Disclaimer: Nothing, sadly, has changed and I still don't own them.
Chapter 2:
As was usual, I was up earlier than Hanabusa, this time, though, to the excited chattering of our steadfast admirers in the Day Class.
Hanabusa grunted and buried himself deeper underneath his covers. "Give me a break, I was fast asleep," he whined. Sitting up in bed groggily – and obviously quite grumpily – he rubbed his eyes. "It's so noisy outside the gates… must be the girls from the Day Class. What do they want now?"
A faint memory was called to mind where Hanabusa had left the curtains open and I'd paid dearly for it the following afternoon when the sun had shone directly into my eyes. When was that exactly? Oh yes, I remembered now. It had happened every afternoon of my life spent sharing a room with my cousin – except somehow this morning. I could remedy that. I opened the curtains as wide as I dared without bringing myself too much pain.
"AKATSUKI! The light!" my cousin yelped and dove back under the covers, whimpering. Ah, payback could be oh so sweet.
"Whoa… it actually is the Day Class girls. Better get ready to run," I said nonchalantly now that my vengeance had been exacted. I suddenly remembered something and grinned slightly. "Oh. That's right. It's today…"
"What is?" Hanabusa asked, peevishly. It wasn't very often I got the chance to get back at him and I was quite enjoying this morning so far.
"It's the day that girls give out chocolates and confess to their crushes…" I grinned even wider at my cousin. "Valentines Day."
Adjusting slightly to the bright sunlight, I opened the window just enough so that I could listen in on the situation unfolding right outside the gates.
"Akatsuki, are they actually there NOW?" Hanabusa asked, peeking out from under the covers with the faintest glimmer of excitement in his eyes.
"You don't think…?" I asked him, incredulously.
"Well, it IS still morning," Hanabusa jumped out of bed quickly and joined me by the window.
"They wouldn't! Not an all day stake-out in front of our gate!"
"The love of my adoring fans knows no bounds," Hanabusa said dreamily, resting an elbow on the window ledge and resting his chin in his cupped palm. "See, Akatsuki! Look, it's a fan girl trying to climb over our gate and award us with our chocolates! She loves us! I love you to-" he started to call out.
I clamped a hand firmly over his mouth but glanced down and saw that Hanabusa had actually been telling the truth: a young, fair-haired girl was on her friend's shoulders trying to scale the wall dividing the Moon Dormitory from the girls. Using our sensitive hearing, we could listen in as the girl struggled to maintain balance while at the same time panting, "I have to give them my chocolates…"
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Oh YES!" Hanabusa said, all but rubbing his hands together with glee.
"HEY YOU! STOP RIGHT THERE!" A voice cut through the early morning, punctuated by several shrill blows of a whistle.
"Yes!" I laughed, punching Hanabusa lightly. The Night Class's defender from pushy fan girls, Yuuki, had been struggling to keep the girls under control and herd them in the direction of their classrooms when our slightly overzealous admirer had taken to climbing the wall.
"Hmph," Hanabusa said, frowning slightly. "If she wants to give us chocolates then she shoul-"
"Aaaaaaah!" the girl screamed and toppled, falling… only to be caught by our other, more-than-slightly antagonistic prefect, Zero.
"Darn you, Kiryu!" Hanabusa hissed, vehemently.
"You WANTED the girl to fall and hurt herself?" I asked dubiously.
"Of COURSE not," Hanabusa sniffed indignantly. "It's just the concept of the thing! That mean prefect touching our fan."
"Ah, so you wanted to leap out into the burning sunlight and save her yourself," I said, avoiding my cousin's face so that I wouldn't burst out laughing and listened to Zero being… Zero. He glared darkly at all the girls, lecturing them. Not that I minded all that much. Sure he'd pointed a gun at my cousin about two weeks ago but, really, Hanabusa had earned it.
"Er, well, not quite…" Hanabusa answered with a touch of chagrin.
"You know, Hanabusa," I said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Kaname wouldn't let you drink her blood as a reward for saving her a few broken bones and a couple bruises. Come to think of it, I don't think Kaname would ever let you drink any student's blood as long as we're on campus."
Hanabusa frowned and was about to say something in his defense when a statement Zero had made caught our ears.
"If you absolutely must give them presents, it will have to wait until dusk. Come back when the Day and Night Classes change over."
"Ah, so we'll be assaulted with unwanted chocolates after the girls have finished their classes," I commented.
Hanabusa seemed appeased and smiled, getting back into bed. "Does it matter? I'll still get my chocolates."
"It'll be fun when the sun goes down," I yawned hugely, also heading back into bed. "After all, this only happens once a year."
"I guess so," Hanabusa replied, once again snuggled deeply under his covers. "Chocolate is still pretty good… but I still like blood better for dessert!"
Later in the day, after we'd all finally woken up, the Night Class gathered before the gate dividing us from our adoring fans. Our gang was unusually close to the front of the class, mostly due to my cousin's eagerness to greet his girls.
"Don't you think it's an interesting custom among humans?" Takuma asked, looking positively fascinated.
"Giving each other chocolates?" Senri was as disinterested as Takuma was intrigued.
"Hmm," Ruka said dryly. "Sounds more to me like the humans were just looking for ways to reward themselves."
"Untrue, my friends!" Takuma corrected. "Giving each other gifts and chocolates is merely the easiest way of expressing a sense of love and caring humans have for friends, family, and their admired ones."
"If they really cared all that much," Rima asked innocently, tilting her head to the side. "Don't you think they would come up with better ways to express their love?"
"I agree," Senri grinned at Rima and the two snickered when Takuma opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to think of a usable argument to counter with.
"Ruka, who would you give chocolates to if vampires were to actually take part in this human chocolate-giving custom?" I asked, trying to keep my interest minimal.
"Kaname," she answered without hesitation, but then realized that her answer had come out a little too short and possibly a little too fast, causing the whole group to eye her suspiciously while I carefully hid a grimace.
"And you guys, too, of course," Ruka added hastily. "I mean, aren't chocolates supposed to go out to all your friends, Akatsuki?"
My ears perked up at the sound of my first name but I slowly deflated as I processed that Ruka had also explicitly used my name when categorizing me as a friend.
"You know, Takuma," Senri said thoughtfully after the murmurs of agreement to Ruka's comment had subsided. "Valentine's Day could also be a very depressing time for many people."
"Oh really?" Takuma's brow was furrowed in deep concentration as he tried to see what Senri was getting at.
"I agree," Rima smiled back at Senri. "For those who'd been hoping for something and were spurned, this would definitely be a saddening and difficult time."
I narrowed my eyes at Senri and when he finally broke eye contact with Rima to glance at me, he shrugged and I couldn't bring myself to believe Senri of all people would be the only person other myself and my cousin to realize how I felt about Ruka.
"I've got to go," Ruka said suddenly. "I almost forgot something." Without another word, she disappeared into the crowds of our fellow students, milling about the courtyard.
"This much fuss everyone?" I asked, trying to bring a light-hearted tone into my voice. "It's just a silly human holiday and no reason to get worked up."
"'Just a silly human holiday'?" Hanabusa repeated. "JUST A SILLY HUMAN HOLIDAY?! Akatsuki, these wondrously generous girls are about to SHOWER us in chocolates!"
"Someone seems a bit excited," Takuma laughed.
"I'd bet he's more than 'a bit excited'," I heard Rima mutter as the gates opened with a click.
"SHHHHHHHHH!" Hanabusa cut across Rima, focused intently on the instructions Yuuki was giving to us, while simultaneously yelling, whistling, and waving cards often seen in the hands of soccer referees, around at girls.
"This is hell," Senri sighed.
"Whoa! This year all the girls are going into hysterics!" my cousin whispered to me, eyes bright. "It's awesome! This is so cool!"
"I'm still sleepy," I yawned tiredly.
"I'm wide awake!" Hanabusa blatantly ignored me and as I glanced at him I was reminded of a runner about to race out of the running pit at full speed.
"Welcome to the traditional Valentine's Day celebration," Yuuki addressed the Night Class, with a serious face not corresponding to the silliness we all found in this festival of sorts. "Each student is to go to their individual gates and politely receive their chocolates from the girls offering them."
"Hmm? Ruka?" I whispered, noticing her suddenly appear again next to us.
"Understood? I would like everyone to understand that this is not a game," Yuuki continued, oblivious to my conversation with Ruka.
"It was nothing important," Ruka said, looking slightly smug.
"It means a lot to the girls so please take it seriously!" Yuuki finished.
"THEY'RE MINE! ALL MINE!" My head snapped back towards where Hanabusa had been standing – though it was really more like bouncing in place – just a second ago.
"Aido," Kaname's cool voice was audible even above the din the girls were making. Following our dorm leader's gaze, I found my cousin, frozen in place about fifteen feet away, obviously in the act of racing towards his gate.
"Remember to mind your manners, understand?"
"Yes," Hanabusa answered meekly. "Of course, Dorm Leader."
"This is moronic," Senri sighed, slowly following Hanabusa.
"Do it anyway," I told him distractedly. Was it just me or was Kaname holding something in his hands, already? A small package of some sort?
"Um… Please accept this, Kuran!" A young girl bowed low in front of Kaname and offered up her chocolate. Yes, there was no doubt about it; Kaname had been carrying a chocolate even before he'd ever noticed the line at his own gate.
Deep in thought, I collected the chocolates duly as they were handed to me by my own fairly large line of girls. Kaname couldn't have ventured outside of the gates before the rest of the class; we would've heard the cheers of the girls if one of the most desirable members of the Night Class had stepped out alone. Therefore the mystery chocolates couldn't have been from anyone in the Day Class.
So it was from someone in the Night Class? But we didn't celebrate human love festivals… right? Who among us would've cared enough about our cold, dispassionate leader to want to express their love in any and every way possible? Not… Ruka? Could it be her?
"Ah… sorry, everyone…" I heard Kaname apologize to his fans. "I can't hold anymore." He politely took his leave of the humans and while passing by Yuuki, he stopped to say a few words. Yuuki, who was holding back two of my fans that I'd neglected in my deep thought, looked rather flustered and a bit disappointed that Kaname was leaving already.
"Thank you for your hard work, Yuuki," Kaname said, finally heading to class with Seiren carefully tailing him.
"We're the only ones Kain ignored," one of the fans sulked.
"Sure, Kaname!" Yuuki replied, but if I could read thoughts, I'm sure hers would be something along the lines of "Shoot! He's leaving already!"
"How come Wild didn't come here?!" another of my fans burst out.
By now I'd noticed the two, but if there was anything I hated more than being called Kain by Ruka, it was being called Wild by my fans. Seriously "Wild"? What am I, some kind of feral animal or something?! I passed by them without a glance and was on my way to class when a crashing sound caused me to turn back.
My crazed fans had gotten more aggravated as I passed and finally overpowered Yuuki, sending all three girls crashing to the ground with a thud. I turned just in time to see Zero toss a small package towards Kaname, who caught it easily despite his "full" hands.
"I accept," Kaname said graciously. "Thank you, Yuuki."
I sighed gratefully, knowing Kaname wouldn't blame me for causing hurt to fall upon his favorite human. God forbid that happen. I started to walk away from the scene when I bumped into Ruka. "Oh, Ruk-"
"This is all your fault," she hissed. The venom in her comment hit me like a slap in the face.
"WHAT?" I asked, incredulous.
"You should have been monitoring your girls," she said accusingly.
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" I glared back at her, feeling mad at Ruka for what must have been the first time in years, possibly. "You act like they're my property or something! It's not my job to watch over humans."
"It's enough to occupy your cousin," she said coldly, motioning over with a jerk of her head to Hanabusa who was casually flirting with a Day Class girl.
"What the hell is wrong with Kaname getting some chocolates?" I already knew the answer, but I'd do anything to ignore the part where Ruka had said I should be more like my cousin. Shudder.
"They came from HER and-" she started but abruptly cut herself off and stalked off.
"JEALOUS MUCH?" I yelled after her, angrily. "AFRAID OF A LITTLE COMPETITION, RUKA?"
She didn't answer and continued walking – more like running, really – to the classrooms, and I immediately regretted having said anything at all.
I sighed and leaned against a tree trunk, running a hand through my hair. "Great job, Akatsuki. You made her mad at you."
"Kaname… You don't have to bother carrying all that," a quiet female voice said. Glancing around, I found the origin of the voice with the only other two vampires leaving this early in the festival: Seiren and Kaname.
"You can get rid of the rest," Kaname dictated, dropping all the chocolates but Yuuki's into Seiren's hands and walking away. "This is the only one that I want."
Seiren, who had given no indication of having noticed me, carefully sorted through the chocolates. "You want these, Akatsuki?"
Contrary to popular belief, Seiren actually talks to people other than Kaname and the people she's trying to kill as a result of an attempt at hurting Kaname. I cringed from my spot where I had been hiding in the shadow of a tree and asked, "How did you know I was there?"
"I'm pretty good," Seiren said softly. She picked up the thin package that was Ruka's and held it out in her hand as if offering it to me. "Would you like these?"
I hesitated. "It's not like I need any more chocolates…"
"I could always get rid of it with the rest," Seiren shrugged, moving to drop it into a pile with the rest of the chocolates.
"No!" I snatched it away, careful not to damage the delicate wrapping or the ribbon tied on meticulously. "I mean – Um…"
"Of course, Akatsuki," Seiren nodded, as if I'd actually presented her with a plausible reason. "Feel free to take them."
She was about to turn around and follow Kaname when I felt compelled to ask. "Who else knows? About me and, um, how I feel about her?"
"I don't know what you're talking about, Akatsuki." Seiren walked off, though I could've sworn there was a smile in her voice. Another fact about Seiren: she's capable of humor, nice-ness, being caring, and all that; I guess you just have to catch her without Kaname.
"So, baby, what's your blood type?" I heard my cousin ask a girl, casually.
"Idol - I mean, Aido!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! THAT'S NOT ALLOWED!" I heard several shrill blows in a whistle. Yuuki quickly pushed Hanabusa and the Day Class girl apart. "ALL YOU CAN TAKE ARE CHOCOLATES AND FEELINGS!! NOTHING ELSE!"
"I'm sorry, Yuuki," I sighed, grabbing my cousin's arm and steering him towards the classrooms. "I'll take him away, alright?"
Yuuki suddenly seemed distracted. "Zero? Where'd he go?"
"Bye, Yuuki!" Hanabusa called back with a grin as I dragged him away.
"Shut up, Hanabusa!" I said, hitting him. "You're lucky that she was distracted! You probably won't get reported to Kaname now - probably."
"Gosh, why are you so grumpy?" Hanabusa pouted.
Grudgingly, I told him what had happened with Ruka.
"You should have given her chocolates," Hanabusa nodded in what was a failed attempt at looking wise.
"She wouldn't have accepted them," I scowled.
"You don't have my charm," Hanabusa smirked.
"Oh, obviously not," I rolled my eyes. "Does everyone want me to be more like you now?"
"Wouldn't hurt much, Grumpy."
"Shut up," I said cleverly.
"I bet if you'd let me deliver for you, she'd accept your chocolates."
"… Are you forgetting that we don't celebrate Valentine's Day in the vampire world? You act like I'm carrying some around," I said hesitantly.
"Technically you are," Hanabusa grinned. "But those are from the other girls. I was talking about the chocolates you made especially for her that you're hiding in your pocket."
Without warning, he lunged at me and snatched out a colorful package from my pocket.
"I knew there had to be a reason you'd stay up all night! You had to make sure I was asleep so you could sneak away and ready your gift!" Hanabusa snickered gleefully.
"Give it back!"
"RUUUUUUKAAAAAAA!" Hanabusa ran off towards the classrooms at a sprint.
I sighed, resigned, and plodded slowly after the last stragglers of the Night Class. Surprisingly, Ruka was waiting outside the doors of our classroom.
"That was a very sweet thing you did," she said, holding up the package and giving me a rare smile.
"You accepted them?" My eyes grew wide.
"Of course, I did!" she smiled again and gave me a hug. "Your apology is accepted."
I froze. "Apology?"
"For the fight we had earlier? Hanabusa said you were just too proud to say sorry yourself," Ruka laughed.
"Well then, I'm glad we're still friends," I stammered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to… thank my cousin." Leaving Ruka to wait outside for Kaname, I entered the classroom quickly and hissed, "HANABUSA!"
"Whatever are you upset over, dearest cousin?" Hanabusa said in the most innocent voice he could muster.
I glared and his notebook erupted in flames.
"HEY! Cool it, Akatsuki!" he said, trying to ice the flames out of his notebook. "I told you she'd accept them!"
"I didn't ask you to!" I lunged at him and gleefully began choking him. "DIE, YOU STUPID COUSIN!"
"H-help! SOMEONE, help meeeeeeee!" Hanabusa rasped. In the end, not even Takuma, Senri, and Rima could pull me off of him. No, in the end it was…
"Kain," the door had opened with a resounding creak. Kaname stood at the door, raising an eyebrow at the scene before him: Hanabusa was turning blue while my hands stayed firmly clamped on his throat as Takuma, Senri, and Rima all tugged futilely at me. "May I ask what you are doing?"
I hesitated, glancing at Kaname, then Ruka standing resolutely behind him, then my feet. "Nothing, Dorm Leader Kaname," I said softly, though the room was so quiet suddenly that anyone in the room or outside of it could've heard. Gritting my teeth, I pried my hands away from my cousin's throat and stiffly sat down.
Kaname nodded and also took his seat. Following his lead, anyone else who had still been standing or otherwise positioned (a.k.a. my cousin) sat down, looking obediently towards Kaname. In response he stared at the head of the room and politely apologized to the teacher who everyone had somehow managed to ignore. "We're very sorry for interrupting class, Teacher."
Anyone else who knew what was good for him or her obediently apologized as well and when the excuses had died down the teacher addressed Kaname in a dry rasping voice. "The Valentine's Day Festival has already caused us to lose half an hour; another fifteen minutes would not matter," he said. "It was no trouble at all, Pureblood Kuran. Let us not waste any more time, though please. Class, please begin."
"Jeez, Akatsuki, way to overreact," Hanabusa sulked, oblivious to our teacher's "class, please, begin".
"Don't even start, Hanabusa," I smiled coldly at him. "Not even Kaname could stop me if you say another word."
"Akatsuki's mad," Senri noted. "Akatsuki's almost never mad."
"The chocolates must have gone to his head," Rima whispered not-so-discreetly. "This is why Valentine's Day is unhealthy for vampires."
"Akatsuki's parents don't give him chocolate very often," Hanabusa said, sticking his tongue out at me. I stomped on his foot hard underneath the table and he quickly bit down on his tongue to keep from crying out.
"One more word, Hanabusa. One. More," I threatened him while he silently pouted.
"How come you guys didn't just use your powers?" Ruka asked Senri, Rima, and Takuma.
"Takuma said not to," Rima shrugged.
"Yeah, we wouldn't want to disobey the vice-president of the Night Class, would we?" Senri asked.
"Well," Takuma grinned and rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. "I thought we'd cut down on some of those nasty repair and replacement costs that have been going up lately for the Night Class."
"How thoughtful," Ruka remarked dryly. "Though I'm sure it would've knocked some sense into the idiot."
"Talking to me?" I asked blankly. Her glare was enough of an answer.
"You got in a moronic fight with a family member," she sniffed. "Disgraceful."
I could practically feel myself slipping lower and lower in ranks of importance in Ruka's mind. "Let me guess… You're unforgiving me?"
"Yep."
"Damn," I muttered, turning my attention back to our teacher.
Authoress' Notes:
I'm kinda' sad since the last section just seemed really out of character. Other than that, I'd like to thank last chapter's reviewers and ask again for my readers to review for this chapter. Also, in the manga, the Night Class's participation for the coming chapters is fairly minimal, so don't be surprised if I combine the next few chapters.
JaxWin