Vol. 1 - Ch. 18 - Happiness

Happiness

I get off work and go home on time today.

When I reach home, I call Rick.

"Hey, Marc. How's it going?"

“Yeah, we got the werewolf thing sorted out. It was a dispute over the leadership of a Japanese pack, but it's settled now.”

“Well, that's good to hear. It looked like Jack's place was contacted as well. I wasn't worried. Jack said he took care of it. It seems you've got a hold on the rest of the pack over there, too. It's hard to find a country that is totally untouched by you."

I lean back on the couch and talk. Rick chuckles and clears his throat.

"What's so funny?"

“Nothing," he says. “No, I'm just thinking that from the sounds of it, it went well. I'm happy for you. Isn’t it nice?”

Hah. I can't hide it from you. Yeah, I told them I was a vampire and they accepted it. Rick. Now I understand your love for humanity.

“It's good, right? Now, all you have to do is be prepared, so you can see them off, but you can take your time with that. If you make lots of good memories, you'll both be able to smile at each other in the end."

“Yes, we will. We’ll make lots of memories together. By the way, I met a family member of mine here in Japan. He’s Japanese.”

"Ho! That's a great coincidence. Your place, unlike ours, doesn't take the initiative to increase our number of dependents."

“Even dependents aren’t immortal, they just have long life spans. Eventually, goodbyes will come. And I'm sure my place felt sad about that."

I talk with Rick for a long time. We also talked about Yuki. Then, as night fell, the intercom rings.

“She's here. See you later, Rick.”

“Have a good time. Love is immortal.”

“Yeah, it is."

I hang up the phone and answer the intercom. She waves to the camera. Yuki comes in through the front door. I hug then kiss her. Yuki says,

“I'm so glad I got home early today. My nurses are very sharp, and they were all over me, saying that I must have gotten a man."

"It's the same for me. The outpatient nurses said, ‘Congratulations!’ I guess nurses are good everywhere.”

"Marc," she says, "women have good instincts. Don't underestimate them.”

She looks at me with that smile as always. I want to protect this smile from now on, and I want to be by her side. I love the sight of her back, standing in the kitchen preparing meals. I thought it was impossible to feel this way about a human being, but what a feeling I have now. A warmth fills my heart. I wonder what this feeling is called.

After eating and bathing, we sit down on the sofa and relax, watching TV.

"Yuki...”

“What?”

“I've never had feelings for a human before.”

“Have you ever had any feelings for another vampire?”

“Well, I guess. But I want to be with you all the time like this, I've never wanted them to stay. I don’t know what to tell you. I feel calm. I've never had this strange feeling of being wrapped up in something warm. Tell me, what is the word for this feeling?"

"Marc... well, that's... It's called happiness. It's happiness."

"... happiness..."

“Yes. It's the same for me, just being around you like this warms my heart. This is happiness.”

I see, Is this what happiness is? Yup. Not bad, this is good stuff. Rick's to thank for this. He's the one who encouraged me to come to Japan, and he'll continue to guide me. I will stay in Japan... and... and ... I'll do whatever it takes to protect this smile on your face.

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