Author's comments:
The person who requested this story has asked that I add some flashback chapters, so I am going to do just that. I have, however, decided that I'm going to do these chapters in 3rd person rather than in Senri's or Kaname's point of views. These flashback chapters are going to be set pre Love after Letters and will be set during Dear Mother. I think that will give the overall story/Dear Mother story more depth…. I hope. Let me know what you think.
"I heard that Odell and Ai are a couple now." A vampire said. It was lazy night at the Moon Dormitory and a few members of the Night Class were preoccupying themselves with gossip in the dorm foyer.
"Are you serious?" Another replied. "I wouldn't have ever thought that would happen."
The first vampire shrugged. "Well it is. Saw them making out in the stairwell yesterday."
"Jeez. Such an unlikely couple." A girl said. The vampire puckered her lips and looked about the room. "Speaking of unlikely couples," she began, "I hear you and Kuran-sama are going out, Shiki."
The group of vampires turned their attention to the lethargic vampire seated on the couch. He looked up from the book held in Takuma's hands.
"Yeah, I guess." He said. He flipped to the next page.
"How'd you pull that off?" A red haired boy asked.
Senri shrugged "I dunno." He replied. "Does it matter?" And he flipped the page again.
"Hey, I wasn't done yet." Takuma protested.
"Oh… Nothing interesting happens anyway." And the boy continued reading.
Takuma frowned and sighed, but did nothing else.
"I don't think it really matters how it happened." He joined in on the conversation, "I just think it's great that Senri and Kaname are together now."
"You mean for now." One vampire muttered.
Senri glanced up in the young man's direction as well as the others.
Realizing that everyone had heard him the vampire cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, everyone knows that Kuran-sama has eyes for that disciplinary girl." He stated. He looked around the room for support.
"That's not true, Walton." Takuma objected. "Yuki and Kaname are just friends."
One girl chuckled and rolled her eyes. "Yeah. Sure. Friends." And a few others grinned. Senri said nothing.
"If they're really just friends, then why are they always flirting?" someone questioned Takuma.
Someone else laughed. "It's actually a bit pathetic how that human pursues him."
Takuma frowned. "That's unnecessary, don't you think? Yuki is a kind girl and she's just being friendly to someone who's always been there for her."
A vampire flashed the blond a questioning gaze. "Are you sure that's all it is, Takuma? She is always-"
"Excuse me?"
The conversation was cut short as a familiar voice cut through it like a knife. The vampires looked up towards the large double doors and at the small human that stood in its frame.
Yuki Cross slipped into the foyer, nervous as all eyed fell on her.
"Um, I'm sorry to interrupt, but is Kaname-sama here? I need to talk to him." The girl said as she took a few steps inside the room. She shut the door behind her, but remained standing beside it.
Senri looked at her over his shoulder. A few of the students, the recent conversation still on their minds, glanced back and forth between him and the girl. Takuma was the first to break the silence as he greeted her with bright smile.
"Hello, Yuki." He chirped. "Kaname is here, but-"
"He's in his room, but he doesn't want to be bothered." Senri cut his friend short, surprising the blond in the process. Even Yuki seemed caught off guard by the sudden interruption.
"Oh! Um- well, can you tell him that I stopped by?" She looked back and forth between the two friends unsure of who to address. Senri turned back around without response while Takuma flashed another smile.
"Of course I will, Yuki." he assured the girl. Yuki nodded in thanks then turned to leave the dorm. Her hand was on the door handle when she stopped and turned back around.
"Um, Senri Shiki-san?" She said. Senri glanced back at her. "I heard that you and Kaname-sama have started dating?"
Whether or not it was a rhetorical question, Senri didn't reply. He continued to stare at her from beneath long dark lashes.
"Well, I just wanted to say… please treat Kaname-sama well!" The girl begged. She fumbled with her fingers. "I mean, I'm sure you will and all but still, he's a very kind person and- and I don't know much about you, but he deserves to be happy so um… yeah…" Yuki glanced around at the cold and suspicious stares of the vampires. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. I'd better go now. Um, goodbye!" And she hurried out of the dorm, slamming the door shut behind her.
Once she was gone Takuma turned back to the others, a smile wide on his face.
"See, everyone? I told you she was nice. Don't you think so, Senri… Senri?"
The boy didn't answer though as he stared down in thought. Once he finally did say something it was only to tell Takuma that he had become tired. "Hold still so I can sleep on you." The boy said, and he leaned his head on the young man's arm, the girl's words lingering in his head.
The rest of the students remained quiet for a moment though their gossip soon resumed.
"Anyway, did you hear about-" And the night continued on like any other.
More comments:
First off let me apologize for taking so long with this chapter. I know some of you may be thinking "Why did it take her so long to write this thing? It's pretty damn short!" Well, actually I typed a version of this chapter a while ago while procrastinating on an essay (which you should never do) and thought that I had posted it after I was done. Recently, however, I realized that I never actually posted it. I was just about to do that when, while proofreading it a final time, I suddenly decided "This is totally not the direction I want to go in for this story." So I scraped six and a half pages worth of chapter seven and started over.
I don't know, I just feel like in these last few chapters Yuki has been portrayed as this potential man stealer (or at least that's how I think I've made her out to be), and, thinking back to her personality, I don't think she would have consciously done something like purposely try and steal someone's man. I think she'd be the type of person to hope that Kaname is happy no matter who he ended up with. But because she doesn't know much about Senri (I mean come on they're cousins yet they don't acknowledge or even speak to each other at all in the manga) she'd become worried about Kaname's wellbeing and end up asking Senri to be nice to him.
