Chapter 10-An Awkward Conversation

"Shiki?"

Ichijou was surprised at how tired his voice sounded. He hadn't realized until now that he hadn't slept for a while, spending the entire morning reading. Now, he was more tired and worn out than he had been for a while.

Shiki turned his head to look at him and groaned. "What…happened?"

Ichijou couldn't help but smile. Ichijou had taken the liberty of repaying Shiki by biting his wrist to suck some of his blood out and in the process, Ichijou got a little too carried away, taking advantage of more than just Shiki's wrist.

"You mean you don't remember?" Ichijou asked him.

He could see his partner thinking back to what he could remember and realization played on his face as he sat up quickly. Ichijou leaned against one of the pillows on the bed, very content as he regarded the redhead with bright eyes.

Shiki then looked weary as he said, "Did we just…?"

Ichijou simply nodded, answering the question before it was completed. Shiki's eyes bore into his and Ichijou saw the odd sense of panic arise in the pale blue eyes.

"What's wrong?" He asked, coming over to wrap his arm around his mate.

Shiki paused before saying, "It's just…I don't know what this means. I mean, we've obviously always been close, but…"

Ichijou narrowed his eyes, not really sure what Shiki was getting at. "Are you…mad?"

"No, no," Shiki said, "Just…surprised."

Ichijou pursed his lips together, not really sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The way that Shiki said it hinted at the latter.

There was an awkward silence as Ichijou waited for Shiki to continue. When he didn't, the blond stood up, only to find his wrist grabbed by Shiki.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

Ichijou honestly wasn't sure. He thought he had done something good, but apparently not. He wasn't sure what to do now. He was afraid to go any further back to his room where Kaname was, tied to his bedpost still, or worse, with Zero. Ichijou shuddered and hoped that Kaname was okay. He was afraid to bother him after being dismissed by the dorm president.

Before Ichijou could make up an excuse however, a sharp knock came at the door. The two vampires stared at it, not really comprehending what they were supposed to do.

"Shiki?" A male voice came from the other side of the door. "Is Ichijou with you?"

Shit! How did he know? Ichijou was blushing internally as he recognized Hanabusa's voice from the other side. He started to quiver, but Shiki stopped him by hugging him tightly. It then dawned on Ichijou that in all the excitement he had caused, his clothes were scarce on his body. He yelped at the touch of Shiki's bare body against his own, but knew that they had already experienced something similar and wasn't sure if they ought to start again while Aido was at the door. Shiki eyed him carefully, then answered, "Uh…yes. He's here."

"Oh," Aido's voice said thankfully. "Good, cause I need to speak to him. Can I come in?"

"NO!" The two naked vampires cried simultaneously.

There was a pause before Aido asked, "What are you two doing in there?"

"Nothing." Ichijou said, a little too quickly.

He heard Aido cackle behind the door and was thankful that he hadn't stormed in just yet. Ichijou tried to maneuver to get something on, but Shiki wouldn't let him go. Ichijou gave him a pleading look, but Shiki kept his face blank and firm. He obviously wasn't letting go.

Aido then cleared his throat, almost on purpose as he said, "I see. Well, Ichijou-san, I came to have an important discussion with you, but I can tell you're busy, so I'll just stop by later, okay?"

"No, wait!" Ichijou said, finally releasing Shiki's firm grip on him. The blond raced to the door and opened it just enough so that his face was visible. Aido looked highly amused as he tried to see around Ichijou inside.

"What's this important discussion you need to have right this second?" Ichijou asked, his words a tad harsher than intended.

Aido looked like he was about to laugh again, but then he said, "Sorry for bothering you two, but uh…" It was clear to Ichijou that Aido had lost his train of thought at what the present situation held for him, that is catching Ichijou in the same room with Shiki stark naked. There could only be so many things that would lead to that conclusion and Ichijou had no doubt that Aido was on the right track.

He then whispered, coming very close to Ichijou, "so, is the redhead good in bed?"

Ichijou would have punched him had Shiki not had vampire senses to hear the question as well. He answered from afar, "Mind your own business."

Aido grimaced and suddenly put on a semi-serious face as he said, "I was just with Akatsuki not too long ago. We were patrolling the area and I chanced upon Yuuki." Ichijou stopped breathing. "She was mad at Kaname for some reason and I asked if she wanted to talk to him about it. She's pretty tough though. She said she didn't want to deal with any vampires the rest of the night. She left before I could ask her if she would allow me to drink her blood. Akatsuki insisted that we leave before she reported my behavior to the dorm president. Typical. Never wants to have any fun, at least not like you do."

Ichijou heard a growl from behind him. Shiki was also listening to the conversation. Ichijou tried to make sense of this conversation and why it was so important. Aido seemed to notice his pause and continued.

"Anyhow, when we got back, I remembered you going off on an errand for Kaname earlier. You wouldn't say anything vital about it, but I figured it had to do with Yuuki." His tone suddenly dropped, "At least I thought it did."

Ichijou decided to play dumb.

Aido sighed, "When I went to find you to ask about it, I saw Kaname and the other prefect in your room. No idea why he was there, but Kaname seemed well at ease, almost too at ease, if you get my point."

Ichijou only understood too well. He had been a victim of his seductiveness and had to live with that remembrance. It wasn't one to go away so easily. Although, he was amazed that Aido went into the room without being completely shocked. He made it seem like Kaname wasn't tied up.

"No, I understand what you mean." Ichijou said, "Um…was Kaname, I mean, was he…did he look…okay to you?"

Aido seemed confused by the question. "He looked fine to me. His shirt was open, but other than that, he seemed normal on the couch."

The couch? Ichijou's eyes widened. Had Zero untied him from the bed? Suddenly, Ichijou was panicking. Kaname wanted to be tied up, but when Aido came in, he was untied. Suddenly, Ichijou's mind was spinning. Something was wrong. Kaname had to be losing it to allow Zero to untie him, but then again, maybe they did that so they could fight fair.

Then it dawned on him. They were still in my room!

"Ahh…" Ichijou said. "You mean he wasn't…on the bed?"

Aido raised an eyebrow at the other vampire as he said certainly, "No, I would remember if he was. He was definitely sitting on the couch."

Ichijou was more confused than ever. What had happened between the time that he left and the time that Aido came in? Had his manga collection been destroyed? Had his bed been broken to bits? He suddenly had to ask.

"My room…is it intact?"

Aido gave a skeptical look as he said, "As far as I saw. Nothing looked out of place. Why are you so worried?"

"Putting the dorm president and Kiryu-kun in the same room together is risky." Ichijou admitted. "It's surprising that Kaname would be so…at ease, as you put it."

Then, Ichijou thought of something. What if Aido had been right and Kaname had been too at ease? What, indeed, had happened in his room while Ichijou was with Shiki? The thought only crossed his mind for a moment, then he dismissed it, not seeing how it was possible. After all, Kaname and Zero hated each other. There was no way they could ever…

But even when he reassured himself, Ichijou wasn't as sure as he would have liked to be. Was Kaname back to normal? Was he less excited than he was earlier? Was that why he had been untied, or was it because Aido came?

Before Aido could speak, Ichijou asked, "Did you warn them you were coming?"

Aido was sheepish now as he admitted, "No. Kaname heard me though. Though, he suggested I knock before I come bother you. And man, was he right. I don't know what I would have done had I walked in—"

"Did you mention anything about meeting up with Yuuki to Kaname?" Ichijou asked, cutting him off before he embarrassed him even more.

"No, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. You seemed stressed out by Kaname and I really didn't want to bring her up with that prefectin the room. Plus, it seemed like she was mad at him. I didn't want to get punished just for the mere mention of her."

Ichijou nodded understandably. It seemed he was already punished for not bringing Yuuki in the first place. He wondered how things would have differed had he brought her instead of Zero, whom he didn't mean to bring. It just happened that way.

"So, did Kaname send you to get Yuuki or Kiryu?" Aido asked seriously.

"Uh…he asked me to fetch Yuuki…but I failed him and Kiryu came instead." Ichijou said ashamedly.

"Hmm." Aido said. "I don't like the way he was looking at Kaname. That prefect's nothing but trouble."

Ichijou had to admit Zero seemed harsh when he spoke to him. He wasn't the best influence on Kaname's mood now that he thought about it, but going out now to stop him would be completely embarrassing and stupid on his part.

Then, a shiver rolled up his spine as he felt cool fingers brush against his back. He tried to keep his face composed for Aido as he felt the cool tingle of Shiki's hand run along his spine. It was hard to concentrate when he did that and Aido must have noticed the vice president's lack of response.

"Ichijou?" Aido asked, trying to look around to see what was making Ichijou falter.

Gulping, Ichijou managed to grasp Shiki's hand and pull it away from his back as he said, "I agree. I'll go down shortly to see what the situATION—"

His voice crept up as he felt the cool fingers of the redheaded vampire brush along his behind. Shiki, what the hell are you doing? He wanted to round on him, but knew that if he did that, he would expose himself to Aido, and he would rather have the curious blond vampire guessing at what they were up to, not actually knowing.

Aido raised an eyebrow as Ichijou tried to compose himself once more. "Sorry," He muttered. "Like I said, I'll check on Kaname shortly."

"Okay." Aido said, looking slightly wary by what was going on that he couldn't see. Before he left completely, he turned to say, "By the way, I'm done with that manga if you want it back sometime soon."

My manga! Ichijou panicked again at the thought of what had become of his new volume. He had hardly started it and then all of this had to happen. He should have just brought it with him, but then he would have never been able to have fun with Shiki.

Shiki! As soon as Aido was out of hearing range for certain, Ichijou made sure the door was locked and rounded on Shiki, only to bump into him and have his lips kiss him sweetly, staggering so that Ichijou was pressed up against the door. He couldn't deny that what Shiki had done had felt good and he couldn't suppress the feeling of emotion that was creeping out of him now, but even so, he had a situation he needed to handle first.

Trying to sidestep his mate's kisses, Ichijou managed to speak. "Shiki, please, I need to get dressed and check on Kaname."

This brought Shiki's attention back to reality as he stared at him with his lost blue eyes. "Why?"

"Did you not hear anything Aido and I were talking about?" Ichijou asked incredulously, trying to keep the vampire at bay.

"I heard everything you said." Shiki pointed out. "I wasn't paying attention to Hanabusa very much."

Ichijou groaned. "I'm sorry, Shiki, but…" He kissed the shorter vampire softly and then said, "I have to make sure my room's still standing."