And here it is: the first chapter of Part 2 - One Year Later...
Read and enjoy.
I do not own VK.
Shiki turned to Rima. "Do you have to look so angry? You'll scare off all the guests." She crossed her arms even tighter.
"I told you. I didn't even want to come in the first place."
"They're my cousins. I want to be there for them. Besides Kaname – "
"Kaname this, Kaname that…Just the mention of his name pisses me off!" Shiki stared at her, surprised. "First, he orders us to stop looking for Takuma when we didn't even know if he was dead, and now, we know that he's alive, and he still won't tell us where the hell he is!" Rima slamed her fist against the door next to her.
"Calm down. Kaname has his reasons," he assured.
"Reasons my ass!"
"Rima! Senri!" They turned around and saw Ruka coming down the hall. She looked at Senri and then at Rima, clearly upset. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"Nothing," Rima answered, crossing her arms again and turning her back to them.
Ruka rolled her eyes and then said to Senri, "Kaname wants you two by the entrance to welcome guests."
"What?" Rima jerked her head around. "Why? Most of them are already here. Besides, we'll be too far from the food!"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm just telling you what he told me." Then she walked into the living room, joining all the guests that had already arrived.
"You see?" she pointed out to Senri, "He's making us do valet jobs now!"
"It's not that bad. Come on." He took her by the wrist and literally dragged her to the front.
xxx
"Welcome to the ball." Senri shook the man's hand as he walked in.
"That's the second person in the last thirty minutes," Rima said, leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed. "I told you this was stupid. Kaname's just giving us busy work right now."
"Why are you complaining so much?" Senri asked, getting a little frustrated.
"Because I'm starving!"
"It's not like you're nailed to the doorway. Go get some food and come back when you're done."
She gave him a suspicious look. "Our leader isn't gonna get mad?"
"Is he really that scary?"
"Uh, yeah! Last time, I laughed when Yuki fell down the stairs from reading while walking. And he just looked at me! I practically choked on my pocky stick! You know, vampires can probably die from choking too."
Shiki rubbed his temple as he shook his head. "I think you're overreacting."
"No I'm not!"
"Just go get your food. You won't get in trouble," he said, looking the other way.
[Rima's POV]
Oh my god! The food is AMAZING! I took a plate and started from the very end of the table, getting two of each dish. "Hmm…Is cream considered rich?" I thought to myself, bringing the strawberry tart to eye level. My agent told me not eat anything too 'rich', else it would go straight to my ass…But screw her, these look REALLY good!
I stacked up the rest of my plates with the entrées and moved towards the cake section. I set my two plates down and took another one, this time filling it up with the wide assortment of desserts. My stomach kept growling as I picked each delicacy. God! I'm so hungry! I looked to the right and saw that there was a cheesecake that I hadn't picked up, and there was only one left on the platter. I took the pie cutter already in my hand and reached over for it. At that moment, another cutter intercepted mine as it also tried to reach for the same cake. I looked up and dropped the cutter onto the table as the man standing on the other side, stared back at me, also with the same expression of shock.
His name instantly escaped my lips, "Takuma!"
[Third person POV]
"Rima," he muttered under his breath. The cake fell onto the table, causing Rima to take her eyes off him for a split second. Once she looked back up, Takuma was already gone.
"What?" She looked left and right. "Where the hell did he go?" A number of vampires surrounded her, but her friend was nowhere in sight. She squeezed through the guests, making her way across the ballroom. He wasn't at the buffet table at the other end, neither was he on the terrace. Shiki pushed the man aside to finally get to her.
"Rima, what's taking-"
"Takuma's here!" she cut in, her eyes wide open.
"What?" He looked at her puzzled.
"Did you not hear me?" She grabbed him by his blazer and jerked him towards her. "I-SAW-HIM!" By this time, Rima looked like a lunatic, who had just escaped from the nearest asylum.
"Rima…" He gently took her hands to get them to relax their hold and not wrinkle his jacket. "Calm down."
"I am calm," she responded, freeing her hands from his.
"You said you saw him?" Senri asked, "Takuma?"
"I already told you, didn't I?" She was getting annoyed of his repeating. Shiki briefly glanced around them.
"I don't see him."
"That's because he disappeared. Why else would I be wandering around, looking like an idiot? You think I'm crazy, don't you?"
"No," he answered to her surprise. "I'll take any chance of thinking that he's still alive." Rima observed the room.
"Only those with invitations are allowed in." She turned back to him. "Kaname must've known. He's the one that sent them." Senri nodded in agreement. He remained quiet, taking something into deep consideration.
"Come on." He took Rima by the hand and led her back into the mass of people.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"Directly to the source of all this bullshit," he replied, keeping his gaze forward. Kaname stood in the center of the mass with Yuki by his side. "Kaname," Senri called, taking a firm grip on his arm and completely disregarding his cousin's current recipients.
"Is this something urgent, Senri?" he responded, his piercing gaze nearly causing Rima to squeal. Yuki also turned to look at them.
"Where's Takuma?" he bluntly asked, his gaze equally penetrating. The other guests gave one another a questioning look and retreated from the group. Kaname's countenance remained unchanged. "You knew where he was and you still wouldn't tell us. And you even invited him here tonight." Yuki's mouth was ajar upon hearing this. She looked up at Kaname, who still didn't have any reaction. Rima felt her nerves twitch from the tension built-up. "Are you gonna' fucking answer or not?" he stammered.
"Kaname Kuran," an elegant female voice called from behind them.
"What the hell is it now?" Shiki grumbled turning around to find Sara standing before him.
"Who invited the bitch?" Rima murmured. Yuki tried not to smile from her remark.
"Sara Shirabuki," Kaname greeted back. The two purebloods exchanged bows, neither of them taking their eyes off the other. "Are you enjoying the evening?" he then asked out of courtesy.
"The food is a bit bland and the guests are boring me." She glossed over the others around them and took notice of Yuki standing beside him. Seeing how Sara had noticed his sister, he placed his arm around her shoulders to hint for her to step forward to be introduced.
"This is my younger sister, Yuki," Kaname said, tightening his watch on her.
"It's nice to meet you," Yuki said, offering her hand for her to take. An intrigued smiled spread across Sara's face as she looked from Yuki to her dainty hand boldly held out to her.
"As to you," Sara responded, taking her hand. "Oh…that reminds me," she added. She held her hand out to the side as if for someone to take. "I also have someone special for everyone to meet." At that moment from the surrounding group, a white-gloved hand took hold of hers. Ichijo stepped out from behind, keeping his head facing down. "This is my escort for the evening, Takuma Ichijo."
Both Rima and Shiki were at a loss of words. Yuki almost lost her footing as she stared back at him in utter disbelief. The grimace on Sara's face beamed even wider upon seeing their reactions. However, Kaname remained unmoved as always. Sara glanced up at Ichijo and then slightly smoothed out the wrinkle on his maroon-colored blazer. "I believe you two are already acquainted with one another?" she said to Kaname.
"We all are," he replied with the emptiest smile he could form. "Former classmates," he added, switching his gaze to Ichijo.
Sara looked back up at him when he still didn't respond. She tightened her grip on his arm and in response, Takuma looked up at his former friends, all who he had not seen in over a year.
"Yes…We use to go to school at Cross Academy," he spoke quietly, catching a glimpse of Rima before looking over at Sara. He leaned close to her and whispered in her ear.
Then she faced the others and said, "It was a pleasure meeting you all. Kaname, I hope to hear from you soon." She gave him one last warming smile before both she and Ichijo disappeared among the number of people around them. Not a moment longer, Rima broke away from the group in the same direction as Ichijo. Yuki was about to follow till her eyes fell onto Zero at the very far end. Once she also departed from the group, Shiki turned around to Kaname, who stood there lost in thought.
"There's your answer," Kaname said to him before he could open his mouth.
"You knew that he was with her all this time," Shiki said.
"Yes," he replied.
"Why didn't you tell us?" his cousin asked back. "If we had known earlier, we could've gotten to him-"
"Precisely why I didn't," Kaname broke in. "You and Rima would've gotten over your heads if I had said anything. You two have no idea what and who you're dealing with. Sara doesn't play fair." Senri placed his hands into his pockets and remained silent.
Once calm, he then said, "Kaname…What…" Should I ask? Is it even any of my business? He took a small quiet breath and then asked, "What about Yoka?"
xxx
How fast can those two walk? Rima gripped the side of her dress, lifting it up so it wouldn't keep dragging on the ground. She already lost sight of them a while ago, but after already thoroughly scouting the entire hall, she still didn't spot a tall blonde, strolling around. Rima leaned against the entranceway between the hall and the rest of the manor that was off-limits to guests. How hard can it be to find a ridiculously tall blondie with googly green eyes and dangly limbs? In my case…REALLY hard! She turned and looked back into the room filled with nobles, purebloods, and even humans - from the Hunter Association of course - buzzing around eating and chatting.
"This party really sucks," she thought to herself. She straightened up and swiped her dress several times to prepare herself to rejoin everyone else. Once one foot stepped out from under her dress, a hand grabbed her over the mouth as an arm came around her waist and pulled her into the nearest empty room. Immediately upon entering, the imposter released her and shut the door. She turned around to get a clear look of the stranger, who had just locked the door. He remained in the shadows, which concealed him entirely.
"Whoever you are, I'm totally gonna' FRY your ass! You know how fucking long it took me to pick out the lipstick that you just smeared everywhere?" she threatened, the electricity beginning to spark in her hands.
"You've already 'fried' me once," a soft familiar voice said, and the tall blonde noble stepped out from the darkness. "And I have the scar on my ass to prove it." The flow of electricity instantly ceased.
"Takuma," she said to herself. He took several steps towards her.
"I'm sorry if I scared you," he apologized. "I didn't know how else to get you somewhere private to talk." He scratched the back of his head, appearing shyer than she remembered him to be. Rima desperately wanted to place even just one finger on him, to touch him and see if he really was real and not a figment of her imagination.
"All this time," she began, her voice suddenly starting to choke, "…I thought you were dead. But…you were always alive…with her."
"She's really not that bad," Takuma commented, looking down at the buttons on his jacket. "She's like a child, really…" It hurt him to see the sadness that hung on Rima's face once he looked up at her.
"A child…" she repeated to herself, her eyes straying off to the side and then falling towards the thick, black leather shackles around both his wrists. She brought his hands up to take a closer look and noticed the thick metal loop that was attached to each one, apparently the place for something to fasten onto. "Are these…" She looked up at him in disbelief. "…Restraints?"
"They're nothing," he brushed the matter aside, taking his hand from her grip.
"Oh my god…" She made him look back up at her. "Please don't tell me that you're her bitch now!"
"Rima…" he began, getting the feeling that she was about to start one of her rants.
"Your hairs gotten longer…You've gotten skinnier too," she then added, taking up his long scrawny arm again and then looking at his waist, concealed within his suit. "And…you've lost your color…" Her fingertips barely touched the ice-cold surface of his cheek. He didn't say anything but remained quiet and looked at her with the warm green eyes that he always had. "You…you look like shit," Rima said, her voice cracking. She looked at him again from top to bottom, gently shaking her head, unable to cope with what she was seeing. She brought her hand over her mouth.
"Rima," he muttered again once he saw the small teardrop that escaped from the corner of her eye. Her clear blue eyes stared at him as they filled with tears. Takuma felt his stomach twist as his long childhood friend, who rarely displayed any sense of care, stood not a meter in front of him, begin to cry. He brought his hands up but paused for a moment before he placed them on her shoulders. He felt her small body tremble under his hands, and he then gently brought her into the circle of his arms. "It's okay, Rima," he whispered. "I'm here."
FYI...updates will not be consistent and as quick as before, but thank you for reading. If you have some time, plz review and let me know how I'm doing. Thanks ;)