Vampires Legacy

The first day of working at Odd Jobs Cafe has begun. It took a couple of hours, but the first customer finally came in. Chifuyu wanted to let Iris handle him, but he realized that would've been a terrible idea. So he took the first customer's order and he left satisfied.

Most of the food they have is already premade, and they were taught how to make the drinks: Coffee, tea, frappucinos, and the such.

Nailah only did a small bit of marketing because she knew the customers would come themselves, no matter how slowly it took. And she didn't advertise under her name as to not hand them customers on a silver platter. This was Kagura's idea, so it'll be up to her and her colleagues to pull out all the stops they need to make this successful.

After a few hours, they'd gotten 4 customers. Chifuyu, Ariel, and Kagura all served them. Ariel is surprisingly good at customer service. There shouldn't be any troubles for her, until a problematic customer comes in at least. When one does, Ariel will likely have a short fuse for them. Iris has more or less just been watching for now, getting herself ready.

"Okay Iris, you'll help the 5th customer we get."

"Got it."

Kagura will be calling most of the shots here. She's done her share of research to successfully run this business. Soon after, the next customer arrives.

"You got this Iris, stay calm."

With each step the customer took walking closer to the counter, it felt as if it was the countdown to Iris's demise. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his early forties with defining facial features. He was no doubt intimidating to Iris. When they got face-to-face, she felt as if a gun was being held at her point blank. The man had a menacing aura about him, he just might be a stand user.

While he was scanning the menu, Kagura and Chifuyu were over at the side gesturing for Iris to greet him.

"H-hello sir, wh-wh-what may I get you?"

"Hm?"

Locking eyes with her, the fellow exchanges eye contact as if he's at a gang meeting with his opposition.

This was too much for Iris.

"Euahuhheuahhauhehehuhaheeuhhahhueu..."

That's when it happened.

The glitch.

With her face distorting first, followed by her entire body, she started glitching as if she had just spiked at a 1,000 ping in a video game, lagging with no control over herself.

"We got a man down! Chifuyu, tag her out!"

"On it!"

"Bwahahahahahaha."

It's a mayday situation, Kagura tells Chifuyu to evacuate the fallen soldier and take her place while Ariel laughs hysterically at one of the tables. Tossing her to Kagura like a broken toy, Chifuyu takes over the order.

"Good afternoon sir, what can I get you today?"

"Um, is she okay?"

"Perfectly fine!"

"I'll have a small double espresso with a bacon, egg, and cheese croissant."

"Right away."

***

"I apologize for my sorry display! I'll quit immediately!"

Iris presents a dramatic apology, kneeling on the floor with her forehead planted.

"Haha, it's fine. Don't worry about it, Iris."

"Don't be sorry Iris, be better."

"Yes!"

Kagura attempts to cheer her up while Ariel gives her tough love. Chifuyu sees they're getting along now though which is great to see.

The first couple of days go by without too much of a hitch, and the first customers that come in this day are 2 high school girls.

"So this is the new cafe that just opened?"

"Yeah, actually looks pretty good."

"Welcome you two, I'll take your order when you're ready."

So far, Chifuyu has been great at greeting customers. Kagura believes he's the best at it alongside her so they'll both be the main ones at the register.

"Hey, I heard the employees were Hunters around our age right? That guy's kinda hot."

"Right??"

The high school girls whisper to each other while casting their judgment upon Chifuyu. This isn't going to go well for him.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"It's Chifuyu."

"Chifuyu, huh?"

"Hold on, I remember now! He's one of Shoyo's disciples!"

"You mean the strongest Hunter? What're you doing working here?"

"Well, you see... This is sort of a new establishment for young Hunters, so my friends and I will be working here, taking on Odd Jobs, and still do our duty."

"Wow, so admirable."

"She's the one who came up with the idea. Her name's Kagura."

"Hello!"

"Ready to order?"

"Oh, yeah."

After placing their order, the girls bring up a new topic.

"So Chifuyu, what do you say to hanging out with us later today?"

"Hm?"

"We know this great little restaurant not too far from here."

"Hm? Eh?"

"Like I said, we wanna hang out with you."

Leaning in, one of the girls whispers something.

"You're totally my type y'know."

"Eh-uhem-um.... You ladies are kind but I'm uh... quite busy. Come by and ask me an-anytime."

"Your drinks are ready!"

"Hm... In that case, we'll be back."

"Th-thank you for coming!"

As soon as the two girls leave, Chifuyu falls on his butt and lets out a huge breath.

"Huff...."

"Am I seeing things, or did master just get flustered by those 2 girls?"

"Hahaha, that was gold Chifuyu! So you can't handle girls flirting with you, is that it? Hahahaha!"

"Shut it."

A side of Chifuyu that has been brought to light. When he realizes girls are flirting with him, he becomes extremely flustered and nervous. In these dire situations, he gains anxiety on the level of Iris. Speaking of Iris...

'So Chifuyu can feel like that too...'

It's no surprise that this sudden development came as a shock to her since she's seen Chifuyu as a prime example of an extrovert, filled to the brim with social skills and encouragement.

"I never thought you could feel nervous socially, Chifuyu."

"Of course I can, I'm human too."

'Oh, that's right.'

Iris lets out a small grin. Today, she felt like she was able to become even closer with Chifuyu.

"When we first met, I thought there was a chance you were a playboy or something."

"Haha, seriously?"

Chifuyu imagines a different timeline where he's a playboy, it's nothing sort of silly to him.

"Say Chifuyu, while we're on the subject, was there any girl you ever liked?"

"Eh?"

"Since when were we on that?"

"Just answer!"

"Well... There was one."

"For real?!" Kagura, Iris, and Ariel all say in unison.

"You've never told me about her, master."

"C'mon, tell us."

Playfully jabbing their elbows on Chifuyu's sides, Ariel and Kagura are eager to get this information out of him.

"Not happening."

"Why???"

"Heads up, we got a few customers coming in."

Chifuyu doesn't want to tell them. This is a story for another time.

***

A couple of weeks go by, it's the middle of April. They've had a total of 51 customers which isn't bad at all. Business was expected to be slow in the beginning, but the pace is steadily increasing. And now, they've gotten their first Odd Job. Nailah and the client are present to go over the details.

"You're our first Odd Job client, welcome."

"No need to be so formal, Nailah. So I'm the first eh?"

"Oh, you guys know each other?" asks Kagura.

"You could say that. The name's Jeremiah Hamilton, nice to meet you all."

"The pleasure's all ours, I'm Kagura Mikase."

"I'm Chifuyu Kyotani, great to meet you."

"I-Iris Sakata."

"Ariel Ryuji."

"We appreciate you coming over here, Jeremiah. So, what's your Odd Job request?"

"It's a real simple one. I want you guys to come over to my home and hang out with my kids."

"Really, that's all?"

"Ariel!"

Chifuyu smacks Ariel upside the head after her careless remark.

"Yep. That's all there is to it. My eldest kids are really into Hunters and wanted to meet some closest to their age ya see. To make sure their expectations wouldn't be let down, I wanted to get some new competent Hunters who wouldn't mind spending some time with them. I found out about this Odd Jobs place and looked into you all. I believe you're worthy enough to grace my kids with your presence."

"Haha, we're honored," replies Kagura.

"Sounds great, I'm good with kids!"

"I'm not..." Iris whispers to herself.

"If you believe the little ones are worthy of my presence, then I suppose I shall grace them with it."

"Ha, you're pretty little too short stuff."

"Haha..."

Ariel holds back everything not to clobber this man.

"I live about an hour away so it'll be a bit of a drive, are you guys in?"

"Of course! You came all the way over here after all!"

"Good for you all, you've secured your first Odd Job."

"So about payment, how does 2 grand sound?"

"That's a generous offer, thank you!"

"Don't mention it. I'll also throw in a bonus if my kids end up truly satisfied."

"Thank you, sir." Chifuyu shows his generosity.

"Drop the formalities, you can call me Jeremiah."

And so, they officially got their first Odd Job.

***

Kagura drove following Jeremian to his house. It's huge and spacious with multiple rooms. Either he has a lot of guests, or is planning to have more kids than he already has.

"You're married?!"

"Yep. This is my wife, Courtney. Ain't she a beaut?"

"Stop Jeremiah. It's nice to meet you all."

"You're beautiful ma'am. If you don't mind me asking, what do you do? Are you an actor or model?"

"Haha. You flatter me."

"Courtney here's a music artist. She's got millions of monthly listeners on those fancy streaming apps."

"Wow!"

"Hey, I'm pretty sure my mom listens to you!" Chifuyu adds on.

"My uh... Dad listens to you quite a bit as well actually."

"Aw, I'm so glad to hear that."

Hearing the commotion, a couple of rascals come running into the living room.

"Dad, are these them?!"

"That's right, these are the young Hunters I told you two about."

"Hey, twins!"

"Right on, they're our pride and joy 9-year-old twins! Our 4-year-old boy is knocked out right now."

"Twins... Don't tell me their names are Aqua and Ruby." Chifuyu asked a ridiculous question.

"Huh? What're ya talkin about? Their names are Jimmy and Alexis."

"Oh, thank god."

"You're funny mister."

"Haha..."

Spending time with the twins, they played along with their toy games, watched some tv, talked about how hard their training was, and played some volleyball which they were both into. This went on for a few hours until they eventually got hungry. Their 4-year-old woke up in the meantime who his mom has been taking care of. Jeremiah can't cook at all though, so he's holding him while Courtney prepares dinner.

"So Daddy, who's stronger? You or Mr. Chifuyu?"

"C'mon Jimmy."

"Your old pop could beat me silly."

"Have you beat more vampires than him?"

"Hm? Vampires?"

"Yeah, you're both Hunters!"

"Wait, you're a Hunter, Jeremiah?"

This was apparently sudden news.

"That's right. You didn't know?"

"Not at all..."

"I didn't know either."

"Me neither."

"I did."

"You did?!"

Kagura was the only one who knew their client was a Hunter just like them.

"Haha, they didn't know who you were papa!"

"Why am I getting jabs from my own children?"

"Ha..."

"Y'know what, listen here you brats. These 3 definitely ain't stronger than me. But Kagura's the same rank as me, so it could go either way between us."

Jeremiah's pride has been wounded.

"Hey, don't count me out. I could probably beat you," comments Ariel.

"Don't kid yourself, you're barely taller than my little ones."

"Ghh...."

"Pff." Chifuyu lets a little giggle slip out.

"Oh, so that's funny? Let's go right here pops!"

"Ariel... Haha... Hold on."

Chifuyu holds Ariel back from embarrassing herself, plus they're guests in his home and he's holding a 4-year-old.

"How come Ms. Kagura is the same rank as you if you're a lot older?"

A direct hit straight from the daughter.

"Hahahaha, serves you right!"

Ariel takes the moment to revel in laughter.

"That was a low blow, Alexis. I'm still only 28."

"That's pretty young for 3 kids isn't it?"

"Hmph. Maybe, but this is the dream right here. Had my twins when I was 19 and got married at 21. Then we had this little one 4 years ago."

"Y-you seem like a great dad."

"Thanks Iris. I'm sure you'll all make great Hunters, like me."

They chuckle at Jeremiah's extreme confidence. He's similar to Shoyo in that regard. Following her statement, Iris asks a question.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Jeremiah... Um, how can you be a Hunter when you're married with kids?"

A rather personal query. The room is filled with a brief silence as nobody says anything. However, the person in question has a firm answer.

"Heh, it's simple. A lot of Hunters are out there for the payday and fame and whatnot. Sure they've completed the harsh training that's required, but they don't know what it truly means to be a Hunter. Out there are countless families just like mine that want to continue living peacefully in this world. So this job is more than just slaying vampires, it's about putting your life on the line to ensure others don't lose theirs, while protecting what they hold dear. That's why I appreciate this Odd Jobs you've started, you guys are doing something good here. Something to be proud of, alongside fighting some vamps. But yeah, there's a clear contradiction here. I put my life in danger although I have people here who would be heartbroken if I didn't make it back one day. I know what I signed up for, we all do. But if my life can save several others, then I'll keep being a Hunter for however long I can. We fight for two reasons: to protect, and to live. Don't forget that."

"..."

They were speechless. The man spoke from his heart. This, is a true Hunter.

"You're so cool, Daddy!"

"That's my husband."

The twins hop on his legs and his wife gives him a kiss on the cheek.

"That a good enough answer for you, Iris?"

"Y-yes! You're an admirable man, Mr. Jeremiah!"

For some reason, she bows her head to him.

"You're a model Hunter!"

"I feel like I just heard the wisest words ever!"

"Hehe, that was pretty good."

"Hmph. I know a few people more admirable than myself. As much as I hate to say it, that brat Shoyo for one."

"Do you know Shoyo personally?"

"Unfortunately. I was his senior at the academy. Same for your boss, Nailah."

"For real?"

"Tell us what he was like as a teenager!"

"I'll cover my ears."

"Yeah, maybe some other time. I'm starving, let's eat up."

Chifuyu, Kagura, and even Iris were eager to hear some stories, but that too will be for a later time. After eating, they spend a lot more time there. It's safe to say they had a successful first Odd Job. As they were leaving and saying goodbye, Kagura said one last thing to Jeremiah.

"I hope for one... A family like yours."

Jeremiah gives a little smile and pats her on the back.

"You'll get one. No doubt in my mind."

Kagura smiles back.