Just wanted to thank all my reviewers. I think I'll start answering somethings -
Demonic Angel 7 - You've been such a good and faithful reviewer! I love you so much and look forward to your reviews!
Cassandra - Thanks for reviewing! Your reviews make me smile :3 Anyways, to answer the question about Ria; Yuki was just trying to get some reaction out of Akane. There is nothing wrong with Akane and Ria. Thank you for asking! :D I'll try to explain more about Akane's dress appearance right now! I see Akane like that one girl in Vampire Knight, the vampire, who isn't a main character but she's shown a lot, with her hair twisted to the side. Imagine her, just a bit less... emotionless, if you will.
After the dance, I stole away to my room. I was still suprised at myself for going alone with Ria's plan to dress me up - usually I was more content with baggy sweaters and some nice jeans. But as I gazed in the mirror, I silently wished I could dress more like this. Ria certainly managed to make my usually dead appearance looking healthy and nice.
She had curled my black hair elegantly back into a sort of ponytail that dropped off onto my right shoulder, ending just below my collarbones. It was shinier than usual. My green eyes had looked brighter than they had in a long time. They hadn't shined this much since my parents death. My dress was a dark purple collar, with short sleeves and a neckline that revealed my collarbones. It went down to about past my knees, and stopped with some thin fabric brancing out to my kneecap. I was wearing small flats, which were weird - I was a fan of boots. There was an elegant armwarmer on my wrist, one Ria had grabbed from her bag.
Maybe I should take a picture...?
Laughing inwardly to myself and deciding agaisnt it, I got dressed into my pajamas and went to bed, falling quickly asleep.
Both Yuki and I were scribbling down notes quickly, determined to make up for our losses in the previous tests. She was working merely for her benefit, while I was working mostly because I was half-way scared of the class rep sitting two rows behind me and staring daggers into my back. I swear, if he says one more thing, I'm stabbing this pencil repeatedly into his hand...
Class was over before I could accomplish that though, and with some sadness I stood and collected my book in my arms. Yuki was saying something to Yori before she headed up the steps again to talk to me. "Akane, have you seen Zero lately?"
"How should I know?" I replied, shrugging.
"Word of advice: we're not," I spoke sharply, and left the classroom.
Even though I had been through "so much" - as I said defaintly to the headmaster - I still hadn't gotten out of my patrol duties. So, even though I had protested more than I really should have, I found myself walking the lonely halls without even so much company as Yuki. Eyes looking around, I would have taken anything as entertainment - even a vampire doing something bad.
A shadow blurred across my vision.
Following it hurriedly, I swung my legs over the gate dividing myself from the shadow and hopped over it, glancing around. "Hello! I saw someone here... If you're here, could you possibly let me arrest you? It'd look good on my record, because I have some bad things on there..." I wrung my hands together, frowning.
Maybe I had seen things...
"Excuse me, miss?"
I whirled around, not used to hearing that voice, and saw a man wearing glasses standing in front of me. My face going pale, something seemed off to me. I couldn't place it, but whatever it was made me nervous. Should I try going back? No, I was a guardian, and I couldn't back out of my duty...whatever that was.
"Yes?" I stood up straight, trying to appear tough.
I was trying to go for the I can bash your brains in look, but I think I was more just saying Ah please don't hurt me I'll give you my lunch money.
"Is this Cross Academy?" he asked. "Sorry for arriving so late, I lost track of time."
"You seem like a buisnessman," I stated calmly, pressing my hands together behind my back. I leaned back and forth on the balls of my feet, raising an eyebrow. "Are you applying for a job? Would you even want a job here? Were you fired? Do you kids? You don't seem like that type of person. What type of person are you? Are you a cat person? A dog person? A guinea pig person, perhaps? I'm more of a parrot girl. What colors are your favorite? Are you a vampire? I think so."
He merely laughed. "Quite a lot of questions for such a young lady. But to answer your question, yes, I am. And you're the guardian of the school, aren't you? Mind answering a question?" His nails suddenly started to grow, and I stepped back.
"Uh, sir, mind stepping away from me..."
He leaped forward suddenly, his figure becoming a blur -
And then I was pushed out of the way by someone, their fingers tightly gripping my shoulder as they held further away from the man. The person had gripped the man's own hand tightly, keeping it from possibly shredding my face. Once I got my wits back, I saw the person had been Zero. I hadn't seen him in a long time, not since yesterday. That was a long time to me, I guess.
"What do you want with me?" asked Zero, his voice rough.
"I don't think-" I was going to say something, but Zero's hand left my shoulder and hit my mouth, keeping me from speaking. I frowned, trying to grab his hand off my mouth, but he held it there firmly. I stopped and rolled my eyes.
"Under order of the senate," the man started, looking quite amused, "I have come to execute you for killing the pureblood vampire Shizuka Hio."
Zero looked suprised, but he didn't say anything.
A sudden bout of anger coursed through my veins and I struggled to free myself from Zero's grip. Once I had succeeded, I ran forward. "Don't you dare say anything like that! Even if it is a joke! Only I can joke like that! You're some old man," I yelped angrily. "So, don't you dare-"
The man's other hand suddenly came up, and started rocketing down towards me. Freezing, I watched as it slowly came closer. Then Zero had pushed me down, my head missing the man's lethal hand by inches. My breathing grew louder and I resisted the childish urge to latch onto Zero's leg like a scared child.
Shaking, I got to my feet.
"Anyways," the man went on, "it's a cheap price to pay, isn't it? And I'm getting the feeling that little girl is your accomplice, isn't she? I don't think the senate will mind if she goes too..." At the same time that I let out a scream to kick the man in the shin, Zero broke the man's hand effortlessly. Although he didn't scream, it did look like the man was in quite a bit of pain. I laughed in his face, feeling proud.
The man fell to the ground.
"Sorry," said Zero, "but I won't pay that price."
Feeling giddy somehow, I spun around, a grin on my face. "Yeah, we did it!"
"You think," spat the man, who was now on the ground. "Even if you manage to kill me, you can't escape your fate."
"Why not?" I muttered, disappointed as I glanced up at Zero.
I had now noticed that more buisnesslike men had gathered around us, looking threatening and scary. Even though my heart started to thud a bit more, I yelled "Battle formation!" and skidded to a stop, my back facing Zero's. I grinned, trying again to come off as scary. Maybe it was secretly working...?
"Leave, Akane," said Zero, "this has nothing to do with you."
"No way!" I said back. "I'm here, now I'm this with you! No way I'm leaving." I glared at the men around me. "And besides, I was bored."
Suddenly, the men looked up. Curious, I peered around. My mouth dropped open. It seemed that almost all the Night Class students had come, making all the men stop. There was an almost scary-looking man standing in the middle, blondie standing next to him. This must be the elusive Kaname, I thought eagerly, watching him intently. He locked eyes with me for a moment, and I was about to say something, when I was suddenly spun around quickly.
I was dizzy for a moment, and then I saw Aido leaning down, his face close to mine, his eyes boring into mine. "Hi there," I said, trying to lean back just a bit, even though his hands were gripped firmly onto my shoulders. "What's up?"
"Do you try and get yourself into trouble?" he asked, sighing.
"Of course," I said, grinning. "It wouldn't be fun any other way."
He laughed. "I guess so."
"Now you," he said, turning me around so I was facing the way I had come into this area, "go back to your dorm, okay?" He pushed me forward a bit. I turned my head, stuck out my tongue, and then turned, heading over the fence and back to my dorm, where Ria was already asleep.
The next day, I found Zero. I needed to tell him about a few things, so I ran up to him, falling into pace with him. "Hey! The headmaster talked to me the other day about what happened, so I told him. Can't lie, you know? Although that would have gotten me expelled...anyways, he's worried because you're not healing that fast. Weird, huh? Then he asked me if you were taking your blood tablets properly. How should I know, you know? Haha!
And then I told him you were innocent. Well, first I gave this weird look and said I don't know I wasn't there but then the headmaster gave me that weird half glare/half I think I'm drunk look and I just blurted out that you were innocent, but I think you are because I don't think you're that type of guy, okay? I mean I think you're nice and cool and cool guys don't kill people, right? Oh goodness I hope so because that means I've misjudged a lot of people-"
Suddenly Zero stopped, and I stopped as well, looking up, curious. "You're nervous," he said, studying me for a long moment. "You don't talk a lot if you something to say. So, why are you nervous?"
"I am?"
"You are."
Looking down and feeling a sense of embarrasment flood over me, I shrugged. "I guess maybe I am. There is one more thing I have to tell you. I'm on your side, okay? I believe in you. That's mostly because I don't like that senate people, okay? Just wanted you to know..."
Silence flooded the area.
"And if you're wondering," I said quickly, wanting to tie up any loose ends, "why I was going to visit Maria/that Shizuka chick, it's because I felt I could save you. That'd be pretty cool, huh? I felt like...like...I really don't know. I just wanted to, I guess." I kicked the edge of my shoe agaisnt the ground, feeling really good I got that all out.
My eyes stayed on the ground, and I was waiting for him to walk away so I could breathe out the sigh of relief I was holding in right now. He reached over, lifting up my chin so I was looking into his eyes. I frowned, trying my hardest to avert my eyes, but I couldn't. "What am I to you?" he asked.
Curious, I shrugged.
He let his hand drop, and went to turn away. "You don't have to interfere with my problems. I'm not weak." I frowned even deeper. "You can go patrol the north side of the academy, okay?" And he left, leaving me curious and with even more questions that before.
Because I was so confused and I had so many things to say to Zero, I decided just to visit the boy's dorm. I stood at the entrance, contemplating the millions of things I could say and the direction it would go, and then I stopped because Akane Fuji/Morioka would not do that. I pressed my lips together, toying with options.
"Morioka," I heard someone sigh, "causing trouble?"
"Excuse me?" I flinched. "Why would you ever think that, dorm president?"
"Because I know you," she huffed, holding her books tighter. "And also, it's almost curfew. I don't trust you-"
"Kanny." Someone had wrapped their arms around me from behind, making me pause and freeze. My first thoughts were KIKI, but then the dorm president going 'Aido!' made me think again. Wiggling out of his arms, I turned. "Just had to ask you something," he said.
"Oh. Why are you even here?"
"How rude," he said, mocking being offended.
"No, seriously. You should be going to class right now, right? Unless my watch is off..." I blinked and glanced down at my bare wrist, feeling odd. Even the dorm president was saying something about it, and Aido just glanced at her, smiling.
"Okay, yes - I ran away from my dorm. Don't say anything, 'kay?"
"Okay!" she said back happily, smiling and headed away, waving.
"How come you can do that?" I demanded angrily, chewing on my cheek. "I come out for when I usually can be, and I get yelled at. Just because she doesn't trust me doesn't mean she can yell at me...so, what'd you come out here for?" I asked, turning around to see Aido.
"I came to see the headmaster, but he's not here."
"Bummer."
"You?"
"Kiryu, actually."
The windows suddenly clicked open, and Zero hopped off, looking angry almost. He glared at Aido, walking over in a hurry. "You aren't supposed to be here," he said, pointing at Aido.
"I thought you meant me for a second," I said, laughing.
"Not going back," sang Aido, starting to head backwards, smiling at me as he teased Zero.
"I'll help you run away!" I sang happily, running forward and snatching Aido's hand, watching and laughing as Zero ran after us, looking outraged. It was almost comical, and I couldn't help thinking I didn't want this to end.
But it did, and soon enough I found myself tired and out of breath, riding on Aido's back as he carried me inside Zero's dorm. I was tired and out of breath, and even Zero looked run-out, but Aido looked fine. "You're so heavy, even for a human," he said, throwing me onto the couch. Too tired to retort, I curled up and shook my head.
"You guys shouldn't have made me run after you," said Zero, storming past us.
"You should have just helped," said Aido, taking a seat next to me.
"Oh, and I know you wanted to see the headmaster...but how about you just wait here? Zero would be more than happy to have you here as a guest, I bet," I said, flashing a thumbs-up at Zero, who sent me a huff and a glare.
"Never."
"He says yes!" I cheered.
"By the way," Aido said, leaning back. "I'm a bit hungry."
Scooting away to the farthest edge of the couch, I shrugged. "I'm out of commission, sorry."
"Not like that," he told me. "Just cook me somthing."
"Well, don't ask me," I said. "I can't cook to save my life. This one time, I burnt water. No, seriously..."
The way Zero was glaring at Aido made me laugh, and I had a feeling I'd be in for a long night. Even I was yawning and didn't know if I could make it through...
[To be continued! :3]
