Tides rose and fell, the sun climbed and descended.
The entire day passed unknowingly, deep twilight finally descending with the sunset's fall.
Thus evening arrived.
Since the daytime beach volleyball tournament ultimately produced no winner due to Kuroka's forfeit, the competition's victory rewards were consequently nullified—transforming from "winners get first bathing priority" to "everyone together."
Though this posed no problem. After all, the villa bathhouse's capacity had been designed from the start to accommodate everyone "bathing" simultaneously.
This grand battle lasted from dinner straight through until midnight.
When the moon in the night sky gradually journeyed toward its latter half, having sent each exhausted girl back to their rooms one by one, Bokue finally arrived before Gasper's door—where they'd made their daytime appointment.
Creeeak—
Yet before Bokue could raise his hand to knock, the bedroom that had remained tightly shut all day suddenly opened a small crack on its own.
A certain blonde-haired vampire girl poked her head out from within. Faint nervousness showed on her pale face as she glanced left and right along the hallway outside before finally settling her gaze on the young man at the door.
"Are we departing now, Bokue-senpai?"
"Yeah, Rias and the others all returned to their rooms to rest." Bokue glanced at the other doors along the hallway—all closed.
Receiving affirmative response, only then did Gasper boldly emerge from her room.
Snow-white bare feet stepped onto the villa's second-floor hallway. Bokue noticed she still wore the school swimsuit from when he'd delivered lunch earlier.
"...Gasper, you're going out in a swimsuit?"
"Mm, yeah~"
Learning that everyone else had already retired to their respective rooms, Gasper's tone became considerably more natural.
"I never got a chance to go out during the day. Now that it's night with no one around, of course I want to properly experience the seaside vacation feeling."
"I see..."
Bokue spoke while proactively taking the blonde vampire girl's slender hand.
"Alright then, let's head out now."
Mm...
Feeling the warmth transmitted through her hand, Gasper's cheeks flushed slightly red again. But without saying anything more, she simply nodded.
"L-let's go."
❁❁❁❁
Scene transition—already at the beach outside.
Compared to daytime's blazing sun, blowing sea breezes, soaring white gulls, and rustling coconut palms painting a vibrant picture of life, the nighttime resort island appeared extraordinarily tranquil.
The bright moon hung high, its clear moonlight sprinkling across the ocean surface to transform into glittering ripples. Seawater continued washing the beach over and over, leaving variously shaped wet marks upon it.
Bokue led the petite blonde vampire girl beside him across the sand, their passage leaving two lines of footprints—one large, one small—with rustling sounds.
Just then, a wave surged onto the beach, barely covering both their insteps.
"Whoa~ so cold!"
Having never experienced anything like this, Gasper immediately let out a cute, soft exclamation.
Bokue glanced at her.
"Should we walk higher up?"
"N-no need..."
Though just startled by the seawater, Gasper still insisted on walking along the easily-washed beach area.
"Just now I was slightly surprised. Actually... it feels quite nice."
"Gasper, you've never been to the beach before?"
Bokue's expression turned subtle.
He'd once visited a certain Eastern Nation where northern people—with the probability of never reaching the ocean once in their lives—supposedly reacted particularly strongly when first seeing the sea. Exactly like Gasper now.
Similarly, southern people encountering heavy snow for the first time.
"Mm, never."
The vampire girl looked down at the sand beneath her feet, leaning slightly closer to the young man while speaking softly.
"Because I always stayed in the storage room, most of my impressions about the outside world came from games and videos. So experiencing beach tourism like this—especially together with friends—is my first time. It feels very novel."
"Rias never took you out before?" Bokue grew even more curious.
"President... she asked me." Gasper's small head drooped slightly. "But because my ability often goes out of control and tends to trouble people, I didn't agree."
Out of control...
Generally speaking, abilities going out of control had only one possibility—the ability user's own power wasn't sufficient.
Like forcing a frail person to lift a very heavy boulder. Maybe they could barely hoist it up, but it would definitely wobble unsteadily. One careless moment could easily crush others—or even themselves.
"I'm wondering if Gasper's constant inability to control your ability might be related to never having drunk blood?"
Bokue raised a very constructive question.
After all, vampires were called vampires precisely because they could draw power from blood—and also grant others power through blood.
"D-drink blood??"
Gasper froze slightly, her footsteps halting accordingly.
"That's possible, but I have this problem where seeing blood makes me faint. So I've never drunk blood... Oh right, speaking of which, has Nagisa-san drunk blood? She's a vampire who transformed from human later, so logically she shouldn't be accustomed to it, right?"
"Ah, that's true."
Bokue recalled briefly. If counting Nagisa's blood-drinking occasions, there was probably only one—that initial time when Aurora first awakened.
Afterward, she basically replaced it with sucking emmm...
"I knew it! That's great—so not all vampires can get used to drinking blood. Everyone has different tastes. Even as a vampire, being unable to drink blood is perfectly normal."
Hearing that Nagisa also couldn't get used to blood, Gasper immediately breathed a sigh of relief, as if finding vindication.
"Though I'm still a bit envious. Nagisa-san is so strong without drinking blood..."
"Not entirely like that."
Bokue's tone became somewhat subtle.
"Initially, Nagisa wasn't this strong either. But through alternative methods..."
"What methods? There's really another way?"
Hearing about methods to grow stronger without drinking blood, Gasper immediately perked up.
"Can you tell me? I want to know too! After all, drinking blood is too difficult for me. If there's another method to grow stronger, I'd like to try!"
"...You're sure?"
"Of course!"
"..."
Bokue didn't continue speaking, merely maintaining eye contact with the blonde vampire girl beside him through a somewhat meaningful gaze.
Silent atmosphere spread between them. Gasper—who'd been excited moments ago—now seemed to vaguely realize something.
"Um... the method Bokue-senpai mentioned wouldn't happen to be..."
"Yeah."
Whoosh~
Just then, a sea breeze blew past. Clouds journeying across the night sky obscured the moonlight, blurring the expressions on both their faces.
Yet within the wind's sound, the blonde vampire girl's breathing quietly grew rapid.
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