THE HERO'S SON IS A MONSTER-Chapter 87: Open war

"!"

I could feel her breath. The intoxicating breath of a vampire. I knew she actually meant something else than what it looked like but I couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment.

"Why would she whisper something like that to me?!! Jokes need to have limits!!!" I yelled, covering my ear. I was so embarrassed that my face hurt.

She leaned back with her usual smile, "Success! This is exactly what I am talking about!"

"Stop teasing me, please! It is bad for my heart!"

"Hm? Why is that? Did I say something inappropriate?" she asked with a smile and tone implying that she knew exactly what I was talking about.

If she was going to play dumb, I thought I wouldn’t bother embarrassing myself explaining why I was embarrassed in the first place.

"Just stop! Don’t whisper in my ears anymore!" I said getting up.

The girl looked at me before making a pouty face.

"Why are you the one pouting here?! I am the victim!" I couldn’t help but yell. It was like that every night nowadays. My neighbors must like me... Wait, no. They are worse.

Anyway, the girl’s smile came back. She got up too and walked into the room a bit looking for whatever. Of course, I was on my guard, ready to punch her hard if she tried anything. I swear, it seemed like something that could genuinely work on a vampire in my mind.

After circling around my room the girl suddenly turned to me. I twitched expecting some sort of attack, but instead, she just presented me with the game disk from earlier.

"Request. Could you learn how to play this as soon as possible? I really want to play with you as soon as possible," she said.

"I am terribly sorry but I only heard the ’as soon as possible’ part here could you repeat please?"

Looking more closely at the disk, I noticed it was a fighting game: Corridor Fighters IV. Where did she find that?

"While I look forward to beating you until you cry, I don’t think I will take any pleasure in winning against an amateur," she continued, agitating her hands as she explained herself. "Let’s work up some sweat with these muscular men and women! I look forward to hearing you yell and despair at my incredible fighting strength!"

"Oh..." Of course, she meant something like that. Even now, her jokes are a little bit too obscure for me to be honest. "Yeah, sure. Actually, I already know how to play."

"Oh? Is that so? You only ever play those turn-by-turn games so I thought..." she stopped mid-sentence, putting her fist in front of her mouth. I think it meant she was thinking about something.

Since she suddenly got silent, I thought I had to pick up where she left off and answer her question.

"I just like games where I can play without moving too much I guess. I don’t have too good reflexes so I enjoy turn-based RPGs more than action RPGs. You have more time to think about what to do, and you can fully use a party. Well, cooperating with other players is good too, but doing my own thing feels the best at times. I also like fighting games and, without bragging, I think I am decent at most popular titles. But just decent."

I lied. I actually considered myself good but just in case my opponent was good too, I needed to make them believe I was no big deal. They would not go at full force at first, I would win without giving my everything and then, when they would decide to get serious, I would give my very best to win more than them.

I believe that it makes people believe that I am stronger than I really am, making them get discouraged whenever I can connect a lot of good blows and thus, giving me the edge. I have no proof it works like that though.

Anyway, the vampire girl smiled and nodded, her hands on her hips, "Then it’s settled then! Tomorrow, we will play all night! Be prepared!"

"Tomorrow? You are leaving?"

"Yes. I have things to do."

"Oh..." I said. I think I sounded more lonely than I wished.

"Hm? Interesting. Could it be that you want me to make you cry tonight?" she asked, again with her teasing smile.

"Just go," I said, my tone back to its usual indifference and coldness.

"Hm? Sadness. I wanted to play with you so much..."

"I think you had too much fun already."

"Possibility."

"You know your speech pattern is weird, right?"

"Well, well, good night!" she said, waving happily at me.

"Don’t ignore me..."

The girl nodded again before climbing onto my bed. I don’t know if she was actually replying to me since she seemed to be far away already but she was preparing to leave... by the window she had just opened.

"Can’t... Can’t you use the door like everyone else?" I asked, squinting my eyes.

"Of course, I can! Well then."

She immediately jumped out of the window anyway without letting me add anything.

"... Then use it," I mumbled to my now-empty house.

I sighed wondering about what that girl did to me. Back in middle school or even two weeks ago, I used to think that being by myself was easier. I was a loner, but I didn’t feel alone. I always thought that it was better than feeling alone with people around you. Yet, ever since I met that girl, I felt something was different about me.

In my mirror, before going to school, I would look at my neck. No biting mark. The girl didn’t attack me in my sleep. I wasn’t a vampire either. What did she do to me then?

Whenever she was around, I could hear the sound of excitement. I could hear the sound of my face doing what I could describe as a smile. I could hear myself getting angry, embarrassed, annoyed, mostly annoyed but that wasn’t important. What was was that I could hear myself emoting.

On the other hand, I could now hear the sound of silence – talkative as ever. I had an analog clock that just worked whenever it wanted because its batteries were low. I never bothered buying any because, well, smartphones, but, three days before, I bought a whole pack of new batteries. I didn’t even put on the correct hour, I just wanted to have a noise to focus my mind on before sleeping.

That was weird. What did she do to me? I was still a human, but I was hearing weird things.

In the back of my head, a simple answer was whispered. But my unconscious self would just stab the idea as soon as it came to my mind. I was there, just that I didn’t plan to do anything about it. With luck, I would forget.

***

"Hello, good morning everyone!!!"

2:51 AM.

The door of my room opened. Just as expected, the weird vampire was there. Guess that was morning for her.

I waved at her while pointing at the place close to me on my bed.

"Come here. It is time for me to make you cry all night," I said. I wanted to laugh at the silliness of the situation. The deadpan me saying such a thing with absolute seriousness. Even the vampire was surprised.

"Oh? Interesting! I shall take you on that offer. However, it is you who shall cry today!"

"We will see."

"Hmhmhm! Here I come!"

So...

To put it as respectfully as possible, I totally roasted her. Not that she was bad. She was good, really good. I just so happened to be better. Yet...

"Oh... I won," she said.

"You finally did..."

"Could it be that you let me win?"

Ugh. Spot on. I thought I hid it as best as I could but...

"Hm..." she said as her eyes disappeared behind her glasses.

"Huh... Are you angry?" I asked.

"Affirmation. Yes."

"E-Erm... Sorry..."

I didn’t know what else to say. While she was losing, I thought her smile wasn’t as bright as usual. Her laugh didn’t appear natural for me so I thought about going easier on her but, of course, she noticed. She was a vampire after all. Guess she heard my fingers moving slower or something.

Either way, she was angry for the very first time ever since I knew her and, surprisingly, it was even more stressful than my mother.

"Sorry, you say? Do you mean it?" she asked, piercing me with her scarlet eyes.

I think I instinctively looked at the ground again before replying, "Yes" like a good little dog.

"That means you would do anything to make amends, right?"

"Hell no."

I totally saw where she was going there.

So much for my apologies.

"Hm... Regrettable. Just remember that what will happen next is all your fault."

"Huh?"

And then...

"30 to 10. How? How did that happen? HOW?!!"

"Ready to do anything then?"