Chapter Six
Kaname stood as still as a statue, scrutinizing Suzume with a masked face. To Suzume, it seemed Kuran did nothing but hide. It seemed he hid behind pawns he manipulated into doing his bidding. Suzume herself was ashamed to be a part of that, but she couldn't back down now.
"I trust you are keeping a good eye on my Yuuki?" he inquired casually. "How is she feeling?"
Suzume shifted in the leather upholstered chair. She couldn't help but want to ask why he had to ask her. Why couldn't he ask her himself?
Apparently reading her thoughts, Kaname answered them indirectly, "You see, there are things that keep Yuuki and I apart. The way it is now, there are borders. One day, however, they will break, and I will be with my girl." An emotion Suzume guessed was love gleamed openly in his eyes for a moment, then disappeared, leaving a cold stare.
"I see," was all she said.
Kaname strolled behind the Chairman's desk, running his graceful fingers across the surface. "I hear that you and Kain are developing a bond," he commented, no hint of anything within his voice.
Suzume couldn't help but blush. "We are friends," she stated flatly.
His eyes flashed to hers, a daring tone in his voice as he responded, "Since when are vampire hunter's friends with vampires?"
She didn't reply, turning her gaze to a crack on the beige colored wall. Her eyes followed the crack to the ceiling as she refused to look at the deceptive demon in front of her.
He had a point, she had to admit. But Suzume was changing, and so were her opinions. She was still just learning to accept herself, even after Kazuo's death. She was eternally grateful for her brother for showing her how.
Kaname sighed. "Well, taking into the consideration of tomorrow night's dance and the dead Day Class student, I would like you to follow Yuuki around even more. And I would prefer if you would not let her out of your sight until the culprit to the incident is found. Is that understood?"
She bit her tongue, tempted to lash out at him for talking to her like a child. Suzume had begun noticing her emotions and words were spiraling out of control. She was losing grip on her trained ability to hold her tongue and to think before she acted.
Suzume rose and forced herself to say, "Yes, Kuran-senpai." She turned to leave.
"Oh, one more thing…" Kaname's voice halted her.
She faced him again, waiting.
Surprisingly there was a jubilant, however small, smile that touched his lips. "Kain, I believe, has bought you a present for the dance. I would like you to accept it."
This time she couldn't hold back her words. "And you believe I will listen to what you say? I am only here to protect Yuuki. Trivial things such as gifts are not within your rights to command me." Her voice raised only a little, but she managed to stay level.
She knew that if she didn't say a word and was dismissive about it, Kaname would record it in his mind as a sign of weakness. He would see it so that Suzume was his to control fully. She couldn't accept that at all.
He nodded, gazing out the window. "I apologize. Allow me to rephrase that. I would like you to accept Kain's gift. It would please him very much, and I only say this because he is a close, dependable ally."
"Not a friend?" her mouth moved without a thought.
There was a pause, until Kaname said, a hint of sadness and regret touching the edges of his tone, "You should leave now, Kato. Yuuki and Zero are by the fountain with Kain and Aidou. Kain looks lonely without you."
Blushing and partially despising herself for blushing, Suzume ran out the door and down the stairs.
As she reached the fountain, the four of them turned to look at Suzume. She could see Zero's now perceptive and alert eyes acknowledge her agility as she ran toward them. She could tell by the way his gaze had hardened. He was definitely remembering.
She stopped and asked, "Any reports?"
Aidou licked his lips. "Yes. I am hungry." He took a challenging step toward Suzume. "Very hungry."
Yuuki opened her mouth to berate him, but Zero beat him to the punch. "Shut up, monster. Stop playing around." He turned on his heel and stalked away.
Yuuki's eyes darted between the vampires and then Zero's escaping figure. She nodded to them all, then ran off after him. Suzume knew she should follow, but she had to speak with Kain. She felt they still had things to discuss.
Aidou sighed sadly. "Oh, Yuuki smelled so good. I guess you will have to do for now, new guardian."
"Stop, Hanabusa," Kain's low voice growled. "I would like to talk to Suzume alone, if you don't mind."
Aidou's mischievous eyes shifted between the two of them. Then, with a nonchalant shrug, he retreated into the shadows of the looming forest. "I will continue my search, then." His voice echoed throughout the courtyard as he disappeared.
Kain sat on the edge of the fountain, one long leg crossed over the other. Suzume, despite denying it herself, wanted to be next to him, to feel his cold skin and stare into his enamored eyes.
But she couldn't find it in herself to go so close to the fountain. Just by being nearing it she could feel the bloody water that had stained her from before.
"I-I want to thank you for listening to my story the other night," her voice broke the silence. "I wasn't sure what came over me, but I knew I was ready to tell someone. And, as foolish as it sounds, my heart told me to tell my story to you." She gave him a genuine smile and sat at his feet, reaching up and placing her hand on his knee.
His head was lowered, his flaming hair hid his eyes. He started shaking his head slowly, but it soon progressed violently until he raised his face.
His expression was beaten, torn. Kain made a fist and slammed it down beside him, sending a crack through the fountain. "Damn it all!" he shouted. "Why did your heart tell you to do a stupid thing like that?!"
Suzume, taken aback by his reaction, withdrew her hand. "What…do you mean?"
He jumped up and paced in a circle. "I mean that you shouldn't have told me anything! Suzume! You are so smart yet you had failed to realize the truth!" Suzume glimpsed a few glistening tears slide down his alabaster face.
"What truth?" A sense of trepidation sunk her stomach. There was a part of her that already knew.
He simply looked at her.
Suzume, after a moment, looked away. "Are you saying that it was all an act? You toyed with me? It was all fake." Suddenly her heart began to hurt. Gripping the folds of her skirt, she forced herself not to cry like a weakling.
But Kain instantly had his arms around her, wrapping her in a cold embrace that felt more warm than Suzume would have liked to realize. He was on his knees, holding her tight.
"No. It was never, never fake at all. Everything was real. It's-It's just that….."
Suzume was not an airhead. She could put the clues together and, after all, it had been her first assumption when Kain continued to chase her. "Kaname is using you. He noticed you were interested, and he wanted to see what information he could get about me from you," her tone was soft and wavered as she spoke. "So, everything I had told you last night….."
He breathed into her hair, "I must tell him. I am sorry. He is a pureblood, and…."
"Everyone must obey the pureblood." She placed her hand on his cheek and pushed away.
Still keeping his arms around her, Kain's eyes begged for forgiveness. They were desperate and lamenting. Suzume couldn't help herself. Her instincts as a hunter were shoved aside and gagged as she lunged for his lips.
His lips were still against hers for a moment, but that moment didn't last long. He too threw himself into it, moving his mouth gently against hers in a slow, rhythmic motion. Suzume felt one of Kain's hands cup the back of her head as he tilted her backward. The other supported her arched back.
The kiss was as it was supposed to be. Suzume could feel it all- the tingles, the goose bumps, the uncontrollable urges, and even the racing heart. Her fingers slid themselves through his feathery hair as the kiss intensified. Suzume pressed herself against his cool body, desires screaming for them to mold together, to become one.
Kain's kisses moved to her neck, making her shiver as his lips brushed her collarbone gingerly. He licked her neck and soon enveloped it with his incessant, brushing lips.
Suzume could hear the far off warning of the hunter within her. At first, she planned to ignore it, but she knew she couldn't afford to be so mindless and stupid near a creature that could kill her, no matter what feelings he or she had.
Just as his mouth made a move to cover hers again, she turned her cheek. Yet Kain didn't get the hint. He kissed her cheek, trailing a whole line to her jaw and behind her ear.
She pressed her hands against his chest, however pointless, and said through her panting, "Enough."
He stopped, panting also as he gently unwound his limbs from hers. Scooting away, Suzume could see his ember colored eyes were as fiery and alive as ever. He closed his eyes and whispered, "It's a good thing you stopped me."
She blushed, rising slowly only to find her legs shaking from excitement. She didn't respond as she glanced around, embarrassed at the thought that someone could have seen them. How had she lost her self-control like that? Shaking her head, Suzume knew her training as a hunter was flying out the window. She couldn't, and didn't want to, hold onto it any longer.
Kain then rose, a smile on his face. "The dance is tomorrow night. I would like you to wear the dress I bought for you."
Stilling feeling lightheaded and unsteady from the kiss, Suzume replied, "I can't. My class chairman told us that we will be the set up committee."
He raised a mocking eyebrow and responded, "Well, you will have to be the best dressed committee member."
"Kain…." she sighed, then paused as his shocked expression halted her.
Another smile curved his lips as he said, "You said 'Kain'." His expression was one of victory as he turned to leave. "Please, just wear the dress. It is in your closet." And, in a blink of an eye, Kain disappeared.
Suzume stood there, staring into the suddenly still, quiet night. Mist hung in the air as she marched back to the school trying not to reflect on how Kain had managed to slip the dress in her closet. She tried even harder not to think about the heated kiss….Or how it had made her feel.
It was different than her first one, which had been with Ichiru. He had simply pecked her on the lips, sweet and innocent. But, both kisses had made her heart feel and beat the same.