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It was a hot day, and the two of them had been assigned a longer patrol route. However, Sakura hadn’t suspected anything was wrong until he suddenly realized Suo was too far behind, lagging several steps back until he no longer responded to their conversation .
“Suo…?”
Sakura turned, blinking in confusion as he saw his partner clinging to the park fence as if he were about to fall. And the next moment, as his grip weakened, Suo actually collapsed to the ground, staining his usually spotless clothes with dry dust and street sand.
"Hey?!" Sakura immediately ran over, shaking his friend’s body, which had been this hot for who knows how long. "You have a fever?!"
"... The dragon sealed in my right eye just breathed fire..."
"Damn it!"
Suo laughed softly, his voice faint, his gaze dazed as if he wasn’t fully aware. Sakura dragged him to his feet and laid him down on a park bench that was fairly shaded by the canopy of leaves.
“Damn it, Suo, you should’ve said something if you weren’t feeling well.” Sakura began to scold him with genuine concern. Actually, he was completely at a loss as to what to do next. Was it okay to leave the boy for a moment to buy some water? Or was he bad enough to take to a clinic? Was taking him home to rest the best option? Or was that too far, and taking him to the school infirmary would be a better solution?
Besides, where was Suo’s house anyway?
“It’s okay, Sakura-kun, I’m just a little dizzy.” Suo tried to sit up, but he looked even paler, and Sakura reflexively pulled him back down to lie down. “I’ll be fine in five minutes....”
Even Sakura knew that was nonsense.
“I’ll call Nirei.”
Suo shook his head in disagreement. He took Sakura’s phone and dialed a string of numbers he knew by heart. The call connected immediately, and Suo asked, with excessive politeness, if the person on the other end could come pick him up.
Ten minutes later, a man entered the park and approached the bench where Sakura was serving as an impromptu pillow. “Wow… what happened to you, Hayato?” he greeted calmly, and Sakura immediately guessed that this was the person his vice-captain had just contacted.
“Master…” Suo muttered, squinting against the glare, then tried to sit up and winced as the lingering dizziness—far from subsiding—only tightened its grip.
The man pressed the back of his hand against Suo’s forehead, his expression growing more serious as he gauged the temperature. “Hayato, how long has it been since you last drank human blood?”
Sakura glared.
“Well… since the start of spring?” Suo sipped cold water from the water bottle his teacher had handed him. “I think I’ll be parched by fall.”
“You…!” Sakura pointed at him, his surprise laced with nervousness. “You’re a vampire?!”
Suo’s master was the first to laugh, and Sakura felt familiar with that carefree, shameless expression. Oh, so this was just another little lie? They were undoubtedly master and disciple.
“Just kidding, Sakura-kun,” Suo explained as he flopped onto his master’s back, who had already crouched down to make it easier for him to reach. “See you tomorrow....”
Sakura couldn’t stay angry any longer, because Suo’s voice sounded genuinely exhausted, and that distracted him. Suo's master nodded at him once, then walked off, carrying his student who was nodding off from sleep.
They disappeared quickly around the corner, and Sakura stood there dumbfounded for a moment before continuing on his way.
Omake
Suo woke up in the middle of the night. His fever was starting to break, and he was hungry. A cup of hot tea and a cookie would be nice, but he grabbed his phone before getting out of bed and heading toward the kitchen.
There were a few messages he hadn’t read yet.
And one of them was from Sakura.
[If you really need blood... just take a little from me. We’re both AB, so it shouldn’t be a problem, right?]
That kid was actually considering the possibility that he was a vampire, huh? Suo felt he’d have to apologize properly tomorrow morning. Still, the fact that Sakura had even noticed his blood type left him somewhat stunned.
Then, a faint smile curved on his lips, which were dry from dehydration.
[Sakura-kun, that’s so sad—do you think I drink blood like a mosquito?]
[THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT!]