The night is darkest just before dawn (BakuDeku!Vampire AU)

Chapter 34: The choice that was made

"Kaminari! Hey, Kaminari!"

Someone is shouting desperately...

"So noisy..." Monoma thought.

Blue eyes slowly open and after blinking a few times, his vision finally became clear. Monoma widens his eyes in shock when he saw Kaminari a few feet ahead of him, lying face down with a very clear slash across his neck...

And gathering around Kaminari... is Kirishima, Amajiki and Togata.

"No way, how could this be...!" Kirishima shouted as tears run down his face.

Huh...?

Oh, that's right. Right before that female vampire was about to attack him, Kaminari pushes him away. A fight broke out and Monoma remember how that vampire easily knock him away like he was a fly. Thus, causing him to hit his head against the wall and lose conscious.

What happened after that?

No... the answer is simple. Kaminari must have fought hard to protect Monoma while he's unconscious, which must be the reason why he's now... dead.

As for the reason why that vampire isn't around now, he couldn't come up with an answer to it. She probably ran away after seeing Kirishima and the senior hunters. No matter how powerful she is, Monoma doubt that she can win against a talented hunter like Togata and a vampire like Amajiki.

Kaminari wasn't the bravest nor best in combat. He could have abandoned Monoma and escape instead of fighting an enemy he couldn't win against. And yet Kaminari chooses to stay, for the sake protecting him. This guy really is stupid, he wouldn't lose his life if he were to fled.

It's not like they were best friends or anything. Monoma couldn't really understand why Kaminari would go through such length to protect someone he's not close with. If Monoma were more careful and didn't get knocked out, Kaminari would probably still be alive.

Once again, someone lose their life because of his carelessness.

Getting up without drawing attention to himself, Monoma quietly slips away from the scene. Work first, drown in guilt later...

Amajiki noticed Monoma leaving but keep silence, as this doesn't seem like the best timing to call out to him. Even if Amajiki did try to stop him from leaving and doing anything rush, Monoma definitely won't listen to him. That aside...

Turning his attention back to Kaminari, Amajiki can tell that he's not going to make it through. Kaminari's already at the death door. In another few more minutes, he'd be dead. That's how it always has been when it comes to their line of work. One small mistake and it will cost you your very own life.

"We need to get him to the hospital-"

"It's no use. We won't be able to make it... he's... going to die soon."

Amajiki averts his eyes when Kirishima looks up and stare at him with eyes that are full of sadness and desperation. Kirishima and Kaminari have been best friends for a long time. The thought of losing a best friend is unbearable and Amajiki can understand it. If the person lying on the ground right now was Togata, Amajiki's spirit would definitely break.

"So you're saying that there's no saving him?!" Kirishima exclaimed.

"I..." Amajiki trailed off.

The 'him' before would definitely say 'yes' and give up. When Amajiki first joined, he has seen other hunters died in front of him before and he too, had cling onto the hope that there's still some way to save his allies from the hands of the death god. But some things are just impossible to prevent and the harsh reality has taught Amajiki about it the hard way.