Cool night air surrounded Baba Haru as he stood outside of the gate to Keiko’s house.
“Goodnight, Haru-kun,” she said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He waved, “Night, Keiko-chan. Make sure that Anzu doesn’t cause you any trouble.”
“You don’t need to worry about her.”
As Haru walked away, three heads popped out of a nearby bush. It was Himari, Chitose, and Jirogame.
“Man, he’s so lucky!” Jirogame overflowed with jealousy, “He has a girl to walk home with.”
Himari snapped her fingers, “Stay focused. We can’t let Watanabe-sama down.”
“You’re right. There’s no way we’re losing to anyone with her as our leader,” he clenched his fist over his camera.
Across the street, Erik hung from a tree in bat form.
Erik thought, ‘It doesn’t look like Haru’s planning anything against me so far. Maybe he doesn’t know that Beauregard’s my subordinate?’
Back in the bushes, Himari got worked up, “Watanabe is an inspiration to us all! She’s the ideal journalist. No matter what, we won’t let her down!”
“Yeah! Let’s do this!” in his excitement, Jirogame pressed the snapshot button and a click rang out.
“Himari, you’re getting Jirogame worked up too much.” Chitose stated with irritation in her voice, “Jirogame, if you press down on the camera any tighter, you’ll break it.”
They both bowed their heads, “We’re sorry!”
The sudden click caught Erik’s attention. His head whirled around, and he saw the three. Their camera was pointed right at him.
‘What the Hel are those guys doing here this late?’ he flew off, keeping an eye on Haru.
The journalism club tracked Haru through empty streets while Erik flew overhead. Erik kept taking furtive glances behind him, and his hair stood on end.
Erik thought, “Those bastards are following me! Do they know I’m a vampire? No, they probably just want to take pictures of bats.”
Haru entered an area of the town without plants.
“Shit. There aren’t any bushes we can hide behind,” Himari said.
Chitose replied, “There’s a wall over there. We can hide behind that.”
“That’s no good.” Jirogame shook his head, “We can’t see over it.”
“No problem. Check this out.” Chitose pulled out a pole and placed her camera on it.
She pulled out a chord and attached it to the camera. The other end was attached to a screen. A visual of what was on the camera appeared on it.
“You’re amazing! You always come prepared!” Jirogame smiled.
Erik took another glance behind him and almost forgot to flap his wings in shock. The camera was on a pole and right behind him.
‘Shit! Shit! Shit! Do they know what I am?’ he flew away as fast as he could.
He collided with a window, forgetting to use his echolocation.
“If I wasn’t a vampire,” Erik fell to the ground and sighed, “That would have killed me.”
Haru left the city and stepped into a vast, dark forest. A cloak of shadows gathered around him. As Erik flew in, his vision diminished to nothing. He called out with his echolocation, but it only bounced off the closest trees.
Erik said, “This darkness isn’t natural. It drowns out sound as well as sight. Baba Yaga’s defenses are top-notch, as expected.
Outside of the forest, the journalism club members gazed into the depths of darkness.
“Why did he go in there? We can’t see in,” Himari stated.
“Maybe his house is that way, or maybe he figured out we’re following him and tried to lose us?” Jirogame suggested.
Chitose shined a flashlight inside. It barely penetrated.
Himari spoke, “It looks like even you’re not prepared this time.”
“Not so fast.” Chitose smiled, “I still have a trick up my sleeve.
She pulled out a set of night-vision goggles.
Jirogame blinked, “Where did you get those?”
“Never underestimate a journalist, especially a journalist whose father owns a night vision company,” Chitose proclaimed before realizing that her goggles didn’t help her see into the forest at all.
Erik flew out and saw Chitose with her night-vision goggles on. Out of shock, he turned back into his human form. He slammed into the ground in front of them. The vampire scrambled to get up and found that all three students were staring at him.
“Kenji-kun? What are you doing here?” Himari said.
“Oh, you know, whoever you are,” Erik rushed for an excuse, “Just looking for shiny rocks.”
Jirogame narrowed his eyes, “Shiny rocks? You’re looking for those at night?”
“Of course! They’re shiniest at night!”
Chitose observed, “You fell down. You must have been up a tree. How will you find any shiny rocks there?”
“Birds! Birds love shiny rocks!” Erik stated.
“I guess they do,” Jirogame admitted, “Did you see Baba-san walk this way?”
Erik shook his head, “No, no, no, now I have to go.”
He blasted away like a rocket.
“That was weird,” Jirogame said.
Himari replied, “I’ve never seen Kenji-kun like that.”
“Why are you calling him by his first name and not Date-san?” Chitose asked, “You two don’t seem very close.”
“Of course, we’re close! He just doesn’t know it yet!” she scoffed.
Jirogame and Chitose shared a look of disbelief.
Deep in the forest, the darkness surrounding Haru faded. His eyes squinted as lights appeared. Up ahead was the back of an ancient house, a fence of bones surrounding it. Each of the posts had a glowing skull planted on top of it. Haru walked through a gate.
He said, “Hut, hut, turn your back to the forest and your front to me.”
The house moved half a meter above the ground and turned around before planting itself down again. Haru stepped through the door.
“Hello, Haru,” Baba Yaga said while stirring a pot. “How was school today?”
“The same as usual, grandmother. What are we having for dinner?” Haru asked.
She answered, “Leftovers. The meat has started to rot, so we should finish it before it decays any further.”
He said, “Then you’re brewing a potion?”
“A love potion. You’re a teenager in the flower of your youth. With your curse, this is the only way for you to get yourself a woman,” Baba Yaga stated.
Haru turned pale.
“Actually, grandmother, I have a girlfriend,” his voice stuttered.
Baba Yaga stopped stirring her brew, “A girlfriend? Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”
“It slipped my mind,” he made an excuse.
“This won’t do at all.” She gritted her teeth, “Any girlfriend who can slip your mind is worthless.”
‘Shit! That backfired.’ Haru thought before speaking, “Grandmother, she is a good girl. The forest is designed to make people get lost. That counts for thought too.”
“I suppose it does,” Baba Yaga admitted.
Haru kept his breath in. A single mistake could spell doom.
His grandmother said, “The day after tomorrow is the weekend, right?”
He replied, “It is. Do you want me to stay here and practice my magic?”
“You practice it more than enough,” she waved her hand, “You will bring this girl of yours here. She will spend a day in my hut.”
“Grandmother, she’s my only chance at being in a relationship,” Haru stated.
“And I will judge her with that in mind,” her cold eyes stared into his soul.
“Alright. I’ll bring her.”
Haru sat down at the dining table. It took everything he had to stop himself from shaking. He needed a plan, and he only had a day to come up with it.
Ved'ma Story 