10/10/2025                                                                            
                                    
                                                                            
                                            Title: Between Love and Hate
(Scene – Rainy night, the cold wind passes through the broken windows of the old mansion where Aokawa Rika kept her personal files. The flames of the candles flicker, casting long shadows on the walls. Nekoyama holds a crumpled letter in her hands, her eyes filled with tears and rage.)
Nekoyama:
(gritting her teeth, breathing heavily)  
“So it’s true…? You knew. You knew all along, didn’t you, Rika?! It was vampires… monsters like you who killed my parents!”  
Rika: 
(raises her gaze slowly, her expression cold and composed, not moving from her spot)  
“I knew. And if you were expecting me to deny it, you’ll be disappointed. I was there.”  
Nekoyama: 
(her body trembles, her nails dig into her palms, her breathing grows uneven)  
“You… were there?! Then it was you?! You killed them?!”  
Rika:  
(steps forward, her red eyes glimmer under the candlelight)  
“No. But I could have stopped it. I didn’t… because I was still a coward trying to survive among monsters worse than myself.”  
Nekoyama:  
(screaming, rushing toward her, rage mixed with tears)  
“COWARD?! You let them die! And then you pretended to be my mother?! You held me with the same hands stained with their blood!”  
(Rika doesn’t react when Nekoyama strikes her chest; the dry sound echoes through the hall. Rika only holds the girl’s fist with a soft grip.)  
Rika:
(low voice, cold, but her eyes tremble slightly)  
“If that will ease your hatred… then go on. Hit me. Let it all out. I’ll take it.”  
Nekoyama: 
(crying as she tries to break free, her rage melting into sobs)  
“I loved you, Rika… I trusted you… why didn’t you tell me?!”  
Rika:  
(releasing Nekoyama’s fist, lowering her eyes)  
“Because I knew that the day you discovered what I am… you would hate me. And I preferred to bear that lie than see that look in your eyes.”  
Nekoyama:  
(falling to her knees, crying, shoulders shaking)  
“I… I don’t know if I can forgive you…”  
Rika: 
(kneeling beside her, her voice cold, but heavy with contained pain)  
“I don’t want your forgiveness. I just want you to live… differently from me. With a heart that still feels, even if it’s hatred. That alone makes you more human than I ever was.”  
(The silence settles. Only the sound of rain hitting the roof accompanies the two figures — a motionless vampire, and a broken girl, torn between love and hate.)