. Taking a deep breath, she tries to calm down. After all, there’s nowhere above her that hunter could be hiding.

The walk back from the woods left her more rattled than their time in the garden. It had been the first time she had to worry about a vampire hunter stalking her from the trees above.

Hesitancy further overcomes her anxiety when she’s left with the sight of her scarce possessions.

It will seem suspicious to disappear in the middle of the night rather than dusk tomorrow. Both to the innkeeper here and wherever she seeks shelter next. Still, any minute that hunter could tell his boss who she truly is. Not only a vampire but the vampire on the run from their neighboring idiot prince. 

A small voice told her it would be okay. If Obi wanted to slay her, the garden would have been his perfect opportunity. Instead, he had let her go so easily… 

No.

No, it was a hunting dogs instincts masquerading as mercy. Dangerous, but under someone else’s command. He will find her if he’s ordered to. He will drive the stake in if he’s given payment.

~~~

The quiet of the isolated road to the town swallows her thoughts, leaving her a shadow behind her hunger. 

Before she was chased from Tanbarun, Shirayuki had rarely gone this long without feeding. She tried to go as long as she could, of course, but it was too risky to exist with only blood on her mind.

She needs to feed tonight.

~~~

Lacking enough time to scout for more isolated areas, Shirayuki finds herself in a tavern yet again. She won’t be stopping in this town for long anyways, especially with the innkeeper already wary of her. He was clearly a shrewd man, it’s doubtful he suspects what she truly is but this is no time for mistakes,

The tavern is emptier than she’d like, a town without many travelers to help soften the locals.

At least she’s not the only loner, an older man was already well on his way to being too drunk to function as he sat alone at the bar.

Lifetimes of experience told her instantly that he would make a good target for tonight. He’s already lived a longer life than many, clearly choosing to waste the remainder alone and a stranger to sobriety. The way his eyes scan his surroundings is hardly with good intention, a cruder hunter than her but maliciousness nonetheless.

It’s a performance to go down this checklist of reasoning every time, as if a singular killing is more than an arbitrary drop in her endless well of guilt. 

Still, this time Shirayuki finds shame twisting her stomach in ways she hasn’t felt in a hundred years. Maybe it’s last nights failure haunting her with doubts now; the weakness she found herself controlled by as a vampire hunter literally held her by the neck. Another night that she shouldn’t be here, even more than the normal blasphemy of her existence, and she’s plotting the death of someone still in their natural lifespan.

Shirayuki grits her teeth. This self pity isn’t nearly deep enough to wallow in. She already knows her choice. She will choose her own survival over being killed and cast to Hell. 

Again and again she will choose to delay that inevitable fate.

Settling her gaze back on the drunk man at the bar, it’s clear that he won’t be leaving until close. Despite the alcohol causing his shoulders to hunch pathetically over himself.

Ice running in her already cool veins, Shirayuki finds amber eyes meeting her own from behind the old man.

Obi has already found her.

Shock, terror, and the urge to flee would all be acceptable reactions to the site of the vampire hunter in her vicinity again. 

Yet Shirayuki finds herself enraged, bottled frustration at her hunger and her failures driving her across the bar to confront him.

As she nears the bar, grains of rice spill onto the floor ahead of her. Visibly seething, she still finds herself compelled to quickly bend down and count each grain. She must look ridiculous, it’s lucky that most people are unaware of this particular vampiric urge.

The barstool is empty by the time she reaches it, no sign that the shifty hunter had ever been there. Shirayuki keeps walking past the empty seat, scanning the rest of the room as she settles herself far down on the other side of the bar. Ignoring the skeptical look that the barkeep gives her as she orders a glass of wine from her new vantage point.

She knows she should be grateful that Obi had vanished before she reached him. What was she even going to say? Scold the vampire hunter for interrupting her attempts to kill an innocent? Or was she going to hand herself in to someone sent to capture the red haired vampire?

She knows that she should flee while she can, leave through the back somehow and abandon this hunt. If she’s lucky,  she can cut her losses and feed on whoever is unfortunate enough to be alone nearby. It isn’t ideal, the thought of it makes her feel like whatever God exists is laughing at her. Challenging her earlier internal declaration of survival over her own morals.

Feeding tonight is an inevitable necessity. Avoiding Obi now is nearly impossible.

It seems unlikely that Obi will bring others, he’s the type of man to work alone.

Her best chance is sticking to her original plan and adjusting her exit route. It won’t be hard to find the man if he has a bigger head start. Unless he lives very near the tavern she should still be able to find him. 

The hours pass slowly, every shift around the room leaving her wary of Obi’s return. She finds herself so focused on her surroundings that she nearly misses when the old man heads out the door, earlier than she expected but no less inebriated.

It’s easy to slip out the back, even as she opts for a window rather than a door. With her dark cloak wrapped tightly around her, she shouldn’t stand out in the unlit alley. Hopefully Obi chooses to focus on protecting the man rather than risking the strangers life to guard the back exit.

The passage is narrow, unfortunately lacking any cover to hide behind but at least it’s unlikely Obi is hiding here. Tentatively, Shirayuki begins to sneak toward the adjacent road. The mud beneath her boots is also unfortunate, forcing her to leave a clear trail out of the window.

The rooftops above appear clear of any observant amber eyes with a crooked smile as well.

Shirayuki lets out a sigh of relief as she nears the end of the alley, slowing a bit when she encounters a wide but shallow puddle blocking most of the exit.

Perhaps the second most annoying limit of her undead state is the ridiculous inability to cross water. Shirayuki’s still unsure whether the act would cause her harm, her instincts demands she avoids it too much to attempt it.

At best, it makes her look like the type of person who can’t handle a bit of dirt and outdoors. But now, it looks like she is left with the ridiculous task of pressing herself against the sliver of mud against the wall to pass this puddle. Nothing suspicious about a hooded figure refusing to hop a puddle in the middle of the night.

As soon as Shirayuki has set herself to the task, a familiar figure appears across from her.

“Why hello, Miss,” Obi calls out cheerfully, clearly finding entertainment in her predicament.

Shirayuki begins to step back, weighing her odds of finding an escape route behind her.

“No need to fear, I’m here as a gentleman,” Obi declares, his playful smile more akin to a taunt in the moonlight.

Before she can react, Obi has removed his outermost coat and laid it across the puddle at her feet. It’s a ridiculous and dramatic sight, drawing out a shocked laugh from her lips. It’s a loud sound in this empty alley, earning a cocky smile from Obi in return.

She’s about to refuse this obvious trap, since a wet jacket in a puddle is still uncrossable for her. It’s a comedic trick, but at best an attempt to condescend and mock her.

Upon looking down, Obi has scraped piles of mud into the puddle when she wasn’t looking, leaving a soft pool of mud in place of the puddle.

Shirayuki is beginning to suspect that the puddle isn’t a result of the weather.

Obi still waits, slightly bowed with a hand out as if she were nobility.

“There’s no need to mock me-" 

“Oh no, Miss, I’d never mock you. Maybe you’ve forgotten all about chivalry with how much time you spend in dirty bars,” Obi looks proud of himself, childishly pressing the buttons of a vampire older than the dainty town he stands in.

“I doubt you know the meaning of that word,” Shirayuki huffs.

“Why don’t we go for a walk? The town will spread such nasty gossip if they spot us alone in this dark and dirty place,” Obi suggests, hand still outreached.

“Wouldn’t it be easiest to slay me here? There’s no point in playing this game,” Shirayuki replies, surprising even herself by the hurt in her voice.

“It would also be easiest for you to kill me here,” Obi counters, “You know, I’m taking quite a risk by being here. I’ve heard I’m a deliciously tempting dessert option.”

Shirayuki presses her lips together, refusing to smile at his outrageous attempts of flirting with a vampire. Surely, that method has never worked for him before.

In a tempting of fate, she takes Obi’s hand lightly as she crosses the would-be puddle. His hand is warm in hers, surprisingly lacking his normal gloves. She’s sure that her own hand is freezing in return but he gives no reaction, already covering his surprise of her acceptance with a perfect mask.

It’s quiet for a moment, their closeness with only the moon as a witness reminiscent of that night in the garden. He looks more tired than before, the darkness under his eyes and warmth in his cheeks a reminder of his humanity.

Taking a step back, Shirayuki reminds herself of the danger between them. The many killing tools tailored just for her that he hides on his person and the raw hunger burning in her body at the sight of his flushed cheeks.

“Well, good choice. I couldn’t just leave a lady alone at night like that,” his voice is strained, tension escaping his measured control mask.

He had probably intended to intimidate her, laugh as she hopelessly fled away into the night. Instead, he’s left in as much danger as she is.

“Your mouth probably gets you in a lot of trouble,” Shirayuki observes, satisfied by the surprise that momentarily crosses his face.

“Probably not as much as yours,” Obi accuses as he begins walking.

Shirayuki barely stops herself from sputtering in response, staying still at the edge of the alleyway. It’s rare she gets to talk to people, a completely foreign experience to be teased for being a vampire.

“Well, are you coming, Miss?” Obi calls back to her, stopping a few strides away.

“Where are you trying to lure me?”

“Back to my place, if I’m lucky,” the vampire hunter winks again.

Shirayuki rolls her eyes as she starts to walk with him, keeping herself an arms length away. Obi doesn’t object to the distance, his inexplicable ability to pull her toward himself with his antics must shock him as well. He’s quiet for once. 

It’s a seemingly aimless walk, calming her enough to appreciate the gravity of her predicament. A vampire hunter is playing with her like a cat with it’s prey, leaving her with another night unable to feed herself.

She’s beginning to think that she’s incapable of attacking Obi first. He has an aura around him that makes him so difficult to stand against, maybe she isn’t the first vampire to fall victim to his ease of banter.

Obi's appearance might help him maintain that effect, to other vampires at least. He’s quite attractive, the moonlight leaving his skin with a golden hue only outshone by his eyes. Even the scar above his brow, evidence of how deadly he is, gives him a certain rugged charm.

He’s noticeably lithe in his movements, his casual walk down this road highlighting the strength and control he has of his tall body. It might actually be doubtful that his charisma has ever aided him in a fight against vampires with a body like that. No, she was correct with her initial assumption: he’s the type to hide in the shadows before overpowering his prey.

That would probably be her best strategy to strike as well, a surprise in the dark. That’s what she does best after all, just a shadow on a dark path…

Her mouth is so dry it hurts, the hunger and pain in her core seeping into all of her thoughts. What she wouldn’t give to satiate her hunger right now, just a taste to tame the suffering. She’s not foolish enough to believe that he’s let his guard down around her, but maybe she could find a way. She just wants to taste him, to consume him a little, if she could only get a single bite in…

Maybe she should follow him where he’s staying, she knows some vampires seduce men to feed from them. It’s a rather appealing thought, giving into all of her instincts and letting go until she isn’t hungry anymore.

“There’s a pharmacist at the castle, still a kid really,” Obi calmly pierces her frenzied thoughts, “He found this strange pattern in a string of medical books published over the last hundred something years. You see, they’re all written in the same diligent style.”

The reminder of her true passion fills Shirayuki with embarrassment for her previous desires. Once again, she’s sure her cheeks would blush a deep red if it were possible.

“Honestly, he’s kind of an odd one. He’s been eager to find whoever wrote them, whether they’re human or not,” Obi continues, “He’s not really who I take orders from but it leaves a guy curious.”

“That is odd,” Shirayuki agrees, pushing down the excitement in her bones that someone admires her work. 

“It made him look pretty crazy too, I mean a vampire publishing books under different names that just mean red? Pretty stereotypical reference to find a suspect with,” Obi laughs, “But then to find a botanist with red hair, man he’s an overachiever.” “And what good would it do if that were true? As if a vampire could help humans,” Shirayuki argues, contempt fueling her words.

It’s not the reaction she would have expected from herself- rash and unprompted. Obi emits something that leaves her so reckless and emotional, a fool begging to die.

“Yeah, fair enough. It’s a crazy idea, why would a vampire bother with such detailed books just to kill you anyways?” Obi’s thoughtful as he looks up to the sky.

It’s quite the performance from someone playing the same game; Obi isn’t very different as he drags her through his antics before turning on her. As if it were possible for her to form any connection, whether it’s with him or the child pharmacist.

“Well, here I am,” Obi stops in front of a door to an old house.

The building is beaten from the weather without a care from the owners. It definitely wasn’t an inn, she wouldn’t be surprised if Obi had just broken into an abandoned house and set himself up here. He hardly seems like the type to respect any authority.

With his back turned to her, it was the moment to strike and catch him by surprise— Shirayuki takes a step back from the temptation.

She had assumed he was fishing for a key with how long he paused, but suddenly Obi just holds the doorknob and rams the door with his shoulder.

Walking in, he turns and smiles to her- a nonverbal invitation inside.

As if she could enter the home from that alone. At least she could never be guilty of breaking and entering.

Obi’s smile is mischievous, mocking the rules she must live by once again.

“Won’t you come in for a nightcap, Miss?”

“Absolutely not- goodnight,” Shirayuki huffs, rejecting the formal invitation.