About a month after Nina and Ayaka met, Nina received a text from Ayaka. She expressed wanting to hang out in person.

Nina was excited about this and quickly accepted. It had been a long time since she met up with a human friend.

Had they become friends by now?

Nina wanted to believe so. They have had text conversations every day since they met, usually just talking about their days (or in Nina's case, nights).

So, now, not long after the sun set, she set out to meet with Ayaka. They agreed to meet up at the park in the city that is the closest to the Crimson Forest.

When she arrived, Ayaka was already sitting on a bench, waiting for her.

As soon as Ayaka noticed Nina, her face seemed to light up. She was very glad to see her.

"Nina!" Ayaka stood up from the bench. "You made it."

"Why wouldn't I?" Nina laughed as she approached the human.

"How are you doing?" Ayaka asked as soon as Nina arrived at her side.

"I'm managing, but I could be doing much, much better," Nina sighed as the two of them instinctively began to walk on the sidewalk side-by-side.

"I feel the same way," Ayaka admitted, looking away from Nina for a moment. "What's been troubling you?"

"Just..." Nina sighed. "Even more so recently, I've felt like I don't belong anywhere," she admitted. "It's like I'm too human to be a vampire, but also too vampire to be a human," she frowned. "It caused a lot of mental health issues for me, especially once I learned that I was in fact a hybrid," she revealed to Ayaka, who did not seem too surprised.

"Oh..." Ayaka said, but continued to listen to Nina as the two continued to walk together. The night air was chilly, but thar did not really bother them too much.

"After a horrible incident and a subsequent argument with my mother, I shut my mother out of my life, blaming her for the way I was born. She fell in love with a human, and now I have to pay the price," Nina shared. "Oh, sorry, I think I'm revealing too much all of a sudden," she suddenly stops herself.

"No, it's okay," Ayaka assured her. "You seem like you're eager to get all of this off your chest."

"That's because I am," Nina nodded, looking back at the human. "I just... hate being half vampire so much. Life would be much easier for me if I was just a human."

"Nina..." Ayaka muttered. "I'm so sorry," they paused and shared a quick hug. "To be honest, I think you could fit in with humans if you tried."

"You think so?" Nina did not believe it. Ayaka was just trying to help her feel better. 

"I do," Ayaka told her, resting a hand on the hybrid's back. "As long as you can learn to adapt, I think you'd do just fine," she assured her. "You're definitely much nicer than any vampire I've come across," she admitted with a small smile. "If anything, I think you're just a human soul trapped in the body of a vampire."

"Really?" Nina wasn't sure if she believed her.

"Mhm," Ayaka confirmed. "To be honest, meeting you has already helped me learn to overcome my phobia of vampires."

Nina could not believe what she heard.

"You have a phobia of vampires?" Nina questioned. She wondered why she was so quick to start liking her then. Until she remembered..