Chapter 8: You're Welcome

RUKA'S POV

Some time after my fight with Akatsuki, Kaname held a meeting with only his favorite vampires (Takuma, Rima, Senri, Hanabusa, Akatsuki, and me). We all arrived before Kaname did, and man, it was so tense between me and Akatsuki.

I knew everyone sensed the tension because they started talking about it right in front of our faces.

"What the hell happened to them? At the dance, they were so close, but now they seem so distant." Hanabusa asked Takuma, Senri, and Rima.

"Akatsuki-chan probably messed up again…" Takuma smiled. Rima and Senri agreed by nodding.

Just then, Kaname entered the room.

"Lately, I've been noticing more and more vampire hunters around here and damn, they look pissed about something." Kaname looked serious, but after he said the "damn" part, I wasn't sure if he actually was being serious or not.

"Hanabusa," Kaname started as he looked over to Hanabusa, whose immediate reaction was to grab Takuma's arm.

"Y-yes…?" Hanabusa stuttered.

"I don't know what the hell you did to those hunters, but you better fix this damn shit we're in now." It was kind of funny hearing Kaname swear so much in one sentence.

"Hey… What're you blaming me for? I haven't done anything… lately!" Hanabusa defended himself.

"Got an alibi?" Kaname asked calmly.

Hanabusa made an "oh crap" face and said, "W-well…"

All of a sudden, Takuma interrupted to help his BFF out, "Yes! He does have an alibi!"

"Kay. Let's hear it then." Kaname looked interested now.

I think Hanabusa tried to stop Takuma before he blurted everything out, but it was too late.

"For the past few days and nights, Hanabusa-chan has been staying with me in my dorm. And I know he hasn't done anything involving the hunters because I kept a really close eye on him." Takuma winked.

Everyone's eyes widened and jaws dropped. We all understood what Takuma was implying with that and a very awkward silence filled the room.

"Ahem…" Kaname believed it was his mission to end the awkwardness by clearing his throat.

"Well okay… Thanks for clearing up that misunderstanding, Takuma." Kaname said.

"My pleasure, Kaname-chan!" Takuma winked again.

"ANYWAY…" Kaname blushed a little and had to recover after Takuma winked at him. Hanabusa looked jealous.

"The main thing is to be with a buddy at all times." Kaname got his seriousness back.

"So for now, I'll pair you guys up: Senri and Rima, Hanabusa and Takuma, and finally, Akatsuki and Ruka." Kaname was proud of himself for the way he paired everyone up.

"Any objections?" Kaname asked.

Hell yeah, there was an objection. There was no way I was gonna be stuck with Akatsuki.

But at the same time, I couldn't speak up against Kaname… No one could (with the exception of Yuuki and Zero).

"Well then, I must go find my dear Yuuki." And with that pathetic line, Kaname left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind Kaname, I started complaining.

"Why the hell am I paired up with that bastard?" I pointed at Akatsuki.

Akatsuki looked at me and said, "Well if you hated the arrangement so much, why didn't you speak up when your precious Kaname gave you the chance to?"

We threw a few daggers at each other until we realized that everyone else had left the room.

Without speaking at all, we left the room and headed in the same direction. I had no idea where we were going, but I wasn't about to budge and be the first to say something.

Walking with Akatsuki was hands down more awkward than when I found Takuma reading my vampire manga for the first time (and that was pretty damn awkward, too).

I kinda just wanted to slip away from Akatsuki…


AKATSUKI'S POV

Man, walking with Ruka was pretty awkward. I think the awkwardness from this beat out the time Takuma was caught reading Ruka's vampire manga…

Of course I wanted to apologize for the other day, but Ruka just made it so hard to talk to her. If she wasn't going to talk to me, then I wasn't going to speak to her either.

I didn't even know where the hell we were going… We kinda just looked stupid, walking around randomly.

All of a sudden, I sensed hunters nearby. I turned and looked in Ruka's direction to make sure she was also aware, but instead, she was gone.

"Dammit, why did she go off on her own?" I asked myself as I started to look for Ruka.

I searched a lot of different places, but had no luck finding her.

I was starting to panic a little when a familiar scent blew in the air. It was coming from the flowerbed. I immediately knew it was Ruka's blood.

At the same time, I found myself surrounded by multiple vampire hunters.


RUKA'S POV

"Ouch!" A vampire hunter's gun bullet luckily only grazed the side of my left cheek. I quickly wiped the blood off to attract less attention from other hunters that may have been nearby.

I told the hunter I wouldn't give him any trouble if he just left, but of course, he didn't listen, so I indeed fought back. One vampire hunter was a piece of cake to handle.

Right when I was ready to knock the hunter senseless, I noticed Akatsuki (wearing only one shoe…?) in the distance, being chased by a large amount of hunters.

"Man, that guy's an idiot…" I facepalmed in disappointment.

That's how Akatsuki and I found ourselves in some deep shit.

It was the two of us vs an uncountable number of hunters.


AKATSUKI'S POV

After about ten minutes of fighting, Ruka and I managed to cut the hunters' number in half.

Every once in a while, I'd tell Ruka to watch out for a weapon coming her way. As soon as she dodged it, she would turn back and yell at me for bugging her while she's fighting. I believe that that was her way of saying thanks in whatever language she speaks. So my response was always, "You're welcome, Ruka," with a slight grin on my face.

Eventually, we narrowed it down to one last hunter, but this guy was a tough cookie. He had all kinds of vampire hunting weapons: a scythe, guns with different functions, and a freakin water hose (wait, a water hose? I'm pretty sure that's not a weapon used to kill vampires… I bet he just stole that from some firefighter). But damn, that hose was pissing me off. It was putting out every flame I was throwing at the hunter. It was so pathetic that Ruka was actually laughing at me.

While I was trying to brew up some more fire in my body, the hunter grabbed one of his thousands of guns and aimed for Ruka. Once the gun was fired, Ruka dodged it easily, and the bullet hit the ground in front of her.

When I got a close look at the bullet, I saw suspicious liquid leaking out of it. I recognized it right away because it was the same thing that was used against me before I had found Ruka. That shit was some kind of instant glue. I learned first-hand that if you step in it, your feet get stuck to the ground. The only way I got out quick enough was by burning my damn shoe until my foot would easily slip out (which is why I've been embarrassingly moving around with only one shoe).

Ruka obviously wasn't aware of the suspicious liquid because she stepped right on it. This time, it was me who facepalmed.

Ruka noticed she stepped in the sticky stuff and cursed, not because she was stuck, but because her precious shoes were ruined. Again, I facepalmed.

The hunter smirked as he pulled out another gun and said, "If I at least get one of you, I'll be happy."

I would've blown this guy's head off by now, but I didn't have enough fire stored up in my body yet. This left me with only one other option.

The hunter pulled the gun's trigger.

"Dammit, Ruka!" I jumped in front of her and quickly as possible.

At the time, I still didn't know how Ruka felt about me. Did she like me? Or did she hate me? Maybe a little bit of love and hate? Either way, I was gonna protect her because that's just the kind of thing you do for the one you love.

The last thing I heard before blacking out was Ruka yelling at me. You're welcome, Ruka.


I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but I'm not a fan of writing tragedies (hint, hint), especially if someone's gonna die in such a cliche way :P So please stay tuned! The end is near! Maybe... (;