OMG, I'm so sorry for not writing this like a few months ago... I kind of lost interest in it, but let's all just blame school for the long cliffhanger :P

Chapter 10: The Truth Behind the Red Rose.

RUKA'S POV

As soon as Hanabusa and Takuma showed up, we quickly brought Akatsuki up to the Night Class's infirmary. We were told by the nurse that Akatsuki was gonna be just fine. You wouldn't believe how god damn relieved I was to hear that.

"It's not like Akatsuki to get hurt like that from a hunter…" Hanabusa said it like he knew this was somehow all my fault or something.

"What exactly happened, Ruka-chan?" Takuma asked in a polite way.

I looked down at the ground and said quietly, "He was protecting clumsy old me." Still looking away, I added, "Why is he such an idiot…?"

"Because he's the kind of guy that'll protect whatever's important to him without thinking it through first." Takuma totally took that line from another one of his shojo mangas.

I thought about Takuma's "wise words from a shojo manga" for a moment, and then I started to reconsider the fact that maybe Akatsuki actually did care about me…

"Anyway, we'll be out looking for the bastard who did this to our Akatsuki, so let us know when he wakes up, will ya?" Hanabusa said as he and Takuma headed for the door.

"Kay." And with that, I was left alone in the room with a sleeping Akatsuki.

I walked over to his bed and got down on my knees so that I would be at eye level with him.

I just looked at him for a while (no, I'm not some creeper) and noticed something red in his pocket. It was the red rose.

I slowly reached for the rose and slid it out of his jacket.

I thought about whether it was the real deal or not…

But then I made a decision. Whether it was the real rose from the legend or not, it had to go. It just caused too many problems.

I stood up, walked to the window, plucked the petals from the flower, and finally released them from my hand as they blew away into the night sky.

When the red petals could no longer be seen in the distance, I went back to where I was before, next to Akatsuki's bed.

"Hey, wake up soon, okay?" I whispered to his face.

It was kind of ironic because as soon as I told him to wake up, I think I fell asleep with my head right next to his.

AKATSUKI'S POV

Something was shining bright as hell right in my face so I slowly opened my eyes and woke up to sunshine on one side of me and a sleeping Ruka on the other side.

"Great, I'm stuck between two things that I hate…" I said to myself. I was just joking, of course. I could never stay mad at Ruka for more than an hour.

"Hey, Ruka…" I poked her face gently. Her face kind of did his weird little twitch thing, and then she slowly woke up.

"Huh…? What do you want, Akatsuki?" She looked like she was still half asleep.

Suddenly, it finally processed in that little head of hers that I was awake for first time after the incident with the hunter. First she looked surprised, but then her facial expression quickly turned into confusion, like she was wondering what to say.

"Sorry." She looked at me with semi-sad eyes.

"For what?" I kinda smiled a little to reassure her that I was fine.

"For being a bitch to you all the time…" She still didn't look too happy.

"It's fine, Ruka. I adapted to your bitchiness like ten years ago." I joked and tried to tease her.

"Shut up… Geez." She said it with a slight smile. "But really, thanks…"

Just then, Rima, Senri, Hanabusa, and Takuma entered the room.

"I guess you two have made up by now, yeah?" Takuma smiled.

I didn't say anything, and neither did Ruka.

"Well, yeah, considering they were totally making out last night when we found them." Hanabusa said it so loud, I bet the whole school heard that. I had no idea what the hell he was talking about, but Ruka had this "oh crap" face…

"What do you mean, making out?" I asked because there was obviously something that I missed.

Hanabusa looked confused and said, "Oh wait. You weren't conscious when that happened…?"

The room was like totally silent and awkward. Rima and Senri left the room quickly like ninjas. Hanabusa and Takuma followed them, but left slowly like awkward turtles.

Somehow, Ruka and I became the only two in the room and it was still pretty awkward. I looked over at Ruka, who seemed really nervous.

"Look, Akatsuki… I was just trying to wake you up and all so you could take some of my blood since you were bleeding like hell… But, but then, you wouldn't freakin' wake up… So I mean, I had to find a different way to give you my blood… That's all…" Ruka was blushing more than ever as I tried to process everything she said in my head. That's the most embarrassed I've ever seen Ruka be. It was actually kind of cute.

"Thanks, Ruka." I smiled as I patted her on the head.

She just stayed silent and made a pouty face.

RUKA'S POV

That afternoon, I wanted to go for a walk somewhere even though it was getting colder outside. I put on a warm red knit hat and headed to my usual location: the flowerbed. Surprisingly, I wasn't thinking about the rose or the bet for once. It was actually nice.

"Here again?" It was, of course, Akatsuki's voice.

"Yup." That was the only thing I could think of to say…

"You know, a few days ago, I was just walking around here and the red rose showed up right in front of me. I couldn't believe it." Akatsuki began his little story.

"Really?" I was like the master of one word responses that day or something.

"Yeah, I had it with me for a while, but now it's seriously gone… Sorry." He looked a little concerned.

"Well… Maybe you'll just have to find another one then." I looked at him and smiled a little. I was joking… I actually never wanted to see another rose ever again.

Akatsuki paused for a moment and just looked at me.

"You're right, Ruka," he said.

"Huh…?" I was a little confused and started to say, "Hey, I was just kidd-"

"I think I found another one already." Akatsuki cut me off.

"Seriously?! Where?!" That kind of got me curious as I looked out at the flowerbed.

"Ruka," he said as he suddenly pulled my arm gently. "My rose is right here." He kissed me on my forehead. My face immediately turned red.

I looked at him and asked, "What do you mean by that…?"

"I mean, you're my rose, Ruka." He looked back at me.

I just stared at him.

"Think about it. Where do I always find you? Here, by the flowerbed. And look, you're also wearing a red hat like the petals on a rose. Believe me, Ruka, you are my rose."

I did what he said and thought about it, and shit, it all made sense.

I stayed silent for another minute…

Then, I randomly said, "You're weird Akatsuki." I gave him a smile.

"Am I?" He gave me this weird face and pointed at himself.

"Yeah… But I like you that way." I continued to smile like an idiot until I realized I just told Akatsuki that I liked him… FMO. This totally gave Akatsuki an opportunity start teasing me.

"Hmm? What'd you just say Ruka? I couldn't hear you." He had this devilish smile on his face. I knew he heard what I said… He was just being an asshole about it and wanted me to repeat it.

"I ain't repeating anything, bastard. If you missed out on what I said, then too bad." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Fine… Geez, Ruka." Akatsuki finally gave up… Or so I thought.

"Hey, speaking of missing out on something, apparently you and I kissed the other night?" Akatsuki continued messing around with me.

"I already told you, it wasn't a kiss, stupid." I just looked plain irritated at that point.

"Well that's something I definitely don't want to miss out on." Akatsuki stepped closer to me and put his hand on my cheek.

Akatsuki's face kept getting closer and closer until our lips touched. I don't really want to get too descriptive on the kiss, but I'll just say one thing: The broken friendship between me and Akatsuki is fixed and ended up as something way more than just a friendship.

OKAY GUYS... That's the end :O I'm sorry if I made you wait months for this crappy ending, but I'm not good at ending stories... I actually think this is the first time I've ever ended a story T-T

I hope you all enjoyed it (:

ANYWAYS, maybe this is some good news... I really want to write a new VK fanfic with Zero and my own character because I just love Zero so much xD He's probably the sole reason why I still read VK :O I was also thinking about writing some Pokemon and/or Harvest Moon fanfics too because they're so cute (;