Really quickly (or not), I'd like to mention&acknowledge all the readers who have favorited this story! 162 to of them, phew: here it goes! Typed these all by hand, not a single copy&paste (:

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Yes, it takes up space, but freakin' h*ll, I don't give you guys enough credit. It makes my day when I get e-mails to my inbox from fanfiction, especially when it's a review, favorite, alert, author alert, - you guys are brilliant, and I only wish I could write better to make up for all the amateur mistakes I make in my progress. Thank you for sticking with me, and despite all the self-esteem insecurities I have, you guys make me feel so proud and fuzzy. Thank you (:

Alerters will be mentioned next chapter! (:

-x-

Chapter Seven: Five Days

-X-

Two more days, Aya blew at her bangs impatiently, and Yuuki comes back. Everything will be back to normal...

Of course, that wasn't true. Too many things had happened in the course of five days for everything to be 'back to normal', but Aya preferred to ignore that stupid voice in her head and continue washing the dishes.

She glanced back at the sound of Zero's footsteps slowly coming down the stairs. He stopped at the foot of the staircase, eyes trained diligently on Aya's back. Aya glanced back again, noticing the unease swirling in his lavender eyes. "Need something, Kiryuu?"

"Kiryuu?" she repeated after she got no reply, movement or sound. Wiping a plate down and placing it the appropriate cabin, she began to dry another, turning around to stare at the silver haired in confusion. "What's up?"

He looked... strange. Eeriness weighed down on the atmosphere, and she could faintly make out a hint of emotion buried deep within his eyes. They always said that eyes were windows into someone's soul, but she couldn't quite make out... why he looked so...

... Ahh.

"Sudden silent treatment? What gives, Kiryuu?" She whipped around to stack the dry plate on top of the other within the cabinet. Reaching down into the sink to grab another plate, the desolation in his voice didn't startle her.

"You're not human," he declared, "are you?"

Aya took her time towel drying the porcelain, making sure to place it inside the cabinet soundlessly. Wiping her hands dry, she draped the cloth over the faucet.

Then she answered him.

-X-

Zero was lying in bed, an arm folded to provide his head some cushioning while the other rested on his stomach, rising up and down slowly in time with his breathing. It surprised him sometimes, that she seemed so strange sometimes; so inhuman. From the way her five senses were so amplified, to her unnatural quirkiness. He couldn't tell if she was acting half the time - if was almost as if she was too well adjusted to everything. She stayed positive nearly 'twenty-four-seven', but sometimes – as if just to mess with him – she revealed a side of herself that he wouldn't expected at all. If she washalf as dimwitted as she pretended to be all the time, how had she figured out his secret?

Makino Aya was an enigma. It was a fact now.

Then the fact that she somehow discovered his secret made his eyebrows draw in. She spent less time with him than Yuuki. Furthermore, she had even gone as far as to reassure him that Yuuki knew nothing, which meant that she had figured it out even before her close friend. All those times, was Aya merely observing him from afar? Had she figured him out solely through watching and analyzing him? They had barely interacted before five days ago, nevertheless shared an in-depth conversation, or even touch.

He closed his eyes, a white flash engulfing his thoughts before he thought back to her words in the park.

'They made eye contact then, and Aya continued. "There was one dead giveaway, but I didn't really notice it until after a month."

"Your scent." Zero furrowed his eyebrows even more: what had she meant by that?

"I've got a good nose, just like yours," she said. Zero pursed his lips. There was something she wasn't telling him. He was surprised to find himself so irritated by it, but he let it go. It wasn't like him to care so much about something that didn't concern him.'

His eyes snapped open. Was he suddenly caring?

He rolled over onto his side, a scowl gracing his lips. Yeah right. It still wasn't his concern. He didn't care about that stupid vermillion top. He just had too much time on his hands and his imagination was just getting the better of –

He snapped up in his bed after striking his revelation. Second guesses and rebuttals fired like cannons to attack the preposterous idea, but its defenses were too strong.

It was abrupt, almost spontaneous. The idea had flitted across his mind a numerous amount of times, but had never taken a solid landing as a possibility.

Makino Aya was an enigma, yes.

But was she even human?

-X-

"No," left her mouth, "I'm not."

She hadn't even denied it or put on a goofy smile for a front, like he had expected her to. She hadn't raised a brow at him and asked if he forgot to take some meds that she didn't know about.

She hadn't even turned around for him.

His anger delayed only seconds. With an amazing speed, he bolted to her, and she whisked just in time to face him and he pinned her between his chest board and the wooden cabinets. Her face was a picture of preparation. He could tell she was braced for the poison he was about to spit at her.

"I'm not a vampire," she breathed, letting out the air she had obviously been holding. He wasn't expecting the quaver in her voice to reveal how unsteady she was. "I didn't expect you to be this mad—"

"Mad?" he repeating, the anger in his voice barely contained. "You lied to me."

"As did you, and I'm sure you would have continued to if I hadn't figured it out myself, right? How hypocritical do you plan to be, Kiryuu?" For the first time, he heard that weakness in her voice. He wasn't sure what to make of it, because at the moment he just didn't care.

"This isn't how I wanted to tell you," she whispered, ferocity filling her own voice, "but I'm not going to lie to you, so I told you the truth. The least you can do is agree that there was never a right time to tell you. You're not exactly someone I see myself spilling my secrets to, Kiryuu, and I wanted to wait until you were more adjusted to your surround-"

"What are you?" he spat, making her hold her breath.

"I-I don't..." She swallowed. "Look: I'm not quite sure what I am. According to Kaien, I'm something between a human and... a demon."

He repeated it in his head. Demon. Demon. Demon. Aya wasn't a human. She wasn't a Vampire, either.

Bull f*cking sh*t.

"That's great. Demon. You're a demon. That makes so much sense," he growled. "That stupid chairman might as well be a unicorn."

She flinched at his sarcasm, hearing it for the first time, feeling the pit of rage bubbling. "What's the difference of me telling you what I am, and you figuring it out yourself? In the end, you would have known by the end of the year. I wouldn't have hidden it from you forever."

"You knew what I was," he countered, "but a simple evening out of the odds was too much for you to consider?"

"So you're basically mad that I didn't trade secrets with you, is that it?" She hadn't meant to word it in a way to accuse him of being childish, but she genuinely felt that he was being irrational. "In case you haven't noticed, Zero, I didn't explode at you. I learn your secret, and you explode with anger. You learn my secret, and you're still the one exploding with anger! What exactly do you want from me? I don't understand why this would matter to you, seeing as it's fine as long as I'm not a vampire. You know without me telling you that I'm not, so why—"

She was silenced; not with his lips like in some bad soap opera, but with his forehead landing on her shoulder.

Zero could hear her heart pounding from the distance they were at. With every word, he couldn't concentrate, and with every intake of breath, he found himself weakening. Weakness fueled his anger. Anger fueled his words. It was a cycle: so painful and perplexing. He didn't understand anymore. Everything was too confusing.

They stood like that for a while in silence. His arms still trapped her against the cabinets on either side of her head. His body was stationed in front of hers, neck bent to accommodate his forehead resting on her shoulder.

Aya could smell the scent of shampoo from his sterling hair. It was the one she had bought after sniffing it in the department store and thought it would suit him: it did. The anger had seeped through her like water from a squeezed sponge. Her hands supported her body by resting on the edges of the counter on either side of her.

"I'm sorry," she began. She felt him move his head, almost in a nuzzling gesture. "Maybe you still don't know, but... I never meant to upset you. It was never my intention for you to find out yourself and become this hurt—"

He interrupted her. "I know."

She let out a small chuckle, and then broke out into a grin. The day at the park when they had both sat under the tree and spoke, he had interrupted her like that with those exact two words. Boldly, she took her hands off the counter and wrapped her arms around his the back of his torso loosely, saying the same words she had replied with the other day. "Of course you do."

Zero opened his eyes, the feeling of her arms on his back causing a sensation he found foreign, but consoling.

No.

Demons. Demons.

He knew about them. What -

'It is believed that Humans are simply a weaker form of a type of Demon,' Yagari Toga had taught him, 'since our two species are so alike. However, it doesn't matter, since demons no longer exist.' Zero flinched as the memory came flooding back. Aya raised a brow.

'How are we different?" A younger Zero had asked, sitting atop the table of his teacher.

Yagari never looked up from his gun, dropping bullets into the hole and closing the slot. 'Myth says that if raised by pureblooded Demons, they possess the ability to transform into what they call a 'demonic state', however if not taught how, they remain in the same weak form as us humans...'

'Regardless, their blood is different than ours; made up of substances we know nothing about. It allows for faster healing. Their body capacity and physical strength is unrivaled unless compared to the cursed Vampire.'

'They don't sound so strong to me if they died out so quickly...' Little Zero muttered, kicking his feet in and out from beneath the table. 'How did they die?'

'Vampires,' he answered, tilting the gun around, 'sucked the life out of them, if you know what I mean.'

'They drank Demon blood?' Zero furrowed his brows, drawing his legs in. 'That's...'

'It was a never-ending bloodshed. Demons weren't as weak as humans. They fought back. Vampires hunted Demons down for food. Demons killed them for protection and revenge. In the end, the Demons either died out, or they went into hiding like the Vampires did. And that's when us little humans bred like bugs under a rock, and the Vampires had their new food source.'

He pulled away, staggering back. Aya's eyes widened just slightly, a bit concerned as to why he looked so pale.

'However, compared to Humans, Demon blood is much more appetizing. A delicacy compared to the second-class human. If more of them existed, Vampire Hunters like us would have much less work to do. They were vegetarians, those demons. Didn't eat meat.'

She was too close. He wasn't himself. He didn't know that it would – He didn't see - He ...

'So on the off chance you ever meet a Demon, Zero,' Yagari aimed his gun at the plank of wood, the bull's-eye only a click away, 'keep it alive. Let their population flourish. Then we'll have our scapegoat out of this Vampire nightmare.'

He was dangerous to her.

He was a vampire.

A filthy, repulsive beast.

"Ze...ro?" she attempted, only to have him stagger back even more. The look of horror in his eyes was unmistakable. She bit her lip. Was he scared of her now? I guess he didn't know much about Demons, so maybe he thought they ate humans or Vampires or something. "Hey, don't worry, I might eat a bit of meat, but I think my ancestors were vegans or something... but the point is, I'm not going to kill — ZERO? WHERE -"

Aya called his name again, unable to click the puzzle pieces together. Zero hurtled out the door, running again just like the first day of their time alone together. She stood at the doorframe, speechless, unknowing if she should go after him. Why had he run this time? Did he think she was lying, and was actually a vampire or something? Or maybe...

She narrowed her eyes. Did he know?

That... he could ... still drink her blood?

Aya watched him until his figured disappeared beyond her vision. She sighed, racking her brain for why he would suddenly get so worked up. Yeah, so he's still a danger to her. So what? He's just more of one now, but it's not like she was all cozy and safe with him before! Shouldn't he know that she trusts him?

She blushed. Was she flattering herself? Why would he get worked up over the fact that he was dangerous to her? It's not like she was his girlfriend or anything...

She swallowed a wad of saliva and rolled up her sleeves, determined to make amends again. After all, they had both calmed down and he seemed to have accepted the reality that she wasn't human; otherwise he wouldn't have rested his head on her shoulder like that...

The cabinets creaked quietly as she opened them, hoping to whip something up for him.

-X-

Zero was going crazy. There was no other explanation for the way things were swirling and spinning in his head. He was dizzy, and out of breath from running. Aya wasn't chasing him like last time, luckily, so another hour of running wasn't at hand. He stumbled to a halt; sweat dripping from his nose and face.

Five days. He had only been alone with her for five days. How had this all happened?

Yuuki was like the border between them. With her there, things rarely went 'wrong'. She was always there to break up any glaring contests or threats, as annoying as it was. He appreciated that innocence about her, how she would always make sure that the two of them were alright. Her presence in his life always overpowered Aya, so how on earth did he...

She had been gone for five days, and his world had already started tumbling on the first day. If she hadn't left, none of this would have happened, and he would have successfully kept his distance from Aya, therefore not resulting in... in...

Five days. It was all the time it took for him to embrace her, in both a physical and psychological sense.

Everything was so messed up. From becoming the very creature he had always hated and was trained to hunt...

To developing feelings for a demon.

It wasn't fair.

So he screamed it to the deaf heavens.

-X-

I watched him walk through the door, taking his time to cross the living room, as if to taunt me for being unable to comprehend the situation. He never once looked up at me or even glanced in my direction. I knew from the way he purposely avoided me that he knew I was there, sitting on the kitchen table, watching.

"Zero," I called out.

He didn't respond.

"Zero... I'm sorry that -"

"Stop," he snapped, eyes still not peeking up to look me in the face. I pursed my lips, jaw tight, irritation spreading among my emotions and infecting them with its dominance. He repeated it, the word coming out with a tremor. "Stop."

I squinted my eyes. "I thought you were okay with me being ... what I am. I'm sorry that-"

"I meant, stop apologizing." I sucked a breath in, trying to get a grip on the annoyance I felt. Why was he acting this way? Obviously he hadn't used that period of time to calm down like I thought he did!

"I... I didn't mean to lie to you," left my lips in a whisper. He didn't look at me as he trudged up the stairs.

I sat in the kitchen sipping my hot chocolate, all the while watching the steam rise from the opposing cup until it grew cold.

We didn't speak after that.

-X-

I greeted Yuuki with my silly grin when she came home, taking her luggage for her even when she scolded me for underestimating her and being too protective of her all the time. I teased her about the guys on the trip and watched her simmer in annoyance and blush.

"So how have the two of you been this week?" she finally inquired, shooting a glance upstairs since Zero hadn't bothered to come down. I rolled my eyes and gave her a scowl.

"Haven't been talking: awkward as heck, without you here, girl! The house has been totally quiet!"

She didn't see through my lie (which held an inkling of truth) as she chuckled. "Aw, and I was hoping you guys would go through some friendship bonding while I was away. Guess I hoped for too much?"

"You're not serious, are you? Yuuki, you must be crazy to think that I could get along with an introvert like that, and that he could stand someone as obnoxiously loud as me! You'd think I killed his pet dog or something, geez. I think he's having some bad man period," I nudged Yuuki and she rolled her eyes, throwing me a playful punch.

"I smell dinner. I'll bring him down when I pass by his room. Don't worry; I'll be the link between you two like I always have! Geez, and I was really hoping you guys would get to know each other!"

I stuck out my tongue. "Blegh! That's icky! Haha, bring him down, okay? He doesn't even reply to me anymore, the moody jerk."

With a giggle and another fight over who would bring her luggage up, I let Yuuki bring her suitcase up the stairs instead of going up myself. As soon as she was out of sight, my smile twitched away slowly.

The past two days had been the most awkward two days of my life. Day six consisted of me watching him the entire day. I didn't know how to apologize, and I sure as heck didn't know how to make it up to him. He conveniently never looked back at me, which only proved that he was avoiding me, and he even left the house without eating dinner that day. I cooked for him on the last day before Yuuki came home, too, since I figured he wouldn't want to ask me to cook for him and he had no skills himself, but before I could even call out his name to come down, he dashed out the door without a word.

"Zero, I'm back!" I heard her call out. I tuned out and refused to eavesdrop on their conversation with my good hearing, and turned the tap on to wash some vegetables while I sang to myself.

When dinner was all ready, I called out, "Food's done!"

Yuuki came down with her fast, rhythmic thuds on the staircase, and I didn't need to look back to know that Zero was with her. I exhaled, and mustered my signature smirk before whipping around. "Well what do you know? The Prince decided to show up to the table on time. Is today a special day, or did you drag him down?"

Yuuki beamed back at me. "Not drag! But I guess you could say I lead him down since I was pulling him..."

I snorted and laughed. "No surprise there."

"Aya," she spoke softly, "you're in such a good mood. Did something pleasant happen?"

I took a seat across from Zero, careful not to be too offensive. "Guess you could say that. It's been a while since we all sat down like this and ate. I was beginning to miss it."

She smiled, accepting my reply. "That's sweet, Aya-chan! I missed it a lot too, and I'm hopefully Zero-kun did, too!" She glanced over at Zero, and boldly, I did too. We made eye contact for the first time in 48 hours and I smirked at him. His eyes were unreadable, his expression blank. "Well, let's eat! Itadakimasu!"

-X-

Square One.

That's where we were.

Maybe those five days meant nothing to him. They probably didn't hold as much meaning as they did to him than they did to me. I deemed those 120 hours an accomplishment I'll never forget. I pulled him out of his shell, if not entirely, more than I will probably ever get to see. He wasn't just some boy we took in because of charity. He wasn't even a vampire.

He was Kiryuu Zero, my friend.

But here, where we started, the cold shoulders, the ignoring, the avoiding: it made me miss those days. That I could brush into him and see him scowl every time I made him blush, or every time I used the element of surprise to push him out of his comfort zone.

"Idiot!" I snapped back into reality, feeling a tug on my left arm as I was jerked backwards. I was carrying the laundry downstairs, too caught up in my thoughts to register that I had stumbled and had nearly fallen to my doom. Glancing up in alarm, I knew that voice, but it had nearly been a year since I had last heard it laced with such concern.

"Moron," he criticized, "watch where you're going."

I straightened as his grip on me loosened, and I found my lips breaking out into a grin: a real grin.

"Thanks, Prince Charming," I snorted, making my way down the stairs. Yuuki smiled from the couch, having seen the whole thing, and chuckled.

"Stop calling me that." I raised a brow after throwing the laundry into the washing machine. Yuuki noticed it too.

He was talking again.

"Oh? Finally speaking back to me, Prince?" He glowered as I smirked, but I swear I could see something in his eyes. "What would you like me to call you, then?"

"I have a name," he answered, the same glint in his eyes. I leered.

"I do, too, you know. How fascinating that is."

"We all have names! Makino Aya, Kiryuu Zero, Cross Yuuki!" Yuuki blurted from the couch, groaning. "So can't we just call each other by them?"

"That's right, Prince."

"Stop calling me that, Idiot."

"Prince."

"Idiot." I couldn't help myself from beaming. If provoking him and arguing with him was the only way to communicate, then so be it.

"Shut up and help me with dinner, Kiryuu."

After another several minutes of squabbling, insults, immature tongues being stuck out, glares and some lowering of pride, I had myself a victory. Yuuki giggled from the couch, turning back around to watch her sitcom.

Square Two.

-X-

Zero's eyelids had been glazed over his lavender orbs for hours. A breeze blew by, rustling the tree he rested under with his arms folded behind his head and one knee propped up. It had been so long since the last time he'd had a moment like this. Consciousness was losing its grasp on him. He was falling; drifting. He breathed in and out evenly, filtering fresh air into his lungs, and soaking up the peace and stillness of his surroundings.

His eyebrows slowly drew in towards each other as he furrowed, lips pursing together faintly.

Footsteps: the crackle of branches and grass under shoe soles.

The (not-so) mysterious intruder walked towards him silently as to not interrupt his tranquility. If he were not as sensitive to movement as he was, he might have not caught it. Keyword being: 'if' - which means that he was aware of it, obviously.

Now he was disturbed; his peace no longer confined in the space of his mind. He heaved a heavier sigh than the first, resenting the trespasser for disturbing his slumber. He willed himself to go back to his previous state of mind, only to realize the scent was beginning to waft its way into his nostrils. He furrowed, senses tingling and becoming more alert.

The footsteps paced closer. He shifted uncomfortably on his bed of grass and dirt. His guest stopped at his feet before gradually lowering down to the ground beside him.

"Makino." It was clearly a command, no disobedience tolerated. In spite of this, what the command was meant for remained unstated.

When a response failed to be initiated, he opened his eyes and peered over to his side, ready to interrogate her for her purpose. Next to him, her eyes were shut, brown-red hair flowing around her like a lion's mane. With lips were curved upwards just slightly at the corners, she didn't say anything: didn't even open her eyes. She was right there in front of him, inches away from his reach. So close, in fact, that he could hear her breathing in, the weakest breeze brushing past his face as she exhaled. He was stunned into silence, forgetting what he was going to say for a few moments. In the end, the words that came out were much less demanding than he had intended.

"What are you doing?"

"Lying here next to you," she riposted without missing a beat.

He paused. "Why?"

"It's a weekend."

He rephrased the question, the look on his face more stern. "Why are you lying down right here?"

"Do you want me to move?"

She was looking at him now, her slate grey spheres burning into his lavenders. They continued wordlessly staring at each other, taking in the facial features on each other's face. He frowned and rolled over onto his right, his back facing her. His head rested on his right arm as he grumbled, "Whatever."

He heard her shuffle, and thought maybe she was getting up to leave, finding himself childishly hoping that she wasn't. But the sound of her leaving never followed. He waited, waited, and waited patiently for another sound of movement to clue him in on what she was doing, but as he listened closely all he could hear was her breathing and the whisper of leaves as another wind breezed past. He closed his eyes shut, ignoring the loud, rhythmic pounding in his ears.

Ultimately, after what seemed like hours, Aya could hear the sound of Zero shifting his weight to turn over. She opened her eye for a split second to see what he was doing, only to find him turned over to face her, eyes still closed. She shut her eyes to mimic the act of sleeping and stayed still for five seconds before snapping them open again. To her amusement, he clasped them shut just as their eyes met, and she found herself grinning in spite of herself.

Boldly, she scooted closer to him to seal the distance. Not so close that they were like spoons in a drawer, but close enough for her to feel his body heat emanating from him. He held his breath, not moving while she continued to readjust herself, as if any motion would pour out everything he didn't want her to know.

"What..." he began to say, only to hear himself trail off. She ducked her head closer to him, right next to his chest. He was so sure that she could hear his heart beating now, thundering violently behind thin layers.

"Mind if I come in closer?" she said offhandedly, grinning brightly up at him. He finally exhaled, frowning down at her. Still, he didn't move away, and he didn't open his mouth to tell her to leave him alone. If he could even say anything, he'd probably only be able to say one word, otherwise he'd say something he'd regret.

"Sleep," he ordered. The minute Aya closed her eyes with a smile plastered on her face; Zero closed his eyes and broke out into a furious blush. He was beet red, his cheeks uncomfortably hot despite the cold dirt cushioning his head. He prayed that she wouldn't spitefully open her eyes to look up and tease him. Not that she would. She was much too busy falling into the lullaby of his heartbeat.

Midway through the Saturday afternoon, Zero became Aya's blanket.

-X-

THIS END PART WAS KINDA JUST FLUFF. Not really linked to the story line that much, but it can be, if you guys want it to. Just might seem a bit weird~

I rushed the end section of their past a bit just because it was taking way too long, this is almost 6000 words, and you guys need your update. LOL. I hope this wasn't too boring for you guys, but I did try my best and I really do feel satisfied with the story of Aya, Yuuki and Zero's past together. I admit that there might be instances where he seems a bit OOC, but I felt it was alright. Maybe you guys don't think so. Darn. LOL.

Okay, so I've been getting even more flames after my little message last chapter, and I think they're all from the same, lame person with no life, or maybe them and a friend. LOL. HOW I FEEL FOR YOU, BUDDY.

And me? Getting anger management? Nahh, I shot the last therapist I had and they're still on the lookout for me. I don't think that's gonna work, but thanks so much for the suggestion! So flattered that you care ^^

Or not. Whatever. Haters gonna hate!

You guys reviewed the last chappie so fast, that I had so many fuzzy feelings (: