Disclaimer : No, I don't own Vampire Knight or Vampire Knight Guilty. I don't own the characters, either.

A / N :

Omg, I apologize! This is another late update! Much, much later than I would've liked. It's just that school's starting for me soon, and I'm busy rushing around trying to prepare. It doesn't really help when my friends are constantly calling me or appearing at my doorstep asking me to go out and hang with them. I hope that you guys will forgive me for updating so late! D;

Thank you to everyone who reviewed, by the way. I was very happy when I read them, and it made me want to update as soon as I could, so here's the next chapter! ;D

I hope that you guys will enjoy this. It'll give you some hint of answers towards Riku!

So read on, dear readers, read on...


Shitsuren.

A Vampire Knight fanfiction.

___"Broken Heart"___

CHAPTER S_E_V_E_N :

"Unanswered Questions."


DAY SIX.


I've been receiving glares the whole morning. How utterly annoying.

"Cross! Kiryuu!" The math teacher, Kasamatsu-sensei, barked as he slammed his large textbook down in front of Yuuki, who didn't even flinch. Her head was on resting on the desk, her hair sprawled out everywhere. You could see her chest heave as she took deep, even breaths. She nuzzled the desk for a few seconds and then sighed contentedly—I probably didn't want to know what she's thinking about.

Yori placed her hand on Yuuki's shoulder and shook her, attempting to wake the girl up. Fortunately, Yuuki snapped right out of her dream.

"Why are you leaving—" She stopped abruptly when she saw all the strange stares she was getting and the glare of the teacher. Instantly, she sat back down, ducking her head low. "Sorry, Kasamatsu-sensei," she murmured, sounding embarrassed.

Kasamatsu-sensei clearly wasn't in a good mood today, but when you look at it, he never is. The grimace on his face is never wiped off, and it's kind of interesting. He's only around thirty—he doesn't have that many wrinkles yet, and for someone that age, he doesn't really look that bad. You know, it's the usual—brown hair, brown eyes… Typical, but his broad shoulders made it look better.

Scowling, he slammed his textbook loudly against the wooden desk again. "Don't sleep in my class!" He snapped, turning his glare at Zero, who had bolted awake when Mr. Grouch first slammed the textbook down in front of Yuuki. Zero just looked back at him nonchalantly, almost like he was silently telling Kasamatsu-sensei to bring it on.

Funny thought—Zero and Kasamatsu-sensei in a physical fight? There's no doubt that Zero would be the one to come out victorious and completely fine. Kasamatsu-sensei might have a tough personality, but I highly doubt he's gotten trained in hand-to-hand combat like Zero has.

The corner of my lips twitched upwards when I imagined Zero and Kasamatsu-sensei poised to attack each other. It was quite hilarious, really.

Mr. Grouch snapped his glare over to me, slamming his stupid textbook down on the desk for the third time. "And you, Sasaki!" He growled. "Pay attention in class! If your grade in my class slips any lower you're going to fail!" As to emphasize his point on the word "fail" he slammed down his textbook.

Again.

I wanted to tell just grab the textbook out of his hands, pour ten bottles of oil all over it, and then tie Kasamatsu-sensei into a chair and make him watch as I burned his annoying little textbook alive. Let him suffer like how he makes everyone else in here suffer. It's a miracle he isn't dead yet with all the death glares we all give him behind his back. If he wasn't someone who would try and get you expelled, everyone would probably be throwing spitballs at him and throwing buckets of goop over his head.

I merely looked away him his glare. "Yes, Kasamatsu-sensei."

Who would pay attention to the most boring class in the universe?

He glowered at Yuuki, Zero, and I one last time before he walked back to the front of the classroom and began to lecture us some more about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…

Most, if not all, females I've seen this morning have glared lasers at me. I don't know why—I mean, I've never necessarily been liked by any of the girls, considering I'm anti-social and everything, but they've never glared at me like that before unless I'm doing my prefect duties.

Something about the Night Class or something is involved if they're so determined to kill me with their eyes.

After sleeping for the whole morning and afternoon yesterday, I woke up at around supper time. I had eaten, taken a shower, and then basically just fell back asleep until my alarm clock rang this morning, telling me to get my lazy butt up. I never thought that I'd feel so good—isn't it amazing what wonders sleep can do for you? I mean, really. I feel awesome—super refreshed.

By now, Yuuki and Zero had accepted the fact that I was back to my anti-social, regular self. Not regular as in how I was four years ago, but not the insane, brain-fried person I was two days ago. I don't know what Shiki and Ichijou thought—I haven't seen Ichijou at all. Shiki, on the other hand, didn't make it clear on if he still thinks I'm some freak, or if he knows I'm fine.

Speaking of which—Shiki's weird. Did I ever tell myself that yet?

Well, I just did.

There's just something about him—not sure what it is, and I'm probably never going to find out. Or maybe it's just me.

Feeling someone burn holes at the back of my head, I turned around and met a fierce glare of a female student. I didn't know what else to do but to glower back.

Didn't they get tired of squinting their eyes at the back of someone's head? I mean, I get tired of it after a while.

Eventually, I just gave up glaring at her. I could feel a ton of other glares burning my back and my head, so it was pretty much pointless. I glanced up at the clock at the front of the room, and realized that in about three seconds, we would be able to escape this classroom of hell.

Kasamatsu-sensei tapped the board with his white chalk loudly. He looked at us with the same scowl on his face, and then decided to torture us. "The homework due tomorrow is page two hundred sixty-seven numbers one to twenty, and then page two hundred sixty-eight numbers one to thirty-five."

Thankfully, the bell rang, and he waved his hand impatiently—he was probably eager to go check to make sure that all the teachers didn't lay a finger on his precious math puzzle he had in the teacher's lounge.

"Class dismissed."

Breathing a sigh of relief internally, I stood up and stretched my legs. Thankfully, we didn't have to gather our belongings, considering we never changed classrooms. Isn't it awesome how the different teachers come to us instead of us going to them?

"I'm glad it's time for lunch," Yuuki mumbled sleepily as she rubbed her eyes.

"Did you and Zero-kun have a rough time patrolling yesterday night?" Yori asked curiously, glancing at Zero, who was still sitting in his seat, leaning against the back of the large bench-like seats, his eyes closed. It looked like he was sleeping.

Yuuki nodded her head slowly. "Sort of—there were a lot of Day Class students this time since they found out Riku wouldn't be able to do her shift."

"Sorry," I apologized, blinking. I didn't know they had a hard time—I didn't even know how everyone found out I wouldn't be on patrolling duty. I don't recall telling anyone… It just goes to show you how news spreads like wild fire here.

Yuuki shook her head and waved her hand in front of her face. "No, no, it's not your fault," she reassured me, smiling tiredly.

I didn't believe her, but I didn't say anything. I looked around the room and noticed that none of the female students have left yet—they were standing up glaring daggers at me.

"Zero," I shook his shoulder, making his eyes snap open. "Lunch," I told him.

He scowled and swatted my hand away, pushing himself up. He looked grumpy—I don't think he's happy that I woke him from his nap. He and Yuuki both had bags under their eyes…

I sighed internally and my face twisted slightly for a second before it turned back to the blank, impassive face I always had on. I felt a new pair of eyes burning my skin away, so I looked up towards the source.

Blank lavender eyes met nonchalant cerulean ones, and I almost tripped over the leg of the long table.

He nodded his head in a greeting, lifting his hand up. "Yo," he said casually. He was leaning against the doorframe, one of his hands stuffed in his pockets. Needless to say—he looked completely beautiful.

A lot of the girls squealed and began whispering to each other.

"I wonder who he's talking to!"

"I bet you he's talking to me."

"Why do you think he's here?"

"He looks so cute!"

"He doesn't look cute, stupid. He looks sexy."

I almost banged my head against Yuuki's when I heard all the whispers. I looked around, confused. I had no idea who he was talking to, actually. Excuse me, but my first assumption was myself—I know, I'm shallow. But then I realized that the classroom was practically full still, so that means he could be talking to anyone.

I almost face-palmed myself for being an idiot.

When I looked up, I saw him blink. He pointed his finger at someone—it was in my general direction. But when you look at it, I'm standing right next to Yuuki and Zero. I looked behind me, blinking my eyes blankly as I searched for who he was trying to talk to. When I saw that nobody was behind me, I turned and shot dull looks at Zero and Yuuki.

A sigh or something escaped his mouth, and he pushed himself off the wall smoothly. He began walking towards the three of us, his footsteps hardly making any sound. I blinked at him, clearly not getting what was going on.

Shiki stopped when he was in front of me. He looked like he was going to say something, but Yuuki greeted him.

"Good afternoon, Shiki-senpai," she bowed at him respectfully. Zero just looked at him warily.

He nodded his head and them. "Cross-san, Kiryuu-san." He turned to look at me with a blank expression. "Are you blind?" He asked me nonchalantly.

"Pardon?" I didn't even bother greeting him this time.

"…Maybe you're just too much of an idiot to realize I was pointing at you," he mused coolly, staring down at me with that same, bored look on his face. Would that look ever disappear? I don't think I've ever seen Shiki smile or something. Seriously—all I see is that bored expression. Even when he's confused or surprised or whatever, the bored expression never leaves his face. It gets irritating sometimes.

"…" I didn't respond for a few seconds. I just blinked at him, not knowing what to say. I had a bunch of things to ask him, but eventually, I just settled for the typical, "What are you doing here?"

His eyes scrutinized my face for a few seconds. "What does it look like?" He retorted.

"It looks like you're trying to get me killed."

"I'm taking you out to lunch."

I choked on air, and if I had been drinking something, or eating something like mango pudding, the contents would be splattered all over Shiki, and that would've definitely been a sight to see. Unfortunately, I didn't have anything in my mouth, so I settled for almost spitting on him.

"You're what?"

His lips twitched into a minor grimace for a few seconds before they regained their normal position. "Taking you out to lunch."

"Out to—We can't leave school grounds," I protested indifferently. Ah—I can't believe I'm being an idiot. I may not be looking for a romantic relationship or anything, but damn. I didn't want to turn down the only self-proclaimed date with the oh-so-famous Shiki Senri.

He looked at me like I was an idiot. "We're going to eat lunch together," he rephrased himself, looking at me like he wanted to ask if I was satisfied with his answer now that he corrected himself.

"What? Why?" I couldn't help but interrogate him on this sudden… Er… Information? Because he wasn't really requesting it—by the way he said it, and how it sounded, it was clear I didn't have a choice. He would probably just drag me with him if I resisted him or something.

He shrugged his shoulders casually. "I wanted to talk."

"Talk to a slice of cheese." I blurted it out before I could stop myself. He looked at me, amusement in his eyes, but his face remained bored. Wracking my brain for a better reason, I gestured to Zero and Yuuki, both of which were just staring and listening.

"I told Yuuki and Zero that I would be eating lunch with them today."

But Yuuki didn't seem to see my desperation to not eat with Shiki. She quickly shook her head and waved her hands in front of her face, her red eyes gleaming. "No, no, Riku! You can go have lunch with Shiki-senpai, its okay. Zero and I don't mind."

I turned to Zero, hoping he could hear my silent plea of help. However, all he did was narrow his eyes at me almost in an accusing manner, like he wanted to ask me what the hell I've been doing the past two days to get Shiki here and offer to take me to lunch. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked at me, irritated.

"Whatever," he stated.

The thought running through is head is probably; Why the hell are you hanging out with one of those bloodsuckers?

I wanted to grab Kasamatsu-sensei's textbook, whack Zero unconscious with it, pour oil on both of them, and then set them on fire. Zero was either enjoying watching me suffer, or he was just really, really not hearing my silent screams for him to help me.

"Do you have any other excuses?" Shiki asked me indifferently, blinking his eyes.

"They weren't excu—"

"Then let's go." He probably knew I wouldn't be following him on my own, so he reached out and grabbed my wrist, dragging me along with him. I knew it looked weird, and to though it felt nice to have him hold my wrist, it was still uncomfortable and awkward.

"I can walk, Shiki."

At that, he let go and began to walk down the halls, ignoring the glares directed at me or the hearts given to him.

I noticed we weren't going towards the cafeteria. "Are you trying to kidnap me?" I asked him bluntly.

"No," he muttered. He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. "We're going to the oak tree."

"…Why?" I couldn't help but ask the idiotic question.

Shiki looked at me like I was missing the obvious. "The sun harms my skin," he told me flatly.

Ooooooh, right, right! 'Cause you know, Shiki's skin is completely gorgeous and flawless—you can't let him stay in the sun too long or it'll give him sunburn. And because he's such a great model, he can't risk anything like that happen to his precious face or neck, considering those were the only parts that weren't covered by the uniform.

Heavy sarcasm.

He should've just brought an umbrella or something.

By now, we had exited the building and were walking towards the specific area.

I looked around cautiously, noticing that nobody was around us. Well, there were people around us—his fan-girls were watching us from afar, but that didn't matter. They weren't close enough to hear what Shiki and I would say to each other, anyways.

"Shiki, why aren't you asleep?"

He didn't respond for a few moments as we continued walking. After a few moments—I realized being quiet was much better than talking—we were pushing away the thin branches of trees jumping over large tree roots or logs. It was a lot shadier here than when we were walking out in the plain sun. I could tell that the weather would change soon—it's become less sunny and a lot cooler.

When we finally reached the clearing with the oak tree in it, he disappeared in a flash of white and reappeared sitting casually under the shade in his usual spot. He leaned against it and looked at me when I just stood there. He gestured to the spot next to him—if you counted two feet as next to—and slowly, I made my way towards him, plopping myself down "beside" him.

He didn't seem to notice the distance I put between us, and he decided now, after around ten minutes, to answer the question I asked him. "Checking up on you—the usual."

"You don't have to." But I was definitely flattered.

"I do—you get yourself into strange positions."

I was offended, but didn't say anything about it. Instead, I protested to his comment earlier. "If you're losing sleep, you don't need to check up on me."

"I'm fine," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure," I said to him sarcastically. I looked around and noticed something was missing. "Where's my lunch?" I asked him bluntly.

"I lied."

"Yeah? And I'm hungry."

He sighed and abruptly stood up. Watching him curiously, I saw him walk around the tree, and then come back with a picnic basket in his hands. He fell back down in a graceful motion, resuming his previous position. He dropped the basket down in between us and looked at me.

"Are you happy?" He asked, clearly sarcastic.

"…Picnic basket…?" Came my question.

"Don't eat anything if you don't want to."

I didn't know how to tell him I would gladly accept the food that he took the time to gather and put in a basket for me—because, you know, for vampires, that must be kind of new. But I didn't really want to tell him that I completely loved the fact he brought a picnic basket, and I absentmindedly fingered the carefully woven, shiny brown basket.

"Can I?" I asked hesitantly.

"Can you what?" Shiki asked, confusion faintly tainting his tone. He seemed to wonder if I meant tearing the basket apart and killing the food or stealing the basket away.

I paused, not answering him at first. I shifted slightly to a more comfortable position. "Can I really eat what's inside?" I'm pretty sure it sounded stupid, but I couldn't help but ask.

"Yes," he responded, tilting his head upwards so that his head was leaned against the tree's trunk as his eyes stared up at the leaves, which were already in bright, beautiful shades of yellow, red, orange, or brown. Some of the leaves looked like they were gold, and it looked beautiful. Some of them have already fallen—in fact, most have. But it was beautiful, nonetheless—the leaves blanketed the grass nicely, as if they fell down from the tree in order to protect the grass or like they were embracing their long-time friend.

Slowly, I opened up the basket and peered inside, curious as to what was inside. There were a lot of things, actually—there were two glass cups that looked like they were wine glasses. There were a few containers, and when I stuck my hand in to lift them up to see what was in it, I realized there were some very delicious looking finger sandwiches. There was a big black box with white and red curvy lines, and napkins, chopsticks, forks, spoons and everything placed neatly in one corner. In another container there was desert—there were some fudge brownies, and some cupcakes, and cookies. Two bottles of cold water was there as well, and some juice boxes and a pop can.

As my eyes scanned this, a small black box caught my eye. Hesitantly, I fingered it and picked it up, pulling my hand out of the basket. I held the box up with my thumb and index finger and shook it in front Shiki's face. He stared at it with no emotion whatsoever.

I stared into his light blue eyes seriously, looking for something. We stared into each other's eyes for a few moments—I couldn't find it at first. But after two or three minutes of deep searching, I saw it.

His eyes were the same beautiful blue shade, but when I looked closely and hard enough, I could see a slightly, almost non-existent purple tint to his eyes, like a shade of red was underneath or glazed over in a thin layer. There were also very tiny flecks of red in his eyes.

Wordlessly, I looked away, my face still blank. I reached inside the basket, and took out a wine glass—why did he bring wine glasses instead of normal cups? Was he too fancy for that or something? I held it with the same hand I had the box of Shiki's blood tablets in it, and I grabbed the bottle of water. I was aware of the stare that Shiki burned into my head, but I ignored it as I uncapped the new bottle of water and poured it into the cup. Placing the bottle of water on the ground, I took the box with my free hand and opened it in one swift motion. Taking out two tablets, I dropped them into the water and watched as the transparent liquid turned into a cherry red, like juice.

Without saying anything, I handed it to Shiki, who stared at it for a second before he gently took it with his slender fingers. I carefully closed the black box and the water bottle, placing them back inside the basket again before I pulled out the big black box, along with two napkins and a pair of chopsticks.

I opened the black box, and sure enough, it was sushi. There was a small bowl to put the soy sauce in, and when I finished that, I carefully picked up a piece of sushi—California roll—and placed it inside my mouth.

"Why?"

I turned and blinked up at Shiki, confused with his question that came out of nowhere. "Why... What?"

His eyes flickered down to the glass of red liquid before they darted back up to my face. I couldn't help but notice how elegantly he held the thin, glass stem. It sounds weird, I know—how can you hold a wine glass elegantly? But Shiki did, and I couldn't help but notice how he held it carefully and gently, like it would break if he used any of his strength—which it probably would.

"Why did you make me this?" He inquired.

I gestured to the picnic basket. "You made—or got, this for me. It was the least I could do." I paused before I added, "Your eyes were slightly tainted red, too."

"I fed before I came," he muttered.

I shrugged my shoulders, already knowing he meant he already drank some before he came—drank blood tablets, I mean. I'm pretty sure he didn't suck someone dry before he came.

"Drink some more," I told him as I took a small bite out of another piece of sushi.

He stared at me for a moment before he lifted the glass to his lips and took a small sip. "It doesn't disturb you?" He asked.

"Should it?" I retorted.

He shrugged his shoulders. "It depends on the person's perspective, I suppose."

"How do you think it tastes?" I asked him curiously, interested on hearing his opinion.

His eyes stared at the red liquor blankly. "…Horrible," he mumbled. He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes, and suddenly, I saw the cautious, suspicion, and also curiosity tangoing around in his eyes. He opened his mouth slightly like he wanted to say something, but he closed it again for a moment, hesitating. After a moment, he opened his mouth again, seeming to be more alert of how he worded what he said.

"…You... Asked as if you've tasted it before and wanted to know my opinion," he observed, looking at my face closely for any reaction.

I tensed and my eyes narrowed for a split second before I quickly relaxed again. I picked up another piece of sushi, took a bite out of it, chewed and swallowed before I responded. My voice had a forced calm and nonchalance to it as I told him, "I have."

Though his bored expression remained—his eyes didn't widen at lot, and his mouth didn't fall open—but he still radiated the word "stunned." His eyes flashed towards mine and held my gaze for a few moments—he was searching for some sort of lie. But he probably only found sincerity and honesty, because his eyes dropped down to the glass in his hands.

"Why?" I could hear the suspicion in his tone.

"Classified information. For now, at least," I told him, wanting to make him wonder about it. How I come about to having a taste of blood tablets was strange—he probably didn't want to know, anyways. And besides, even though I don't want to admit it, I don't want to know his reaction to why I drank it. He would probably be disgusted, and then never talk to me again. Though it's selfish, I don't want him to leave me.

Absorbed into his own thoughts, he lowly, almost inaudibly, mumbled out a single word. "…Impossible," he breathed.

I thought of it better to not say anything, so I continued eating my sushi.

After a while, Shiki asked, "Why did you come here, Sasaki-san?"

"Sasaki's just fine."

"Sasaki," he corrected himself.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye and sighed quietly. Why did I have the gut feeling that he was talking to me to get information out of me—again? How long has he been doing this—how long will he keep doing it? I don't know if I want him to continue longer and longer or to just stop already. I like talking to him—he's easy to talk to, but I don't want him talking to me just because he wants information. I want him to talk to me because he wants to, but I doubt he wants to.

Ugh—what was wrong with me?

It's because I've never met anyone with someone who portrayed the same personality as me—the anti-social, bored, I-don't-want-to-talk-to-your-face kind of personality. Though Zero is anti-social, it's obvious he isn't necessarily bored. He suffers a lot and is a big softie when you get to know him—and that's not like me.

Not really.

Should I tell him? Should I not? Would it even matter? Would he care?

"I'm running away," I told him finally, turning away from him. Slowly, I continued lowly, "I'm running away like a coward."

He didn't respond for a second. "Running away from home?" I could hear the tone in his voice—he didn't want to press for information, but he wanted it. Wanted or needed it, it was the same thing.

"No," I told him blankly. "Not home."

He seemed slightly confused at this. "Then what?"

"That's classified information for now, too," I closed my eyes for a while. "Do you mind if I leave those questions unanswered?"

He opened his mouth as if to say yes, but he snapped it shut and shook his head slightly, taking a sip of the water. He didn't look at me and kept his gaze fixated with the oh-so-interesting object in his hands. He moved his long fingers slightly and made the liquid in it swirl in a circular motion. His gaze and tone held no emotion in it as he asked,

"You'll tell me if I give you time?"

Obviously, I hesitated. I had no idea if I should tell Shiki or not—and in truth, I didn't want him to know. Why did he have to ask me all these things? Why did he have to ask that specific question? …Isn't he fine with this right now? With him just going on thinking I'm who I portray, and me thinking he is who he portrays, too? What was with the need to try and find the truth about each other when things would be less complicated, less stressing, if it was just like this?

Why?

When I didn't give him an answer, I saw him look at me from the corner of my eyes—unfortunately, I was too much of a coward to look and meet his gaze. I knew that if I looked into those blue pools, that I'd just spill my guts out and promise him I'll tell him. So, instead, I was staring down at my fingers like they were the most interesting thing in the world.

Shiki seemed to understand. "Another unanswered question, then," he declared blankly.

A moment of silence flowed in the air around us, and carefully, I set down my chopsticks and picked leaf, studying it carefully. It was thick, but you could see all the veins that ran through it. The stem was a dark brown, and the leaf itself was a mix between dark red and light orange. The edges were rimmed with yellow, and it looked beautiful. It was almost like it purposely turned colours to look like that.

"…Shiki?"

He looked at me. "Yes?"

I bit down on my lower lip and let the leaf slip off of my fingers and my eyes watched as it fluttered gracefully back to the ground, like it was dancing. Reluctantly—or more like hesitantly—I looked at him from the corner of my eyes.

"What are we?" My voice was low.

"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly knowing I didn't want an answer like him explaining to me he's a vampire and I'm a human and all that. Obviously, he knew I meant something else. He just didn't know what I exactly meant.

I paused temporarily, turning my gaze to something else. "What relationship do we have?" I asked him bluntly, my voice flat. I knew he was opening his mouth to say something, so I quickly interrupted him before he could say anything. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the tree trunk.

"Is this,"—I gestured without opening my eyes to the two of us and the picnic basket—"Just going to be something that'll last until you get all the information you want from me, or…" I paused, opening my eyes slowly to stare up at the tree branches and the remaining leaves. "Will it last and become a friendship that can't be replaced?"

Shiki didn't respond for a few minutes, and I wondered if I would get an answer at all. I've left so many questions he's asked me hanging—I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to leave me wondering the answer to one of my questions, too. It'd only be fair, and yet, I don't think Shiki would do that.

I was about to get up and pack everything away, telling him thanks for the meal and everything and then just walk away, not bothering to hear the answer.

If he really needs to take this long to answer the question, then the answer is obvious.

But just when I was about to move aside the big box of sushi and get up, his velvety smooth, melodic voice responded after such a long moment of silence.

"We're friends."

I wanted to shoot him a sarcastic respond, but I saw him open his mouth to speak again, so I decided to just keep my mouth shut and listen.

"We're friends," he repeated blankly, "If that's what you want." He paused, and then said slowly, "And what our friendship is, or long how it lasts, depends on you."

I blinked at him. To put it simply…

"I don't get it."

He looked at me blankly, like he was silently asking himself if I was an idiot for not getting what he had just said.

"I don't get you," I corrected myself, blinking. "It depends on me? Don't you get a say in the turns our friendship makes, as well?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "In ways, our friendship isn't in my hands."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, irritation leaking into my tone.

"It means," he started hesitantly, like he was trying to word it in some more riddles or something. "That the person who steers the direction our friendship, isn't me. It's you—what happens between the two of us will depend on not my actions, but yours."

I wanted to hit him or something. "What happens if my actions are based on your actions?"

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. "I'm the person in the passenger seat." And maybe, just maybe, I think I heard him breathe out, "For now." But I wasn't sure—I was probably hallucinating or something. I had no idea what he meant or if there was more meaning into his words that I could see on the surface.

In order to fully understand Shiki's words, I would probably have to read in between the lines, and yet, I'm not sure I really want to. What if what he truly means is something I don't want to figure out?
I shrugged it off. I looked at Shiki blankly. "Friends, then," I declared dully, extending my hand towards him.

He looked at it for a few seconds before he extended his hand and grasped mine with his larger one. I couldn't help but feel a tingle going through my body when our skin made contact—his hand was warm and soft. I could feel the smoothness of his skin—it felt better than the finest silk in the world. It was kind of weird—the feeling of our hands touching, I mean. After what Ichijou said the day he helped me up off the floor, I've promised myself to be careful about physical contact with Shiki.

And look at us now.

We shook our hands loosely, like we didn't really want to touch each other's hands—I wouldn't be surprised if Shiki thought it was repulsive, touching my hand. But even though it was a loose handshake, we were still making physical contact, and it still sent the weird, fuzzy sensation through me.

After a while, we stopped shaking our hands and just looked at our hands awkwardly.

You announced you were friends now, not that you were going to be business partners. A voice in the back of my head barked. I kicked the invisible voice with my inner-self, and hope that I got her in the eye or something.

Of course, I knew the voice was right—who shakes hands after stating they were now friends? It was idiotic, but I didn't know what else to do. Was I supposed to hug him or something instead of shake his hand?

"It was a mutual declaration of friendship—why did you want to shake my hand?" He asked me, his voice bored. "We weren't sealing a deal, Sasaki."

I quickly retrieved my hand, which still tinkled with his touch, like bells were grown inside my system and ringing.

I looked away, embarrassed. It was bad enough having heard it once—I didn't need to hear it again. Carefully, I began to pack up everything—I had eaten most of the sushi, even though I did it all absentmindedly and didn't taste anything at all.

Wiping my mouth with my napkin, I placed it inside the now empty sushi box along with Shiki's napkin and my chopsticks. He placed his wine glass back in the basket, noticing all the food I didn't eat.

"Ichijou-senpai will wonder if you're on a diet of some sort," Shiki grumbled.

"He did this?" I asked, surprised.

Shiki glanced at me and shook his head.

My eyes furrowed at him. "Then who did?" I asked him, slightly confused.

"I did." He looked at me like I was missing the obvious—which I was. "But Ichijou-senpai told me to inform him how it went."

"I see," I muttered. I gestured to the sushi box. "I'll throw that away."

He nodded his head, and in unison, the two of us pushed ourselves up and off the tree trunk, brushing our clothes to wipe away any dirt of grass that decided to stain the fabric. He picked up the picnic basket, and I picked up the box.

I held my hand up silently, and he returned the gesture.

"…I'll see you tomorrow?" It was a question this time, not a statement.

He nodded his head. "Yeah."

The relief that flooded through me confused me, but I pushed it away. "Go home and get some rest," I told him, offering him a slight smile. "It's five hours until you have class."

Shrugging his shoulders, he responded, "It doesn't matter."

I rolled my eyes, but I decided to not pester him about it—I would sound like his mother or something. So instead, I said, "Bye, Shiki." And began to walk away.

"Bye, Sasaki," he replied.

I was aware of his eyes burning holes into my back as I walked all the way to the edge of the clearing, where the thick trees met the open space. Remembering something, I turned around. "…Shiki?" I asked, noticing him leaning against the tree watching me. I'm pretty sure he heard me, you know, with the whole super senses things that vampires have.

"What?" He called, not really yelling, but speaking a little bit louder than usual.

"…Thank you," I told him sincerely. "For both the meal, and…" I paused, then turned around so that he couldn't see my cheeks that were tainted red—thanks to the traitor blush. Continuing the sentence, but in a quieter voice, I said,

"…For being my friend."

After that, I fast-walked hastily into the forest, trying to put as much distance away as possible. I didn't want him to be able to see me longer than he had to, and I didn't want to have to feel his stare boring into my back, either.

But, as I made my way back towards the classroom, I couldn't help but let a smile spread across my face as I repeated the sentence in my head, and the more I heard it, the bigger my smile grew.

…Shiki Senri and I…

Friends.


A / N :

Well, that's chapter seven! Hopefully, you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Are you guys excited? They're finally declaring the start of their friendship! Exciting, don't you think? Do you wonder what'll happen next? Do you wonder what Shiki means when he told her it wasn't in his hands where the friendship goes?

Are you wondering what she's running away from? Are you wondering why she's tried blood tablets before?

Before you jump to conclusions, let me tell you one thing; Not everything may be what it seems.

So keep that in mind, okay? xD

Anyways, I was wondering... Who are your favourite characters from Vampire Knight? I'm actually really curious to know about this. i want to hear your opinions on this particular question, and I want you guys to answer it, too. It'll get some conversation going, you know? xD So yes, when, or if, you review, please answer this question. It'd be even better if you include your reasons why he or she is your favourite character.

Special Thanks To... :

Hakumei-Ko, xXPrinces-Of-TwilightXx, Bella's Sister, amer, Serena Lockhart, Anonymous, twindarkstar.05, AiAkakoSukiRini, and ??

Thank you very, very much for your reviews! Also, thank you to everyone who story-alerted / favourited for me! i apprciate it very much, and it makes me really happy!

Please continue to support me and read this story! ;D

I also hope that you guys will review and answer the question that I asked. xD I'm genuinely curious about your answers, and I'll be waiting to hear about all your reasons and reviews!

So, yes, please review for me! ;D

Sayonara,
-EverlastingxSong-