Kashiwagi Anne’s Letter

To Kashiwagi-dono,

To my dearest master, or I suppose it’s underling now; how have you been? It’s been a while since we’ve last seen each other. And by that I really mean a while, about twenty-five years or so. But I guess for you, it’s only been a measly 2 weeks. I really envy you for that. Regardless, I hope you’re doing fine and well.

By the time you’re reading this, I’m most likely already gone from this world, the same way you went all those years ago. I had informed my colleagues that I was simply moving to a different country so let’s keep this secret between us two—between master and underling and vice versa.

The past twenty-five years have been really hard for me. I didn’t understand why you disappeared and left me behind, and no matter how much I thought about it, I still never arrived to an answer. I hated you for that for the longest time. It was as if the two years we spent together had ultimately amounted to nothing for you. And while I’d actually love to hear otherwise from you—an explanation at least on why you left, I doubt you could give me a clear answer with your current state, so this might be just wishful thinking on my part.

Anyway, I don’t want this letter to end up being just a list of my grievances through the years. In writing this, I simply wish to bid farewell to the vampire who gave me a second chance in life. Kashiwagi Jun. Also, by reading this, I hope I could somehow jog your memories and make you remember who you were in your past life—a vampire that saved a girl on the lowest point of her life.

While it may be true that my life had been hard after you left, and every day I thought to myself that if you had just let me end my suffering back then, I wouldn’t have had to mourn your loss; being left with no choice but to live on, I eventually stumbled upon a new hope after a few years, a new reason to keep living in the form of a child. I call him a child but by the time I first encountered him, he was actually already in university. I won’t give out too much since details since might real age might slip out and ruin my image.

This kid was a bright-eyed optimistic ball of sunshine for someone who was already a university student, in contrast to my master who was already jaded and rotten to the core by the time we had met. But just like my master, he had a dream he wanted to achieve. He wanted his name to be remembered—he wanted to leave a mark on this world before his time would come to pass. The only difference was that, this kid that was about to enter the adult world, still hasn’t given up on his dreams. Which is why I made it my life’s goal to make his dreams come true in my master’s stead.

For the following years, I built myself up in a way which would let me support this kid’s dreams. The kid also aspired to be a writer himself. And luckily for me, my master was also a writer who would always make me listen to his stories, which is why I’ve developed an eye for literature. Because of this, with only a couple of months, I landed a job at a publishing house. I started off as an editor, until I became editor-in-chief, until the day came when I got the position I’m currently at today.

This kid would send his works to different publishing houses in hopes of landing a print, and joined countless competitions as well. One of the publishing houses that he submitted his works to was the publishing house I worked at. He apparently had a thing for vampires to my surprise. However, his depiction of them seemed to be a bit off, heavily inspired by the common notion of vampires. So I rejected it in hopes of his depiction improving. One competition passed, and then a second, still nothing. It was then when I thought that perhaps it was time I got involved and helped this kid out directly.

So I intercepted him at this diner he frequented. He was a total snob shockingly, he reminded me a bit of my master. But I thought it might only be because it was our first time meeting, so I kept approaching him every day in hopes to win over his trust. It was until one day. At a spot that had a special place in my heart, the kid finally opened up to me and entertained my advances. Despite being technically already fifty years old, I couldn’t help but act all childish for my age when interacting with this boy. It was as if my twenty-three-year-old self came back every time I was with him—as if not a day had passed since I first became an immortal being.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I offered him my assistance under one condition. It was a condition he probably wouldn’t agree to so I hid it from him until my assistance had ended. But despite not knowing what this condition was, the boy agreed to it for some reason. And so our teacher-student relationship began. I told him everything my master had told me about vampires, leaving absolutely nothing out. I did so for two reasons. One was to of course, help him achieve his goal. But the other one was a bit too personal so I’ll leave it to your imagination.

I spent two months with this kid. Nearly not enough time as I had hoped. But he worked fast and eventually finished his story.

We agreed to meet up one night to evaluate his finished product. And by this time, I had already steeled my resolve if ever his story was up to my standards. I wanted to see something from this kid’s work, perhaps the answers to the question that’s been plaguing my head all these years. If I can find what I’m looking for then this was probably goodbye. I spent all day long coming to terms with what I was about to do, which is why I wanted it to happen late at night.

Evening came. I took my time walking up to the meeting spot, I didn’t want this moment to end just yet. But my feet eventually dragged me to the location we agreed on despite my mind wanting to remain walking forever to the destination. The kid was picking up a drink at a vending machine. It was the same drink that my master loved to drink. I almost ended up breaking a tear with just the sight of that alone.

I read the kid’s manuscript as agreed on. The moment I had flipped the first page, and read the first line, I knew for myself that I didn’t have to take long just to go through these pages. The kid had written a romance story between a vampire and a mortal. It followed the point of view of a male vampire after saving a girl who was attempting to end her life. The more pages I flipped, and the more words my eyes had scanned, it was, for the most part, the same. The events of this book heavily resembled the events that took place twenty-seven years ago.

Realizing this, I was about to break into tears. But I managed to hold them back by staring at the illumination the vending machine up front gave out and remained silent, waiting my emotions out to calm themselves down. But the moment my eyes made contact with my master’s favorite canned coffee, the tears started breaking loose, out of my control.

The kid eventually noticed, and I motioned him to look away. I didn’t want him to see me like this, in such a pathetic, vulnerable state. I thought that I had already move on from the events of that day, where the pain didn’t hurt as much whenever I remembered. But I suppose I was harshly mistaken.

I don’t know if this kid actually remembers everything, or if fate was just toying with me. I asked him a few questions that only my master would know the answer to, but the kid answered vaguely. I suppose he didn’t actually remember. Or perhaps, the events written in this book was simply fiction that some part of him just wanted to tell. And I can accept that. I was satisfied.

With our pact now fulfilled, and this comfortable series of weeks coming to a close, it was time that I collected the payment for my services—In the exact same place where I got turned twenty-seven years ago, it was time to reveal the condition.

All my years as a vampire, I’ve been searching for the reason behind my suffering. I simply kept floating lifelessly in the wind and merely followed wherever it took me; until it eventually blew me into you, the recipient of this letter. Sakurai Junta.

Despite being completely honest with everything I’ve told you during our very short time together, I might have slipped in a small lie at the end. I didn’t turn you into a vampire to justify the story you wrote as you might have already realized by now if you’ve read the other letter first. I simply wanted to return what you gave me all those years ago. I feel like I’ve been long overdue in this world and it was time I finally parted ways with it. Finally at peace after finding what I was looking for, I can now follow my master and come to terms with my peace.

Though, there might be a new question that would arise for you after coming to this point in my letter. You might be asking yourself why it had to be you—why out of all the people in the world, all these years, were you the one I chose to turn. Well, the answer’s quite simple.

It’s my revenge. Payback for leaving me behind all those years. Only this time, I was kind enough to not leave any unanswered questions behind. You better be grateful.

Well, that’s about it.

In my next life, similar to you, I probably won’t have any recollection of my life as Kashiwagi Anne. So if by any chance you find me as someone else, and decide to continue where we left off in our previous life, please approach me the same way you did twenty-seven years ago. May your first words to the reincarnated Kashiwagi Anne be the exact same words you gave the original. And if you wish to part ways in this crossroads, I would understand. This is a fitting end to the story of two idiotic vampires regardless.

I wish you all the best for the next eternity and beyond. May you find peace and success with the dream I helped you achieved. You may not be exactly where you want to be just yet, but please don’t give up like a certain someone we know.

Kind regards,

Your previous underling, current master, and ex-lover,

Kashiwagi Anne