This is one of the stories I transferred over from my other website. (visit my profile for full details) I noticed with my other chapters that the formatting was unusual and it made the words come out close together. I shall get to work on fixing that up in the future. THIS chapter doesn't have that problem though, so please, read on!
Disclaimer: Vampire Knight and all its characters rightfully belong to Matsuri Hino-sama. x3
Beware of False Signals (part 3)
During the eve of St Valentines, Akane discovers that some of her classmates have decided to try their own luck at the person she secretly admires. This causes her to be momentarily troubled by this. At the same time, her best friend starts behaving strangely; warning her to ignore brief indicators that are easily misunderstood...
***
The day went by quickly and the students were abuzz with the Valentine's business throughout the whole day before, during, and after classes. The girls were especially excited about the evening event, when they would be allowed to give their Valentine's gifts to their beloved Night Class student.
"Yeah, right." I scoffed.
I was sitting at my table in the classroom just after class finished. Some people were leaving and some were staying behind to further discuss their plans.
"Hey, who are you giving yours to?"
"Kyah! I'm not telling."
"Oh, no. What if it tastes bad?"
"Hey, do you still have any more of that ribbon you used?"
Shindo was sitting beside me straightening the sheets on the desk to put into her bag.
"Everyone's chit-chattering away…" I commented, leaning back on my chair with my hands behind my head.
"They sure are!" Shindo smiled awkwardly when she responded.
I glanced at her and asked, "Shindo, are you giving chocolates to anyone?"
"UH?! That's-well…" she shook her head. "No, I guess."
"Huh…"
She was blushing slightly for some reason, though I decided to leave her to it and ask about it later.
Sighing, I leaned back further on my chair with my hands behind my head, and placed my feet on the desk in front of me.
"Um - Akane?" said Shindo.
"Whaaat…class is over anyway." I replied.
"I suppose, but um…you know it's bad luck to have shoes on the table.."
"Now now, Nadeshiko. You know I'm only an enthusiast at camera myths."
I winked at her, and she was forced to smile.
That's when I overheard another group of girls in the room talking about something that interested me.
"Hey, are you going to try that new phone charm?"
"Sure am!"
"It's a night class student, isn't it?"
"Yup!"
"Who?"
"Heehee…Senior Ichijo."
I flipped my hands out from under my head in surprise and ended up falling sideways with the chair.
"Heh, you TOLD me. So that means the phone charm won't work!"
"Oh, no. Not fair!"
*THUD*
"Ah - ! Are you alright, Akane?" Shindo asked as she ran to my side.
Feeling dazed and obviously embarrassed from my clumsy fall, I nodded at Shindo and quickly got up to dust myself down.
"I'm fine…" I said to her, as she was watching me with concern.
The girls from before had their attention to me. They stared in wonder, I glared back, and then they went back to their conversation.
"(Well, at least I know they won't be able to test it on him now. But why am I so worried about that?)"
Shortly after, Shindo and I left the classroom and started making our way back to the moon dormitory's gates. Halfway there, she suddenly stopped walking.
"Huh?" I turned around when I couldn't see her walking beside me. "Is something the matter, Shindo?"
She was staring at the ground in deep thought, before she looked at me and said "You leave first, Akane. I'll meet you there later." Then turned and ran back the other way.
"Hey, hold on!" I called.
"I'm sorry! Just wait for me there, okay?" she responded. It appeared she was heading back for the sun dorm.
"(Maybe she forgot something?)" I thought.
.....
Outside the moon dorm's entrance there were gates lined up, each one labeled with the name of a favored night class student.
"Alright now, everybody! Line up!" demanded Yuki, one of the student councilors running this event. Kiriyu stood next to her uninterestedly monitoring the place.
"Hey, you! Don't jump the queue!" she was shouting at some of the girls.
"Hey, Akane! Who are you giving chocolates to?" asked one of the girls lining up.
"Well, nobody. Actually, I'm only here to watch." I smiled goofily.
"Boy, you're no fun." She stared at me, unimpressed, then went back to lining up.
*KYAH KYAH KYAH*
...It was becoming dark, and the gift giving session was coming to a close.
"Wow, the crowd sure is enthusiastic this evening." I stated.
Later, I raised my camera in front of me to take a snapshot of the day class girls in all their love-struck splendor over the night class students. I paused; half-expecting Kiriyu to show up and present me with a speech on anti-camera-ism, but no silver blob appeared in front of the lenses. I lowered my camera.
"(That's weird…)" I thought, then glanced around and noticed Yuki glancing around too. Not in a 'supervising the area' kind of way, but in a 'where did 'SOMEONE' disappear to?' kind of way. "Hey, Councillor Cross!" I called.
She turned around, saw me, and walked up to me. "Akane?" she said, "Sorry to ask you this, but, have you seen Zero around?"
"No, I haven't." I replied. "Heh, I'm guessing you thought he left after having another argument with me?"
"Oh, no. Not at all!" she grinned. "Erm…well, maybe a little. It's okay. I'm sorry for bothering you!" she bowed, then went back to her student councilor duties.
"(Speaking of which…)" I thought, "(Shindo still hasn't shown up yet.)"
I scanned the area, anxiously looking for any sign of her, but found nothing. Nothing, until my eyes once again fell upon the face of the night class student whose kindness changed me on the day I first noticed him.
He was being friendly and accepting gifts from all the day class girls behind the gate marked with his name. I watched distantly, with interest, until I noticed his face change, as if he felt someone's eyes on him.
It didn't help when he turned his head and looked right in my direction. I went red in the face and quickly turned away to face my right, but when I glanced out the corner of my eye, I was tempted to look back again. And when our eyes met for just five seconds, he smiled and waved at me with his free hand-the other hand was holding presents. I didn't know what to think, so I responded by smiling-with embarrassment-and waving back, until his attention was turned back to one of other the girls lining up for gift-giving.
Unsure of what to do next, I left the gift giving session and made my way back to the sun dorm; I decided I'd wait for Shindo there. "(Hmm…I think I'm satisfied with my Valentine's present for this year, but what should I do about a repayment?)" I thought to myself, and I wasn't referring to my camera.
.....
It was…kind of late by the time Shindo finally returned to our dorm room.
"Where were you?!" I quickly slid off the bed I was sitting on and ran up to her. "You didn't turn up at all during the Valentine's gift giving session. I was totally worried!"
"Sorry about that, Akane." She replied, smiling sheepishly. "I had some business to finish."
I looked at what she had in her arms; one neatly wrapped and untouched box of Valentine's chocolate.
"Eh? Who were those meant for? The gift giving session is over, you know." I stated.
"Then let's not let them go to waste." She practically threw them at me and I was forced to catch it in my own arms to prevent them from falling. "Happy Valentine's, Akane!"
She was speaking awkwardly and rapidly. I watched her move to the other side of the room and sit on her bed, with her back facing me.
"Shindo…?" I set the Valentine's gift aside. "Speaking of Valentine's, Senior Ichijo waved at me today!" I flopped onto her bed, lying on my back. "You know, for him being too 'far-away' for me, getting a wave from him can be a pretty darn good present."
"Is that so…?" she replied, rather quietly.
"Yup!" I sat up and turned my head to her. "Although, I'm wondering how I should return the favor…"
Senior Ichijo of Cross Academy. The only things I know about him are that he's a member of the Night Class, the vice Moon dorm leader, and that Ichijo is his family name. A little while after he 'rescued' me from that argument I was having with Kiriyu, I took notice of him from then on. Over time…I started to really care about him. So, I want to learn more about him.
I frowned as I remembered how our eyes met, and how we exchanged waves.
"(But I can't even say anything to him…)"
For now, I'm happy with…just being able to watch him from afar, day after day.
"Hey, Akane." Shindo said suddenly, awaking me from my deep thought.
"Um – Yeah? What is it?"
"If someone were to give you some sort of signal, and you took it the wrong way…" she began, "Then when you try to repay them in reference to that same gesture, and they decline your compensation…"
"Shindo…?" My eyes narrowed as I listened, I watched her eyes become somewhat teary.
"What do you do then, Akane?!" she suddenly burst out, "What do you do after realizing how much you've just embarrassed yourself in front of them?"
I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Now now, Nadeshiko. Don't cry."
She brought up her hand to her eyes to prevent the brief tears from falling. "I'm not…"
I glanced at the box of chocolates left on the other bed. Then, it occurred to me.
"Shindo." I saw her eye-to-eye, and spoke firmly. "Who's the person who rejected your offer? Tell me their name and I'll give them a piece of my mind!"
"Lately, it's not like he's had enough of your pieces of mind already." She replied, only not nearly so clearly, her voice sounding much softer than she probably meant.
"What was that? Who…?" I asked.
She shook my hand off her shoulder and stood up. "Nevermind." She made her way to the dorm room's exit. "I'm going to head for the bathroom. I-I'm sorry for worrying you."
The door opened and she stepped outside.
"S-Shindo!" I called, but the door had already shut. I sighed as I went over to sit on my bed. "(What's up with her?)" I thought.
.....
I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep before Shindo finally returned from her bathroom break. As I turned over so that I faced away from her bed where she lay falling asleep herself, I heard her say "Akane, what I really meant about before…" I heard her move in her bed a little bit, and she finished with "…Senior Ichijo's wave to you, I just want to make sure you don't make a similar mistake."
"You mean…taking it the wrong way?" I asked, but got no answer. Minutes later, I realized she had fallen asleep, and sleep followed me minutes after.
***
Thanks for reading!
So, just why is Akane's best friend and roommate behaving the way she is?
What does she mean by the advice she is giving Akane?
Will Akane just continue her admiration of Ichijo from afar as a result of this?
One thing's for sure, the secrets residing in Cross Academy will have saved something very special instore for her.
Stay tuned for the next one! ^-^
