Izuku's big green eyes were wide and trembling. He looked appalled, and somewhat horrified as well, although you supposed that was only natural, considering what you'd just asked him. In a human-dominated world such as this one, someone like you was an obvious anomaly.
Still, you weren't feeling well right now. Far from it, as a matter of fact. The suddenness of your being brought into this different realm was clearly having an adverse effect on your body. You couldn't remember the last time you'd felt such a dizzying wave of hunger before.
If you didn't consume some blood, and soon, things were going to get ugly.
You swallowed hard, trying not to scare him too much. "I can understand... why you'd be shocked. I've been catching you off guard with so many different things. But, um, you see... I'm actually a vampire. I need to drink blood in order to survive. And I'm feeling super weak all of a sudden..."
Cue the silence. He wasn't speaking at all. Actually, it was more accurate to say that he couldn't speak, what with the way his mouth had frozen from shock. His reaction was enough to tell you that vampires definitely weren't commonplace in this world, unlike what you'd been hoping for.
"V-Vampire," Izuku blinked, still trying to wrap his head around your words. "This is all just... I'm sorry, but I don't know what to think. By vampire, you mean those supernatural beings that drink blood from humans?"
"Ah. So, you have heard of us."
"Only in books and movies! Not in real life!"
"Well, it looks as though what may be fiction in one world is actually reality in another. When you think about it, having multiple worlds in the first place is already crazy enough. Before I was cast away, I hadn't even considered the possibility."
As much as you would have loved to sit down and have a proper conversation explaining the details of your situation, you could feel yourself growing weaker by the second. At first, it was just that your body felt hot and you were rather dizzy, but your stomach was starting to have painful pangs, and the cut on your shoulder was throbbing uncontrollably. You hadn't realized just how much strain this change would place on your body. Fuck...
You felt like you might go insane.
"I-I'm sorry for frightening you," you managed weakly. This was bad. This was really, really bad. If Izuku didn't agree to give you some of his blood, you were afraid that in your desperation, you might just lunge straight at him. The whole purpose of you being here was so that you could learn to control yourself, but how could you do that under these circumstances? Your body felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside. Even your brain was starting to turn to mush.
Izuku now looked visibly concerned, although it could have been that your vision was also starting to fail you. Either way, it seemed like he was beginning to take your words much more seriously. The way you kept on gasping for breath and clutching at your injured shoulder probably had something to do with it.
"Are you... telling the truth?" he asked quietly. "If you're really telling the truth, and you need to do this otherwise you won't survive... then I don't mind giving you my blood."
You gave him a look of disbelief. He... actually believed you? If vampires truly didn't exist in this world, then he really had no reason to. You imagined that most people would have probably shrugged you off, assuming that you were putting on some overdramatic performance for whatever reason. Maybe they would have even thought you were insane.
But not Izuku. You could tell by the way he was looking at you. Whether or not he was truly convinced by your words, it seemed like in this moment, the only thing he was interested in was helping to ease your pain.
He wanted to save you. That was what his eyes seemed to convey.
"If you really don't mind... then, please," you nodded. Beads of cold sweat had begun to form across your forehead. You were on the verge of passing out if you didn't drink any blood soon, and now that you were in a foreign land, you feared to discover just how dire the consequences would be.
Izuku glanced around, then gestured for you to follow him. "L-Let's maybe go somewhere a bit more private," he offered. "If you think you're able to make it a bit further...?"
That was probably for the best. Drawing needless attention to yourself wouldn't do you any favors, and you were fairly certain that most people would be flabbergasted-and probably horrified-if they saw what you were about to do.
Steeling yourself against the pain, you followed Izuku and headed for a more secluded area. He kept on glancing over at you nervously the whole time, checking in to make sure you were still okay. Well, you weren't really okay, but relief was only a short while away, so you told yourself to hold on just a bit longer.
Finally, you seemed to have reached a good spot. A small alleyway behind a rather shoddy-looking building. You hoped its poor condition meant that most people wouldn't come this way.
Izuku looked nervous, and you couldn't really blame him. "Um, so..." he said, twiddling his thumbs. "H-How exactly do we do this...?"
"The neck," you said, swallowing impatiently. "It's the easiest spot for me to bite into. But if you're too scared, I could use your arm instead. Actually, maybe it's better that way. It'll be easier for you to push me back if you need to."
"Why would I need to push you back?"
"Because..."
Because I might not be able to stop myself.
You didn't voice that last part out loud, as guilty as you felt about it. There was no point in scaring Izuku off, especially since it wouldn't change your predicament in the slightest. If he got too frightened and ran off, you would just have to find some other poor person to feed off. And unlike with Izuku, you doubted they would go along so willingly.
You also didn't exactly have the luxury of time on your side. The longer you waited, the weaker you became and the more ravenous you felt. The worst-case scenario would be if you lost control of yourself and started attacking people indiscriminately. After all, your family wouldn't be here to stop you this time.
"Never mind," you said with a shake of your head. "But... if you're sure you want to do this, then please roll up your sleeve and stick your arm out."
Izuku nodded hastily and did just that. He exposed his forearm, which was practically blemish-free, a small dusting of freckles strewn across certain areas. Even though hardly anything had changed, you could feel your heart beating a bit faster. He smelled way too good. If this was how good he smelled, you could only imagine how much better he would taste.
It was a challenge, but you forced yourself to get a grip. You never wanted a repeat of what had happened with your friend. You never wanted to hurt someone like that ever again.
Fingers shaking a bit, you carefully grabbed Izuku's arm and lifted it towards your mouth. You were both quite nervous, it looked like, but each for the opposite reason. Izuku's was for fear of getting hurt, and yours was for fear of hurting him.
But there was no way around it. You weren't about to roll over and die after being in this new world for less than a day.
You parted your lips and unhinged your jaw. Izuku let out a little gasp when he saw the way your teeth sharpened; your canines turning into pointed fangs. If he didn't believe you to begin with, it looked like he was definitely starting to now.
"This is going to hurt quite a bit," you warned him. You felt it was only fair for him to prepare himself in advance. Izuku, however, didn't seem deterred.
"It's okay," he nodded. "You need help. I'm going to help you."
Without giving him another chance to second-guess his decision, you sank your fangs into the skin near his wrist. As expected, he let out a hiss and sucked in a breath of air to keep from screaming. All things considered, he was taking it surprisingly well. Most people who weren't used to having their blood sucked tended to panic quite a bit the first time.
But honestly, you were too distracted to marvel in his bravery right now. Just as you'd surmised, his blood really was beyond your expectations. Different humans tended to have different tastes; like with everything else in life, there was a certain amount of variety you could expect. That being said, you'd tasted plenty of delicious blood before.
Even so, Izuku's was easily the best.
You slurped from his skin greedily, relieved to feel your strength coming back to you almost at once. Every so often, Izuku would scrunch up his nose and shudder. His eyes were squeezed shut, probably because he was too scared to actually watch what was happening. That was fine, though. He was already being more than generous towards you, and for a human who'd only just found out vampires actually existed, his courage was truly admirable.
It was like you'd died and gone to heaven, if there really was such a place. Assuming vampires were allowed in heaven, anyways. The point was that you'd never tasted anything so delicious before in your entire life, and you wanted to keep gorging yourself on his blood-for the rest of eternity, if you could.
Alas, you couldn't. It was hard, really hard, but you forced yourself to pull away. Izuku's blood was intoxicating, but you needed to learn from your mistakes. You couldn't harm the person who'd risked his own wellbeing just to try and help you.
Gaze lidded, you wiped the back of your hand across your mouth, cleaning away any blood that still lingered on your lips. "All done," you said.
Izuku finally worked up the nerve to open his eyes again and get a proper look at you. He paused for a moment, looking a bit uncertain, before finally glancing down near his wrist, where he noticed the two puncture marks your fangs had left behind.
"Y-You really drank my blood," he marveled, lightly pressing near the wounds. They were definitely tender, so he winced a bit when he applied a touch too much force.
"Thank you so much," you sighed heavily. "I'm feeling a lot better now. I made sure not to take too much blood from you, but how is it? Are you feeling lightheaded or anything like that? Does it still hurt a lot even though I've stopped?"
Izuku shook his head. "No... I'm okay. I'm not really sure how to describe it, but I could definitely feel that you were sucking my blood out. I-It's not a sensation I ever thought I would experience, that much is for sure."
"You're amazing, Izuku. You let me suck your blood even though you must have been so scared."
"I'm nothing special!" he blurted. His face had turned red again. You figured it had less to do with you sucking his blood and more so the fact that you'd complimented him. "You weren't looking so good earlier, but it seems like that's changed for the better now. I'm so relieved," he smiled. "That means I was able to make a difference, right?"
Although you'd only just met, it was already abundantly clear that he was a good guy.
You grinned back at him. "Back in my world, even the humans that are used to having their blood sucked still get a bit scared from time to time. But you took it like a champ, even though you didn't know what to expect. You really are incredible. There's no need to be embarrassed. Being brave is something to take pride in."
"I-I-If you say so!" Izuku spluttered nervously. He didn't seem to handle praise well. Perhaps he wasn't used to hearing it?
If that was the case, then you'd have to do your best to change fix that.
But seriously... what a relief. I felt like I was going to die if I didn't drink any blood right away.
The reality was that you very well could have died. There was no one here to look after you. Even though this punishment seemed quite cruel, you knew that you'd only ended up in this position thanks to your negligence. A life was a life. Like your parents had said, you needed to never take it for granted ever again.
Although the momentary silence wasn't unsettling, Izuku still felt the need to chime in. "Um, so... are you okay now, [Name]?"
"Yes! I'm as good as new," you beamed, twirling in place for emphasis.
"I'm glad to hear that. But... what are you going to do next? You said you don't have a place to live, right? Because your family sent you here?"
Ah. Right. Even though the emergency had been dealt with, you were still pretty royally screwed.
You nodded somberly. "Yeah. I did something to really upset them, so they told me I'm not allowed to come home until I've taken the time to reflect on my mistakes and mature a bit."
"Still... a whole different world?" Izuku gaped. "That's way too severe of a punishment, no matter what! How could your parents do that to you? What exactly did you do that made them so angry?"
You swallowed. Honestly, you were hesitant to reveal the exact reason behind your banishment. Izuku had been nothing but kind to you, but if he found out what you'd done, he might leave you behind and never look back.
"I don't want to say," you admitted, casting your head to the ground. "I'm sorry. Just... not right away. Maybe once you get to know me a bit better."
Izuku looked surprised at first, but he quickly shook his head. "No, I shouldn't have tried to pry in the first place!" he reassured. "It sounds like you've been through a lot already. I can't even imagine what I would do if I was in your place... sorry for pressuring you for an answer."
"There's no reason to apologize. It's only natural to be curious."
You really were fortunate to have run into Izuku. For once, acting on your bloodthirst had proven to be the right call.
Still. You were very much in a sticky situation.
"This is incredibly shameless of me," you started, clenching your hands into fists and swallowing your embarrassment, "but... is there any way I might be able to stay with you for a little while? As of now, you're the only one who knows that I'm a vampire from a different world. I'm just really lost and afraid, but you've been so nice to me, and even helped me. Just for a little while-just long enough for me to figure out what to do next. Would that be okay...?"
Of course it wasn't okay. You couldn't believe that you were even daring to impose on him like this. But you weren't lying about being scared. Just because you were strong didn't mean that you didn't get nervous or doubt yourself. You were only fourteen years old, apart from your family for the very first time-literally worlds apart.
You were far from perfect, and you knew that. You just hoped that Izuku might be willing to put up with you for a little longer.
"Okay."
You blinked.
Wait... what did he just say?
It wasn't just the fact that he'd said it. It was the way he'd said it, with little to no hesitation whatsoever.
Izuku smiled shyly. "You need help, and I'm happy that you think I might be able to lend a hand. Normally I would suggest going to the heroes for something serious like this... but your situation is definitely unique, so I can understand why you'd be scared when you don't know anything about this place. We can figure out a solution together... a-alright?"
Tears welled up in your eyes. You couldn't help it. He wasn't just a good guy. He was an absolute angel.
"My hero!" you couldn't help but cry out, throwing yourself over him and giving him a big hug. "Oh, thank you! Thank you so much! This means more to me than you'll ever know! I promise that no matter what I have to do, I'll find a way to repay you somehow!"
Izuku let out a noise that was somewhere in between a squeak and a gasp. He didn't try to push you off as you squeezed your arms around him. Actually, his face was so red that it looked like he was about to start blowing steam from his ears, so you figured he was frozen stiff from shock.
At the risk of sending him into cardiac arrest, you decided you should probably pull away and give him some space.
"Sorry about that," you apologized sheepishly. "I got a bit too excited there."
Izuku's cheeks were still aflush, and he was staring at you in some sort of daze. "...hero," he mumbled.
"Hm?"
"You just... called me your hero," he swallowed, suddenly looking as though he was about to cry tears of joy.
"Because you are," you encouraged happily. "You're saving me big-time!"
"It's just... no one's ever said that to me before. Not a single person."
"Wow. So, I guess that makes me the first!"
"Yeah." Izuku let out a giggle, and you could've sworn your heart skipped a beat. He was grinning ear-to-ear now. "You're the first, [Name]."
Something told you that despite being banished, this world had plenty of bright moments in store for you.