Could I please request period comfort from Vampire hunter D, If that's alright?
(author is Hideuki Kikutchi, butI might be wrong)
The eponymous vampire hunter, an icon of grim stoicism, unparalleled combat prowess, and an almost supernatural detachment from the human world. A dhampir, eternally wandering a post-apocalyptic future, dispatching vampires and other horrors with silent efficiency, his only companion the sarcastic, sentient Left Hand and impertinent human determined to discover wonders of this world. He is not known for his bedside manner, his emotional range, or frankly, for engaging with anything so mundane as human biology.
Which is probably why you found yourself in this predicament.
You asked D multiple times for the last hour if you could slow down for a moment. Every time, he dismissed you, reasoning that you have to make it to the next town before sunset otherwise you'll be the target of every night creature in a hundred miles. So you pressed on, jaw clenched, hands white-knuckling the reigns of your horse while the white-hot pain speared through your abdomen. It got through the point you barely could sit straight in the saddle. When D led you through a rocky creek the paint got so intense you folded over the horse. You weren't sure if water was rippling below you or it was your vision swimming. You heard the hoofbeats of D's horse got quieter as distance between you grew.
The hunter kept his eyes on the road, determined to finish your journey. If it weren't for his enhanced hearing, he probably wouldn't even have noticed that you'd stopped following him. Only after hearing a high-pitched keen of pain, he finally halted his horse. After months of travelling with him, he never once heard you complain. Through rain and thunder, through hoards of monsters and superstitious villagers, you sticked to his side with a smile on your face. D knew you usually hide any pain or discomfort from him in fear he'll leave you behind.
The fact that you clearly couldn't hide your pain under your usual bluster made dread settle in his stomach. He turned the horse around and returned to you. He scanned your body for any injuries and that¨s when a familiar and shamefully tempting scent of your blood hit him. He turned his head away and mumbled, as for you to not see his growing fangs.
"Are you injured?"
You broke out in a string of curses before replying, "No, but I feel like I¨m being stabbed over and over again in my uterus." With a groan, you adjusted your position, but the pain hadn't lessened a slightest bit.
D looked at you with confusion before it hit him. So used to living alone, the hunter sometimes forgot what it means to have a human body, especially the intricacies of female biology. For a moment, he sat there stupefied and helpless.
"Do you ne-"
"Piss off."
Your sudden outburst surprised him and D stepped back to not invite more of your ire.
"No...come back...please." And now you were crying, the emotional shift gave him whiplash.
At that point, D knew you won't make it to the next town, so he tied your horse's reins to his and led you wordlessly to the safest place to set out a camp while you groaned and cursed all the way. Once he had found the place, D lifted you off the horse gently but firmly and set you on the bedroll.
You were too overwhelmed by cramps and fatigue to notice him building a tent over you, starting a fire, and securing your steeds. Meanwhile, D was at a loss as to how to help you. He didn't like a problem he couldn't solve, and your body's well-being was of the highest importance to him.
He overlooked the camp and rummaged through his mind at what else he could do. He's usually confronted with a bloodthirsty Noble or a demonic beast, not by the quiet, debilitating reality of human menstruation. Perhaps some herbs in the forest could help relieve the pain, but leaving you alone in this state...
Lefty, noticing his unease, silently grumbled, "Heard a warm cloth helps too."
D paused for a moment before murmuring a simple thank you. He warmed some water in a pot and placed a piece of cloth on top.
You groaned as D peeled the blanket off of you. Despite your complains, you let him gently put you in more comfortable position and placed a warmed rag over your kidneys. Finally, you felt some sense of relief. The dhampir applied gentle pressure with his hands when he heard a quiet mumbling from the blanket. He leaned closer to hear you better, inky locks cascading over your frame.
"What is it?"
The blanket fell off, and he saw your eyes glistening.
"I"m so sorry."
"What for?"
"I'm being a nuisance and wasting your time...again"
D brushes you off, "you're not at fault for your human workings of your body."
"Not even when I was throwing up on our time at the ship?"
"Some of the sailors had it even worse. Besides, you were better off hiding in the cabinafter that kraken appeared."
"Not even the pee breaks?" "Those are blessing in disguise. It bought us time after the valley was swarmed by goblins."
You rewarded him with quiet giggle.
"You're sweet."
The very word hangs in the air, an incongruous feather dropped into a maelstrom of steel and blood. Outwardly, there was no reaction from D to that word. No flicker of an eyelid, no shift in his perpetually grim, alabaster features.
"Sweet?" the Left Hand rasped, its voice a dry chuckle inside D's mind. "Did I mishear? Perhaps she meant 'sweat,' from the blood of the creature you just eviscerated. Or 'fleet,' as in your movements? Certainly not 'sweet.' The irony, the glorious irony!"
"Tomorrow, I'll buy some healing herbs for pain relief at the market."
You smiled to yourself. Perhaps it's not about explicit comfort, but D's sheer presence. His protective aura, his unwavering dedication to a mission (even if that mission is simply "ensure my human's well-being"), is it's own form of comfort.
