Author's note: Thank you for all that have dropped me reviews and comments regarding last chapter --wide grin--. Good to know that some people love Ruka and Kain pairing :). I also have my special thanks for YenGirl, who in the midst of her busy life had taken out her precious hours to help me edit this chapter. God bless your kind heart, girl. :)

Disclaimer: Vampire Knight is not mine as well as some facts that being included inside this story. They are credited to Wikipedia and other internet sources.


I force myself to test your patience

defy your sincere kindness

and cruelly violate your heart,

because it's hard for me to ignore you

and I long to be treasured

even when I'm undeserving.

Chapter 7. And I See You

The light sound of someone's fingers tapping on her balcony glass door awoke Ruka. She rubbed her eyes drowsily, turned under the covers and almost went back to sleep instantly were it not for the persistent tapping that went on and on.

Ruka groaned. It must be Akatsuki, undoubtedly, since there were no other sane living vampires − or persons − who would dare to wake her up in such an original, creative way.

Grunting softly, Ruka eyes her bedside clock to see that it was only two hours past midday. Seriously, that Akatsuki! Ruka dragged herself out of bed lazily, regretting having unintentionally shown him the most convenient way to reach her room two days ago. Still partly asleep, she auto-piloted to the balcony door and was actually stretching out her had to open it before her brain sent a belated reminder that she was still in her sleeping attire. She turned, grabbed a shawl then tottered back to the glass door.

Kain gave her an amused expression from the other side of the glass when she pulled aside the dark violet curtains and winced at the brightness coming from outside. She sent Kain a venomous look before unlocking the door to let him, then turned her back on him. "Is life boring you?" she threw over her shoulder.

Kain sauntered into the room, tailing Ruka and bringing in with him the scent of roses from the garden below mingling with the sharp scent of soap. "Good afternoon," he replied with excessive blitheness at her snappy words.

Irritated at Kain's sunshiny mood and ready to whip him another remark, Ruka turned sharply.

Only to face a single yellow rose only two inches away from her nose.

The flower was so close she could see the satin softness of its delicate, perfect petals. Ruka's eyes widened. What the −? Kain was giving her a rose? She stared at the half blooming rose in front of her face with complete bewilderment. "Why are you… ?" she inquired.

Kain shifted on his feet. "It's my… excuse… if someone sees me standing on your balcony…"

Ruka glanced up at Kain's suspicious sounding discomfort. His hesitantly spoken words were adorned with just a hint of shyness in it, and it pricked at her curiosity. It made her speculate on whether the flower helped to make up an excuse for him or was it the other way around − Kain making up an excuse to give her the flower. And judging from his tone, there was a big possibility it was the latter...

Hey, wait a minute… Ruka quickly shook her head vigorously, to clear her hazy thoughts and awaken her apparently sleeping brain. She was imagining things. Because there was no way Kain could suddenly turn into a… womanizer… like his cousin, could he? Appearing out of nowhere just to deliver a rose to her... But then again, for someone like him, to be able to think and conjure up such a false − but romantic − emergency excuse was really an out of the ordinary practice. So, which one was true? His words, or… or that tantalising hint of uncertainty she heard in his voice?

Ruka sighed and buried her face in her left palm, feeling confused. "You're not being corrupted by Aidou, are you?" she lifted her eyes towards him again.

Kain frowned. "Well... it's okay if you don't want it, I think I will just throw −"

"No, it's fine −" Gosh, her mouth was definitely working faster than her brain this afternoon. "I... I mean, I'll take it if you're sure that you won't need it anymore."

Okay. That was really a lame line. She'd impetuously said that even though she didn't even seriously want the rose. She just sounded so damn expectant…

Kain's lips tilted upwards as he shrugged carelessly. "No, I won't."

Ruka took the flower from his hands without saying anything else. She didn't dare open her mouth, in case she piled additional disgrace upon herself with more wrong comments. She went to retrieve a tall glass from her bathroom, filling it with some water and dropping in the rose before placing the glass on her bedside table. Then she returned to Kain.

"Okay, so what's this important matter that made you show up in my room so early?" Ruka asked while restraining herself from adding something irrelevant to her question. Like mentioning again about the Kain's 'just-in-case' excuse that was now gracefully resting in a glass of water on her bedside table, for instance…

"I just wanted to tell you that we'll be going out today," Kain informed her.

Ruka blinked. "Going out?"

"Yes, since you mentioned about putting up some show for everyone." Kain scratched his temple, seemingly working out the gears inside his brain. "I'm sure these two suitors you mentioned to me before, who took an interest in you, are from pretty well-respected families, right?"

Ruka nodded, but didn't quite catch the purpose why Kain asked her that question. "Shushei and Tenma? Of course they are. Especially Tenma. They own a multi-company business and one of its subsidiaries is my father's biggest basic material supplier."

It was actually a piece of information Ruka had accidentally overheard sometime ago from her brothers' conversation in their father's office. During that time, Ryuji and Shigeru were having an all out argument with her father. If she didn't remember it wrongly, Ryuji was the one who wanted to kick Tenma out of their position as a main material supplier. Shigeru had agreed with him at that time, but not Kyousuke. In the end their father had vetoed the plan, stating that it would be like cutting off their own feet and would eventually shock their whole established, expanding business network.

Ruka tipped her head questioningly at Kain. "Why would you want to know?"

"Because it has some significant relation to my plan − or our plan − once you approve," Kain answered confidently. "I think it's safe to assume that they possessed some subordinates who are in charge for collecting the latest information, right?"

"Of course."

"Good. That's what I guessed. Even if they're not, news will still reach their ears somehow, if people start to spot us going out in public together. That will..."

"... give them an undeniable fact that I'm serious about what I announced during the party" Ruka completed his sentence, deftly catching onto his idea.

"Yeah, that's the plan." Kain confirmed. "So, what do you think?"

Ruka gave a small, off-handed shrug. "I think it's fine since we currently don't have any other ideas." Kain's idea was reasonable enough, for them to put up some sort of show. But Ruka was a little worried since she wasn't sure if she could put up a believable act of being one half of a couple in front of the public. And of course she had a few other reasons too, which formed her overall uncertainty.

Kain caught the doubt in Ruka's eyes. "Are you sure? We can think it over if you−"

"No, it's okay," Ruka cut him off, already making up her mind. She shouldn't be this picky when she didn't have any other idea to mull over.

"Okay then," Kain give her a quick nod and walked back to the balcony. He set one foot over the balcony railing, ready to leap over to the only tree that grew to the same level of Ruka's balcony. He turned to face her a moment before he leapt. "Just get ready. We'll depart before the sun sets."

--

Ruka gazed out of the car window lazily, squinting her eyes and feeling somewhat bored. Normally she would enjoy watching the town's scenery at its bustling and peak time, but today, the sun was especially cruel even in its final hour. It even managed to penetrate through the car's windows. And sun rays were sun rays, hostile and annoying to every vampire. Well, except maybe for their vice dorm leader − Ichijou Takuma who was seemingly immune to it.

Actually, Ruka didn't hate the sun as much as Kain's cousin − Aidou Hanabusa − did, but she surely would feel better without it. Because presently the uniquely designed dark tempered window glass of the car − which was said to enhance a vampire's riding comfort − couldn't completely ward off the almost setting sun's rays. Maybe the car would do better with some curtains but then again curtains couldn't be put on the driver and front passenger windows. So, in short, a day trip sucked.

She should consider it a miracle that Kain had been driving safely for almost an hour now - in the midst of the blinding light no less. And he wasn't even wearing sunglasses to protect his eyes.

"Remind me again, why I need to do this?" she muttered absently to herself, her hand toying with the white silk ribbon adorning her blouse. She couldn't quite understand why Kain wanted to push it, going out two hour before the sun set. This is a holiday, for Pete's sake, not a school day. Why did it have to be so early then?

Kain peeled his eyes off the road as his ear caught Ruka's light murmur. "What did you say?" he asked, eyeing Ruka's mildly goaded expression. He started to wonder if his plan was going to be effective after all, with Ruka only participating half-heartedly.

Ruka shook her head. "Never mind. Please don't look away from the road, Akatsuki." It was her first time being in a car with Kain behind the wheel. Even though she found he had a steady hand at driving, she really didn't want to take any chances.

"Don't worry," Kain replied confidently. He shifted his eyes back to the road, but not giving his full attention as he tried to think of why Ruka had looked disconcerted. Was it really because of the sun? Or was she anxious of his driving skills? It could be due to various reasons actually, that Kain would surely have tried to get rid of, if only he knew which one it was.

"So, where do you want to go first?"

Ruka threw him a worried glance. "I thought you're the one with the plan?"

"Yes, I am. But why not go to the places you want to go to first?" Kain suggested in a hearty tone. He was hoping that if he put up a good mood front, Ruka would eventually feel more comfortable. It wouldn't be good for both of them if she was tensed up the whole evening.

Kain's words drew a half smile on Ruka's lips as she suddenly recalled his answer to her Grandmother's inquiry last night. Ruka had wanted to ask him about it after they left the room, wanted to know if Kain had meant those words, that's all. But the moment the question almost escaped her lips, she suddenly realized how it would put both her and Kain in an awkward situation. Kain wouldn't lie to her, she knew that undoubtedly. However, he was also unable to hurt her heart.

So, what if the answer he'd given her Grandmother was a mere fake, well-thought out though it was? Would he choose to speak the truth and hurt her feelings, or even worse, lie to her if she asked? All of these questions combined to make Ruka stop abruptly at the last moment. She seriously didn't dare try to wheedle the truth out of Kain's mouth, afraid that the truth would hurt.

You can seek my support as always... He had said that before, and now Kain had acted in accordance with what he had promised to her Grandmother, whether he intended it or not. Would it be too much if she believed in him? If she assumed that Kain was sincere with his words?

Oh yeah, he was sincere…and so what, Ruka?

Ruka frowned irritably at the thought. In all honesty, she shouldn't care. She knew that she shouldn't give a damn whether Kain had really meant it when he had said that he would give his best to ensure her happiness, cherish her above anything else... but she did. She sadly did. And it bothered her.

"How about that?" Ruka finally pointed out at a middle-aged, majestic looking building which stood on across an extensive park down the road.

"Hm?" Kain took a glimpse at the direction Ruka was pointing. A frown fashioned his brow. Ruka's selection was unusual this time. "Isn't that the planetarium? You wanna go there?"

"It's okay as long as it's not bathed with sunlight," Ruka answered uncaringly.

"Okay then," Kain answered, thinking of why Ruka had sounded like his cousin as he increased the car's speed to reach the building faster.

The planetarium parking lot was crowded when Kain pulled his car to a stop at the front gate to get his parking ticket. It was Sunday and the planetarium was full of various study groups from universities and schools students paying a visit. He parked his car at the first empty space he spotted and quickly got out to help Ruka with the passenger door.

Ruka was a little bewildered at Kain's courteous gesture. It was unusual. Taking it as a sign that their little stage performance had started, Ruka tried to make her expression neutral. She gracefully stepped out of the car, determined to put up a calm exterior and waited for Kain to lock the car before starting to walk out of the parking area towards the Planetarium building. Ruka heard Kain's footsteps following behind her shortly before he placed his hand around her waist in casual but possessive embrace.

His touch made Ruka stiffened in surprise. She couldn't help but throw a wide eyed look at Kain who seemed oblivious of her discomfort and was wearing a very calm and collected expression while looking away from her. Ruka gritted her teeth. She had to muster all her will to stop herself from shifting away from Kain. She could feel the warmth of his hand slowly penetrating the soft material of her blouse while his fresh, familiar scent teased her nose. God, it was so… distracting.

Ruka swallowed nervously, her pulse accelerating. Never mind that she should have passed the initial shock of being touched physically. Never mind that she tried to remind herself that this wasn't the first time Kain had touched her, and they had done even more than just touching last night. She found that she seriously couldn't ignore their body contact now.

Kain could feel Ruka's tense body under his touch while his keen hearing caught the sound of her softly hitching breath. He hid his thin, amused smile. She must have completely forgotten that they had to act as a couple because her body language clearly said that she wasn't expecting Kain to touch her in public. He exhaled − Ruka was being naïve despite stating that she'd known all about the consequences of her own crazy plan. What did she expect them to do? To go on a date acting like two total strangers instead of lovers?

Kain steered her to the main entrance. This was going to be a long evening…

Ruka's eyes fell on the long queue formed on the ticket booth as they neared the building main lobby. "I think we came at a wrong time," she muttered grimly.

"Don't worry, I'll get our tickets. You just wait for me there, ok?" Kain gestured towards a low stone wall beneath rows of shady trees.

"But..." she quibbled, feeling uneasy to let Kain queue alone. Her eyes moved to examine the groups of mortals who made their way in and out of the entrance hall − some of them were children and adolescent school students that screamed excitedly as they pushed their way past their wearily guarding teachers. They reminded her of Cross Academy Day Class students and it made her edgy.

"We could go somewhere else if you prefer," Kain said as he followed her uneasy view.

Ruka sighed. Between the merrily blasting sun and planetarium, she would of course prefer the latter. "No, it's okay, Akatsuki. This is what we intended, isn't it? Public crowds," she said with a barely noticeable note of reluctance on her voice before detaching herself from him and walking off to sit on the stone wall.

Fifteen minutes later, Kain and Ruka entered the cool, air conditioned main lobby of the planetarium where Kain stopped at the building's map and directory first so they wouldn't get lost. Ruka stepped forward as well, eyes skimming over the map. The dominant feature of the planetarium was its dome theatre that played a simulation show of sky objects every hour. Other than that, there were also a few display rooms for educational purpose.

"This looks interesting," Ruka pointed at the stellar room section on the map. To be honest, nothing on the map appeared interesting to her, but she picked one anyway because there was no reason to wait for Kain to ask her again. He had said that he would tag along with her, so they would never move on unless she chose a destination.

"Oh?" Kain threw a sideways glance over Ruka, rather surprised that she was showing initiative this time. "Yeah, I think I want to go there too… come on." Kain turned on his heel and took Ruka's right hand in his left at the same time.

Ruka inhaled softly. She staggered a little on her feet as she looked down, transfixed at their joined hands. One way or another, holding hands with Kain seemed much more intimate than just his hand placed possessively around her waist and it also made her appear as if she really was Kain's lover…

"Ruka? Are you all right?" Kain asked as he saw Ruka halted. He knew the reason for it though, without even having to confirm it. Ruka's expression said it all and Kain couldn't help but silently enjoy the display of a lovely faint blush that made its way up on Ruka's fair cheeks. "What's wrong?"

What's wrong? He was asking her what was wrong? Ruka gritted her teeth, not quite believing her own ears. Didn't Kain know? Everything was wrong. She reacted too much to his touch − that was wrong. They were fooling everyone – another wrong. He was being natural as if he sincerely meant everything he'd done. Hell, that was wrong too.

The only thing that wasn't wrong or at least didn't feel wrong, was his big, warm hand closed delightfully around her own smaller one. That contact felt strangely right, even though it wasn't supposed to.

And she didn't even know how it could feel so right, because Kain was only her friend. No matter what the circumstance was, it shouldn't be right for her to feel that way. She didn't want herself to feel that way. It was too frightening.

"Never mind, let's go," Ruka managed with difficulties to answer Kain with a steadfast voice as she let her hand remain in his and stopped herself from making any further assumptions on what was actually just a simple hand holding gesture.

Kain opened his mouth, wanted to say something, but then he relented and went on guiding Ruka to the stellar section.

This section, like any other part of the planetarium, was pretty crowded. The room was moderately large, with a high ceiling. Its walls were filled with various display pictures, constellations map and star atlas, while various astronomical instruments were being placed scattered around the room. Most of the visitors there were groups of astronomy students who were busy taking notes and observing the displays, articles and stellar maps. Some of them were listening intently to their teacher or chatting idly with each other.

"Akatsuki, we are being watched..." Ruka breathed as soon as they entered the room and noticed they were being looked at by some students who stood near the entrance.

Kain scanned their surroundings and found many female students gaping at him. He sighed resignedly. It was a good thing he didn't have his spoiled cousin with him at the moment. Kain knew that the blond haired aristocrat would be more than happy to use this opportunity to gain a new fan base for himself. "It's no different here than at the academy is it?"

Not really, Ruka thought sceptically, as she observed the growing number of people who had shifted their attention to both Kain and her, drawn by the physical perfection the two of them possessed. Even though the admirers were still mostly female, the look on their faces was slightly different from the Academy's Day Class female students'. What was the actual difference, Ruka couldn't quite tell. But it was there, she could recognize it in their wide, amazed eyes.

"Don't worry, Ruka," Kain whispered in her ear as he found her still standing alertly by the doorway. I'm sure they are all past the age where they would likely pounce on us, like the Day Class girls. Come on, let's go see what this place has to offer."

Ruka nodded and let Kain began to make their way from one object to another as she tried to follow on what had caught his interest. But almost too soon she found herself struggling to keep her focus from drifting away. She was quickly losing track because Science wasn't much of an appeal for her. The fact that they were still holding hands also stole a large portion of her concentration.

Her attention shifted to Kain instead, who seemed to be completely composed and appeared normal as if holding Ruka's hand was something he'd done thousands of times. Ruka grimaced. How can he be so relaxed like this while she was trying so hard to calm herself?

Kain sensed the beautiful girl on his left was spacing out again and he pressed his lips together almost imperceptibly. He started to wonder what he would give to at least gain some insight over Ruka's current state of mind.

Because the way she was behaving - jumpy in one second and attention drifting away in the next - was inciting a negative feeling within him, slowly but surely eroding his self confidence with every second of that 'trapped animal' feeling she was emanating so obviously. Her reaction made him feel as if his very presence was a kind of… nuisance… or… disturbance… to her, which she didn't dare tell him, afraid of hurting his feelings.

Kain closed his eyes in frustration. He didn't remember ever seeing Ruka as a hesitant and timid person like this before. She was always a resolute, confident and even impulsive character sometimes. So sure of what she wanted, that was the Ruka Souen he knew, not this girl beside him right now, looking so lost and even desperate to get away from him. This left him no alternative than to talk it out with her.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Ruka gave a light start at his question. "Eh…?" She raised her head up to meet Kain's gaze, having no idea at all what he was talking about.

Kain frowned a little at her, but gestured his head towards the wall. Ruka shifted her eyes to the direction he indicated and her eyes caught a display picture of gas-like mass, forming a brilliantly colourful round disc. It was indeed beautiful like Kain said.

"What is that?" she asked him.

"Kepler's supernova remnants," Kain answered quietly as his eyes studied Ruka's reaction. He turned to face the display again and start explaining distractedly while his own focus was rather stretched thin due to his own agitation. He didn't like what he had seen in Ruka's eyes…

"A supernova is a stellar explosion. The death of a star. It produces a very luminous explosion and energy as much as the sun could emit over its entire life span. And the burst of radiation often outshines an entire galaxy, but lasts only for a short period before it fades," he explained tonelessly.

"Oh... I just knew such thing exists −"

Kain took his chance – it was now or never. "It's because you never pay enough attention." he cut off her words tersely. "Not here and not at the Science class back in the Academy. Science bores you out, while History and Art always get your full attention. I just don't understand why you forced yourself to choose this place earlier" Kain said in a strained, edged voice. He turned, fully facing Ruka, taking in her astounded expression at his uncharacteristic bluntness. He ignored her surprise, he was tired of her pretence anyway.

"I agreed to go anywhere you choose, anywhere you like, Ruka, because I thought it would help you to be more relaxed if there's something there that has your interest." Kain explained in a gentler tone, which couldn't quite hide his disappointment. "If you don't like this place, you should just say so, you know? I can see you don't enjoy being in here."

Kain's troubled chocolate eyes were looking very intently at her and his voice softened even more, unaware that it somehow hinted at his own insecurity as he asked, "Or… is it me? Am I the one who's making you uncomfortable now?"

Ruka stared perplexed at Kain, stunned over his abrupt mood swing and straight forward question. She fell silent, undecided as to what to answer. He had made his point this time. It wasn't his fault that her jittery demeanour had irritated him. She should have remembered that Kain was always so sensitive to her emotional condition that it would often affect him in some way too.

Kain wanted her to be honest, but Ruka was afraid that he would be angry if she confirmed his question. Should she profess that she was getting so worked up because he was holding her hand in his, and she couldn't come to grips with that? That all her senses were now alive, tingling and completely tuned into his very presence?

They ended up standing there, looking tensely at each other − hands still joined − when their awkward silence was suddenly disrupted with a collective laughter coming from a group of the astronomy students who stood in front of constellation chart next to Kain and Ruka. It was a distracting sound and Ruka unconsciously followed their conversation with her acute hearing while letting her eyes slide away from Kain.

"This Cygnus star did has a relation with Lyre," said a heavy male voice, giving an explanation. "But it had nothing to do with a duck playing a harp." Another set of collective chuckles followed his amused words. "Can anybody explain the particular connection between these two stars based on Greek mythology?"

"The swan is Orpheus and the Lyre is his musical instrument," said a female student tentatively.

"Yes, that's right!" the lecturer confirmed enthusiastically. "Twenty points for anybody who knows the story of Orpheus here. Anybody? Come on... he was quite famous − Yes, Kijima-kun, please explain us…"

"Orpheus was the son of the Muse Calliope and therefore a grand musician, while his wife was a dryad, Eurydice. One day she was being pursued by Aristaeus, who took interest on her. In her haste to escape from him, she accidentally stepped on a poisonous snake and was forced into the Underworld. Orpheus was determined to retrieve his beloved, so he courageously journeyed down to the underworld. Charming Charon − ferryman of the dead, lulling to sleep Cerberus − the three-headed watchdog, until he finally encountered Hades, who initially refused to release Eurydice. But since Orpheus's music touched Persephone so much, she pleaded with Hades for Orpheus's case, and Hades relented. There was one condition though - that Orpheus must not to look back on their way out. Of course, Orpheus was worried that Eurydice was not behind him, and he fatefully glanced back to see if she was following him. She disappeared back into Hades, and he lost her forever. Unable to live without her, Orpheus spent the rest of his days wandering in aimless sorrow before Maenads, the drunken followers of Dionysus finally murdered him. After his death the gods transformed him to Cygnus and placed him near his Lyre, in the sky."

"Well, that was so tragic, don't you think, Kijima-kun?" the lecturer concluded for him.

"I prefer to look at the romantic side, Sensei," the student named Kijima replied humorously.

The other students chuckled and sneered at the comments and one female student said, "Yeah, I would kill to have a man like that for myself."

"I'm afraid that's a very rare specimen, this Orpheus, Hiwatari-san…" the lecturer replied with a smile in his voice. "For males these days are simply pigs, including myself…" he produce a boyish smirk and a boom of laughter followed his sense of humour this time. It caused Ruka to glance at him and her gaze collided with a pair of green, smart looking eyes behind horn-rimmed glasses. She turned away again as the man continued. "…but should you some day encounter a man like this devoted Orpheus − a man who dared to face Death and readily does almost everything for his beloved − you should consider yourself lucky, being blessed by the Gods. Okay then, twenty points for Kijima-kun, and we moved to the next chart of…"

Ruka was standing rooting to her spot, even as the group moved away. The last few wise sentences of the lecturer continued to echo in her mind. "Lucky, huh?" she muttered softly to herself.

Slowly, Ruka's gaze travelled back to the pair of deep chocolate eyes, whose owner was apparently still waiting for her answer, and she smiled despite of her circumstances. She didn't know if Kain loved her or not, the way Orpheus loved Eurydice − and it didn't matter anyway. But the fact that he was willing to do anything and everything she wished should be more than enough for her. She honestly couldn't ask for more luck, could she?

And Kain had often fulfilled not just one, but many of her wishes excellently. It was just unfair if she kept taking his honest efforts for granted. True, she found it strange to see him acting like her lover this time. But she should be happy that Kain had done a magnificent job pretending to be what she requested. This was what she needed, right? Kain had done nothing wrong. He even reminded her, that this was the cost of her plan. If Kain could give his best, at the very least, she should also set her mind to give a proper and convincing attitude with this play of hers. See if she could best him at his game or not…

Ruka took a deep, fortifying breath. "No, Akatsuki. It is I who made myself uncomfortable. Not you." She shook her head gently. "I'm sorry for making you worry. I think you're right, I don't have much interest here. Could we go outside instead?" she offered Kain a warm smile.

Kain looked as if he was taken by surprise for a while, and he gave Ruka a curious long gaze. But then he began to return her smile and Ruka could almost taste the conspicuous relief flooding out of him as the tense set of his broad shoulders relaxed. "I thought you'd never ask…" he said softly as he got a firmer hold over her fingers, entwined with his. "Let's get out of here, shall we?"

--