It was quite saucy where we left off, no? The writer within me forces me to write excessively about each new idea I get, so sometimes this story might seem to have more character development than plot development (and I sincerely hope you readers don't mind it). I hope you enjoy this chapter nonetheless!
Review Replies:
Step824: Thanks for the review! (: Actually you're the first person to actually include in your review your dislike of the Shounen Ai. To be honest, I actually don't like it too much myself, but I was trying to work with a larger range in audiences—don't worry though, the main focus will be on Miku and Kaname! (: I have a lot of planned plot twists. . .so you'll probably end up forgetting that Haru and Natsume are a gay couple! Ahahahahah. . .imagine them as a girl and guy (respectively) for now—if it repulses you that much.
CLayDOH: *clears throat*. . .I can't help but agree with that last comment—even if it was a joke. (heart)
Wolf and Leopard: I'm glad I've got another reader hooked! :D Please stay with me until the end (heart). By the way, I never really ruled out searching up the answer to the question. In fact, it's cool that you did (shows how much you wanted this chapter~). I actually googled it myself to see if the answer popped up and well it's a tad difficult to find it. You'd have to actually play the games then search up the song to find it. But the full answer—in case you were wondering—is that it appears in the otome game Starry Sky ~In Winter~ and is played by Hayato Aozora. (heart)
Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to Vampire Knight. Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino. I own only my plot and my OCs.
"Normal speech"
'Thoughts'
"Flashback yumminess"
Chapter 5: Regrets
Miku heaved a sigh. She wasn't quite sure that what had just happened was a good or bad thing. Just thinking about it made her heart throb. She was back in the room she woke up from when she had fallen unconscious earlier.
As Kaname took a few seconds to continue breathing down her neck, Miku had realized he was simply toying with her. However she couldn't quite tell if he realized her feelings for him. It didn't seem like it. If anything he might just be trying to make her freeze in fright to reiterate the fact that he didn't want anyone knowing that he had devoured Shizuka. Toying or not, she still felt stiff as a board. Finally ending her torture, he whispered into her ear, "I didn't intend on anymore blood-spilling—if that's what you were thinking. Good night, dear sister," as he sauntered off into the darkness of the hallway.
Miku looked at the eerily red moon that was surrounded by wispy clouds from the window. She glanced down at her sais which were reflecting some of the moon's light. The sais' passive glow shared a tint similar to that of redness of the moon and reminded her of blood, despite it looking far from it.
"Hey Kaito… Do you think our relationship would be different if you were still alive?" Miku spoke softly to herself as her grip on the sais tightened slightly. The coldness of the metal put her at ease, but on a night like this she couldn't help but remember the person who gave them to her.
"Nice to meet you, Miku! My name is Kaito Khrushchev-Iwamoto. I hope this will be a successful partnership!" Miku felt her vision blur with tears as a series of flashbacks began to roll through her mind. Miku mentally scolded herself for being so teary all of a sudden, but it didn't halt the moisture forming in her eyes.
Despite it being a little over four years since she had met Kaito, she could still remember every single one of her memories of him, and each were crystal clear. Miku's tears now streamed freely down her face.
"You're really quite an interesting vampire, Miku. I never thought there'd be a pureblood that would actually work for the Vampire Hunters' Association." Kaito spoke nonchalantly while walking backwards besides Miku.
"Don't underestimate me, Khrushchev. For now you're only my temporary partner, so let's just say you know nothing about me." Miku glared at the boy. He was likely around her age, had an aloof, playful nature, and apparently (according to her superior) was an excellent vampire hunter for his age. She wasn't convinced at all though. He just looked like he was playing games and not even trying to do his job.
"Well, at least I know I'm lucky to have such a skilled partner! I won't have to worry about dying this way!" He grinned, "Another plus is that you're pretty cute, too."
Miku blushed, "H-Hey! Focus! We're on a mission."
Despite initially being annoyed by him at first, Miku steadily grew closer to Kaito. Their temporary partnership became permanent and as a result of being on so many missions together, constantly protecting each other's back, they had become the best of friends.
"Miku! Watch out!" Kaito yelled towards Miku who was already surrounded by three level-Es as one more crept down from a building, aiming to rip her head off. He agilely spin around her with his sais poised outwardly and consecutively sliced the three level-Es around her in halves as she crystallized blood from one of her wounds into a blade to behead the fourth vampire.
"Thanks." Miku grinned, her hair matted and clothes soaked with blood.
"I'd probably accept those thanks more sincerely if you didn't look like the Grudge." Kaito snickered.
Miku absentmindedly reached for the pin in her hair as the tears on her face continued to flow down in small rivulets. Now that she thought about it, many of her most valuable possessions reminded her of Kaito.
"Damn it, that level-E snapped my pin in half…" Miku looked dejectedly at the broken butterfly hair pin in her hands. She had really liked that pin too. Not only was it pretty, but it was Kaname's first gift for her. Her shoulders convulsed as she tried to choke back a sniffle.
"Hey… Miku…" Kaito gave her a concerned look, knowing that the hairpin was really valuable to her since she always used it. Kaito thought for a moment and grinned as an idea came to his head. He lightly tapped her should and told her to stay put as he ran off around the corner of the street to a nearby jewelry vendor. Less than five minutes later, he ran back and tapped Miku's shoulder as she wept about the broken pin while covering her face. "I know it's not as fancy as the hairpin your brother gave you, but at least you can use this until you get that one fixed! It's not really expensive or anything either… so you can toss if after if you want…" Kaito looked away nervously while handing her the pin.
Miku looked up towards him with her tear stained face and smiled vibrantly, "Thanks, Kaito! I love it!" She looked at the pin fondly. It had a simply design that was both elegant, yet not gaudy at all. It was a monochrome flower. She quickly used it to pin her hair up in a bun and then went to hug Kaito, "It's pretty right?"
"Y-Y-Yeah really pretty…," Kaito stared at Miku while blushing. Rather than calling the pin pretty, the compliment was aimed more towards the girl currently cutting off the circulation in his arm as they walked back to headquarters.
Long after she had gotten the butterfly hairpin fixed, she still continued to wear the one Kaito had given her. Miku sighed deeply as she laid on her bed. She had finally managed to stop crying, but she was sure that her dreams tonight would only be nightmares.
It was a rare, peaceful night for Miku and Kaito. For once they didn't have a job to do and had decided to spend Christmas Eve together. The snow was light and melted before it reached the ground, but it was still quite cold. Miku walked into the den of the cabin they were currently staying at with two mugs of hot chocolate. "Here, Kaito, careful it's still hot."
Kaito gave a nervous glance towards Miku and distractedly drank the hot chocolate without heeding Miku's warning about it being hot. He yelped as the liquid scalded his tongue.
"Gosh, Kaito! You klutz!" Miku ran into the kitchen to get him a cube of ice to cool his tongue. "I even just told you it was still hot!" Miku sighed exasperatedly, but still ended up giggling a bit at him.
"Sh-shut up! I was thinking about something!" Kaito blushed and gripped the blanket that he was wrapped up in.
"You THINK?" Miku asked sarcastically.
"Y-Yes I think!" Kaito glared.
"You think that you think?" Miku continued to tease him.
"Oh shut up you troll." Kaito now hid his face with the blanket.
"Make me."
"Why youuu…!" Kaito tackled Miku. They ended up romping around the cabin floor for ten minutes like little kids and laughed at themselves for it afterwards.
"Oh! Your gift!" Miku got up and ran upstairs and then back down while carrying a small box with her. She enthusiastically shoved the box into his arms, blushed while giggling like an idiot, and then curled up in another blanket besides him in front of the furnace fire.
Kaito looked at the box uncertainly for a moment and asked, "It is life threatening?"
"NO!" Miku jabbed him in the ribs, pouting at his insult.
"Owww. You didn't have to hit me!" Kaito whined as a small tear formed in his right eye from the pain. He carefully unwrapped Miku's present and opened the box. It was a silver pocket watch with an ivory chain and an engraving on the inside cover. "To Kaito: Hoping that we, along with this watch, will see many more Christmases to come. Love, Miku." Kaito blushed, as it seemed like Miku was the one proposing instead of himself.
"You always seem to lose track of time… so I thought a watch would be useful to you…" Miku smiled sheepishly.
"It's wonderful, Miku. I hope we end up spending many more Christmases together, too." Kaito hugged Miku. "I…I have a gift too!" He reached into his coat pocket and presented her with a small, dark blue velvet box.
"Wait… that couldn't be a…" Miku stared intently at the box.
"I don't want to only spend Christmases with you though; I'd like to spend a lifetime… Miku… we've known each other for 3 years now… and I know this is only a little time compared to how much you're going to end up living… But for me, it was enough time to realize two things: that I cherish each and every moment I've shared with you and that I'd like to spend the rest of my life with you." Kaito's gentle voice chimed in her ears. Despite him having only spoken in a murmur, the emotion that resounded from his voice was too powerful to be put into words. He slowly opened the box to reveal a simple, but elegant ring that had a silver band and was adorned with a small princess cut sapphire surrounded by two similarly cut pieces of clear quartz on each side of it.
"I… don't know what to say… I mean I'm… a vampire… a pureblood… what if I turn on you or something." It wasn't petty doubts like these that were hindering Miku's ability to accept Kaito's proposal though… It was her lingering affections for Kaname that made her doubt her ability to be completely dedicated to Kaito.
"I'm quite sure my love for you would easily conquer those doubts," Kaito laughed lightly, "I don't wish to put you on the spot—though it might be a little too late to say that now—you can take your time to reply. To be honest, I'm a little scared of how you're going to reply, too. My heart is thumping so loudly in my ears that I can barely hear half of what I'm saying…!"
Miku smiled weakly, "I think I'm going to go sleep now, Kaito…" She began to ascend the stairs and Kaito followed, only to abruptly grab her hand and lean over to give her a peck on the cheek, "Mistletoe." He pointed upwards at the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling at the foot of the stairs.
"Good night!" Kaito chimed as he climbed up the stairs, past a stunned Miku.
"Sweet dreams…" Miku whispered while blinking, dumbfounded.
If only she at least gave him a reply back then… Now… Now she would only be left with regrets. Miku rolled around in her sleep, her nightmare accelerating to the peak of disaster. It was a dark memory that she would constantly relive through her dreams. A dark memory which forever fueled her hatred for level-Es.
"MIKU! TO YOUR LEFT!" Kaito shouted as he narrowly dodged a level-E that was about to gouge out his neck. He sliced through several level-Es at a time with his sais, but somehow the amount seemed to never end!
"Got it." Miku pelted multiple vampires with mini daggers of her crystallized blood, turning them into Swiss cheese. "Kaito! Above you!"
Kaito sprung to the side as a couple vampires corkscrew dived right at him from above. More level-Es seemed to go after Kaito since they didn't feel the pureblood vampire pressure from him which exuded off Miku. "God damn! These things are like tics and flees!"
"Kaito less talking!" Miku formed a giant spear of blood this time, but didn't realize she drew too much blood. As she attempted to skewer several more vampires, her vision blurred from loss of blood and her knees buckled. The level-Es quickly noticed the opening in her defenses and went after her all at once.
"Oh no you don't!" Kaito jumped in front of them and began to slice at them, taking down a couple vampires with each swing of his arms.
"S-Sorry, Kaito," Miku struggled to stand straight to skewer vampires. "I didn't realized I used too much blood."
"Drink my blood, Miku." Kaito gave her a stern look, while still hashing away at level-Es.
"N-NO! I refuse!" Miku collapsed to her knees again.
"Look! You can barely stand! Just drink my blood, I'll live. It's not like I'll turn into a vampire! That requires an exchange of blood doesn't it?" Kaito narrowly dodged another vampire's attack.
"But these vampires aren't letting up! You could get hurt while I'm drawing blood!" Miku once again struggled to get back up. "We need reinforcements! I don't understand it. Where are they all coming from?"
"Miku, trust me, I can handle it." Kaito gave her an assuring smile as he gutted another vampire. Miku gave a grim look in a reply and built up a temporary barricade of her crystallized blood. Kaito glared at her while popping open his collar buttons so that she could be able to draw blood from his neck. "Miku, you idiot, you're going to waste more blood like that!"
"This will protect us from those savages for at least a few minutes—careful this might hurt a bit." Miku plunged her fangs into Kaito's neck. His eyes clamped shut in pain as his finger nails dug into his hands. Miku stopped at the sight of him in pain, but he turned his head up towards her and motioned for her to continue.
"I-It's not really you drawing blood that hurts—in fact, although I bet it's a vampire thing, it actually feels pretty good—just the part where you gouge into my flesh hurts like hell…" Kaito laughed lightly. He grimaced slightly as she continued to draw blood from him. It didn't hurt that much. After a couple minutes, it becomes more of a numbing pleasure, but the idea of him actually enjoying this made him feel like a masochist. It felt weird to hate vampires in general, yet love a vampire at the same time.
"That's enough." Miku retracted her fangs from his neck and lapped up the remaining blood, as her saliva immediately worked towards sealing the puncture wounds. "Sorry, Kaito…" She felt horribly guilty, as now he'd probably going to be the one having a hard time standing up.
"It's okay Miku, we can't have you fainting on the battlefield. Don't worry, I'm a pretty strong guy—" Kaito was stopped mid-sentence, as a clawed hand was driven right through his chest. When they hadn't noticed, a level-E had breached the blood barricade and had crept up on them. Kaito coughed up blood and fell forward as the vampire retracted its arm.
"KAITOOO!" Miku cried out. In a mad fury, she clawed through the head of the level-E with her bare hands. At that moment, the barricade was crashed by the rest of the multitude of level-Es. Miku glared at them, her red violet eyes glowing under the light of the red moon. Her pureblood powers now reached its peak, as she single handedly decimated all the vampires at once by manipulating their blood. Simultaneously in each vampire, she caused the blood to crystallize and spike outwards, skewering them from the inside out. Tears of blood flowed from her eyes after using her powers on such a large scale. She shakily crawled over to Kaito's body and turned him over so that he could face her. The overwhelming scent of the large puddle of blood that surrounded him made her head feel light.
"…M-Miku…y-you're crying…again…" Kaito weakly reached up to wipe a bloody tear from her face.
"Kaito! No… don't speak… save your energy…" Miku continued to cry while gripping his hand.
"It…d-doesn't really…m-matter… I'm g-going … to d-die… at this… r-rate…" Kaito reached into his pocket for the ring box, "H-here… Miku… I know… y-you still… h-haven't r-replied t-to…m-me y-yet…but I w-want…you to h-have it… My s-sais too… I know you'll take g-good care of…th-them…" He coughed out more blood.
"NO! I can still save you! Let me turn you into a vampire! I've already drunk your blood! Half the pact is complete! H-here," Miku slashed at her wrist, "D-drink this… Hurry!"
"…N-no…" Kaito shook his head weakly, "I d-don't…w-want…to be a v-vampire…"
"But then you'll live!" Miku cried out.
"I w-won't be…happy…h-hating myself…whenever…I l-look… at my own r-reflection…" Kaito gripped the pocket watch Miku had given him for Christmas, "I…d-don't want my t-time to…st-stop…"
"It… it will stop either way!" Miku's tears would not cease… watching the person who was the closest thing to a lover that she's ever had die… She even thought dying herself would've been less painful.
"M-Miku…be h-happy…I still…l-love you…f-forever…" Kaito whispered as the arm Miku was gripping went limp.
Why? Why didn't she tell him that she loved him? Surely, if she had simply accepted his feelings, she would've gotten over Kaname eventually… So then why? What kept her so dedicated to Kaname? Miku shuddered while in her sleep, tears once again flowing down her face.
Meanwhile a figure watched her from the darkness, melancholy burgundy eyes staring at Miku's crying face. The figure reached over to wipe the tears from her face as she slept. "Who or what could you be dreaming of to make you this torn apart, Miku?" It was the gentle voice of Kaname with a tone that contained more concern than he'd care to admit. Perhaps there was also a bit of jealousy, too.
"Miku… No offense, but you look terrible!" Zero snickered at Miku whose face had two large puffy bags perched beneath her eyes. It was morning now, about an hour before Day Class started. Miku and Zero were leisurely chatting while Yuki prepared for class.
"I suppose that's what I get for crying all night," Miku covered the outrageous red mounds of skin, "If I cover them, I look better right?"
"Crying? How come?" Zero gave her a concerned look, "Yeah, you do, but I don't think you'll be able to keep that up all day."
"I had a bad dream." Miku sighed, absentmindedly touching the ring Kaito gave her. After her memory revisiting the night before, she had decided to actually put the ring on her finger instead of wearing it on a necklace around her neck. Sure, it looked slightly odd that she seemed married now, but she didn't care. After all, today is the anniversary of the day he died. She had nearly forgotten after all that's happened recently.
Zero stared at the ring perched on her finger, "…Are you married? Since when? Aren't you a little too young?"
"Woah, one question at a time, Zero," Miku laughed lightly, "No, I'm not married, I'm only engaged."
"ENGAGED? To who?" Zero exclaimed. It wasn't surprising Miku was engaged—she was quite pretty and had a good personality—but it was…out of the blue.
"To Death." Miku smiled sadly.
"Wait… You're not going to die soon are you?" Zero's eyes narrowed.
"Who knows?"
Despite her having had the same terrible nightmare that had reoccured several times before, Miku couldn't help but feel that this time it wasn't quite as bad. It felt as if a comforting presence had appeared and stayed with her while she slept.
And the plot thickens! …Okay maybe not the plot… Just more character development. Sorry this chapter was shorter than usual… Honestly I didn't really feel like putting much into it asides from a large blast from the past. (facedesk) I now realize that flashbacks are a major plot device for me… I hope they don't get too annoying. Sadface. Constructive criticism appreciated (on things besides my run-ons—those are just part of my horribly processed, 'descriptive' writing. ; v ; ). Typos that my beta and I miss can be corrected if anyone points them out!
Behind the scenes:
I wasn't really quite sure what to name Miku's best friend/almost-lover. Then my friend brought up Vocaloid and how whenever she read my fanfic she was reminded of it because of "Miku" from "Hatsune Miku"… Then me, being the quirky person I am, decided to name him Kaito. YOUSEEWHATIDIDTHERE? Ahahahahah…Just to be clear, I don't have any particular fondness of Vocaloid.
Clarification (things I felt the flashback didn't explain very clearly, but were too minute to really care about):
Miku met Kaito a little after she met Zero for the first time.
The current time is a little over four years after meeting Zero/Kaito.
Between that, she became partners with Kaito while working for the Vampire Hunters' Association (she's been working for them for a while).
After being best friends for three years, Kaito proposes to her (both Kaito and Miku are around 22/23-ish at this time). I really wanted one of those sweet sort of typical out-of-a-shoujo-manga type scenarios—but with a tragic twist.
I know that vampires are supposed to be nocturnal (and they still are in this fanfic), but Miku happens to sleep around 4 A.M.
Currently, Miku is 24 years old (by ways of human years) and like mentioned in her character profile, she appears to be 19.
Question: Why couldn't Miku just use her super awesome pureblood vampire powers to protect Kaito in the first place?
Answer: She's not experienced enough with her powers to use them at their full potential.
