He saved me... but that didn't matter. He is very likely a vampire, and there is no need to butter it down. He's my objective, and I can leave after this, but I need proof.

I wasn't paranoid, I witnessed his fast rehabilitation. It felt uncanny,

Dare I say almost 2 with what he'd been injured with. At first, I didn't empathize with it a lot, I was used to these injuries, but no one was able to get that fast into heavy work again. He had deep scars.

They were more or less common to me, that's why I wasn't surprised at all, but there was no sane explanation for the fact he worked already.

Either he was insane.

or..

He was a vampire.

I considered the latter.

I needed proof, and I would call him out with it. Otherwise, it was useless. The sooner I can leave this place, the better. It's not like there was a deadline, but I set one for myself to maintain my reputation.

At most 4½ months and it had already been 3 weeks.

It doesn't matter if Sir Diluc saved my life. If he's going to be in my way of ending this mission. Then he'll have to be taken care of. However, perhaps I should consult Sir Kaeya on it. He was my enemy if he should be what I think he was.

I send off a letter from all the curiosity that bugged me. A lot of hesitation followed, too, but I did it despite having a change of heart at last.

Dear Sir,

I'd like to talk about something. In regard of your brother. if you don't mind, let me ask what happened? You're one of the few people I can rely on.

That would've been a lie.

Kaeya was one of the people I trusted the least between all. He was not necessarily a bad college, but unpleasant to deal with in the long run, everyone was.

I knew he'd figure out what I meant and hoped I'd receive the answer.

It looked way too out of character for me to write, at least from what I've been known to formulate in reports, but I knew he'd get it.

That day, I sneaked out somewhere to contact a bird from the order. They had them everywhere. It could've been a plague as well if they weren't used for a purpose.

"Send it to, Sir Kaeya," I said.

A few days later, I went into the city with a hood, following Venti.

As we made some important purchases, the day came to a close, and just as Venti and I were about to return, someone ran into me and made me lose my balance.

I glanced after the small figure. They became only a shadow that lost my sight.

"Oh, are you alright?" Venti asked, gently holding my shoulder. His eyes scanned me, I pretended I gulped and nodded. Well, that much for a moment to sneak around to snatch a reply from Kaeya.

I reached into the pocket of my cloak. My hand met with a greasy effect.

I received an answer. I ran upstairs to my room and opened the letter.

Oh dear,

Oh, I never expected you to ask me that, but I'll assume you have a lead. He simply has disappeared on me one day.

Some family matters after we fought about ideologies, and before, I realized he was on the side of vampires. It's truly a questionable thing, dont you think? but I'm sure you've got a reason for given suspicion?

To bring your suspicion to a conclusion. No, nothing out of the ordinary. He's just being his silly little self, and we don't talk anymore.

Kaeya didn't talk that way. He rarely talked about family issues, but less likely would he call a clash of ideologies silly behavior. He knew we were being monitored by everyone surrounding us, or at least, let's say Diluc's suspicion.

"A few steps ahead."

That's what he once said to me. Why did he say that? I wasn't sure,  but I knew his words, including threads, were rarely empty.

The meaning he ought to give them was something one would find out in the in-between if it wasn't clear.

His voice still echoed in my ears on some days. He was sly and cunning. I respected him for that.

I studied the lines again and again. I memorised them and pondered what they could indicate.

He did confirm his brother had different ideologies than those, which were supported by the government.

However, why would he turn to the vampires if he didn't have an association or change of perspective? The confirmation was definitely something that made my grey cells ratter.

Diluc... was a traitor. That much was confirmed. He had different ideologies and stood by a different side. Next was that he conspired with the vampires.

An interesting lead.

I was one step closer to the truth.

To cut it short, his alibi was declining a lot. I starred at the crumpled paper like it delivered the answer to the schemes I'd have to pull off.

He was sharing an ideology that didn't align, he dissappeared because of it, and he is regularly out in the woods at night.

As for everything else, he seemed incredibly strong and had a healing capability that was inhuman.

I glanced at my desk and reminded myself that my report was due. What progress had I made... Nothing major, an alibi that needed to be debunked further, and a bit more definite proof.

——✧･ﾟ: ★,｡･::･ﾟ☆
RAINEE's NOTE;
Ohhh, suspicion... Well, y'all will see how twisty it'll get still, because I've got a few things planned for this 🫡 anyways it's Christmas soon (24th for me, hehe)

And omg, I am so excited. AHH, maybe I'll bring some new aot fics for Christmas 🧍‍♀️ Gonna expand my content, hehe. And the best thing is (this fic) it's going to continue despite uploading different stuff!!