[A/N] Read the part before this before reading this one! Also yes, I know, Haruto slicing his finger as a plot point again? Bad timing on my part but I've actually had this oneshot chilling in my drafts for months so suck it up /lh

"Sweetheart, you shall be alright." The acrobat reassures her friend in a near mumble as the two make their way toward the proper address.

"Mom, I'm scared! Why are you even trying to make friends with a vampire?! I really, really, really don't want you to get hurt, and I really don't wanna get hurt, and this whole thing seems really dangerous, and why does a vampire even MAKE human food? They don't need to eat!" he rambles, tugging on one of his curls.

"His blood talent involves human food. Besides, he and his roommate seem to find enjoyment in experimenting and trying new recipes... though, according to him, she is far from skilled at cooking."

"Excuse me, roommate? Azumi, you didn't tell me he has a roommate! Is she ALSO a vampire?!" he squeals nervously.

"They are blood vegans... he has informed me that she's even filed her fangs," she responds, setting a hand on his shoulder. The tenseness in his body is evident, but it drops a bit at her touch.

"But... he hasn't?"

"He has not. I know you are prudent enough to know this already, but do not let your impulses choose your words for you," she advises.

"I-I'll be fine, there. I took my meds and I have my fidget cube." As if to demonstrate, he plays with it and makes a series of clicking noises. She ruffles his hair affectionately, and he can't help but sigh. "If anything happens, you'll be okay, right?"

"Not only will I be perfectly fine, but you already understand that I will protect you with everything in me," she vows.

"We should probably shut up... I don't want them hearing me talk about not trusting them."

"Their hearing is no better than ours, dear. You needn't worry." Regardless, he grabs her hand for emotional support as she knocks.

As the door swings open, a delighted gasp rings out. "Oooo! So these are our guests, huh? You two are both so adorable!" The one who answered the door, a peppy-looking blonde with shining teal eyes, beams at them, and Haruto quickly notes the lack of fangs. In fact, she doesn't look vampire-esque at all, which perplexes both humans.

"We are ever so gracious for you and Tozen welcoming us into your home! I suppose introductions are in order," Azumi, ever polite, greets.

"Oh, wait wait wait! TOZ! They're here! I know you're, like, cooking up some sort of storm in there, but we're doing introductions and stuff!"

"Coming!" Shortly thereafter, another vampire rushes next to the girl. He's a bit taller, brown-haired, and his fanged smile is one that Azumi recognizes. "Hi! Glad you could make it! I'm Tozen Chiba," he starts, looking primarily at Bisque, the only one who isn't already aware. "This is my roommate, Fujiko Teruya."

"Hiiiiiii!"

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Azumi Hirabayashi. This is Haruto Gima, one of my dearest friends," she introduces.

The fondness with which she speaks of him and the fact that she left out his nickname— so that he can choose to tell them if he becomes comfortable— give him a brief spurt of joy. But after a slight giggle, the wariness increases again. "H-Hello," he waves sheepishly.

"Tozen, I failed to ask earlier... what is on the menu today?"

"Lemon garlic chicken." The guests stare at him, bewildered. "K-Kidding! It was an attempt at a joke... which, um, clearly didn't land. I'm substituting the garlic for sautéed celery root... I know, sounds weird, but we make do here."

"Enough chatting in the doorway already! Come in, come in!" Fujiko urges excitedly, bouncing on her toes. Haruto removes his shoes and they all enter the house. The place is designed rather well, with lots of warm browns, crisp whites, and vibrant turquoises. It's fancy enough to be eye-catching, but not so much so that it no longer looks cozy, and both guests are almost certain that Fujiko's the one deserving of credit.

"You have an immaculate sense of style," Azumi compliments, awestruck.

"Awww! You really are a cutie, huh?"

A delectable scent starts wafting through the house, and everyone eagerly gathers around the table. The food, much to Haruto's surprise, winds up being fantastic. Considering Tozen and Fujiko don't need to eat, Tozen is a remarkably good chef. It's flavorful, and warm, and punchy, and it just makes the two guests feel cozy. Haruto tries to fight it— he doesn't want to feel comfortable in the house of two vampires, because that could be dangerous— but even he can't deny the smile forming on his face. Azumi, on the other hand, is delighted; her new friends are having fun getting to know her, and her old friend finally seems to be acting a little more like himself. They talk about all sorts of things, like their hobbies, families, favorite places in the city.

The peace is abruptly ruined when Haruto accidentally slices his finger. Tozen and Fujiko instantaneously drop their utensils, and their hands fly to their noses. Fujiko starts drooling. "Oh, GOD, that's not a look!" she squeals. With a slight sparkle, all the drool vanishes, and Tozen books it out of the room.

"Wh-What's happening?!" Haruto gasps, panicked.

"Honey, honey, it's gonna be okay! We're fine, you're fine. Just wash that out and cover it up ASAP, got it?" Fujiko reassures, covering her entire face.

"Please, I would be ever so grateful if you could provide an explanation! This is a rather worrying situation!" Azumi begs as Haruto rushes to the sink.

"Ugh, okay, this is called bloodlust! The smell of exposed blood does this to vampires! We, like, get extra needy. It compels us to drink more or bite people or whatever. Some of us handle it better than others, and you don't hafta worry about me since I don't have fangs anymore, but Toz... Toz always struggles with it. Bloodlust is so icky... it makes us feel like we don't have any self-control!"

"Oh, God. That's— I— I'm so sorry! I get hurt all the time! I don't want to wind up hurting you guys every time I see you!" Haruto apologizes desperately. Azumi tosses him a portable first-aid kit from her purse.

"It's okay, it's okay, we totally get that it's an accident. You didn't even know, so, like, how could we blame you?" She clenches her eyes shut tight and takes some laborious breaths through her mouth. "Is it almost over?"

Haruto fumbles with the first aid kit. "Almost!"

"Hurry up! I mean, sorry, it's just that it doesn't stop immediately after we stop smelling it, so the sooner you take care of that, the better!"

"I shall go check on Tozen," Azumi insists, concern written all over her features. She flies out of the room in an effort to find where he went, but it doesn't take her long at all. She can hear the heaving and she follows it into the corner of the living room, where he's curled into a ball.

"G-Get away! I don't want to—" Azumi assumes that the rest of that phrase is, "bite you," but it's hard to hear since he muffles his mouth with his hands. She takes a few steps back, holding her hands up.

"Is there any way I might possibly be of assistance? Whatsoever? Fujiko filled us in." Incomprehensible sounds are his response. "I apologize, but I could not understand that."

He tears his hands from his face, which is shiny from both tears and drool. "I'm sorry! I was trying so hard not to scare you two!"

"You mustn't blame yourself! This is clearly involuntary!"

"You should leave and never see me again. I don't want to endanger you."

"Is that what you truly desire?"

He shakes his head vehemently. "I want human f-friends, but I can't let you get hurt!"

"Then I refuse."

He grits his teeth, baring his fangs. "I-In the fridge. Bags of blood substitute. Get." He covers his mouth again and shudders. She rushes to the kitchen and rustles through their fridge— normally, she'd never dream of doing something so rude, but this is urgent— until she finds blood bags. She practically sprints back and tosses it to him just to get it to him the slightest bit faster. In his haste, he pops it with his fangs instead of opening it from the top, and gulps it ravenously. Then he slouches a bit.  "Oh, thank God. It's not enough to make the bloodlust go away, since it's not real, but this is already a lot better. I try not to do that when I'm not actually thirsty, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

Haruto opens the door and peers in to look at them. His welcome is a hiss, which makes him flinch. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" he babbles.

"For what? Literally peeking into the room to see me at my most disgusting?" A sarcastic edge laces his tone. Bisque winces— his host, who had overall been very generous, looks like a complete mess. Fake blood dribbles down his chin, along with drool, and his eyes are red and puffy, which is further exaggerated by his glaring.

Bisque's voice gets a lot quieter. "I'm sorry for being the reason this happened to you."

This sensitive admission takes some of the wind out of Tozen's sail. "Can you please get me a napkin? I feel like an animal." Azumi watches the two with a certain tenderness as Haruto nods and goes to grant the favor.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fi— Wait. No, I'm not. I just feel crummy. I don't want him to blame himself, and I don't want to be an ass, but I really wanted this to go well and everything spiraled out of control so fast."

"I-If you don't mind me asking... how come you have not filed down your fangs like Fujiko?"

He offers her a tiny smile. "It's a valid question. It's for protection. From more territorial vampires and from hunters. It's better that at least one of us keep the fangs, and Fujiko insisted it be me."

"May I sit next to you?" she asks tentatively. He takes a few seconds to figure out whether that'll be safe for her, and then nods. She lowers herself to the ground with the grace of a swan and sidles up next to him.

Bisque flits back over and offers a swath of paper towels, which Tozen takes graciously even though he chuckles a bit. "Umm... again, I'm sorry. Do you want me to clean the table? Or... bring you your food?"

"No need. You can finish yours, if you want it. I'll come back around soon." A wordless nod, and then Bisque slinks back into the dining room.

Silence settles along the two for a few moments. Then... "How can you even stand to be around me right now? Humans usually run for the hills when I use my power, let alone... that. Your friend has the right idea. It's pretty obvious he's afraid."

"I cannot claim to understand Vampire culture, or the struggles you all face. I have been rather insulated from you for much of my life. But... I would like to. When I met you at that party, you felt like any other person. Once I learned you are a vampire, it made me think, I must've been wrong to be so frightful. You are a friend." She tilts her head and her hand creeps toward his ever so slightly. "Also, please do not take Haruto's caution as a personal failing. A lot has hurt him, and he feels that he can hardly trust himself half the time. Of course something as unfamiliar as this would worry him. But he is already coming around, at least a smidge. He just needs time."

Tozen tilts his head thoughtfully. "You know, some people consent to turning into vampires. It has some benefits, I guess. But that kinda makes me angry. I don't get the hype at all!" He laughs, and she giggles at his phrasing. "The grass is always greener, I guess!" Once a much more comfortable calm washes over them, he pipes up again. "Let's go back. I don't want to leave Haruto alone too much longer."

"Indeed." She rises and offers him her hand, which he accepts. Her hand is so warm compared to his. For both of them, it feels a little bit nice. Almost nice enough to not let go once he's standing. Almost. They head back to the dining room.

"Hey, where did Fujiko go?"

Haruto blinks. "Umm... I don't actually know. She disappeared."

As if on cue, the door opens. None of them had even noticed she was gone! She hums to herself quite cheerily. One hand clutches a parasol and the other is hidden behind her back. "Hiya sweeties! I got something nice from next door." Every hair is in place and there's not a single crease in her dress.

Tozen's expression lights up. "Wait, really?! That quickly?!"

"Mika even gave us some for free since we're such loyal customers!" Clearing up the mystery, she reveals a small bouquet of sunflowers.

"Thank you, Fujiko." Those words are spoken with a gravity that they likely shouldn't hold. Azumi briefly worries that perhaps the two of them are in some sort of relationship— he hadn't said he was taken, and he did call her his roommate, but it is bad to assume— before deciding that perhaps it's just the kinship of both being vampires and blood vegans. "Ah... the food's cold. Let me heat this up for you guys." No longer distressed but perhaps more solemn than at the start of the meal, Tozen turns back into "proper host" mode. And dinner goes smoothly from there.

The two depart for home when it's quite late. Haruto grips his pepper spray close to his chest until they make it to the car, but then finally exhales. "How are you feeling, my dear?"

"I... I don't know. I don't know if I ever want to go back there. Or even if they'd want me there. I made such a fool of myself, and I ruined their night. But that was... scary. Trying not to let my biases control my thoughts is hard."

"Thank you for coming with me. It means more than you can understand that you tried at all."

He stares straight ahead at the dark road, pondering. He can't come to any conclusions that he didn't already know. So instead he tells her something she's well aware of. "I love you, Zu."

"It is mutual."