Night. It was always fascinating to the eight year old girl how the darkness seemed to just eat up the day, coating the world under a blanket. In fact, it had been exactly thirteen nights since she had run away from her father, when she had deemed that she had had enough of his abuse. So there she sat, in the middle of the woods about 10 miles from her home, with only her teddy and her blanket around her. Despite that she was freezing, that she hadn't eaten in two days, since that nice jogger lady had given her a sandwich, she was happy. The cut on her leg from a stray branch stung a little, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.
She shivered as the moon disappeared behind the clouds, a cool breeze blowing past her. Her grip tightened on the quilt that her grandmother had made her, but nothing could seem to keep her warm. She was starting to get scared. The woods was no place for a child. She yelped when she saw a shadow move behind one of the trees. Then another. And another still.
She was beginning to panic, covering her eyes with the mud ridden pink blanket, until she could no longer hear the rustling of leaves as the shadows moved. Slowly, she pulled the blanket away from her eyes. Before her was a man. He was tall, a white shirt covered his torso and a dark pair of pants clung to his legs in the breeze. If she were older, she would have described him as tall, dark, and handsome. Only one thing stood out from him being a normal man; his eyes were glowing red. As he bent down, reaching for the small girl's hand, the child fell backwards as something fell…or rather, landed, between them, but not before the girl saw the man's teeth. A vampire??
The slender legs spoke, or rather, the woman above them did. The girl stared at her, not hearing the words she spoke, but as soon as she was done with whatever it was she had to say, the man disappeared, and the woman picked the girl up.
:
Two men, appearing about their late twenties, sat lazily on the grounds of the private school, watching the sun go down. Kaname and Kain leant back against the warm stone of the courtyard, and while neither spoke, both knew what had happened the night before. Aidou was at it again, only this time, he had disguised himself to look similar to Kaname, and attempted to take the life of a little girl. Kaname, it was obvious, was extremely angered by his disobedience. Finally, Kain spoke. "It's getting harder for him, you know? The girl was cut…"
"That doesn't matter, Kain."
The voice came from behind them, and as the turned, they were met with the well toned legs that the small girl had seen the night before. In a black and white outfit, there stood a tall brunette with red tips to her hair, lighting a cigarette. As she took a long drag, she let out a long breath of smoke. "Aidou isn't getting away with this one."
Kaname sighed, tilting his head back in the failing light. "An eight year old girl. I didn't think that even Aidou would try to sink that low." He glanced back at Kida. "May I ask what you did with the girl?"
"Cross is keeping his eye on her. She knows vampires exist now, can't really have her running the streets, now can we?" She sighed, letting the cigarette lie between her two fingers. "Almost sad, isn't it? That she should be cursed to stay here forever because of Aidou." When neither of the vampires answered, she flicked the bud, leaping over one of the arm rests.
Kain straightened. "And where are you going?"
"I'm supposed to meet Yuuki and Zero, talk about the patrol shift." She glanced back at him with a little smirk. "Someone's got to keep the fan girls out of range of you, Kain."
He smirked. It was a little game they had played for years now. Kaname, on the other hand, just watched as the girl strode off, thinking about her last words before she had rebegun her façade with Kain. It really was sad, he had to admit, but there was no going back. He couldn't imagine the humans knowing about vampires. He just couldn't.
:
Zero looked boredly at his watch. It had stopped working a few days ago, but it was more the action that he wanted to get across. Kida, as per usual, was late. Later then he was, which was an impressive feat, he prided himself on taking as long a time as possible to get his Guardian shift started. Yuuki seemed a bit bored herself.
"What can honestly be taking so long? We should be patrolling right now, not waiting for some--"
"I agree entirely, Zero. Perhaps you would like to switch jobs with me? Be the day guardian? I'm sure you'd love it." Zero glanced up and was met with the coldest green eyes he had ever seen. Kida was not as taken with him as Yuuki was, and she definitely let it show. It wasn't that she hated him or anything, they had a…mutual relationship. Zero knew what Kida was, and she knew what he was. But he sighed and shook his head, while Kida instead looked to Yuuki. "Either way, both of you keep a close eye on Aidou this time, please? I'm tired of chasing his ass every time he gets a whiff of something downwind, alright?"
Kida was more or less the leader of the three Guardians. Yuuki often attempted to be the leader, and if Zero would actually listen to her, Kida would be happy to give up the unofficial title. But that was not the case, so the eldest maintained it. Sighing, she leaned against one of the old trees, an unlit cigarette hanging from her mouth. "Tomorrow's my day off, so keep in mind to make sure all the girls stay within the grounds and don't…wander…to the Night Class' dorms." Kida was granted a day or two off every once in a grand while. It wasn't nearly enough, but she figured that maybe she would go visit that little girl tomorrow. Kida felt a certain…closeness to her.
It was Yuuki who spoke next. "Right! Let's get started!!"
Kida and Zero both looked at her tiredly. Neither had any idea where she pulled her energy from, Kida assumed sugar pills, and she was damn determined to get her hands on some. But instead, she slipped the guardian armband off of her slender sleeve. "You two have a good night, now."
--
Kida exhaled deeply as the Night Class dormitory door closed behind her. Tugging lightly at her uniform, her coat opened into a white shirt beneath. Tiredly, not bothering to look and see if anyone was around, she flopped down on one of the large sofas, her head turned towards the ceiling. That was, until Ichijou sat next to her. "You seem troubled, Kida-chan. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, Ichijou. I apologize, I did not see you there." Her green eyes opened slightly, looking over into his blue ones. "Everything is fine."
He nodded slowly, obviously seeing that everything was definitely not fine, he could see trouble brewing under the coldness that she held, but said nothing else on the subject. Ichijou didn't like to push. "I heard you found Aidou last night. Thank goodness it was before something horrid happened to that little girl, right?"
Her weary eyes met his once again, but instead of the coldness he had originally expected, he saw a deep sadness, and felt nothing short of shock and surprise. "Ichijou, Aidou exposed an innocent little girl to a world that could potentially keep her here for the rest of her life. I mean…" She sighed, wishing that she had bummed just one more cigarette off of Kain. "She's too young for this."
"No younger then you were."
Kida's head turned towards the stairs as her eyebrow raised, seeing Kain stepping nimbly down the stairs. Ichijou looked to him and felt himself frown slightly. "Why do you insist on eavesdropping, Kain?" When the other man shrugged, Kida shook her head slightly before standing, crossing the small room towards the stairs.
As she strode up them, brushing lightly past Kain, she muttered. "That, Kain, was under much different circumstances." Her eyes wandered over to Ichijou, who was still seated on the couch. "I am sorry, Ichijou, but I should get some rest." He nodded, watching as she walked up the stairs, and gave Kain a very unpleasant glare.
--
That night, as Kida lay in a deep sleep on her bed, a dark silhouette stood over her sleeping body. It watched as her small body moved with every breath, and a slender hand reached out to her, laying on her cheek and drawing the back of the hand against her.
She yelped and bolted straight up in bed, her pupils tiny as she looked around the darkened room, though no one was there. But the cold feeling was still present against her cheek, and she knew someone had been in her room.
--
The next morning, she slid her tired body out of bed. Rubbing her eye, she stumbled over to a radio that she kept loud enough to hear in her private shower, flipping it on as Sunshine of Your Love, a popular song by Cream, hummed from the speakers. One of her favorites. Maybe today would not be as bad as she had originally assumed it would be. A quick shower later, she buttoned up her uniform and brushed it clean, looking at herself in the mirror as she pulled the armband up.
And her eyes were met with another pair of deep green eyes, ones that seemed to have a glassy veneer to them. She had her father's eyes, what little of her parents she could remember, she could clearly remember that. For a moment, she could smell the perfume that her mother wore, and she remembered their smiles. Good people, taken far before their time.
She turned her eyes away from the mirror and flicked a bit of her hair away from her face. It was time for her shift to start.
--
Kida made her way down the stairs, avoiding the sad look from Aidou and the thoughtful looks from the other vampires. They didn't understand her. There were very few, actually, that did. Kain, Kaname-san, and Ichijou were those few. Kida had never bothered warming up to the other vampires, other then mere acquaintances. They were nice enough, but they had too many unanswered questions about her, and she wasn't willing to give up the answers.
As she stepped out into the sunlight, she found herself nearly running into Kaname. "Augh! Kaname!" He smiled as she grabbed a fistful of her uniform over her chest. "Holy hell you scared me."
He laughed softly and patted his hand on her head. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you."
She smiled slightly. "Don't be, I'm fine." Her eyes wandered out on the courtyard, seeing Yuuki watching her. "Have a good morning, Kaname." He didn't ask why she would cut a potential conversation short, but smiled and nodded.
"I will. Although I'm sure I'll see you before your shift is over, Kida-chan." She nodded slightly before walking out onto the grounds, to the designated meeting place that she and the other two guardians had decided on.