It was silent in the dim office. Kaname lowered his pen momentarily to sit back and rub his temples. He lifted his head when there was a knock at his door.
"Enter."
"Kaname-sama, forgive my intrusion," Takuma smiled as he stepped into the office "You have a visitor."
Kaname straightened his spine as the figure behind Takuma shifted on the spot, brushing her hair behind her ear.
"Indeed?" he smiled and tilted his head.
The young lady giggled shyly as Takuma smiled down at her.
"I think that means you can come in," he said and she giggled a little more.
"Indeed?" she mimicked Kaname's tone from earlier and Kaname's lips twitched into a soft smile.
"Mana, would you like to come in?" he said and Mana giggled again, twirling some hair with her finger.
"I would," she said with a little curtsey as she sauntered in "Thank you, Ichijo-senpai!"
"You're welcome, Mana," Takuma smiled "It was nice to catch up."
Mana gave him a bright smile as he left them alone. She dropped her hands and ambled over to Kaname's desk.
"Working hard?" she asked with that adorable look.
"Hard enough," Kaname smiled at her "What brings you here?"
"Oh, uh," Mana looked to the side with an embarrassed look "Z-Zero…"
Kaname's eyes hardened briefly as he sighed.
"I see, is that the only reason?"
"Oh no!" Mana jumped and shook her head "No, but the last thing I want is to interrupt your work unless I…really, really had a good reason to…"
"It's no crime to come here just to talk, Mana," Kaname smiled "It makes my night whenever I see you."
Mana giggled and shifted on the spot.
"OK," she said with a nod "I'll have to make sure to visit more often then. Maybe bring Yuki-nee along too, if she's not too caught up in homework."
"So you're keeping up with your studies well?"
"Yes, but it's hard because I fall asleep a lot in classes," Mana sighed as she folded her arms.
"You look tired now, do you want to take a quick nap here?"
Mana blushed lightly as she shook her head.
"I'm fine, I just need to get the blood you promised Zero and have what I consider an early night," she said.
"It will be a short while, I will wake you up after fifteen minutes?"
"No, I hate to be a burden," Mana said with a firm shake of the head and yawned slightly.
"Fifteen minutes, Mana, it'll do you some good."
"Kaname-sama, please," Mana insisted "I have spent too much time here already…"
"Mana, you don't spend enough time here," Kaname sighed as he stood and walked around his desk to face Mana "I don't even know what the school play is for this year yet."
"Oh, Kaname-sama," Mana looked mortified as she covered her mouth "I'm sorry but I'm not going to audition this year."
"Oh?" Kaname raised his eyebrows as he leaned on his desk "But you love drama and acting, you haven't missed one play."
"I do," Mana looked a little sad "but I've been a main role for three years straight, I want to let some of the other students have a fair shot."
"Well you could audition for a more minor role this year."
"That's what I did last year, but I got assigned the role of the Snow Queen."
Kaname chuckled.
"You were too evil to be the little robber girl," he said and Mana puffed her cheeks out.
"That wasn't meant to be a compliment, was it?"
Kaname smiled as he brushed some of Mana's hair out of her face.
"Mana, it's alright to be in the limelight for a while," he said with a soft gaze.
"I'm unpopular enough as it is," Mana folded her arms "All the girls have it in for Yuki-nee and me, they think we're keeping the Night Class to ourselves."
"You're keeping me to yourself right now."
"Am not!" Mana's face went red as she gave him an irritated glare.
Kaname chuckled as he placed a hand on her head, kissing her forehead lightly. Mana dropped her glare and smiled, stepping forward and reaching out to place her hand on his chest.
"Kaname-sama?" she purred and Kaname tilted his head.
"Mana?"
"Blood, Zero, sleep."
Kaname sighed as he detached himself from her and circled the desk to take a blood bag out from the top drawer.
"Are you sure you can't stay a while longer?"
"And if Zero bites Yuki-nee when I'm staying here for that while longer?"
Kaname handed the blood bag over with a defeated sigh.
"Very well, you got me this time," he smiled as Mana took it with a happy smile and placed it in her satchel "Don't be a stranger."
"Very well," Mana nodded as she walked across the office to the doors "Goodbye, Kaname-sama."
"Mana?"
Mana turned to Kaname as he sat back down.
"How is Yuki?"
Mana's face fell as she looked down.
"She had more hallucinations today," she said "Why won't you tell us anything? You promised that if I became your lover, you would tell us what happened to our parents…"
"I will…" Kaname looked away, avoiding her pleading gaze "It's simply too early…"
"Too early for what?!" Mana cried out "Yuki-nee is suffering! Can't you see how hard it is to see my twin sister like this?"
"Mana…you should go and get some sleep."
Mana hesitated before dropping her gaze with a sombre look.
"Right…" she murmured as she opened the door "Goodbye…"
Kaname listened to her retreating footsteps after the door closed. A few moments of silence passed before he let out a restrained breath. He held his head in his hands as he glared down at the paperwork before him.
"Patience," he whispered to himself "…patience…"
He wanted nothing more than to lock Mana up and keep her all to himself and safe from the world. The desire burning in him felt too intense sometimes, it could consume him if he didn't keep his guard up. But seeing her prancing around, free as a bird, it also satisfied him. And yet, the danger that seemed to be looming over the horizon, Kaname didn't want Mana to be free for much longer.