Thanks for all the reviews. They're a big encouragement :) Here's the next chapter. Enjoy...
I don't own VK.
Sara glanced around the ballroom, but Ichijo was nowhere in sight. "Does he really think I'm that naive?" she murmured to herself. "You're so predictable, Takuma." She then made her way towards the two large wooden doors of the entrance. Her hand reached for the doorknob, but another hand took a hold of it first and opened the door.
"Are we leaving?" Takuma asked.
Sara, appearing ever so sweet, answered back with a simple nod. Without another moments waste, she stepped outside. Ichijo reached for the handle of the car door once the vehicle stopped for them to get on.
"Where were you? You disappeared all of a sudden," Sara asked, examining him from head to toe once the two of them got into the passenger seat.
"I was in the men's room," he replied. She moved closer to him till her leg rubbed against his, pricking his nerves.
"Is that so?" she trailed off, tracing her fingers from his stomach to his chest. Takuma felt the hair along his arms stand but he couldn't stir a single muscle. "Takuma," she gently whispered in his ear as she tightened her clutch on his chest, sinking her nails deeper into his flesh. "Don't make me regret not killing you," she finished as the sweet scent of his blood perfumed the air, tantalizing both their senses. He clenched his teeth, the pain intensifying with each beat of his heart. She suddenly put on an innocent smile, completely altering her malevolent appearance from before. "You need to smile more, Takuma," she said. He gasped for air once she let go and grabbed onto the handle of the car as if it would dull the pain that burned along the surface of his skin all the way down to his nerves. "Your apathetic looks always dim the mood. It makes everything so much gloomier." She sat back in her seat, creating a bit of distance between them again. "Try and look happier, would you?" she said more as a command than a suggestion.
Takuma held his hand tightly over his heart, allowing the wound some time to close. His chest heaved up and down as he continued to inhale every breath he could. He then wiped his hand over his face, brushing away the cold sweat before he cautiously replied back. "Yes, Sara…"
[10 minutes ago…]
Takuma reached for the gold pocket watch resting in his coat pocket. "I should go," he said, looking up at Rima. He could barely see her face from the dimness of the room. She grabbed his hand, refusing to let him proceed.
"Don't go! Come back to us!" she pleaded. The blue of her eyes sparkled from the small amount of light seeping through the window curtains.
"I can't," he replied. "I'm bounded to her."
"But if we go to Kaname, he must-"
"Kaname," he cut her off, "…Can't do anything about it." He looked back at her, smiling as always, but with such despair that it pained her to look at.
"But you haven't even tried," she said in a whisper. He brought his hand up to her face, picking out the small piece of dust stuck on the tip of her bangs. She took his hand before it fell back to his side, tightly gripping onto it. "I can't lose you again," she said with tears filling her eyes. "Not just for my sake…but hers!"
He felt his soul suddenly sucked out of him when he heard that final remark. The strength in his arm vanished but was still held up by her hand. He stared back at Rima, intently, with nothing to say.
"You have to come back…" Rima said, "…for her."
"I…can't…" he painfully responded back, nearly chocking on his words. "I'm keeping everyone safe if I just stay being her pet."
"At what cost?" she retorted back, unable to understand why he was doing this. "Having your freedom stripped from you? Sara's a bitch and she's always been a bitch with and without you groveling by her feet!"
"Things aren't as easy as you think."
"Yes it is! You just leave and it's done." His stubbornness was starting to irritate her.
"You of all should know the binding abilities purebloods have on us nobles," he responded, his eyes straying to the side. "No matter how much I want to leave, I can't…at least not right now." Then he turned to her again and held onto her hand with both of his, the sound of his wristbands clinking together as he moved his arms. "Promise me one thing though..." His green eyes gazed keenly into hers. "Tell her…to just wait for me awhile longer."
"I'll try," was all she could give to him in response. He nodded and gave her a small smile, understanding how much sorrow he had already inflicted onto everyone from his absence, especially her and Rima. Without another word, Takuma let go of her hand and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him and concealing her in darkness yet again. Rima stared at the door clutching so tightly onto the soft fabric of her dress that her hands began to tremble a little. She bit the insides of her cheeks and then quietly thought to herself, "How can I tell her…if she doesn't even remember…?"
xxx
"I don't get this!" Yuki whined. "Why are there letters? It's math. It's suppose to be numbers."
"Letters represent numbers. The point is to solve for those numbers."
"Why do I want to know what 'a' is? It would be a whole lot easier if they just tell me what it is."
"Then there'd be no point in solving the damn thing!" Aido angrily responded back, clenching his teeth together as he restrained himself from going completely insane by all of Yuki's comments. "God! How did any of your professors teach you? You're like a rock!"
"If I was a rock, I'd be rough and gray…" she commented, tapping her index finger on her small chin. Aido slapped his hand over his face as he sat back in his chair, which was already frozen in place.
"Yuki-sama."
The two of them turned around to find one of the maids standing by the entrance way to the kitchen.
"Touya-sama is asking to see you. She's waiting at the front door," the young miss politely addressed.
"Finally, a break…" Yuki thought to herself, getting up and walking out of the kitchen. The orange pigtailed model stood at the front of the entrance, facing away from the house.
"Rima, I didn't know you coming," Yuki said with a welcoming smile. Rima turned around, uncrossing her arms with a grim look hanging over her visage. "What's wrong?" Yuki asked, her smile slowly fading.
"I need to speak with you," she replied, holding onto her hands in an uneasy manner.
Hanabusa walked over to the two of them. "What's wrong?" he asked, noticing the tension present as he looked from Rima to Yuki.
"I need to talk to Rima privately," Yuki said to him. "Wait in the kitchen." She took Rima by the hand and closed the door behind them once they stepped onto the front porch. Yuki looked up at Rima, waiting for her to speak. But she looked to the side, uncertain of how to start or what to even say first.
"Have you talked to Yoka lately?" was the first thing that came out of Rima's mouth.
Yuki shook her head. "The last time I spoke to her was almost a month ago. She was doing well." She looked at her more carefully, slightly tilting her head. "This isn't about Yoka…at least not completely. What is it?" Rima's eyes strayed to the side. She brought her hands up, wrapping her arms around herself.
"I saw Takuma," she then said, not looking at Yuki.
"I know. We all did at the party-"
"No! I saw him," she corrected. "Like the way I'm seeing you right now…this close."
"Did you…Did you talk to him?" Yuki asked, holding onto the porch railing as she felt her knees suddenly become weak.
"I don't know what to do," she replied instead. Yuki was at a loss of words as she looked at a Rima who was completely lost inside, contrasting so much from her usual self.
"He told me to tell her to wait for him," Rima began. "But how can I tell her that if she doesn't even know who the hell he is?" She turned around and went up and down the steps, aimlessly walking around. Yuki looked down and noticed how her hands were gripping tightly onto her dress.
Ichijo-san…He's alive…But…oh no…
"Are you free tomorrow?" Yuki then asked looking back up at her. Rima stopped and turned her attention back to the young pureblood standing before her. "We're gonna' go see Yoka."
"And do what?" Rima exclaimed. "Sit her down, try to explain to her that she loved somebody once but she just doesn't remember! And sound like buffoons?"
"I…I don't know," Yuki quietly said, sitting down on the wooden bench. Rima sat down next to her, placing her face in her hands.
"And I doubt waving pictures in her face would help either," she added, lifting her head back up.
"No…It probably wouldn't," Yuki said. She then turned to Rima with a sudden incentive present. "But we still have to try."
xxx
[Ichijo's POV]
I set a clean shirt over the chair next to the mirror. "Dammit…I'm scarring everywhere," I said to myself, running my fingers over the irregular folds of skin on my chest. My fingers touched the scar that I received from my final encounter with grandfather over a year ago. Then there was another one – five slits that circled where my heart was. I'm just glad she didn't rip anything off like last time. Reaching for my shirt, I noticed the bite marks on my left wrist. Then I looked back at myself in the mirror, buttoning my shirt. When I reached the top button, I stopped and gently brushed my collar aside to see the more recent penetration on my skin by her fangs. "It's like she leaves her mark every time she touches me," I thought, finally buttoning the last button.
Once I was in my appropriate attire, I exited the room and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. "Two cubes of sugar and a piece of cake," I enumerated to myself as I prepared the tea. Every day is like a routine. Once ready, I entered the library. Sara was sitting in the armchair by the window, with several books sprawled on the ground in front of her.
"You always remember," she said, her eyes looking up from her reading. I set the tray down on the small table next to her.
"I'd rather do what I ought to, rather than not and face the consequences," I said, trying to smile. She took my hand before I could hand the teacup to her. The coldness of her skin could even be felt through the cloth of my glove. She brought the back of my hand against her cheek. "Sara…" I hesitantly said, slowly trying to retract my hand from her clutch, "…Please…"
She let go and reached for her tea. My heartbeat reverted back to its normal pace. I went over to the books on the ground and started gathering them together to place back on the shelves.
"Who's Yoka?" she suddenly asked nonchalantly. My entire body flinched when she mentioned her name. I turned to look up at her. Her long, wavy blonde hair rested comfortably on her shoulders as she sat deeper into her chair, bringing her legs up to her thighs. She looked at him attentively with her head leaning more to her right. "Takuma…Who's Yoka?" she repeated.
"How…How did you come across that name?" I asked, meekly.
"It was in your notebook," she replied, looking down at her tea as she stirred it. "…The one you left on your desk."
She was looking through my diary…This is NOT good.
"You haven't answered my question." She stopped stirring and stared back at me.
I stood up and started fixing the buttons on the end of my sleeves as I tried to answer back as casually as I could, "She's…She was a former classmate of mine…back at the academy."
"Oh…" Sara took the cake on the table. "Just classmates? Nothing more?" she asked. I kept my gaze on the mahogany floors and shook my head. She didn't question me about Yoka any further and quietly ate her dessert for a moment. I returned back to my business of reorganizing the books she carelessly tossed all over the ground.
"Can I go back upstairs now?" I asked after placing the books back in their places.
"Do as you please," she said inattentively, waving me away. Before I could turn around and leave, she then added, "And take your cello with you. It's taking up too much room at the front door."
"My cello?" I said, looking at her puzzled.
"It's from Kaname. The note says that it was yours and that it was beginning to become a burden to them. It's a piece of junk if you ask me. Dispose of it if you're not going to keep it."
"Oh…" I trailed off, still quite confused. I commented no more and walked to the front door of the manor. The black cello case was set leaning against the wall next to the two wooden doors. I observed the outer casing for a moment, still wondering why Kaname would bother sending this to me. It just seems so…random. I set the case down against my bed once I entered my room and shut the door. Laying it flat on its back, I released the locks and opened it up. I gently smoothed my fingers over the shiny woodwork of the instrument. "I haven't played this in years," I thought to myself. There was a folded piece of paper stuck in between the strings.
"You forgot your instrument," the note read.
"My instrument..." I repeated the phrase, sensing some sort of awkwardness in those words. Taking the cello out of its case, I sat on my bed with the string instrument in position. With my left hand on the neck, I strung my first note with my index finger. My forehead scrunched together. "That…didn't sound right…" I thought aloud. I strung it again and again, and yet each time the notes were incorrect. I brought it up to my lap, preparing to retune it but suddenly paused. The more I looked at it, the more I felt like I was overlooking something. That was when a thought suddenly hit me. I immediately got up and retrieved one of the white towels from the closet. With the body of the cello wrapped in the fabric, I set it on the carpeted floor and crushed the beautiful wooden player with the sole of my foot. Kneeling back down, I removed the towel and brushed away the broken pieces.
"My instrument," I smirked to myself, picking up the sword.
I hope this chapter was to your satisfaction. Thank you for reading :)
