DISCLAIMER: Saya and Blood: The Last Vampire are the intellectual property of Production I.G. No copyright infringement intended. I’m only doing this because you made such a fascinating character that I couldn’t resist, guys. The first two chapters concern a (completely non-explicit depiction of a) lesbian relationship; the third chapter is when things start to get physical.
Pretentious
Chapter 1
Saya is a beautiful woman, and however much men flatter themselves that they are discreet or adroit, beautiful women always know when they are being stared at.
Saya is a huntress, and though predators may hide in the woods and the mountains and the city streets, she always knows when they are watching her.
Saya is an immortal, and has learned every trick and sleight that people use to conceal their gaze.
Saya always knows when Alice is looking at her. In the evenings, they sit quietly in their little apartment, Saya tending to her blades, Alice pretending to read. Saya can feel the girl’s eyes on her, the book in her lap forgotten. Sometimes, if she is in a particularly mischievous mood, she will ask: “What are you reading?”
When they walk along the streets together, sometimes Alice’s pace slows and she falls ever so slightly behind. Saya can feel the girl peering at her, and she cannot resist as a smile forces its way across her face.
When it’s Saya’s turn to drive, she knows that Alice is only pretending to be lost in the scenery. She knows that the girl is lost instead in her reflection in the glass. Saya guides their little Capri down roads and highways and narrow country lanes, and Alice becomes drunk in the sight of her.
Tonight, however, Alice is making no effort at all to hide her attentions.
Saya draws the whetstone across the edge of her sword. She sighs, and, putting the blade aside, turns to the source of her discomfort.
Alice is draped across the sofa at the other end of the room, her head nestling against one arm, her stockinged feet propped up on the other. A big, hungry smile is plastered across her face. For a few moments, the two stare at each other, Saya’s eyes bland and expectant, Alice’s twinkling with mirth. Finally, Alice’s smile cracks into a grin, and she asks:
“Am I intimidating you?”
Saya shakes her head, her pigtails swinging with the motion.
Alice raises an eyebrow. “Really?” she asks, drawing out the ‘e’.
Saya looks at her askance. “I know when you are looking at me, you know” she says, in her awkward, halting English.
“Does it bother you?”
“No.”
“Good!” says Alice, giving an exaggerated nod for emphasis. “A powerful, strong warrior like you shouldn’t be scared when someone wants to admire you.”
Saya stands up, walks over to the sofa, and curls up on the floor next to the girl. She offers her hand, and Alice takes it, threading their fingers together.
“What do you think when you are looking at me?”
“Well,” and once again Alice draws out the ‘e’. “Just now, when you were sharpening your sword, I was thinking how you’re like Diana”
Saya’s forehead creased. “Who?”
“Diana Nemorensis,” Alice said grandly, and Saya’s mind swam as it tended to whenever she heard an English word that overwhelmed her. “Artemis. The Lady of the Woods.”
“I’m sorry? What?”
“She’s a goddess. She lives in the forests, and she’s the lady of the hunt.” Alice seeks Saya’s eyes, and holds them. “Diana is strong, and proud, and she’s afraid of nothing. She’s a great hunter, and there’s no beast in the world that she can’t kill. That’s what I think about when I look at you.”
Saya stares for a moment, still confused. When the adoring expression on Alice’s face does not change, Saya opts for a phrase that she has found very useful in times like these.
“You are very clever,” she says.
Alice manages to get out an “oh!” before she melts entirely. Cupping Saya’s face in both her hands, she leans in, and presses her mouth against her lover’s.
-
Alice watches Saya as the craving seizes her. She watches as the woman begins to shake uncontrollably, and shambles awkwardly towards the fridge. She watches her pull the door open, and fumble with a paper bag. She watches as a metal top skids across the kitchen floor, and Saya puts the bottle to her lips. She watches as Saya downs the entire contents in one gulp.
The thought comes to her:
Saya is like Frankenstein’s Monster.
She was created by a great, powerful man in a moment of foolish weakness. She was abandoned by the one that should have been responsible for her. She was let loose into a world that had no love for her. But she doesn’t have the same fate as Frankenstein’s monster. She found me. The monster blundered its way into my arms. My care. I’ll protect her. I’ll make sure that this world will never break her.
An empty bottle gripped in her hand, Saya fights to get her breathing under control. Without warning, she whips around, and faces Alice. Blood trickles down her chin, little droplets splattering onto the orange tiles. Her eyes are alive with savage hunger.
Alice stares back intently. Unwavering. The two gaze wordlessly at each other; the light is so dim, the apartment so indistinct, that Alice imagines that Saya could be the only other real thing in the entire world.
-
Alice watches Saya as she practices her swordwork. The vampire leaves their bed at four in the morning and carries her blades down into the alley outside. Most people are dead to the world; they won’t see her. Alice peers through the window, and watches as Saya trains. She watches as Saya whirls about in the sicky light of a lamppost, her blade dancing about with such astounding grace that she wonders if she is dreaming. She watches Saya pirouette through the air, running along walls, bouncing off horizontal surfaces, building up mind-boggling momentum, all culminating in one devastating, ruthlessly efficient slash of her sword. She watches as Saya keeps alive four centuries of memories of war and battle.
Saya is a Fury, Alice thinks to herself.
Saya is the Nemesis, and she came to me. My father is dead, and my family think I’m crazy. But it doesn’t matter. If anyone ever tried to harm me, she would kill them. They’d be dead in a heartbeat. This world is a crazy, cruel place, but Saya will destroy anything that tries to hurt me.
Saya pauses for a moment, and stands there in the glow of the lamp light. Her forehead gleams with sweat, and she is breathing heavily. Alice peers down, and an expression of dark ecstasy burns on both of their faces.
-
Alice watches Saya as she sleeps.
She lies quietly in the dark, and waits until Saya’s breathing assumes a regular pattern. Then she twists next to her, and indulges in the sight of her.
Alice knows what memories weigh on her lover. Alice knows what terrible things Saya has seen in the four hundred years she has been half-alive. Alice knows what dreadful experiences Saya has accumulated.
But it’s remarkable how these memories disappear when she sleeps. It’s amazing how the shadows flee from her face, and peace settles upon her.
Alice props her head up on her hand, and watches. The night passes a second at a time. The apartment building that is there home (for now) creaks and groans. A truck rumbles down the road outside. Saya breathes.
Saya is a Muse, thinks Alice. I was so sure I was gonna end up married one day, have a nice guy for a husband, and have kids and get old. But Saya revealed a whole other world to me, a world that hardly anyone knows about. She’s shown me so many secrets, I could never go back. I see everyone going about their lives, going to work, kids going to school, and they haven’t a clue that the lives they live are just illusions. They have no idea that there’s another world beneath their own. A world that’s more real than there own. A world of monsters and hunger and madness. I could never go back. I could never pretend that everything was okay, that anything actually mattered. I could never fool myself that boyfriends and clothes and movies and politics anything else was actually important. I could never do without her. I need her. Because she’s the only thing in the world that seems real.
Alice lies in the shadows, and gazes at her lover. Without warning, and to her amazement, the landscape in front of her changes.
Saya’s eyes do not open. She simply smiles, and says:
“What are you thinking about?”
-