Yuki-onna clan, Spirits, Vampires—in a human high school, this small club actually didn’t have a single human in it.
This shouldn’t be some anti-human undercover organization, right?
“Rest assured. It isn’t.”
“Do you have mind-reading powers?”
“I just gave an answer based on your confused expression.” Yukino Yukinoshita brushed back her hair with practiced elegance.
“After all, I agreed to let you join the Service Club only after considering all aspects.”
“What do you mean by ‘all aspects’?”
“I initially thought you were a vampire with poor willpower. But given the current situation, it’s more likely that you are a vampire infant.”
Vampire infant.
That term was weird to the point of absurdity, wasn’t it?
Hikigaya wanted to retort—perhaps with something witty and cutting—but he also understood what Yukino meant.
This woman had deduced one thing: Hikigaya had only recently become a vampire.
“There are many monster settlements in the world. Or rather, Demon Race Special Districts. But obviously, Chiba Prefecture is not one of them.” She folded her arms.
“Our Yukinoshita Family has lived in Chiba Prefecture for generations. We are exceptionally sensitive to creatures like vampires. I am certain that there are no native vampires within Chiba Prefecture.”
I see.
So this was the composure of a local boss.
Being the young lady of a prominent family, she possessed information he didn’t even know existed.
“Is that the basis for judging that I just became a vampire?”
“There is another, more primary reason.”
Yukino Yukinoshita had stood up at some point.
Her slender waist and elegant skirt slowly came into view.
Even though it was the same school uniform as everyone else, wearing it on her gave off a feeling of being very expensive—like she had been born to wear it, and the uniform had simply been waiting for her all along.
Then Hikigaya suddenly realized that Yukino Yukinoshita’s face was right in front of him.
Her pleasant scent rushed toward him—something floral, something cold, like winter jasmine in fresh snow—followed immediately by a surge of heat.
The blood-sucking impulse.
This woman had triggered his blood-sucking impulse just by getting close?
Hikigaya subconsciously couldn’t accept the fact that he had a flat-chest fetish!
Shut up, you big monsters residing in my body!
I am not sexually impotent!
“As I thought.” Yukino was like a gust of wind—she came and went quickly.
In the blink of an eye, she moved away from Hikigaya and retreated to her seat.
“But you don’t need to worry. The yuki-onna clan are excellent mediums. We have a huge attraction for vampires—especially for a vampire infant like you who has just transformed. It’s normal not to be able to control yourself.”
I see.
Hachiman Hikigaya felt an enormous sense of relief wash over him.
This way, he could completely rule out the possibility of having fallen in love with this woman at first sight.
It wasn’t romance.
It wasn’t destiny.
It was just…
supernatural biology.
“Is it really okay for you to tell me directly like this? Aren’t you worried about being caught and eaten as dinner by me?”
“It’s no problem.” Yukino’s smile was thin, precise, and utterly confident.
“After all, if anything happens to me, Hikitani-kun would be the 100% prime suspect, wouldn’t he? Given your personality—in order to avoid such a thing from happening—you would actually try your best to ensure my safety instead.”
…I can’t refute that.
She was an exceptionally troublesome woman.
Upon their first meeting, Hachiman Hikigaya defined Yukino Yukinoshita as such—perfectly fitting the profound and philosophical theory that the prettier the woman, the more trouble she brings.
“Hikitani-kun, are you really a vampire?” Yuzuru Yamai, who had been watching from the side, suddenly leaned in.
“I can’t tell at all!”
In this life, besides Komachi, probably only the Yamai girls would get this close—close enough to make Hikigaya somewhat alert.
However, the next second, Hikigaya realized this was a good thing.
Because he didn’t experience a blood-sucking impulse.
In terms of looks, Yuzuru Yamai was undoubtedly a beautiful girl not inferior to Yukino Yukinoshita.
And compared to Yukino, Yuzuru even had an absolute advantage in terms of physique—an advantage that was, frankly, difficult to ignore.
But even though Yuzuru leaned in so defenselessly, so openly, Hikigaya—aside from being slightly shocked—didn’t have much of a reaction.
Interesting.
So it’s not all beautiful women.
Just…
specific ones.
Specific supernatural ones.
“I’m actually quite confused myself,” he admitted.
“It’s just that after last summer vacation, I suddenly discovered I had become a vampire.”
“Eh? Can one suddenly become a vampire? How magical, deisi!”
“Do you yourself have no memory of becoming a vampire?”
Yukino Yukinoshita crossed her arms.
Based on her observations, although it sounded somewhat inexplicable, Hikigaya didn’t appear to be lying.
“Vampires possess the ability to transform humans into their own familiars,” she explained.
“It grants humans long lifespans and powerful magic. Hikigaya’s situation must be that he was turned into a familiar by some vampire.”
“But I don’t have any memory of being turned into a familiar,” Hikigaya countered.
“I don’t even have a memory of being bitten by a vampire.”
“That is where the strange part lies.”
Yukino’s brows furrowed—genuinely confused.
Even for a woman like her, who seemed to know everything like a walking Wikipedia, this matter was difficult to understand.
“You must know that the cost of transforming a familiar is extremely high.” She held up a finger.
“A vampire needs to remove a part of their own organ capable of blood production and transplant it onto the other person. This causes the other person’s body to continuously produce the vampire’s blood, thereby transforming them into a familiar.”
“Eh? Eh, eh, eh?” Yamakusa Yamai’s eyes went wide.
“Is creating a familiar such a troublesome thing for a vampire? I thought it was just a matter of taking a bite!”
“How could such a cheap thing exist?” Yukino rolled her eyes at Yamakusa—a gesture that somehow managed to be both dismissive and elegant.
“Vampires are a long-lived species. They possess vast magical power and the ability to command powerful otherworldly familiar beasts. How could becoming one be so simple?”
She has a point, Hikigaya thought.
Nothing valuable ever comes for free.
“Then,” he said slowly, “if I didn’t get bitten… and I didn’t get a transplant… how exactly did I become a vampire?”
Silence filled the room.
Yukino had no immediate answer.
Yuzuru tilted her head.
Yamakusa blinked.
And Hachiman Hikigaya—the world’s most reluctant vampire, the Fourth Progenitor who commanded twelve natural disaster-level familiar beasts—sat there wondering if anyone in this room had any idea what they were dealing with.
Probably not, he concluded.
Including myself.
“Those creatures transformed through infection—by being bitten—are merely inferior Dead Apostles. They lack even the ability to command Familiar Beasts.”
Yukino’s voice was clinical, detached.
Like a doctor delivering a diagnosis that didn’t personally concern her.
“However, exceptions do exist. It’s said that if a vampire of the Progenitor level were to slowly erode a human over a long period, they could transform that human into their own subordinate.” She paused, her gaze flicking toward Hikigaya.
“But Hachiman Hikigaya is clearly not such a case.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence, he thought bitterly.
I think.
There are three known Progenitors.
The First Progenitor: the Forgetting War King.
The Second Progenitor: the Eye of Extinction.
The Third Progenitor: the Chaos Princess.
Each of them possessed their own nations.
Each represented the pinnacle of combat power in the world.
Although the world was currently in a state of uneasy peace—maintained by something called the Sanctuary Treaty—they remained kings whom no one dared to defy.
Kings.
Actual, literal kings.
Of vampires.
And here Hikigaya was, struggling to stay awake in a high school classroom.
“If a Progenitor bestowed part of their own organ upon a human…” Hachiman hesitated, the question forming even as he doubted its worth.
“Could that human potentially become a Progenitor?”
“Impossible.”
Yukino Yukinoshita shook her head without a moment’s hesitation.
The finality in her voice was absolute.
“Known bloodline bestowals are irreversible. Even if a Progenitor bestowed a precious rib—something of immense value—it could only transform a human into a powerful first-generation vampire at best.” She met his eyes.
“A situation where the recipient attains equal status to the bestower cannot occur.”
Cannot occur.
Those were her words.
Certain.
Unwavering.
But then—
“Unless…”
Hachiman’s breath caught.
“Unless what?”
“Unless you completely devoured a Progenitor.” Yukino’s voice dropped slightly, though her expression remained calm.
“From flesh… to soul.”
The words hung in the air like frost on a winter morning—beautiful, cold, and dangerous.
Yukino Yukinoshita spoke as if telling a fantasy story.
A fairy tale for children.
Something distant and unreal.
Yet Hachiman felt a chill run down his spine.
A sense of horror, quiet and insidious, creeping under this warm evening sun.
From flesh to soul.
He didn’t know why those words struck him so deeply.
He didn’t know why his chest felt tight, why his hands had gone cold, why the familiar beasts inside him had gone completely silent—as if holding their breath.
Unless.
Unless you completely devoured a Progenitor.
From flesh…
to soul.
Hachiman Hikigaya looked at his own hands.
They seemed ordinary.
Human.
Harmless.
But somewhere beneath the surface—in a place he couldn’t see, couldn’t touch, couldn’t fully understand—something ancient and terrible was sleeping.
And for the first time since becoming a vampire, Hikigaya wasn’t sure if he wanted it to wake up.
“…That’s a joke, right?” he finally managed, forcing a dry laugh.
“A bad one?”
Yukino didn’t answer.
She simply picked up her book, opened it to the page she had left off, and said nothing at all.
The silence was louder than any confirmation could have been.