|
Introduction
|
Pause 𝄻 is the twelfth chapter of Jun Mochizuki's The Case Study of Vanitas.
This article contains plot and/or ending details for The Case Study of Vanitas.
Read at your own risk.
Summary[]
Noé admits it himself—he is callow. There is so much in the world that he doesn’t know. Though it’s already night, glowing lights dance in the air as musicians play their songs and people swing and dance to the rhythm. And the most prime example of what he doesn’t know… Noé says he has a question. Vanitas asks him what is it.
Vanitas and Noé, entwined with one another, dance through the light of the city that surrounds them, held close to each other, moving as one, and Noé asks—
“What on earth is love?”
One hour earlier. Noé’s eyes shine like stars and his face his flushed in absolute delight. On a plate before him, adorned by a scoop of whipped cream, is a slice of tarte tatin. Noé’s absolute favorite food. He’s positively beaming as he beholds the simple little dish. Vanitas, Jeanne, Luca, and Dominique all have slices of tarte tatin themselves, the five seated around a dining table together. Dominique is smug, having expected exactly this reaction. Luca is grateful, as is Jeanne, for Dominique telling them and allowing Noé to look as happy as he does now. Vanitas just stares at Noé, unimpressed. Noé, shivering with anticipation, eats the tarte tatin. He addresses his Teacher and tells him of the current situation: he’s in a café in Altus Paris with the other four. After the incident at the bal masqué had been dealt with, he still wanted to learn more about curse-bearers and Charlatan. He requested to speak with Ruthven for that purpose, but in response Luca had told him that his uncle had already left for other business. In the meantime, Luca shyly asked Noé to go into town with them.
Thus leading up to where they currently were. Noé, as he eats the pastry with delight, explained that he first had tarte tatin due to his Teacher. The man would by it from the human world, then head into Altus to give it to Noé as a gift. Being able to eat tarte tatin in Altus Paris like this is something of a dream come true for Noé. Luca, just as happily, tells that another Vampire who liked tarte tatin brought it from the human’s world. Dominique deadpans. To herself, she thinks that said “another Vampire” is absolutely her grandfather. Luca admits that he feels this insufficient, but still: he thanks Noé for what he did last night, saving not only his life but of countless other Vampires there. Noé is surprised, and denies that he didn’t do anything, recalling the way he was trapped by Naenia, the way he failed to save Catherine. Vanitas eats his own tarte tatin, but it’s too sweet for his liking. Jeanne as well speaks up and thanks Noé for protecting Luca in her place when she couldn’t, smiling warmly at him. Noé flushes lightly, heart skipping a beat as he does. He denies it again—Vanitas gives Noé his tarte tatin slice, distracting him. Noé denies it again, and insists that the person who actually stopped the chaos and saved a majority of the people was Vanitas.
Luca’s eye twitches. Noé’s words have made the atmosphere of the table completely change. Luca glares absolute daggers at Vanitas. Resentment and even disgust seeps him his eyes, even as he admits begrudgingly that the only reason no curse-bearers were beheaded was due to him. Vanitas smirks devilishly, knowing full well that he’s won. Luca stands from the table and declares that, before he shows any gratitude, Vanitas needs to apologize for what he did. Vanitas acts confused and asks for clarification. Luca reminds him of when they first met and, he hesitates slightly, Vanitas forced himself onto Jeanne. Vanitas states it bluntly—when he kissed her. Jeanne goes pale and something in her snaps. Noé, while eating the tarte tatin, is surprised. Luca, though flustered, insists for an apology for that incident before anything else. Vanitas does exactly that; “Sorry,” he says, completely insincere. Luca snaps at him.
Luca insists that Vanitas give a real apology, making the human complain about how troublesome he is. Vanitas asks who the apology is for, Luca or Jeanne. Luca pauses and, growing slightly pale, clarifies it for Jeanne. Vanitas argues that he doesn’t need to apologize in that case, because he and Jeanne are in love. Vanitas winks at her. Jeanne looks at him with utter contempt and tells him to stop sleep-talking. Vanitas’s lip curls, as if he’s holding back laughter. With a small chuckle, he says he isn’t sleep-talking at all. He tells her to take a good look, and Jeanne’s eyes widen as he starts pulling down the collar of his shirt. Vanitas declares that he and Jeanne are already in “this sort of relationship.” There on the juncture between his neck and shoulder, alongside a healing bruise, is a mark in the shape of a flower. Jeanne turns pale. Dominique, drinking her tea, breaks out into a sweat. Luca is stricken completely silent. Noé stares wide-eyed at it. They all know full well what it is that’s on Vanitas’s collar.
Jeanne is horrified. She stands up from her seat and insists that she never meant to leave a Mark like that. Vanitas playfully pouts, saying she must recognize her own Mark. Luca stares at the two of them in despair. Vanitas, blushing smugly, notes how rough she was, so much so that it makes sense for her not to remember it that well. Jeanne is baffled. Vanitas reminds her of the way she drank his blood, how greedy she was, how enthusiastic she was. Vanitas smiles slyly, and asks her if his blood is so delicious that she ending up Marking him unconsciously. Jeanne goes red, speechless with shock. Luca, face pale with dismay, asks if Jeanne really drank Vanitas’s blood. Jeanne flinches at the question, going pale herself. Luca asks if he’s the type of guy she really likes, baffling her. Luca bursts out wailing that that must be the case. She went out of his way to place a Mark on him, Vanitas, Kin to the Vampire of the Blue Moon, as if claiming him for her own. Jeanne stiffens, and her face begins to fill with horror as she starts to realize something. Noé pauses in the middle of his eating to stare blankly. Vanitas watching on tilts his head interestedly, consideringly.
Vanitas smirks to himself. He laughs and apologizing for taking his joke too far. Luca, so far gone into his despair that he can barely register the other’s words, is confused. Vanitas confirms that Jeanne Marked him, but not because she wanted to. Jeanne is baffled. An aura of doom rises up from Luca as he growls out murderously, then Vanitas forced her to do it. Vanitas tells him to listen to him and calm down. Jeanne wasn’t in her right mind at the time. When it happened, all of them heard the same thing—the voices of those curse-bearers. Luca gasps. Like the other Vampires in the great hall who’d been affected, Jeanne was ensnared in the trap of the Malnomen and attacked Vanitas. Luca asks Jeanne is this is true. Jeanne, looking down with shame, hesitantly confirms this and apologizes for now reporting it. Luca beams that he finally understand. He’s greatly relieved, because the only way for her to Mark someone as “selfish and extremely insolent” as Vanitas was if she had literally lost her mind in the moment. Vanitas, staring at Luca’s shining face, amusedly remarks that the boy seems to not like him very much.
Luca takes Jeanne’s hands in his own, squeezing them gently, and tells her with a bright smile that he’s glad she’s alright.
Jeanne stares at Luca. Her heart speeds up and her mind spins, instantly going into a panic. She excuses herself, then proceeds to lift Vanitas bodily over her shoulder. She claims she needs to “borrow” him for a moment, then leaps out the window. Luca calls to her in shock and bewilderment, but she’s already gone. Noé rushes to finish the rest of his tarte tatin, doing so in record time. He stands up from the table himself, to Luca’s shock. With a deadly serious face (that is covered in crumbs), Noé declares he’s going after them. Noé jumps out the window as well. Luca, pale, cries out for him too, also being too late. He bemoans why everyone is leaving through the window. Luca stares out the window, then flops face-down onto the table, completely spent. Dominique continues drinking her tea.
In an alleyway, Vanitas and Jeanne speak alone. Jeanne asks Vanitas why he lied for her like that. Vanitas asks if she’d rather he tell the truth. Jeanne stiffens, easily caught. Vanitas remarks with accuracy that Jeanne clearly didn’t want Luca to know about what happened to her last night, the way she couldn’t sate her desire to drink blood, so Vanitas decided to throw him off his scent. Vanitas asks Jeanne once again: is she a curse-bearer? Jeanne is silent, gripping her throat with her hand. Vanitas is unsurprised that she doesn’t want to talk about it. Jeanne, face filling with dread, explains that what happened to her last night doesn’t happen all the time. As long as she takes a special medicine, she can control the impulse, it’s only that the medicine happened to wear off early on that night. Vanitas is surprised to find out such a medicine exists, and notes it with interest.
Jeanne’s expression fills with more dread. She eventually gives in—she tells Vanitas not to speak of this to anyone. Then she hesitates and amends herself, and pleads him to not speak of it. Vanitas looks at her in surprise. Jeanne is looking down, face pale with fright and dread, as if she’s already accept that she’s failed. Vanitas smiles, tilting his head and quirking his brow with amusement. He laughs and grabs her by the head, ruffling her hair affectionately. Jeanne is baffled as Vanitas cups her face gently and tells her that he doesn’t intend to spill the secrets of the woman he loves. Jeanne is surprised, face flushing as she looks up at him. But Vanitas has two conditions. His cheeky, impish, devious grin is so wide it nearly splits his face in two. Jeanne, face still squished between Vanitas’s hands, deadpans.
Jeanne, with growing dread, asks what his conditions are. Vanitas says he won’t tell her secret to anyone, and in exchange, Jeanne won’t drink blood from anyone else but him. Jeanne is utterly shocked and demands why that is a condition. Vanitas calls the reason “simple”—when she drank his blood, it felt amazing to him. Jeanne flushes red with embarrassment. She backs up, completely baffled. Vanitas declares that he’s never been affected so powerfully by blood-drinking before until with Jeanne. Vanitas goes on an entire rant about the physiological reason behind why blood-drinking is pleasurable. Vampires’ fangs injecting an aphrodisiac-like substance, the subtle differences in said substance depending on the Vampire and their prey, that sometimes instead of pleasure they’ll feel numb or drowsy. Jeanne shouts that she doesn’t need all the details. Vanitas gives a bright thumbs up and declares the two of them to have excellent physical chemistry. Jeanne growls at him for phrasing things so insinuatingly.
Jeanne glares hatefully at Vanitas, heat practically rising off of her, almost hissing at him. Vanitas looks at this vicious look she’s sending him and his lip curls up and his face flushes with pleasure. He sighs how wonderful it is, how much it thrills him to be with her. Jeanne gasps in shock as Vanitas pulls her into an embrace, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. He tells her that anytime she wants blood, he’ll give her as much as she wants. Jeanne’s mind spins. Her face flushes and she starts panting with want. She tells herself that she mustn’t remember the sweet taste of Vanitas’s blood, but it’s futile. Jeanne leans against Vanitas, caught in his grasp, filled with the desire for his blood. Shakily, she remind that there were two conditions he listed, and she asks for the other one. Vanitas tells her that from now on, instead of addressing him as “human,” he wants Jeanne to call him by his name. Jeanne is surprised. Vanitas smiles at her. Jeanne grits her teeth, pulls at her collar, bites out his name—“Vanitas.” Jeanne sinks her teeth into his neck. Vanitas, lips smiling and eyes dark, allowing her to drink as the two of them stand pressed together in the alleyway.
Atop the rooftops, Noé stands alone amidst the swirling smoke of the chimneys. A voice calls to him, and Dominique joins him above. She asks what he’s doing, as Vanitas and Jeanne returned quite a while ago. Noé claims he’d been thinking, lost in his thoughts, only to forget how to come back. He jumped up to the rooftops to try and get an aerial view of the café. Dominique laughs, having expected an answer like that. She strokes his cheek gently, asking him what’s wrong and why he looks so devastated, like he’s about to cry. Noé nuzzles into Dominique’s touch, closing his eyes. He tells her that after hearing Jeanne drank Vanitas’s blood, his heart has been hurting. Dominique looks at him in surprise. He’s been thinking, trying to find out why. And finally, he thinks he’s figured it out. Dominique’s eyes are wide. Noé declares—he’s irked that Jeanne managed to beat him to it.
Dominique deadpans. She retracts her hand and answers noncommittally. Noé puts his face in his hands, genuinely distressed. He’s been thinking for a while how good Vanitas’s blood smelled, how much he wanted to drink it. If he knew this would’ve happened, he would’ve asked Vanitas to let him try some of his blood earlier. If Jeanne wanted to Mark him and keep him all for herself, Vanitas’s blood must taste fantastic or something. Noé drools at the thought, eyes shining eagerly. Dominique’s expression grows even more strained. She sighs in exasperation, to Noé’s confusion. Dominique chomps on Noé’s shoulder. Noé is baffled, and Dominique shushes him and commands him to stand still and let her chew him. Noé protests, as Dominique chews on his ear, that it tickles. Noé laughs as he holds Dominique in an embrace, and Dominique continues nibbling on Noé as she holds him back. She chomps on him angrily, frustrated, thinking that Noé doesn’t even know how she feels for him.
Dominique’s fangs bare in full, and she bites Noé truly this time. Noé winces in surprise as she begins to drink up his blood. Noé squirms in her hold, and he grips Dominique’s hand with his own. Noé slips his fingers under Dominique’s glove. Dominique jolts, stopping in her blood-drinking and flushing pink. Noé presses his lips to Dominique’s palm and drinks her blood in turn. He swallows and, retracting his fangs from her, licks his lips while musing how good her blood tastes. Dominique deadpans. She drops her head to bury her face into Noé’s shoulder, turning completely red. She tells Noé he’s a complete fool. Noé is just confused.
The day fades, night begins to come, and the cobwebs in Altus’s sky properly come out. As this happens, musicians, pianists, accordion players, dancers, step out and start a lively celebration, light filling the area even long after the sun has set. Luca, Jeanne, and Vanitas watch in surprise. Noé and Dominique join them, and Vanitas comments on how festive things got out of nowhere. Couples gravitate towards one another and become entwined in each other’s arms, loving pairs of two appearing all over the dance floor. Noé, Jeanne, and Luca watch on. Jeanne, her melancholy face light up by the lights dancing all around her, stares forlornly into the crowd. Noé reaches a hand to her and makes to ask her—Dominique steps past him. She takes Jeanne by the hand and pulls her to go dancing. Jeanne is shocked. Vanitas and Noé look on, stunned. Dominique giggles to herself about teasing Noé at least a little bit. Jeanne calls to Dominique, flustered, and protests that a Bourreau like her dancing with a noble like Dominique will cost the latter her reputation. Dominique sighs that Jeanne is a “good girl” to the other’s confusion. Dominique smiles. “Acts of pleasure are the passion to which all others are subordinate.” A quote from her father, she states. Dominique pulls Jeanne into a tight embrace and declares that there’s nothing more important to her in this moment than admiring the “beautiful flower” before her that is Jeanne.
Noé and Vanitas stand awkwardly side-by-side away from the festivities. Noé asks if Vanitas wants to dance with Jeanne. Vanitas claims he’s not good at dancing, and would rather not step on Jeanne’s foot. His smile is somewhat reserved, almost wistful, and Noé observes him closely. Noé then asks Vanitas if he’d like Noé to teach him. Vanitas looks at him in surprise. Noé looks back at him, fully serious. Vanitas hums with interest, and decides to take up his offer. They take each other’s hands in their own. Jeanne, still dancing with Dominique, calls out worriedly to Luca while Dominique simply waves at him. Luca waves back to assure her that he’s fine. He bemoans all the rest of them to be lucky and, covering his face with his hood with a mournful smile, wishes he could grow up already.
Vanitas and Noé, hands entwined, pressed close to one another, enter the dance floor together. Noé notes that Vanitas can dance just fine, to which Vanitas retorts he never said he couldn’t dance at all. Noé is quiet for a moment, contemplative. He tells Vanitas he has a question. Vanitas asks what it is. He asks what on earth is love. Vanitas bursts out laughing, realizing that’s the reason Noé asked him to dance. He cackles, having thought it was a deadly serious inquiry only to find out it was just this. All Noé does in response however is stare blankly at him, expectant, fully serious about his question. Vanitas stares back in surprise. He huffs and says he doesn’t know either. Noé is surprised. They continue swaying together to the music. Vanitas claims that when he looks at Jeanne, his heartbeat speeds up and he can’t stop himself from trembling. To make things more “interesting,” Vanitas has decided to call such an impulse “love.” Noé repeats these symptoms—heart racing, body shaking—and attributes it to catching a cold. Vanitas replies it’s exactly like catching a cold. Noé asks Vanitas what he likes about Jeanne. Vanitas thinks, then begins to list various qualities: her toughness, her beauty, her clumsiness, her fragility, her “big bosom,” how fun she is to tease…
“…The way she’s almost certain never to love me.”
Noé stares at Vanitas in surprise. He’s confused, having thought Vanitas would want the person he loves to return those feelings of love onto him. Vanitas says blankly, he wants nothing of the sort. He loves Jeanne, but she doesn’t have to love him back.
“I have absolutely no interest in the sort of person who would fall for me.”
Vanitas smiles. Noé stares at him as he does. They continue to dance together, surrounded by light. All Noé can think is that he really doesn’t understand him.
Luca, watching with obvious envy as the others dance before him. Dominique, smiling as she sways through the dance floor. Jeanne, face flushed pink as she experiences this for the first time. Noé, looking back towards her with infinitely curious eyes. The light of the city shines upon them all as they dance under its sky. Noé recalls that he wouldn’t come to truly understand why he felt such a stirring in his heart until quite some time later.
Noé, distracted, steps on Vanitas’s foot. Vanitas screeches in pain. Noé blankly apologizes.
Characters[]
- Noé Archiviste
- Vanitas
- Jeanne
- Luca Oriflamme
- Dominique de Sade
- The Teacher (Mentioned only)
- August Ruthven*
- Naenia*
- Catherine*
- Vanitas of the Blue Moon (Mentioned only)
(*) - Denotes that the character did not appear physically, but as a part of another character's memories.
Terms[]
- Altus
- Vampires
- Malnomen (Mentioned only)
- Charlatan (Mentioned only)
- Mark of Possession
- Clan of the Blue Moon
- Bourreau
- House de Sade
Trivia[]
- This chapter's alternate title is not written out, rather being listed as the musical symbol "𝄻" which is also known as a whole rest. This marks the first instance in which Jun Mochizuki has ever done this for a chapter.
References[]
[]
| v - e - t | The Case Study of Vanitas Chapters |
|---|---|
| Parisian Excursion Arc | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 |
| Bal Masqué Arc | 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Hunters of the Dark Arc | 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 21 |
| The Beast of Gévaudan Arc | 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26 • 27 • 28 • 29 • 30 • 31 • 32 • 33 • 34 • 34.5 • 35 • 36 • 37 • 38 • 38.5 • 39 • 40 • 41 • 42 • 43 |
| Amusement Park Arc | 44 • 45 • 46 • 47 • 48 • 49 • 50 • 51 • 52 • 53 • 54 • 54.5 • 55 • 55.5 • 56 |
| Miel Incident Arc | 57 • 58 • 59 • 60 • 61 • 61.5 • 62 • 62.5 • 63 • 64 • 65 |
| Intermissions | 15.5 • 46.5 • 51.5 • 60.5 |
| Volumes | 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 |
| Omake | Vanitashu no Karute • Romance is a✰LOVE MISSION • Confessional Counseling Office |
| Other | Author's Notes |