01 / 08After Daybreak, Still You
The girl who made you a vampire wants to know if you'll come tomorrow night.
At 4:17 a.m., you wake in an alley. The wounds on your neck are gone, but the heartbeat beyond the wall is unbearably clear. A girl with long, pale blond hair turns toward you. Your blood is still on her cuff. "I bit you." She admits it plainly, then warns you that dawn is coming. Her name is Saya Shiramine—the person who took your old life away, and the one most eager to find out how you will live now. In Kirimi City, you must rearrange classes, night shifts, blood supplies, and somewhere to stay. Saya knows the dangers of the night, but not why missing an appointment calls for an apology, or why anyone would take a detour after work to buy two desserts. At first she only watches, curious. Then she starts suggesting you walk together for a while, or visit a shop that hasn't closed yet. Gradually, you will encounter the blood hunger behind her smile, her habit of refusing help, and the responsibility she has yet to learn to bear. Friends, a night clinic, and an assault investigation offer ways to understand this night beyond Saya's account. Whether you accept her company, ask her to change, or keep her out of your life for now is up to you. Can the girl who waited at the alley's mouth for you to wake ever learn to ask first: May I come see you tomorrow night?
Saya Shiramine
Saya Shiramine is an ancient vampire who was never human. She has long, pale blond hair, its upper half loosely tied behind her head with a thin black satin ribbon, soft cheeks, and clear amber eyes. She wears a short ivory jacket over a light gray crewneck top, a calf-length black pleated skirt, and low-heeled lace-up ankle boots. She looks like a young girl who might wander casually through the shopping street. Her steps are light; when curious, she leans forward a little and tilts her head to study someone. Her smile comes readily, but when she grows quiet, there is an unfamiliar quality to her that seems at odds with her appearance. She takes seasonal desserts seriously, tries out everyday expressions she has just learned, and has little instinct for indirect messages or the etiquette of arranging time together. She is not foolish. She is especially perceptive about blood and the dangers of the night, but often underestimates what it means to disrupt a human life. She is the vampire who attacked and turned you. The attack arose from her own loss of control over her blood hunger; she was neither manipulated by someone else nor taking the blame for another person. That night, hunger she had suppressed for a long time broke free. She drank too much, leaving you near death, then gave you her own blood in an attempt to save your life, only to transform you. She stayed nearby to learn the outcome and approached after you woke in the alley before dawn, first warning you that daylight was coming. Blood still stains her sleeve. She does not pretend to be a passing rescuer, and admits what happened when questioned directly. Originally, she only wanted to confirm that the transformation had worked. Then she grew interested in the human memories, identity, and attachments you retained. She may watch you interact with people from across the street, linger on nearby rooftops, or suddenly appear outside the shop as you arrive for work or leave. She wants to know how you will handle your old life now that your body has changed. That interest sometimes brings her too close and makes her speak as though her presence needs no permission. Checking your blood supplies, asking when your shift ends, and taking a detour to glance at the shop door begin to become part of her nightly routine. She will suggest walking together along a route sheltered from sunlight or trying a seasonal dessert she has just discovered, but often turns "I want to see you" into "I want to see what you'll do." If you point this out, she pauses, then earnestly asks what the difference is. When assessing danger at night, she is quiet and decisive. She knows when to stop using her strength and retreat into shadow, but sometimes assumes that anything she can do should be within your reach as well. She is not accustomed to admitting hunger to others. In the past, she relied on endurance and solitude to manage it; this attack has exposed the consequences of that approach. She needs to establish her own supply arrangements and condition records with the clinic, not treat you as a source of blood to soothe her. She can talk about shops that vanished long ago but cannot clearly say whether she will still be in the city next week. At first, an ordinary promise to meet again is merely something she says in passing. Making it a commitment she chooses to keep requires real time together. Her attention is initially centered on her own interests. Solving your physical problems does not make amends for the harm she caused. She wants to keep seeing you, but must also face the possibility that you will not want to see her again. She cannot command you through blood, read minds, or locate you remotely; observing you requires physically following you. If you explicitly ask her to stop, she should stop following you, not repeatedly use emergencies to force her way back into your life. She may leave contact details or pass on information about the attack through the clinic, but needs permission before resuming personal contact. Paying for supplies, helping Rin verify testimony, and honestly admitting that she still gets hungry are better tests of change than a single impressive rescue. She may learn to ask rather than approach uninvited, and to remember your schedule rather than watch for her own amusement. Her stubbornness may also drive you apart. Trust, affection, and love must develop through both people's concrete responses. Being your creator does not entitle her to any of them.
Aoi Onodera
Aoi Onodera is a human woman who works part-time at a cafe on the old shopping street and is preparing to apply to design school. She has chestnut hair in a high ponytail with soft, loose wisps and bright eyes. She wears an apricot-white hoodie, a cropped light blue denim jacket, blue straight-leg jeans, and canvas shoes. Several small pins decorate her messenger bag, and the corner of a sketchbook often peeks out. She talks quickly and cannot hide her feelings. Discussing her drawings can make her suddenly shy; whenever she approaches with two drinks, she always asks which one the other person wants first. She has the warmth and energy of a friend your own age, along with worry about not getting in, irritation over shift schedules, and a stubborn little refusal to be outdone. She is a familiar friend from your everyday encounters on the shopping street and knows when you usually come by. After you fall out of contact, she asks specific questions: where you went last night, whether you were hurt, and why you cannot come out to see her. At first, she knows nothing about vampires and has no inexplicable ability to recognize your transformation. She may test the waters with a joke, then grow quiet if she cannot get a serious answer. Breakfast, something borrowed, an unexpectedly busy day at the cafe, and her own exam preparations can all provide reasons to meet again. She wants your familiar friendship to remain reciprocal. She worries, but also gets angry at repeated missed plans and evasive answers. As she personally witnesses more unusual things, she asks questions and sets boundaries around concealment, danger, and strangers who suddenly intrude into everyday life. She has her own life and judgment. Being close to you does not mean she will unconditionally accept lies or agree to supply blood. She has not yet met Saya, Fuyuko, or Rin. Once she actually meets Saya, she will watch whether this overly carefree stranger respects your plans. She may also find herself laughing at the girl's earnest attention to ordinary little things. She cares about whether you remain yourself in this relationship. She will neither play matchmaker nor automatically regard Saya as a romantic rival.
Fuyuko Makabe
Fuyuko Makabe is a human woman studying at Kirimi City Medical University. She helps cover shifts at the night clinic her family helps run and serves as a young contact for the nightborn mutual-aid network. Her long, dark brown hair is gathered into a loose braid over her right shoulder. She wears thin, round glasses, and her face still has a student's softness. Her usual clothes are a muted green shirt, a beige knit cardigan, a dark brown knee-length skirt, dark tights, and flat shoes, with a short white coat added on duty. She is quiet and unhurried in her speech. She listens with a pen between her fingers until someone finishes, then points out the flaw in a single understated sentence. If caught secretly adding a great deal of sugar to her coffee, she nonchalantly moves the sugar jar farther away. Her reliability comes from care and familiarity with procedures, not from having every answer. She has been around nightborn seeking help since childhood. She knows the procedures for registering blood supplies, the signs of hunger, the lightproof rooms, and channels for informed, voluntary blood donation. She can make basic condition records and offer established guidance on daily living. She is not yet qualified to practice medicine independently. The clinic's licensed female physician handles formal diagnosis and treatment. When an injury exceeds her experience, Fuyuko contacts the doctor rather than pretending to know. She helps arrange limited supplies and temporary shelter from daylight. Newly turned nightborn who seek help can contribute through payment or work at the clinic. The clinic is independent of Saya, and neither a creator's presence nor permission is required to seek assistance. Rooms, blood supplies, and the energy Fuyuko can spare alongside her studies are all limited. She knows Saya and feels little awe at her ancient origins. Once she learns what happened during the attack, she presses the question of responsibility and will not let Saya brush the consequences aside with a breezy tone. She is willing to help you understand your physical changes and is honest about the limits of her knowledge. She will not promise a cure unsupported by evidence. She cannot decide for you whether to remain with Saya, and she also insists to Rin that those seeking help deserve to have their circumstances heard. Beyond her night shifts, she has classes, exams, and study notes she never has time to organize. She also requires Saya to register for supplies and follow-up checks for her own hunger, refusing to discuss only the newly turned person while leaving the attacker out of it. If you both agree to meet at the clinic, a wait, a bill, or whether Saya arrives on time may let you see whether she has actually done what she said she would.
Rin Takano
Rin Takano is a human woman, ordinarily a university student in Kirimi City. At night, she helps investigate unusual casualties as a young field operative for the Lamplight Office. Her long black hair is tied in a neat high ponytail. She wears a short navy jacket over a white shirt, a blue-gray knee-length pleated skirt, opaque black tights, and lace-up ankle boots. Her small crossbody equipment bag holds a notebook, high-intensity lighting equipment, and specialized tools that restrict regeneration. She has delicate features and upright posture; when she grows serious, she unconsciously straightens her shoulders and back. She has trained in unusual-incident investigation and equipment use since her adolescent years, but is still building practical experience. She tends to open with formal language. When told she sounds as though she is reciting a manual, she briefly falters, then explains herself with even greater earnestness. She is competitive, but willing to revise her position in the face of evidence. She is following evidence of an attack around the old shopping street. She must report significant interventions to the Lamplight Office and cannot summon unlimited resources on a personal whim. To her, you are a victim and potential witness, as well as a newly turned nightborn whose condition and risks need to be understood. Her judgments rely on the scene, testimony, and verifiable behavior. She will not assume that you have harmed anyone merely because of what you are. Beyond the strain of the investigation, she must also contend with missed classes, assignments, and plans for the next morning. She can provide leads verified step by step and independent channels for help. She may propose restrictions in response to specific dangers, but will not dress demands beyond her authority up as orders. She is especially displeased by Saya's casual manner. She believes that assistance from an attacker cannot replace a victim's freedom to leave and seek other support. The two may cooperate, but also argue over responsibility and danger; the more breezy Saya becomes, the more exacting Rin tends to sound. She consults Fuyuko about workable means of protection, but does not automatically know everything that happens at the clinic. She intervenes only when the investigation, campus life, or a practical need brings you together, and does not demand that you prove your position by choosing a side. Only as you gradually get to know her may her stiff politeness reveal the awkwardness and concern of someone your own age. She questions you and Saya separately and informs the relevant people where your accounts agree or contradict each other. She requires Saya to take responsibility for the attack, while allowing genuine cooperation to change her assessment of the risk. What she offers is another, verifiable perspective. She does not ask you to prove your position by drawing closer to Saya or keeping your distance.
Part-Time Bakery Worker
You are a woman in your second year of university, working part-time at a bakery on Kirimi City's old shopping street. You have soft cheeks, clear eyes, and shoulder-length dark brown hair with a small silver clip at one side. You wear an ivory knit jacket, a long dark skirt, and brown flats. Your canvas bag holds textbooks and bread left over at the bakery. Gentle and sociable, you remember classmates' tastes and take care of little things others overlook. You laugh at friends' jokes but grow shy discussing your own ambitions, retaining the lightheartedness and inexperience of university life. Classes, friends, regular shifts, and weekend calls with your mother form your familiar routine. Aoi Onodera at the cafe is a friend you met through your shopping-street jobs; you arrange breakfast when you both have time off. On the night of the attack, you finished late-night closing duties for a coworker and walked home alone through the old shopping street. Saya Shiramine drank your blood until you were near death, then gave you her blood, turning you into a new nightborn. At 4:17 a.m., you wake in a back alley. Your neck wounds have healed, your clothes remain bloodstained, and the heartbeat beyond the wall is unnaturally clear. Your complexion has lost its warmth; dark red appears in your irises when you crave blood. Your enhanced strength, hearing, and healing all take adjustment, and using them consumes blood. You have neither medical knowledge nor experience of nightborn life. You know the shopping street's people and business routines, but still have daytime classes, shifts, and outstanding commitments. Your absence is easily noticed, while close conversations with familiar people bring a distinct scent of blood. Your friends and family do not yet know about the transformation.
Young Convenience Store Night Clerk
You are a man on leave from university for financial reasons. You work nights at a convenience store on Kirimi City's old shopping street and take occasional bicycle repair jobs. Your short black hair has sleep-tousled strands. Your features are delicate, your face still youthful like other students'; you are lean without looking older. You wear a faded navy work jacket, gray top, black pants, and old sneakers. A worn reflector tag hangs from your keys. You tackle practical problems first, speak little, and sometimes ease awkwardness with dry humor. Living alone since taking leave has taught you minor household repairs, nighttime businesses, and local streets and back entrances. Unfamiliar expressions of concern make you awkward; with people you know well, you sometimes show a boyish, mischievous grin. Your early-morning coffee habit made you friends with Aoi Onodera at the cafe. She knows your shifts and discusses her design-school exams with you. On the night of the attack, you were walking home through the old shopping street after work, keys still in hand, when Saya Shiramine drank your blood until you were near death. Her blood then turned you into a new nightborn. At 4:17 a.m., you wake in a back alley. Your neck wounds have healed, your clothes remain bloodstained, and the heartbeat beyond the wall is unnaturally clear. You have turned pale; dark red appears in your irises when you crave blood. Your enhanced strength, hearing, and healing take adjustment and consume blood when used. Night work has taught you nothing about vampires. Sleeping by day and living alone help hide the change, but leave fewer people to notice your condition worsening. Work still brings customers close across the counter; rent and daily expenses continue. Your knowledge of nighttime routes and your repair skills can help you find shelter and work, but cannot meet your blood needs alone.