Strike the Blood: The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love
The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love
Three months ago, Akatsuki Kojou's life went off the rails. He inherited the power of the world's strongest vampire—the Fourth Progenitor—and now he can't sleep at night, dozes through class, and gets nosebleeds at the slightest provocation. All he wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Too bad the universe has other plans.
When a beautiful transfer student named Himeragi Yukina moves in next door—and then declares herself his watcher, sent to monitor the Fou
Strike the Blood: The Fourth Progenitor Can't Fall in Love - Miyako Island: A Huge Romantic Upheaval! ~The Man-Hating Maii-hime and a Desperate Re-Confession~
The bus stopped.
"We're here!"
Someone's voice set the whole cabin buzzing at once.
Akatsuki Kojou looked out the window. Blue. Nothing but blue. The world was so filled with blue that he couldn't tell where the sky ended and the sea began.
"Whoa... it's really the ocean."
Kojou scratched the tip of his nose.
The school trip. Miyako Island. Two hours south of Itogami Island by plane. This wasn't the man-made island three hundred thirty kilometers from Tokyo—this was the air of a real island.
"Akatsuki, you're grinning like an idiot."
From the seat beside him, his best friend Yaze smirked.
"I'm not grinning."
"You are. If Aiba sees that, she'll be furious."
"Why would Asagi be furious?"
Yaze heaved a sigh.
"...You really don't get it, do you."
At the back of the bus.
Aiba Asagi was peering into a small hand mirror. She adjusted her long blonde hair; her turquoise earrings glinted.
Today, for sure.
Asagi repeated it to herself, to the girl in the mirror.
I'll tell Kojou properly.
Her confession in the classroom had fizzled out spectacularly. The whole class had teased her, and Kojou had filed it away under "friends."
But she couldn't give up.
The school trip was her chance.
On a beach with a beautiful sunset, one more time.
Asagi clenched her fist.
And at the very front of the bus.
Himeragi Yukina was staring at the notebook resting on her knees. Her black bob swayed softly in the air-conditioning.
I'm the watcher.
Yukina repeated it to herself.
Watching over senpai. That is my mission.
That's all.
And yet, deep in her chest, something gave a sharp little ache.
Ever since that afternoon after school, when Asagi had confessed to Kojou. This pain had never gone away.
Why me?
Whatever happens between senpai and Aiba-senpai—
It has nothing to do with me.
Yukina gripped the edge of her notebook tight.
The bus pulled out, heading for the hotel.
The sea beyond the windows glittered.
――――
They arrived at the hotel.
"Whoa..."
Kojou stared up at the lobby ceiling.
A resort hotel on Miyako Island. White walls, huge windows reflecting the blue sea. The air was thick with the smell of salt.
"Hey Akatsuki, you get the room key?"
"Ah, not yet."
"Come on, let's go. The guys are on the third floor."
"Hold on, can't I look at the ocean first?"
"You can look all you want later. Drop your bags first."
Yaze grabbed him by the arm and dragged him toward the elevator.
Yukina watched his back, unmoving.
"Yukina, what're you doing? Let's go."
"...Yes."
Yukina answered quietly and followed the group of girls.
――――
Free time.
Kojou changed into his swimsuit and bolted straight for the beach.
"The oceaaaan!!"
White sand. Emerald water. The sound of waves.
Kojou charged into the surf, an inner tube in one hand.
Splash.
Cold. But it felt amazing.
"This is the best!"
Kojou let his body rest on the inner tube and floated, bobbing gently.
The sky was blue. He closed his eyes. The waves lifted him, set him down. Water murmured in his ears.
Peaceful...
The Fourth Progenitor, the watcher, the confession.
Forget all of it. Just swim.
Eyes still closed, Kojou gave himself to the tide.
—And then.
"Hey. You."
A sharp voice stabbed into Kojou's ear.
"...Huh?"
Kojou opened his eyes, and there stood a girl on the sand.
Her brown hair was pulled up high in a ponytail. Tall, with long, slender limbs. Black knee-high socks with red stripes. Something was wrapped around her thigh.
And her eyes were fixed straight on Kojou, glaring.
"So you're the man getting close to Yukina."
"Huh? Yukina?"
Kojou tilted his head from atop the inner tube.
"Don't play dumb. If you lay a single finger on Yukina, I'll snap that neck of yours."
"...Snap it?"
Kojou's mouth fell open.
What's with this girl?
She shows up out of nowhere and starts talking about killing me.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Kirasaka Sayaka. Yukina's former roommate."
Sayaka crossed her arms and looked down at Kojou.
"As a Dance Princess of the Lion King Organization, it's my duty to protect Yukina. From indecent men like you."
"Indecent..."
Kojou climbed off the inner tube and stood on the sand.
"I haven't done anything to Yukina."
"Liar. Yukina lives in the room next to yours, doesn't she? You see each other every single day. That alone is enough to harm her."
"Harm..."
Kojou sighed.
There's no getting through to her.
And wait—Yukina's former roommate?
That Yukina had a friend this intense?
"Look, I just want to swim in the ocean. I'm not going to do anything to Yukina. None of that."
"As if I'd believe that. Everything that comes out of a man's mouth is a lie."
"Aren't you a little prejudiced?"
"Men are all like that. Selfish, violent, and quick to lie."
Sayaka's voice trembled, just slightly.
Kojou noticed the change.
This girl... something happened to her.
Something bad, with a man?
"Well, sure, maybe some men are like that. But I'm not."
"Men who say that are the least trustworthy of all!"
Sayaka pressed in on him.
—And then.
"Sayaka-san!"
Yukina came running across the sand.
"Yukina! I've been dying to see you!"
Sayaka's expression lit up in an instant.
She threw her arms around Yukina.
"How have you been? Are you eating properly? You haven't gotten thinner, have you?"
"S-Sayaka-san, you're squeezing me..."
Yukina squirmed and slipped free of Sayaka's arms.
"Sayaka-san, why are you here?"
"I came to see you between missions. I heard you were coming to Miyako Island."
"Between missions...?"
"Don't sweat the details. I got to see you, and that's all that matters."
Sayaka took Yukina's hand.
Beside them, Kojou watched the exchange in a daze.
"Hey, Yukina. You actually know this person?"
"Yes. She was my roommate at the Lion King Organization."
"Don't talk to Yukina so casually."
Sayaka shielded Yukina behind her back and glared at Kojou.
"Sayaka-san, this person is my surveillance target, and—"
Yukina's words caught in her throat.
Surveillance target.
She meant to say it, but for some reason the words wouldn't come out right.
Surveillance target. Senpai is, to me—just my surveillance target.
Yukina pressed a hand to her chest.
Her heart was pounding.
"Um... anyway, senpai isn't a bad person."
Yukina said it and looked down.
"Yukina, defending a man...?"
Sayaka looked back and forth between Yukina and Kojou, astonished.
"I knew it—you did do something to Yukina!"
"I didn't!"
"Liar! Yukina would never act like this unless something happened to her!"
Sayaka lunged for Kojou.
"Sayaka-san, please calm down!"
Yukina caught Sayaka's arm.
"Senpai really hasn't done anything. He just lives next door to me, that's all."
"Just living next door is more than enough!"
"Why?!"
Kojou couldn't help but cut in.
"Yukina is pure and sweet. She doesn't know anything about men's filthy desires. Just having a man like you nearby pollutes the air."
"Filthy desires? I haven't done anything!"
"You haven't done anything, but you're in a position to do something at any moment—that's the problem!"
"That makes no sense!"
Kojou clutched his head.
Watching the two of them go at it, Yukina let out a small sigh.
Sayaka-san, still the same as ever...
But somehow, it was nostalgic.
Yukina's lips curved, just a little.
――――
Evening.
Kojou was wrestling with his inner tube on the beach.
"The waves are stronger than I expected!"
Pushed by a wave, he and the tube were washed up onto the sand.
"One more time!"
Kojou grabbed the tube and ran back into the sea.
From a distance, Asagi watched him.
Kojou looks like he's having fun.
I want to join in too.
But first, before that.
Asagi took a deep breath.
The sunset was beginning to dye the sea orange.
A confession on the beach at dusk.
Today, for sure.
Asagi started walking toward Kojou.
"Kojou."
"Hm? Asagi?"
Kojou turned around, his face covered in sand.
"Hey, I need to talk to you."
"Talk? What's with the serious face?"
"...I want to talk over there."
Asagi pointed to a rocky spot a little ways off.
"Oh, sure, fine."
Kojou set the inner tube on the sand and followed her.
They reached the rocks.
The sound of the waves was close.
The sunset had laid a golden road across the water.
Asagi turned to face Kojou.
Her turquoise eyes caught the sunset and glittered.
"Um, Kojou."
Asagi's voice was trembling a little.
"You remember what I said in the classroom the other day?"
"The other day? Oh, the whole 'I like you' thing? I said I like you too, didn't I?"
"That's not what I mean!"
Asagi gave his chest a light thump.
"I like you as a boy, Kojou. Not as a friend or anything like that."
"As a boy?"
Kojou tilted his head.
"So, um... I want you to go out with me. I want you to make me your girlfriend."
Asagi's cheeks turned redder than the sunset.
"Girlfriend?"
Kojou's mouth fell open.
His mind went completely blank.
Girlfriend? Asagi? Mine?
Go out? Lovers?
He rolled the meaning of the words around in his head, over and over.
And the answer he arrived at was—
"Oh, so that's what you mean! You don't want to just be friends, Asagi—you want us to get even closer!"
Kojou said it with a grin.
"...Huh?"
The expression drained from Asagi's face.
"I mean, hanging out with you is fun, and I've been thinking I want us to get closer too. Friends really are the best!"
"I'm telling you, I don't mean friends!"
"Huh? But wanting to get closer means friends, right?"
"No! I want to be your girlfriend, Kojou! I want to be your lover! I want to kiss and hold hands and have that kind of relationship!"
Asagi shouted.
Her voice rang out across the twilight beach.
"Kiss? Hold hands?"
Kojou blinked.
"What's this, Asagi? You're a bigger romantic than I thought. But friends don't kiss, right? Well, holding hands is fine, I guess."
"That's not what I mean!"
Tears welled up in Asagi's eyes.
"I like you, Kojou. I like you in a romantic way. Why can't you understand?!"
Asagi pounded her fists against his chest, again and again.
"H-hey, Asagi, calm down!"
"How am I supposed to calm down?! I worked up all that courage and told you properly!"
Asagi's tears fell onto the sand.
"...Forget it. Idiot."
With that, Asagi ran off.
"Asagi!"
Kojou reached out.
But Asagi didn't look back.
Her long blonde hair swayed in the sunset and grew distant.
Kojou stood there, rooted to the spot.
What was that just now?
Asagi was crying, wasn't she?
Why was she so angry?
Kojou scratched his head.
—And from a distance, Yukina had watched the whole thing.
In the shadow of the rocks.
Yukina sat on the sand, hugging her knees.
Aiba-senpai confessed again.
And senpai didn't notice again.
Aiba-senpai was crying.
Her chest hurt.
It hurt so much she thought it would tear apart.
Why am I in so much pain?
Aiba-senpai confessed to senpai.
Senpai didn't notice.
Aiba-senpai cried.
...Why am I the one about to cry?
Yukina pressed hard against her chest.
Her heart pounded, almost painfully.
She didn't understand.
She couldn't put a name to this feeling.
But it hurt.
Yukina looked up at the sunset.
The orange sky melted into the sea.
Senpai.
Yukina bit her lip.
――――
Dinner.
The hotel buffet.
"I will never forgive him."
Asagi had laid out dishes across the entire table.
Steak, fried chicken, pasta, curry, salad, dessert.
"Aiba-san, are you all right?"
Yukina called out from the seat beside her.
"Of course I'm not all right! I worked up all that courage, and he said friends!"
Asagi stabbed her fork into the steak.
"Fine, I'll eat! I'll eat all of it and forget all about him!"
Asagi started shoveling food into her mouth.
Munch. Munch.
"Aiba-san, you're eating too much..."
"Shut up! I'm eating! I'm stress-eating!"
Tears in her eyes, Asagi stuffed her cheeks with fried chicken.
Yukina looked at her own plate.
The food was barely touched.
She had no appetite.
Aiba-senpai is eating
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