A/N: Nothing really to note here. Just yeah

Disclaimer: I do not own Blood+

Day 2: A Day Apart

Saya awoke late and had to scramble to get ready for breakfast. Her classmates watched as she stumbled in sleepily to the dining room in the inn. For the most part, the boys didn't notice, but the girls reacted oddly. A few whispered to each other while another group giggled. Kaori and had saved her a seat by the end of the table, so she plopped down unceremoniously. Knowing Saya's appetite, Kaori had also loaded her plate with food in case the class supply ran out prior to Saya's arrival.

"Good morning, Saya!" Her friend greeted. The more curious classmates tried to feign a lack of interest, but the drop in their conversation betrayed their desire to listen to the conversation between Saya and Kaori. "How'd you sleep?"

"Good," Saya replied.

"You seem tired," Kaori informed her friend.

Unfortunately, Saya had woken up enough to begin devouring her food. Kaori knew it was a lost cause to try to get her to respond. The other girls went back to their conversations and Saya was saved from any further questioning for that moment.

Kaori dragged Saya up from the table and away from food as the teacher called them to the lobby to leave for their excursion. Although she was aware that Saya had been sleeping a lot lately, she didn't realize how bad it was. Saya was nearly asleep on her arm.

Today was worse than usual, and Saya was left to wonder if it was because she had forgone her usual small sip of Haji's blood. While Haji's disappearance helped her sleepiness, since his return her abnormal sleepiness had slowly begun to return. A small taste of his blood, transmitted through their good-morning kisses, tended to help her wake up. This morning, she hadn't gotten one. Maybe she could sneak a kiss in tonight.

After a short walk her class arrived at a museum, and Saya was reluctant to go in. She was sure that this part of Japan didn't have any negative experiences from her past, but then again she was also unaware of anything that had happened in Vietnam. She hoped that the worst flashback she would have would be the one she had to the field trip in Vietnam. Haji wasn't there in the case that she freaked out, so she would have to rely on herself.

Kaori was the one to pull her out of her anxiety by dragging Saya into the museum behind her.

Fortunately, this museum had to do nothing with war and strife. Instead it was filled with colorful props and costumes from traditional Japanese theatre. She walked with her classmates as their teacher as members of the museum staff performed demonstrations for the visitors to the museum.

"Saya?" A classmate asked. She turned. The other girls were trying on sample costumes provided by the museum. Saya had no idea what they were up to until they pulled her jacket off and began to drape heavy kimono layers over her.

Kaori laughed at the site of the much-too-large women's robes draped over her frame. They had been made for a male actor, so they hung off her. Kaori managed to grab Saya's phone so that she could take a picture. She tried to find Haji's number to send him the photo, but Saya managed to grab the phone back in time.

The class took a picture of all them dressed up on the stage at the museum. That would be a picture to remember. She sent it to Kai, instructing him to pass it on to Haji.

Afterwards, several girls from the class ended up at a traditional restaurant to eat lunch before the class attended an afternoon performance of a classic Noh play.

"Say, Saya," one of the girls, Satoko, said. "That hot guy at the airport works at your brother's restaurant, right?"

Kaori knew that they knew the answer from the spring last night, but it was yet to be seen if Saya knew.

Saya nodded.

"So you know him, then?" Rina asked.

One more nod.

"How well do you know him?" Satoko questioned.

Kaori wondered that as well; she knew Saya and Haji were incredibly close and probably lovers, but Saya had never directly confirmed it. If her friend was willing to do so, she wouldn't complain.

Saya blushed. "Pretty well," she said. Trying to stick to the official story despite being flustered and exhausted, she spoke. "He works for my father, but he lives with us."

Kaori realized much sooner than Saya that the last part of that statement would cause a lot of suspicion.

"Oh? He lives with you?" Satoko asked suggestively.

"Yeah, with Kai and I," Saya replied, realizing what she was saying. "But not like that! It's because he needs to save the housing costs and Kai needed extra help around the restaurant."

"I see," Rina replied. Satoko and Rina weren't good friends with Saya and Kaori, but they wouldn't be ones to press any issues like this for gossip. Still, Kaori wasn't convinced that either girl thought the living arrangement was innocent. To be fair, she wasn't convinced of it at all either. She hadn't seen any evidence of him in Saya's room, but none of his things were in the guest room either. Haji and Kai had lingering tension between the two (and not the sexual kind), so Kaori knew that Haji wouldn't be staying in Kai's bedroom.

"So he's from France?" Satoko asked, changing the topic ever so slightly.

"I don't know if that's where he was born," Saya said truthfully. "But he did grow up there."

"French men are sexy," Rina replied. "Maybe it's the language. It's so romantic."

Kaori jumped on this line of conversation, trying to draw the conversation further from Haji. If her friend was too private with their relationship to tell her best friend, and from what she could gather her own brother, she wouldn't force her now obviously uncomfortable friend to talk. "Isn't it? When I get the chance to go to Europe I really hope I'll find a boyfriend. If we hope to do that, we better start practicing now."

"Maybe Haji could help," Rina suggested. "Could you introduce us?"

"He doesn't speak enough Japanese," Saya said. "I doubt he could teach you anything."

"How did the teacher speak to him then?" Rina shot back.

"He's good at pretending he understands things," Saya replied. "He can be a bit of a jerk that way." She didn't like to admit it, but she knew he hated listening to anyone but her. He was getting better at conversation, though she knew he hated people with unnecessary control over Saya. That meant the Red Shield and Kai backing off their protective streak had led to Haji's improving relationship with them. Saya's teacher, however, would have definitely rubbed him the wrong way and there was no way to fix that in a week.

Satoko grumbled, and moved on entirely from trying to crack the riddle of Haji. Rina soon followed, and Saya felt a bit more yearning for her chevalier.

That night, after checking in with Haji (the meeting still watched over by her teacher), Saya got into the bath long after she'd assumed her classmates would be gone. She slipped into the water and stared at the stars, wondering if Haji saw the same ones from the opposite side of the fence. They had bathed together once at the Zoo, and he had helped her bathe several times since, but now that their relationship had become intimate once more the idea was embarrassing. The fact that her classmates could share the bath with her while her lover was separated only by a bamboo fence made the situation worse. Luckily, they weren't there to see her stare at the fence in contemplation or to see that expression turning to lust when she heard his elegant footsteps enter the men's side of the bathing area.

They were there to greet her as she returned to the room all the girls shared. If she hadn't been so quick to fall asleep, Saya was sure that they would continue to question her about her lover. While she was typically easy going, she had found that nothing annoyed her quite like those questions from her classmates.

Only two hours later, Saya was shaken awake by Kaori. The majority of the girls were asleep, but Kaori and a couple of nearby girls were awake and staring at her.

"Saya, are you okay?" Her friend whispered.

Saya's sleepiness didn't allow her to answer beyond a nod.

"You sounded like you were in pain! You were moving around quite a bit and a minute ago I swore you said Riku's name a few times," Kaori informed her. Saya didn't recall any nightmares, but it was rare that she did any more with how deep she slept. "I was going to have you go to Haji's room. The teacher said we were allowed to bring you there if necessary, and I think he can help you with your nightmare." Kaori neglected to mention that she technically had to chaperone Saya's visits, but she had no intention of doing so. If the two were doing adult things, Kaori didn't feel it was right to interfere.

"That's okay," Saya tried to assure Kaori and her fellow class rep that had appeared by Saya's futon. "I'm okay. I don't remember the nightmare. I'll be fine staying here."

"Yes, but we don't want you waking anyone else up. Your dream was rather loud and distressing," the other class rep explained. She forcefully helped Saya up and was prepared to drage her across the courtyard if necessary. The light behind a paper screen door revealed Haji's presence.

Without any knocking needed, Haji quietly opened the door and let the three girls in.

"You are welcome to stay as long as necessary. I believe there are extra futons in the closet if you need them," Haji told the class representatives. It wasn't what he wanted to tell them, but it was what was proper considering the school's strict policies.

"I trust you," Kaori said. "You wouldn't do anything to hurt her, and if Kai's correct about you being annoyingly proper, you won't do anything the teacher won't approve of." Honestly, Kaori wasn't sure of that, be she didn't care.

The other class representative looked a bit surprised at her fellow officer's statement, but conceded the point because she knew of Kaori's close friendship with Saya. "As long as you return her before 6:30, there should be no problem."

The representatives watched with envious eyes as Haji gently led Saya to the impeccably made futon and tucked her in with extreme care. He brushed her hair aside and fluffed the pillow to make sure she was comfortable. Soon enough they remembered that they were interrupting what could be considered to be a private moment and they snuck out of the room.

Only after he heard the sliding door lock shut did Haji dare climb in next to her and hold her small form. She may look vulnerable, but he knew she was far from it. She was the beautiful, strong woman he was proud to call his queen, and that meant that he would remain with her until the ends of the earth.

A/N: Chapter's a bit short, but it's what I could muster up in creativity and writing after the soul-draining stretch of quizzes and midterms. Ah, school.