((I really need a beta reader...i wrote this story after reading the first three novels, and when i was just getting into the story. for that, names may be wrong. please bare with me and tell my when that is such and i will take notice. be kind and review. constructive critisims is appreshiated but flames are not. i will likely ignore them. My spelling stinks and grammer is worse. enjoy
p.s i do not own Vampire Knight. i only Own Arashi))
Chapter 4:
It was Arashi's first night of "Guardian Duty." Day classes had been unbelievably boring, and the cold front that followed Zero wherever he went seemed to work the same way with her. The other students stayed away, except for Yuki, who took it upon herself to be as friendly as possible to the new girl.
Now, it was once again time for the nightly squeals and "Kyaaaaa's," and there was no storm tonight to drive them inside. Well, none yet, as Arashi was seriously considering summoning fire from the sky just to get rid of the colossal headache so many high-pitched noises were giving her.
"Must not kill screaming fan girls, must not kill screaming fan girls…" she muttered under her breath like a mantra. And they were definitely pressing their luck at this point.
The gates finally swung open and the Night class strode out in all their other-worldly beauty, and the screams and squeals culminated into a deafening roar. Arashi couldn't take it anymore.
Gathering up a very small portion of energy, she focused it into one very important, very loud word: "QUIET!!!!!!" Everyone froze. Turning a glare worthy of a ravaging wild fire upon those idiotic, fanatic fans, her voice dripping with venom, she ordered, "All Day class students inside, now."
There was no room for argument. After one final glance at the purely evil look in the new guardian's eyes, every single fan girl (and a few boys) sprinted back to the dormitories.
"Good job, Arashi! Way to keep order!" Yuki shouted across the courtyard. She had never seen the Day students respond that obediently, not even to Zero. Well, he came close, once, but it looked like this was one thing his big sister was better at than him.
"Please, no more shouting," Arashi whispered as she reached up a cool hand to ease the burning heat on her forehead. Small fevers sometimes accompanied her healing process for a day or two, but she couldn't afford to let anyone else know about that. Of course, she was already taking a pretty big leap of faith, trusting Aido to have the common sense not to mention her personal "distraction" to anyone else.
Meanwhile, the path of the hand moving towards her forehead was interrupted as another hand, much larger than her own, placed itself on her brow first.
"Wow, you're burning up!" that annoyingly peppy voice exclaimed. "You must be really sick if you couldn't even sense my prese…yluch!"
Aido's throat was caught in the extremely tight grip of the hand Arashi had been raising up to her face before his interference.
Choking this vampire, one she still needed to hurt for invading her room and personal space last night, was acting as a small bit of stress relief, but Arashi knew she'd be better off once he was in class and far away from her. "Keep your dirty vampire hands off me, or I'll reduce you to a pile of ashes."
After a short flight through the air, Aido landed in front of a very disgruntled Kain. "Come on," he drawled, lending a hand up to his cousin, who was gingerly rubbing his neck. "We're going to be late, and Kaname-sama doesn't look too happy."
Glancing over at the dorm president, Aido saw that Kaname was indeed sending an unusually strong death glare in his direction. So, after a small wave and wink at Arashi, who was ignoring him very convincingly, he dashed off with Kain, once again, following slowly behind.
Meanwhile, Zero and Arashi had turned back to their official duties as guardians. Several of the vampires looked more than a little perturbed over the new girl's treatment of one of their own.
Clutching the Bloody Rose gun in his pocket, a weapon capable of killing vampires, Zero shouted, "All of you, get to class now!
Softly fingering the handle of the dagger hidden in her left sleeve, Arashi added, "Tardiness will not be tolerated." Even with an immensely low-level aura, the vampires still outside knew that attempting to fight this girl would be a mistake.
As they grumbled and headed towards the classrooms, Arashi directed her attention to her fellow guardians, and found Kaname Kuran's hand resting on the head of one of them.
However, Zero, predictably, had already started making his way over to the pureblood, so Arashi figured she could turn in for the night and give her raging headache a chance to go away.
Five or six steps later: "Ditching your first night on the job?" Kuran was right behind her.
Stopping and turning to face the vampire, knowing she'd probably regret this later, Arashi half-heartedly asked, "Didn't Zero send you off to join the other blood-sucking freaks, Kuran?"
She was determined to make things difficult, even in her obviously weakened state. Brushing aside her insult and ill-concealed attempt to get rid of him, he continued, "Yes, but I thought tonight would be ideal for us to have our little chat. And it's 'Kaname.'"
"Not tonight, Kuran." The other night she'd claimed to be tired while really needing to stab herself to distract her fire powers. Tonight she was actually tired and feeling like collapsing. Such a severe injury usually required at least ten hours of sleep the night after.
Kaname softly grabbed Arashi's chin as she dipped her head and made to head back to her dorm again. Tilting her face to look back into his, he noticed just how pale her skin was.
"I think sooner would be better than later, if you're up to it," he tried to convince her.
Arashi grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand away from her chin. What was with the vampires here? Did this "peaceful" environment give them the delusional thought that it was okay to go around touching and hugging vampire hunters? If either Aido or Kuran had tried this anywhere but at Cross Academy, Arashi would have tossed their lifeless bodies into a filthy river by now.
Zero and Yuki were nowhere to be seen, so Arashi conceded. "Make it quick."
Under the eaves of the trees by the Moon Dormitory's gate, Kaname stated his case. "I know you're an Elemental, and you know I'm a pureblood. What are you doing here at Cross? Why did the Vampire Hunters' Council send you here?"
It was extremely tempting to throw the arrogant, stuck up, I-know-all vampire into another tree, but Arashi could play it cool if Kuran could. "Correct, correct, and what makes you think the Council sent me?"
Suddenly, a book seemed to magically appear from behind Kaname's back. He opened it to a bookmarked page and began to read, "Elementals: among the most dangerous of foes to vampire-kind; known to be born every few generations to families holding strong magic; ageless; almost impossible to kill; due to almost all being born to vampire hunting families, are known to be the most powerful weapons held by the Vampire Hunters' Council." After a short pause, during which Kaname allowed Arashi to clearly see why he had made the assumption he did, he finished with a flourish, "Alberto Roffmansky's Revised Edition of the Vampire Encyclopedia."
What Arashi wouldn't have given to tear this smart aleck limb from limb on the spot, but she kept her composure. "It's true that I have been a tool of the Council for most of my life, but when my teacher, the Council's other Elementals, were murdered, I decided to take my leave."
This little bit of information grabbed Kaname's attention. "Who would have the power to kill a group of Elementals? I doubt even I could do that."
The young girl couldn't help but smirk a smidge, but she tossed her hair to hide her face with a swift turn of the head. Arashi knew for a fact that Kuran could never hope to defeat one Elemental, let alone a small group, on his own power.
Time slowly crawled along as they stood there, but it felt like hours had passed to Arashi's throbbing head. She was starting to have a little more difficulty staying upright, and there was no way she was going to pass out in front of Kuran. Go unconscious in front of a pack of ravenous wolves? Sure, why not? In front of Kuran? Not a chance.
"Well, if that's all, Kuran, I'll be getting some shut-eye." This was it. She could finally escape. For a hunter, she sure did seem to run away a lot.
"Wait, Arashi, you still haven't answered my question," Kaname pointed out in that voice of his, dripping with authority and superiority. He was used to getting his way when he used that voice.
And it was beginning to annoy Arashi almost as much as Aido's antics. (Although, she might be able to get used to those. This she wanted to beat out of him.) "When you have enough propriety to address me as Kiryu we'll talk more." She walked back to her room, and this time no one tried to stop her.
Just as she reached for her door knob, however, the door opened, seemingly, of its own accord, until Kuran's head popped out from behind it. "Good evening, Kiryu. I just realized that I did have another matter to discuss with you."
"What is it with you vampires and barging into people's rooms uninvited?!" Arashi somehow yelled without raising her voice above a whisper.
Kaname's eyes flashed dangerously. "Has this happened before?" That would explain a lot.
"Many times," Arashi nonchalantly shot back, walking in, throwing her uniform jacket on the floor, and flopping on her back on the bed.
The confusion on Kaname's face was evident as he pressed, "Last night, there was an unfamiliar smell of blood in the air. I could only suppose it was yours and I would like to know what happened."
Kuran was always so sure in his assumptions, but at least he didn't seem sure enough to make Arashi suppose that Aido had spilled one of her secrets. "My blood, you say?" Withdrawing her blade, she drew a thin line along her left forearm, a tiny sliver of red barely visible. "Did it smell like this?"
She had the control of a hunter, not a hint of pain leaking through her stoic exterior, Kaname would give her that. The smell was strong, and he could almost taste the power behind it in the air. "Yes, it was you. How did it happen?" he repeated.
"A slip of the knife." Alright, that wasn't completely untrue. Arashi had "slipped" the knife into her heart. Still, letting him know about this could make things messy later. She needed to throw him off the scent, or, in this case, maybe onto it. "The way you're staring at it, I'm guessing you want a taste."
It wasn't a guess. She knew. Anyone could have looked at Kaname's eyes at that moment and seen the bloodlust. He stepped closer to the bed and the beautiful blood, ready for the taking.
"One thing, though: with your being a pureblood, it might be safer if you just lick the knife." Arashi held up the silver dagger to Kuran, the same dagger she had stabbed herself with and allowed Aido to lick. Oh, she'd let Aido lick it clean. Had she washed it after that? Well, that wasn't important at that moment. Besides, blood was blood to these monsters.
Night blood! She had to stop at least thinking of them as monsters. After all, her brother was one, and as long as they didn't go around stealing blood, she had no real reason to hate them. That was the Council's job.
The dagger was long gone from Arashi's hold. Kaname had spent a few moments staring at the magical red fluid glistening on the metal blade, but then he'd promptly licked away at it like a cat with a fresh bowl of cream. When the knife was clean, he carefully returned it to its owner.
"If you don't mind, you may be nocturnal, but I'm not." That was clearly Kaname's cue to go. But he stood there a moment more, hovering over her pale body, limp on the mattress.
Her blood, the precious few drops he'd drunk, made him feel so full, and at the same time so empty. He couldn't have his dear girl, Yuki. It pained him every day, but here, at last, was something that might ease that pain. He shouldn't do this to a human, even an Elemental, but it wouldn't hurt Arashi much, and he wouldn't leave any lasting damage.
Without s sound, Kaname eased himself onto the bed. Her exposed neck and the promise of her fire blood was just too much for him. He leaned across her body and bared his fangs at the vein whose pulsing flow was calling out to him.
"Kuran." She was still very awake, and that wasn't a greeting. That was a warning.
He slipped away from Arashi's body and stood. She still hadn't moved, but Kaname's heightened senses could feel how hard she was working to not kill him at that moment.
She grinned a little as she reprimanded, "You should really think more before you go for the nearest unwilling blood donor. What would Yuki have thought if she'd walked in on that?"
Arashi was right! What if Yuki had seen that, and… wait a second. How in the night did Arashi know that Kaname liked Yuki? That sneaky little hunter read his mind!
While transporting the fuming Kuran back to his room was a very agreeable option, Arashi knew she'd pay for letting her powers loose after such a threatening encounter with a sleepless night of reigning them back in. Besides, he was already walking out.
"I suppose I'll see you later, Kiryu," Kaname turned at the door and called back before leaving the room.
"I wonder why Kaname wasn't in class," vice-president Ichijo said to no one in particular.
This simple statement earned him a rather harsh glare from Ruka Souen, a very devout follower of Kaname-sama. Sure, everyone was thinking the same thing, but no one else had been stupid enough to voice it and give way to the possibility that maybe he had found something more important to attend to than his fellow vampires.
Ichijo mysteriously pulled out a volume of manga and pretended to be absorbed in it. Well, he didn't have to pretend for too long, and thus, he avoided Ruka's searing gaze.
Aido was feeling mischievous for some reason. "Maybe he went to welcome the new Kiryu!"
Many of his comrades were appalled. How could he suggest such a disgusting notion so happily? Kain shook his head. Here they went again.
Just about to make a dash for his room to escape the angry mob of vampires, Aido froze. He smelled something. It was so faint no one would detect it unless the scent had been imprinted on their memory at close range. He knew this particular smell.
Suddenly, Kaname-sama came into view. Souen breathed a sigh of relief, and Shiki tapped Ichijo on the shoulder, letting him know the coast was safe and he could put away the book.
No one asked the president where he'd been. They just followed him up to the dorm in silence, but Aido's mind was not so quiet. What was the scent of Arashi's blood doing on Kaname-sama's breath? Well, Kain was waiting for him to come up for bed right now, and the last thing he needed to do was arouse suspicion. But he would find out later.
Up in their room, Aido's desk, previously holding scientific journals and articles, was overflowing with every legend, myth, and scrap of information on Elementals. He'd finally finished all of it, and it had left no doubt in his mind.
Kain was almost asleep already, but he was still his cousin, and Aido felt he should know what they were being watched by. Besides, they shared everything they knew, with the exception of that thing Arashi would kill Aido for if he ever told anyone. "Kain, Arashi Kiryu is an Elemental."
Lazily opening one eye, Kain glanced at his cousin. Aido wasn't in joking mode. He was dead serious. Elementals were more like fairy tales than anything else to Kain, but he believed Aido, and that meant that the new Kiryu was packing some major power.
"Should we tell Kaname-sama?" Kain knew the obvious answer and was surprised to find Aido take a moment to actually think about it.
Kaname-sama probably already knew. In fact, that would explain why he was near her earlier, even though it still didn't explain the blood. "Yes. We'll tell him tomorrow morning."
Aido finally abandoned his books and jumped in bed, toying with the idea of popping in on Arashi and asking her what had happened. There were still a good two or three hours until dawn. On the other hand, she'd kill him if he came into her room again, especially with how sick she had looked.
