Replacement

Disclaimer: VK is not mine, it belongs to Matsuri Hino.

It had been two months. Two months since Aidou had spoken a word. Two months since Fuuka had died. He'd killed her, with his own murderous hands. He bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood.

Rima looked at him, boredom glazing her blue eyes. She was sitting on a chair, facing him. Ever since that incident had happened two months ago, Kaname had ordered them to never leave Aidou alone, for fear that the blond might do something to hurt himself, as he had done the first week after the death of the Level E girl. So they all took it in turns to keep him company. First up was Ichijou, followed by Shiki, then Rima, then Ruka, and finally Kain. Kaname himself would come sometimes too.

The pigtailed girl wouldn't have minded her babysitting role nearly as much if he at least spoke a little. Sure, she probably wouldn't answer much, but it made her feel uneasy to see him in such a silent way. It didn't look right.

The clock rang, and Rima knew her shift was done. Rising from her seat, she once again met Aidou's eyes and saw him helplessly looking at her. She silently sighed. It was always like this. He would never look at her until it was time for her to leave. She wondered if the same happened with the others. She turned around and walked away, passing by Ruka, who was making her way to the library to take the model's place as Aidou's watcher.

Sitting down, the long-haired female vampire greeted him, in a vain attempt to strike a conversation. "How are you today?" Complete silence was the answer. Ruka wasn't surprised. He hadn't spoken for two months, after all. Not even Kain had succeeded in making him talk, so why would she manage to do it? Had Fuuka meant so much to him? Maybe Aidou felt about her the way Ruka herself felt about Kaname. If that was true, her childhood friend must have faced a horrendous situation. Ruka didn't even want to imagine what she would do if she ever had to kill the person she loved. She'd take her own life before even considering the decision that Aidou had been forced to make. "It's not your fault, you know?"

He didn't lift his gaze to meet her face, but his hands tightly gripped the fabric of his trousers, and his blue eyes hardened. His whole body trembled, and Ruka regretted having said anything. She should know by now that he wouldn't want to think about the girl. But it wasn't his fault, and he should know that. He probably thought of himself as a murderer. She saw him as a victim of circumstances instead. If he hadn't killed the Level E, the creature would have endangered other humans. It was a horrible job, but it had to be done. However, Ruka was afraid that Aidou wasn't strong enough to deal with the remorse of his actions. She wanted to help him, but how, if he didn't even accept her honest opinion that he wasn't to blame?

Looking at him again, she noticed that he had once again bitten his lip. It wasn't the first time he did this. In fact, there was a tissue box on the chess board next to them, put there specifically because of how many times he had made himself bleed. Usually Kain and Ruka were the only ones who made use of them, since Aidou's lip-biting happened only during theirs and Rima's shift, and the orange-haired vampire refused to be his maid. Grabbing a lavender-scented tissue, Ruka leaned closer to him, trying to wipe the blood away from his lips and chin. Feeling the soft paper touch him, he immediately jerked away, still refusing to look at her. "Look, Hanabusa, I know this is a hard time for you, but making yourself bleed won't make it any better." She continued to dab at his self-inflicted wound until it stopped bleeding. Sitting down again, she murmured. "Don't do that again." It scared her that he might actually kill himself one day. She knew that everyone was busy, but she wished she didn't have to be there alone with him, just in case she couldn't stop him from seriously hurting himself.

Using her right hand as support for her face, Ruka stared at Aidou. He always looked so tense now, as if he was trying to stop himself from doing something, as if he was fighting an inner battle. Was he thinking of Fuuka? He must have loved her greatly, even though the girl was in love with Kaname. Ruka felt a stab of pain in her chest as she saw the parallels between Aidou and herself. Both in love with someone who didn't love them back. Her hand slowly drifted towards his golden hair, but she stopped it in midair.

The clock rang and she stood up, looking at him. As usual, he didn't meet her eyes, and she left. Kain was already waiting for his turn and swiftly took her place. Walking down the corridor, the scent of Aidou's blood hit her once again.

_______

It had been two months. Two months since he had spoken a word. Two months since Fuuka had died. He'd killed her, with his own murderous hands. Looking at the old clock, he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. It was nearly time for Rima to go and Ruka to come.

He knew they were all worried about him, that they just wanted to be sure that he was safe. He didn't mind this arrangement too much. Ichijou had long given up on making him talk, and just read his mangas, whilst carefully watching the blue-eyed aristocrat. Shiki just sat there, doing nothing. Aidou realized that it must take a great deal of self-control for the model boy not to fall asleep. Rima was the same as Shiki, providing the silence he needed to collect his thoughts. Even Kaname himself, his idol, came and showed his concern. Indeed, Aidou wasn't particularly bothered by this arrangement, with one exception.

The clock rang, marking the end of Rima's shift. Stupid clock. He looked at her, silently begging her to stay, pleading with her to sit down again. But she never granted him this tiny wish, and coldly left. And then she would come in.

Her worried voice would always break his much needed silence. "How are you today?" What a stupid question. How did she think he was? He was dying inside, that's how he was. She kept silent for a while, but then shattered his thoughts again. "It's not your fault, you know?"

His eyes hardened and he tightly grabbed the fabric of his trousers. Not his fault? Whose fault was it then? He had taken her life with his own hands! Shut up Ruka, just go away! He didn't want her there, he hated it when Rima's shift ended because it meant that Ruka's would begin. And he didn't want to be alone with her, of all people. He didn't want to look at her. He couldn't. It was too painful and unbearable. She reminded him too much of Fuuka. They were both attracted to Kaname, even their names sounded alike! And... He bit his lip, determined to stop his train of thoughts. No! He wouldn't admit that!

Feeling the familiar touch of a tissue being used to wipe his blood, Aidou jerked away. She was too close. Why didn't she and Kain behave like Rima? The pigtailed vampire let him bleed as much as he wanted, and he needed to feel the pain. "Look, Hanabusa, I know this is a hard time for you, but making yourself bleed won't make it any better." Yes, it will. He fought mental pain with physical pain. But Ruka didn't care, she just wiped the blood anyway. "Don't do that again." The pain in her whisper hurt him more than words could ever describe. Emotions are such silly things.

He wondered if she was afraid that he'd kill himself. Would she cry for him? Would she miss him? He could feel himself tremble, trying to keep his composure. When would her shift end? He sensed her hand near him, and prayed that she wouldn't touch him.

The clock rang and she stood up. He didn't know if she looked at him or not. He told himself that he didn't care. Kain came in and sat on the chair, facing him. Aidou didn't want to look at him either, fearing what it would do to him if he did. He always felt too guilty to look at Kain after Ruka's shift. His cousin spoke, a visible streak of worry and distress plaguing his voice. "Hanabusa, we're all worried about you." That stupid emotional pain came back again, and Aidou bit his lip harder than before.

It had been two months since that girl had died. Aidou had bitterly realised that Fuuka had been a replacement. And he hated that his main concern right now was not the poor girl he'd murdered, but rather how to get another replacement to keep him away from the girl he loved.

A/N:Okay, for those of you who don't know who Fuuka is, this story is inspired by what happened in the VK novel "The sin of blue ice". I myself haven't read it, and only know a few details: Fuuka was a Day Class student who was turned into a vampire and had romantic feelings for Kaname. Apparently Aidou fell in love with her but had to kill her when she fell to Level E. This novel takes place some years before the manga's current timeline.

Based on what I know, I had the idea for this story, with Aidou having seen Fuuka as a replacement for Ruka, someone he could never have because he loves Kain too much to hurt him.

Hope you liked it, and reviews are very much appreciated ^_^