I sank down to the ground with my back against the wall. The pains wore me out, sure, but it was the chairman's statement that had my mind in a mess and left my body exhausted.
"Hey! There you are," I heard suddenly. I didn't respond in the slightest.
"Hey! Zero…," she tried again. I remained silent and unmoving. Too many things were flowing through my head for me to care enough to respond.
"Things cannot be like they were before," ran through my mind yet again. I knew the chairman was right, but what would change? Everything, in all likelihood. The idea of killing myself flashed through my head again. But, no, I needed to protect the girl that was standing in front of me. God knows she couldn't protect herself against these vampires. Even with Artemis, she had an overly trusting nature that couldn't do anything but leave herself open to more danger.
She squatted down next to me and asked what happened; again, I didn't reply.
She just looked at me a while longer. Though her presence was welcome, it was painful knowing that either I would have to leave her, or someone would forcibly take me away—hopefully before I harmed her.
Suddenly I felt a warm weight on my head. "You'll catch a cold if you don't dry yourself," she said and began toweling my hair dry. "Here, you've got to wear your top, too."
She's the same as always. Taking care of me when I lack the willpower to move, and being careful yet seemingly care-free all the while.
Thinking about it made me remember the first time she did this for me. She had only just met me, yet she took care of me.
The marks of my death as a human and of my transformation as a beast had already vanished by the time she cleaned my blood off of me with her gentle touch.
I put my hand to my head thinking about how carefully she acted that day. Now, though, she moved with a smile on her face and a forced laugh in her voice to cover the worry she felt.
She stood back up, and I thought she was going to leave—not that I could really blame her. But then I heard her fishing through the pockets of her skirt for something.
"Here!" she said with a smile—a real one this time—while looking at me expectantly holding out a…chocolate?
"A chocolate for you," she said as she pressed it lightly against my lips. My eyes widened in surprise. Didn't she already give me a present?
"Don't say that I give you the same things as I did in grade school," she said as I opened my mouth to allow the chocolate inside.
"I managed to make one chocolate right! It's the only one in this world, so thank me for it! She said with laughter in her voice. To keep myself from laughing at her, I made a face to tell her that it very well may have been better if there wasn't even one of them in the world.
"Hey! You're making a face as if it doesn't taste good," she exclaimed, annoyance coating her words. "Whatever!"
I felt bad for making her angry with me whenever she had taken care of me and given me the chocolate, even if it was bad. But then I realized that maybe it would be better that way. The Chairman's words floated within my head once again.
Just then I saw her reaching to pick up something, and I realized it was a blood tablet I had dropped before sinking to the floor.
I realized that, yes, things wouldn't be the same, but I still need to protect this precious thing. So while she was still obviously trying to figure out why it was there, I slipped out quietly, wondering how I would keep her safe from myself.
