Soft, fat snowflakes fell gently from the bruised sky above, each one a tiny kiss on Murashigure Kanna's feverish skin. They drifted peacefully, like dazzling white fairies come to heal the horrors of the night, settling in her coffee brown hair and making her forget the dull, burning throb in her chest and the omnipresent searing in her abdomen.
She paused, the urgency she'd hence felt to reach the infirmary lost in the beauty of the delicate flurry, and turned her emerald green eyes star-wards, to the ghostly crescent moon and it's diamond trimming, almost totally obscured by dark purple clouds.
Let it go
Let it roll right off your shoulder
Don't you know?
The hardest part is over
What was it her mother used to say? Back when she was a little girl?
"Don't you think snow's magical, Kanna-chan? So white and fluffy and bright... It makes everything better, don't you think? Even if you've had a really bad day, snow makes you feel better no matter what."
Kanna had always agreed and even now, despite all that had happened – and that which may yet occur – she felt lighter somehow. The weight she'd been struggling to carry fell from her shoulders like a heavy winter coat and she thought maybe, just maybe, she could fly through the cool flakes like a bird, ascending away from the earth and all her worldly troubles with ease...
Perhaps she could.
Perhaps she would.
Let it end
Let your clarity define you
In the end
We will only just remember how it feels
"Kanna? We have to move, Kanna. We have to get you to the infirmary."
She turned her head to gaze at the one who'd spoken; the one who held her up effortlessly in his inhumanly strong arms, yet was as gentle with her as if she were a porcelain doll – fragile, breakable, human. His eyes were a cold blue that simultaneously seemed warm and his hair a crisp, blonde mop of controlled chaos. A vampire of course – she'd seen too much to doubt that now. But he wasn't like those other monsters. He wasn't like the vampires who'd killed her parents.
But how is he different? What separates this monster from the others?
Deep within her soul she felt the answer to such a question unimportant. What mattered was that he was different, and he brought her an unexpected peace that had eluded her for years. Kanna felt liberated by his very presence... she would gladly overlook their differences in exchange for that.
A snowflake, white and beautiful, landed on her cheek. It melted to the touch and slid down her face in a fat, glittering drop, just like a tear, glistening in the opalescent glow of the moon as it peeked shyly from it's blanket of clouds.
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
She smiled at the vampire, a trusting smile much purer than the multitudes she had worn around work – more importantly, around the people who loved and cared for her. Strange that her brightest, most genuine smile should be received by a creature of the night who, moments ago, she'd seen tear another vampire's head from his body with his bare hands. But that was to be expected. After all, strange had been her constant companion since meeting the young bloodsucker all those months ago.
All those months ago... and yet she still remembered it as if it were yesterday. The charming smile he laid on her as she took his order, the smell of coffee thick and comforting in the air... the way her heart had skipped several beats...
It had been late. Dark outside, and cold – autumn had been in full swing and she'd been about to close the shop for the night when he ambled in, looking bored and cute in the dim light of the moonbeams. He'd drawled at her to get him a cappuccino and she remembered the way she'd scolded him for drinking caffeine so late at night. It had been the start of a trend. He'd visited almost every night thereafter and she'd enjoyed the hours they spent in conversation together. Even after she'd found out about his vampirism, she'd never had as good a time as she did with Aidou.
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain
"Let go, Aidou-,"
"Hanabusa, if you don't mind." he interrupted with the faintest of those heart-stopping, impish smirks of his.
"Hanabusa." she continued, smile widening almost imperceptibly. For a young man nearly three years her junior – in human years, he'd assured her – Aidou Hanabusa certainly had a way with commanding her compliance. Not forcefully of course; it could be more aptly described as subtle persuasion... with no room for argument. "Let me walk myself."
He hesitated, glancing down the moonlit path leading to his famous 'Academy' – the one he'd told her about so often when he visited the café – and the much needed medical wing. Kanna could tell what he was thinking: if they didn't hurry she might not make it. Already she'd lost enough blood to make her woozy and much more would kill her without a doubt.
But maybe it was better that way. Maybe it was for the best that she joined her parents in the netherworld, the way she was supposed to have all those years ago.
Maybe she wanted to go.
Let it slide
Let your troubles fall behind you
Let it shine
Till you feel it all around you
He released her reluctantly and watched as she tottered around in a tight little circle, staring up at the sky with a smile and ignoring the red staining the perfect white beneath her feet. She stuck her tongue out to catch the snowflakes on their descent, giggling when they melted in her mouth or landed on her eyes. She wanted to sing; to let her voice weave through the air even as she felt her soul slip away inch by inch. To die singing... she doubted she could ask for a better demise.
But of course her lungs hadn't the capacity left for that and instead she settled for the sweet melody of laughter, not noticing how the choked, suffocated sound of it made Aidou tense up. Or how his eyes had become as crimson as her blood, spattered around her feet like the remnants of burst bubbles and broken dreams.
What she did notice however – when she stopped spinning at last, too weak and dizzy to continue – was that she was ruining his smart school blazer with her incessant haemorrhaging. Not one to let a quality piece of clothing be spoiled, Kanna shifted her shoulders back and let it fall from her form to the snow-blanketed ground. An easy feat, seeing as Aidou was several sizes bigger than she. It dropped from her heavily, the expensive fabric weighty and warm, and landed with a dull crunch to the snow-dusted path. Slowly, sluggishly, Kanna turned to face him with a semi-apologetic smile.
And I don't mind
If it's me you need to turn to
We'll get by
It's the heart that really matters in the end
As was to be expected, Hanabusa argued – or tried to at least. But Kanna would hear none of it, brushing his qualms aside with a vague twitch of her fingers, grinning wide at the irony of the situation. Many years ago vampires had tried to end her life when she hadn't wanted to die; today one tried to save her life when she did. Oh fate's cruel satire – how it mocked them all. Vampire and human alike.
"No, Kanna! You can't handle the cold in your condition!" Aidou tried to reason with her, picking up his coat and trying to hand it back to her. She shook her head stubbornly.
"Ah Hanabusa." she chuckled brokenly, the lack of air in her lungs making the action difficult. "I can't even feel the cold. And I wouldn't want to mess up your uniform."
Meeting his distraught gaze, Kanna finally picked up on the red of his eyes and raised an eyebrow, to which he turned away, ashamed, attempting to hide them from her.
She staggered over to him and put a delicate hand on his cheek, forcing him to face her as she spoke. Absently, she stroked his face with the pad of her thumb, smiling serenely when he closed his eyes and leaned into her touch, sighing with a mixture of bliss and sadness.
"Don't look away Hanabusa. This is part of who you are. This is you. You don't have to hide it; not from me."
And she meant it. Aidou Hanabusa needn't conceal any part of himself from her. She accepted him for who and what he was because who and what he was was hers. He was her vampire. And he always would be.
Our lives are made
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
"Come, make a snow angel with me." Kanna requested, taking the blonde's hand fearlessly in her own, tugging him towards the drifts where the snow lay deepest.
Aidou complied wordlessly and when she turned and fell into the soft white with a pained grunt, he followed suit, never letting go of her hand – not sure if he ever could. There was a lump in his throat; unshod tears in his carmine eyes; an aching throb in his chest.
She accepted him. She wasn't afraid of him or disgusted by him. She still wanted to know him.
He'd never been so happy to have a human's approval before – truthfully, had never really cared before – but Kanna's favourable reception of him meant more than words could describe. She was dying and he knew it – knew even, that it was what she wanted. And as much as it hurt, as much as it would hurt, he would live content in the knowledge that she had accepted him.
Time falls away
But these small hours
These small hours
Still remain
Slowly, painfully, Kanna moved her arms and legs up and down, shifting the snow around her to make the imprint of an angel. Beside her Aidou did the same and she turned her head clumsily to face him, meeting his blazing gaze with a soft beam of pure delight.
"You can take it if you want." she told him gently, bringing his hand to her lips and pressing a sweet kiss to his chilly skin. He shivered at her caress and she chuckled, pleased she had such a profound effect on him.
"Wh-what?"
"My blood." Kanna clarified sleepily, leaving velvety butterfly kisses over his hand almost absently. "You can have it, if you want it. Don't hold back for my sake – it's not like I'll need it where I'm going."
He didn't reply. She could see him battling furiously in his mind, struggling between the thirst he must feel for her leaking life and his respect and adoration for her as a person. This, above and beyond anything else, proved beyond the shadow of a doubt what she already knew – he was a good person, Aidou Hanabusa. Arrogant, perhaps, and stuck up on occasion, but a good person overall. And his reluctance to drink from her made her all the more determined for him to have it.
Already her limbs were too frail to move much any more and she could feel the edges of her awareness start to cave in. She didn't have much time left. Kanna wanted them to do this one last thing together before it was too late. Wanted them to share this one experience so that she could take it with her to the heavens, where she would wait for him until he could join her.
So she turned her head to him and spoke with all the authority she had left.
"Hanabusa," she commanded, voice barely above a whisper. "Drink."
After only the briefest moments, in which he desperately fought a battle she'd decided for him, he nodded and scooted closer, using the hand not clutched in her gradually weakening grasp to cradle her head tenderly. Looking into her green eyes somewhat apologetically, he lowered his mouth to her neck, hot breath brushing against her flesh like a warm embrace.
She waited breathlessly, wondering what it would feel like. Wondering if it would hurt; if he would turn feral and tear her apart like in the movies.
And then his fangs pierced her supple tissue like needles – sharp and urgent. The pain didn't last long and as he began to swallow wetly, Kanna reflected that it wasn't that bad a way to go. It was actually quite... nice. Like a kiss beneath her skin, intimate and loving, not at all the beastly, savage affair she'd imagined it would be. The sound of him gulping made her tingle with an abstract sort of pleasure and she let out a content little grunt to which he growled low in his throat – a sensual, desire-filled growl with a satisfying animalistic quality.
All of my regret
Will wash away somehow
But I cannot forget
The way I feel right now
Aidou was careful in his handling of her and she felt her heart swell with affection, shuddering with bliss as he massaged the side of her neck with his dexterous fingers. His hands twined in her hair, gently pulling her head aside to give him unrestricted access to her neck, and Kanna moved willingly, forcing her idle hand to shift up to his head so she could hold him to her. She stroked his messy hair soothingly, like a mother would stroke the crown of her child, and tried to calm her increasingly laboured breathing – she didn't want to frighten him or give him any idea that she was in pain. He would take any excuse, so she wouldn't give him one. She didn't want him to stop.
Time passed, countless centuries, until at last Aidou moved away and hovered over her, two ruby streaks trickling from the corners of his mouth and running down his chin. His eyes were blue again and as she watched, he ran his tongue around the sides of his mouth to collect the dribbles of blood before freezing in shock and sudden revelation. Frowning guiltily, he brought the hand cradling her head to his face and wiped the remnants instead, obviously thinking she'd be offended by the sight of him licking it. He thought wrong, but she was touched by his concern for her nonetheless.
"Ai... Hanabusa." Kanna mumbled, her eyes wanting to close, growing drowsier with each fleeting second.
In these small hours
These little wonders
These twists and turns of fate
Yeah, these twists and turns of fate
"Yeah? What is it Kanna?" Aidou asked, leaning his forehead against hers and watching helplessly as every moment took a little more of her away from him. He couldn't understand it; why did he hurt so much? He'd never been in pain like this in his entire life. Why did someone who made him so happy have to make him feel so much agony?
"Kiss me, Hanabusa." she whispered weakly, words blurring into each other in a way that made them almost incoherent. But he heard her well enough.
"What?" he gasped, shaken by her abrupt request.
They'd never kissed before. He'd never dared for fear that his blood-lust would overcome him and she'd see what he truly was. He felt for Kanna the way he'd never felt for anyone before – he hadn't wanted to lose that, not for anything. Even though he'd been certain her blood would be delicious – which it had been, better than he'd even imagined – he knew it wouldn't have been worth it for the price he'd have to pay.
"I said... kiss me..." she repeated.
Time falls away
Yeah, but these small hours
These small hours
Still remain
He hesitated only briefly before he lowered himself carefully over her prone frame. Kanna felt his minty cool breath pause nervously over her mouth, could taste his fear and excitement through the air he exhaled. It was the same mixture of emotion she could feel thrumming through her own gradually dying heart.
Then he pressed his lips to hers. Softly at first, as if he were afraid of hurting her, but with time he picked up confidence. She opened her mouth, taking him completely by surprise, and he paused a while, unsure what to do. Tentatively, he probed her mouth with his tongue – still slick with the tang of her blood – and she welcomed him warmly, sliding hers out to meet him and wishing they'd done this sooner, when she was more able to enjoy it.
But this was the way things were. And she was glad he'd be with her – as close as it was possible for them to be – right until the very end.
Her grip on consciousness was loosening and this time she didn't try to stop it. She let her eyes close, her muscles relax, her breathing slow. She let everything go...
...except him. She held Aidou Hanabusa tight within her heart and that's where she would keep him. His taste, his smell, his feel... she'd take them with her to the next life. Until they met again.
"Bye... Hana...busa..." she sighed with her final breath, smiling as her soul lifted free of her flesh. Floating... floating... floating...
They still remain
These little wonders
Oh, these twists and turns of fate
Kanna died that night. Right in his arms, just like that. Aidou remembered it as if it were yesterday, even though it had been several years now. Remembered the feel of her lips on his. Remembered the sweet taste of her blood as it slid down his throat, hot and salty and exquisite. It had hurt when she finally passed on; hurt worse than he'd thought it would. It still hurt. But whenever he had a quiet moment to himself, whenever he lay awake in bed waiting for sleep to claim him as the sun rose behind the thick drapes of his bedroom, he remembered her with a smile. She'd been an extraordinary girl. His extraordinary girl.
He liked remembering all the times they'd spent together. The conversations they'd had, the coffee they'd shared. He wasn't a child anymore. Not on the inside. He knew now that he'd loved her; knew that he still did. That he always would. And because of that, she wasn't gone. Not really. They'd meet again some day because that's how love is, isn't it? Until then, he'd carry his memories of her with him, treasuring the time they'd shared as his most prized possession. As long as he had the memories, she was never far from him.
Turning on his side, Aidou stared out the open window and grinned.
It was snowing. He remembered Kanna best when it snowed. When it snowed, he remembered making angel prints with her and kissing her in the moonlight – he remembered her smile. And Kanna had always been at her best when she smiled.
Time falls away
Oh, but these small hours
These little wonders
Still remain
And Aidou knew that whatever happened, everything Kanna was, everything she meant to him, it would still remain. Murashigure Kanna was his human.
And she always would be.
Guess that's that, hm? A little cheesy, I know, but the idea came to me while listening to 'Little Wonders' by Rob Thomas (a brilliant song I advise everyone to listen to) and I thought 'Why not?'. Sorry if the ending was rather weak – I couldn't think of a decent ending that wasn't anti-climatic so I opted for the best – in my opinion – one that I could come up with.