Morning came.

  My eyes fluttered open as I found myself in a room completely unlike the one from last night. In front of me stood a silver mirror. Behind me, a bare wall. Cold chains wrapped tightly around my wrists and ankles, pinning me in place.

  I peered into the mirror.

  “Huh…?”

  My trousers were still soaked in blood from last night’s incident. I was shirtless, just like before, a large scar running from the centre of my chest straight to my heart, now sealed shut with stitches. But everything else was different.

  I was far more built than I remembered. Lean muscle bulged in places it never had before. I couldn't deny it, I loved this new upgrade.

  And that was nothing compared to my hair.

  The familiar black curls were gone, replaced by ash white strands that framed my face. The contrast was jarring, especially against my eyes, which had shifted from brown to something far darker.

  Almost black.

  So uncomfortable…

  I hated these restraints. They were itchy against my skin, pulling my bones into unnatural positions.

  So I broke them.

  “Huh… how did I do that?”

  Pulling myself free, I leaned closer to the mirror. My teeth gleamed back at me. Not sharp, but certainly more pointed than before, giving my face an almost predator-like edge.

  I wanted to go outside.

  No. I needed the sunlight.

  So I did.

  “How…” My compulsions felt stronger than anything I had known before. Instincts drowned out logic as I walked through the hollow church halls and out into the streets of Tokyo.

  People stared. Their eyes lingered on my shirtless body and blood-stained trousers. I just smiled at them awkwardly.

  To their credit, people in Tokyo were not the type to make unnecessary fuss.

  I tilted my head up toward the morning sun. Its rays washed over me, filling my body with warmth and light. A grin spread across my face.

  Finally. Free. Refreshed.

  Had the sun ever felt this good before? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I felt alive. Energised in a way I never had been.

  All I needed now was nutri—

  “How are you o-outside…?”

  I turned to see a nun frozen behind me, her face twisted between fear and awe as she stared at me. That was strange. Why did she look so terrified? Sure, I had broken the chains, but honestly, what did she expect? They were uncomfortable.

  I rubbed the back of my head anxiously. “Apologies, I just felt the need to get some sun, y’know. Never been much of a morning person before, but…” I tapped a finger against my lips, thinking. “Never mind. Just being weird. Thanks for patching me up, by the way. I don’t even know how I could repay you guys…”

  That part was sincere. I truly had no idea how to express the gratitude welling up inside me, so I settled for a nervous smile.

  Her eyes widened even more.

  “I-is a vampire… thanking me…” she whispered, disbelief heavy in her voice.

  That felt a little rude, considering I was standing right there.

  Still, my mind latched onto a far more pressing concern.

  Vampire?

  What was she talking about? Vampires didn’t exist. These religious folks from Europe really were a bit mental, weren’t they…?

  Her hands clutched the hem of her clothes in fear as she stared down at the ground, inspecting my shadow. Her eyes trembled in their sockets with panic. I supposed if she truly believed I was a vampire, then seeing revealing details like that would be surprising. The strange logic checked out.

  “D-do you mind coming back i inside?” she asked politely, almost submissively.

  I kind of liked it. Not her fear, but the hint of submission beneath it.

  “Sorry, not right now—”

  “I must implore you—”

  “Please don’t cut me off. I said not right now. I need some sun. I’m feeling really drained after what you guys did to me last night. No offence, by the way.” My annoyance bled through before I could stop it. Couldn’t she just leave me alone for a bit?

  A few minutes.

  Maybe an hour.

  Maybe a few hours.

  Maybe forever.

  Was that really so hard?

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  “B-but, mister…?”

  “Aragami. You can call me Jō if you wish.”

  “Y-yes, Jō. I p personally have no issue with you going outside, but you’re in quite the state. Clothing wise, of course. I would not want you to draw any u unwarranted attention.”

  I could tell she was lying, but she had a point. To ease her nerves, I could submi— I could compromise.

  “Fine. But after I clean myself up, I’m going back outside.”

  “O-o of course.”

  I went back inside, noticing the looks of the Church’s residents as they watched me with suspicion. I could not deny that it made me nervous, but I ignored it. In fact, I was fairly sure they had been there earlier too, when I first walked out. My mind must have simply filtered them out completely.

  I was led into a back room, likely some kind of sanctuary for the homeless, and then ushered into a shower. They took my trousers as I washed.

  I did not like that.

  Almost immediately, the water made me feel… wrong. Dizzy. Nauseous. I had to fight the urge to throw up. I wanted to leave, needed to leave, but my body could not quite piece together the awareness required to even open the door.

  It felt like my senses were being dulled and smeared together. My thoughts scrambled, directionless. I reached out blindly, slipping on the wet floor as I tried to grab what I thought was the door.

  Then I fell.

  And once again, everything went black.

  By the time I woke up, I found myself strapped to the wall once again, this time held in place by tight velcro instead of metal chains.

  Below my feet, the chamber was slowly flooding. Water pooled across the floor, creeping higher as the sound of it rising made my stomach churn.

  It was salty.

  Why was it so salty?

  Footsteps echoed through the chamber, each one heavy with malice. Every instinct in me trembled.

  “Jō Aragami, correct?”

  My eyes widened.

  I could no longer tell if this was one of the most miserable days of my life, or one of the greatest.

  Because standing before me was none other than Realta Noxia.

  The girls I had begun to admire unlike anything before. Up close, their beauty was even more radiant. The casual clothes they wore made them feel strangely human, in a way that stirred something in me far more than I expected. They wore no makeup, yet their beauty felt more real than ever. More primal.

  The one who spoke was Talia. Her arms were crossed, her expression firm with resolve.

  At her sides stood Jia and Bea.

  There was no warmth in their eyes at all.

  “Y-yes, that’s me,” I stuttered, a faint blush creeping onto my cheeks.

  “So you’re a daywalker, huh?” Jia said sternly, tightening her grip around the silver rod in her hand.

  “A daywalker?”

  “Don’t play dumb with us, vampire. You know what you are!” Talia cut in, her composure cracking just enough to show how shaken she was.

  “I-i apologise, but what’s with all this vampire stuff? It’s not like I was bitten or anything, and I don’t have fangs or some urge to drink blood. I can’t—”

  I stopped.

  Prepare to be reborn.

  That was what the man had said.

  Had he turned me into something forbidden?

  The thought sent a chill through me. Suddenly, everything started to line up. The strength. The instincts. The way the Church reacted. Why the sun felt so good.

  But still… I wasn’t a vampire.

  There was nothing inside me that wanted to drink blood. No hunger. No craving. And aside from being a bit more ripped than before, I didn’t feel like I was ticking any of the vampire boxes.

  Right?

  “I don’t think he knows, guys,” Bea said quietly to the others. Her expression softened, just a little, though she was still clearly hesitant to fully trust me.

  “Know what?”

  They studied me for another moment, distrust still written across their faces, until someone else entered the room.

  An older woman, maybe in her early thirties, walked into the chamber. She wore the clothes of a nun, but without the hood, her brunette hair flowing freely around her face and glasses. A cigarette rested between her fingers as she took another drag, completely unfazed by the tension in the room.

  I recognised her immediately.

  She was the same woman who had been ‘healing’ me last night.

  “Know that you’re a vampire, stupid,” she said flatly. Then she glanced toward the girls. “Give him a break. He’s clearly not your regular run-of-the-mill vampire, is he?”

  The girls exchanged looks of mild guilt. All except Jia, who simply shrugged.

  The fake nun turned back to me. “Look, kid. I’m gonna give it to you straight. Believe me, alright? You ready?”

  I nodded.

  At this point, I would choose to believe anything. Where else was I supposed to get an explanation now?

  “First off, my name’s Aiko Kashiba. I’m an undercover doctor and a paranormal researcher for the Church.”

  With every word, this all sounded more fantastical than the last. And yet, considering one of the world’s most famous idol groups was standing in the room with me, maybe this was just how my life worked now.

  “My job is to study strange anomalies like you, and to heal vampire victims. Which is what you were. A victim.” She paused, eyes never leaving me. “But now, you’re something different. At first, I thought you had been turned into a simple vampire. I’d been observing you from the start. Your enhanced strength. Your instinctual drive. Your body’s biological changes.”

  She inhaled slowly.

  “But then something strange happened, and I realised I was wrong.”

  The girls stared at her, expressions split between curiosity and shock.

  “No. You’re still a ‘vampire,’ in a technical sense. But you’re also something else. Something… blessed.”

  She stepped closer.

  Before I could react, she pulled out a small knife and lightly cut across my cheek. It hurt. Blood spilled down from the wound.

  “As you can see,” she said calmly, turning toward the others, “this is not vampire blood. Last night it was dark, but now it’s barely visible. More white than red.”

  She dipped her fingers into the blood and held it up for all of us to see. It was pale. Almost translucent.

  “Yet he still heals.”

  The cut on my cheek closed on its own, regenerating instantly as if it had never been there to begin with.

  “He is an anomaly. He can walk in sunlight. He casts a clear shadow. You can see him in mirrors.” She gestured toward the silver surface behind me.

  The girls followed her gaze.

  “No way…” Bea whispered.

  “Indeed.” Aiko nodded. “I believe he is a blessed vampire. An anomaly chosen by God. A true daywalker. More human than monster.”

  That didn’t sound like a blessing. Their eyes turned back to me. Not with admiration, nor with relief.

  But like I was an experiment gone wrong. Like a plague upon humanity that had somehow been divinely permitted to exist. A monster that had been chosen to live.