CHAPTER TEN
The Comet (II)
One moment, he was greedily drinking - no, practically devouring the girl's blood and the next, her body was ripped away from his intense, almost painful grip and he was being punched in the face. Hard. "You idiot!"
It was like ice cold water was splashed into his face. Actually, that was not true either. It was as if he had been drowning and someone had finally pulled him out moments before he gave up. He blinked, clearing up his muddled thoughts and wiping the blood on his lips as he tried to regain focus and recall what had just happened seconds ago. His cousin was standing in front of him, his usual calm and stoic face now lit with anger as he placed a dazed and soon to be unconscious girl into Ruka before shoving Hanabusa against the wall, his hand twisted up into his collar. "What do you think you were doing?"
"I - I..." He couldn't think of an excuse. What had he been doing? He couldn't think of a legitimate reason why he almost drained this girl...an irrelevant girl that he had never lusted for. It had just gotten away with him, and all he wanted was blood, to feel something...
Akatsuki's eyes were still ablaze although he loosened his grip on him. "We're leaving - soon. Before people can smell her on you," he declared. He threw a glance back at the girl who was now limp in Ruka's arm. His second cousin was equally angry, obviously not expecting to follow Akatsuki only to have some trashy excuse of a noble vampire pass out from blood loss...and to Hanabusa, out of everyone. "You are such a fool," she hissed and then sharply turned around to his cousin and demanded, "Get him out of here. Now."
The taller vampire grabbed him by the arm, leading him out through his back tersely without another word. "Wait, wait." Hanabusa began coherently, "It's a misunderstanding!"
He wasn't talking to him, too angry from shock to do much but tighten his grip.
"Ow! Akatsuki, stop!" Hanabusa complained, regaining his usual personality now that the after effects of biting into someone was wearing off. The hazy, pleasurable state completely disappeared the moment they resurfaced above ground in the cold December air. Akatsuki waved over one of the many limos that had been waiting to accompany guests back at any given hour, and the driver immediately threw open the door to let the two aristocrats in. Once seated, Akatsuki finally had his temper under control. "Really, Hanabusa?" he started. "What are you trying to prove? I know that you didn't want to come, but to go as far as to -"
"I just got carried away!" he said quickly, his aqua eyes wide. "Honestly. I didn't think that...well, it's just been a while since -"
"That's a horrible excuse. I just hope that," suddenly Akatsuki stopped and his face dropped, his palm hitting his forehead, "I just hope that Dorm President won't find out."
Hanabusa's expression darkened too at the idea of it. God, he would be in trouble. More than that. He would be thrown into the pits of Hell if Kaname were to find out he drank the blood out of a girl - a vampire, but a girl nonetheless - until she fainted. His face paled even more.
It. Was. Not. Worth. It.
The side of his face fell against the window, and he wished for at least a swift death - but what came even faster was his arrival to Cross Academy. Once the car slowly made their way through the road that was built at the side of an all too familiar forest, he suddenly crouched ahead to knock on the window. "Driver, stop here!" he demanded. Akatsuki looked up.
"Hanabusa, what at you -"
"I need to think. Okay? Just taking a walk." And before the car fully came to a stop, he had already opened the door by himself and stepped out, leaving Akatsuki staring after him with wide eyes. Then he sighed, only hoping that his cousin wouldn't do anything else that would make his punishment worse.
xx-x-xx
One moment, I was drifting off to sleep; nothing felt better than being cuddled up tight in a jacket and warm, thick scarf and curled up like a bug next to a huge furry dog in a perfectly cool night. There was no breeze, just a slightly lower temperature and refreshingly cold air. It was almost pitch black outside now, with nothing but the stars and the moon to light up the huge sky over me. And I was sleepy too, so the heavy drooping eyelids felt like God himself was billowing me with rest...
And then a hand was rustling me awake and shattered the perfect moment.
Light hair, light skin, lighter eyes.
"Geez, Hanabusa." I groaned as I sat up against the tree. I glared at him. "I was so close to - hey, you look nice. Party?"
He blinked and then looked down. "Yeah," his voice was dry, quiet, "sort of. What are you doing out here?"
"Well, I was sleeping..."
"You have a room."
"It's nice out. Probably the last good night before it gets seriously cold."
"You're going to get sick if you're just going to sleep out here." He frowned, shuffling his hands into his pockets. He did look nice. He was wearing a dark suit that contrasted well against his lighter hair, face and eyes. But he looked distracted, his mind obviously somewhere else.
"Did something happen at this sort-of party?" I asked, figuring that sleeping time was over. I didn't talk much all day, of course, so a conversation was a welcome start right now. Especially with Hanabusa. He was the sort of person who talked a lot about himself and I was the listener type, so it worked out well. His mouth twitched and he looked uncomfortable. "What, suit too expensive to sit on the ground?" I raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on my lips.
He rolled his eyes. "Of course not," he said in that way of his before dropping to the ground - on the dirt, as opposed to the blanket - just to prove his point. Then his head fell in his hands, his fingers through his hair. I pull my other jacket closer towards my chin, watching him, waiting. "I did something I regret."
"You're a teenager," I reminded him dryly, "build a bridge, and get over it."
His eyes watched me underneath his eyelash as he gave me an equally dry glance. "Very funny, Misane." I gave him an apologetic smile, waving it off as I encouraged him to continue. A listener sort of thing. He sighed. "It's something that will get me in trouble with many people."
Now this caught my interest. "You didn't kill anyone, did you?"
He looked awkward again, changing the way he sat so that his knees were towards him, his arms thrown over them. He looked young then, all folded up like that. "No..."
"Drugs?"
Again was that withering glance. "No."
"Right," I nodded, "you said it was something you regretted."
He looked at me one long, last time before he started getting up and I laughed. "No, wait! Okay. I'll be good. I'll listen." His volatile nature amused me to no end. He was good at that - keeping others interested. I grabbed at the hem of his pants - the only spot I could reach - and he stopped. Then he sat back down, but this time, next to me instead of in front of me. He didn't look at me as I pulled around the fabrics around me again. He stared straight ahead as he continued.
"It involved a girl."
"Say no more." I said, stopping him despite my claim of being good. "I called it out the first day. Raper -"
"No!" he objected quickly and his arm shot out to knock me down to the side, with me laughing all the while as I fought my way back up, holding onto his arm. He exhaled, annoyed but then stopped. I let go of him. "No, it wasn't...rape. But let's just assume that she wanted one thing," he said carefully, "something I can give. But then I took too much."
"Advantage."
"Misane," he said slowly, daring me to continue. I smiled, silenced. "I went too far," he said and he wasn't looking at me anymore. He picked at his cuffs distractedly, his eyebrows pulled together and a frown on his face. "And maybe it wouldn't have mattered but this was...a bad time." I opened my mouth but he beat me to it. "And don't say that it's always a bad time to rape others, Misane, or I will -"
"Will what, Hanabusa?"
He stopped once he heard his name and then he sighed, resuming fidgeting with his sleeve. "I will throw away the telescope and kidnap your dog," he muttered. I called him on his bluff but because I was the listener type, I prompted him back to what he was talking about before. "It's just tough," he said, "family expectations."
I, for one, did not know too much about family expectations. They tended to sink once you're deemed incapable to see the world like 99.9998% of the world. My parents pitied me, looked at me with sad eyes and were willing to do whatever it took for me to be somehow a part of the world, even if that meant spending a ridiculously large amount at a private Academy with "mature" students who wouldn't treat me differently. Too late for that, and too late for a transfer. If I did have those high standards imposed on me as most teenagers, I suspected that my parents would be quite disappointed as well. Not too smart, spent too much time chasing after something unreachable - literally and metaphorically - but I wasn't horrible either. No murdering. No drugs. Probably no parties either.
I looked at Hanabusa. Rich parents, probably, and something about a girl...arranged marriages? Not a perfect GPA? I wasn't sure. "Is it serious?"
His mouth pulled back in a straight line, not quite a frown. "I don't understand why it's serious, but I suppose it is."
"And you can't run away?"
His breath was caught. "Well, I can..."
"Then do it."
"What?" I felt his eyes on me, but I continued away. This was a thought I ventured into so often, the idea of running away from everything. To go somewhere different, foreign. To discover something new.
"You know, just drop everything and go. Take as much as you need - food, money - straight out into a bag." I already could imagine my bug-out bag. "Go get plane tickets. Fly away. Or take the train. Or take the ship - swim, I don't know. As long as you're going somewhere new, somewhere you haven't conquered and start all over again." I felt a smile tease on my mouth, and a growing excitement from the pit of my stomach and the outburst of a thought I've always had. "To a place no one knows your name or your story and just...start from scratch. Discover something new. Meet interesting people, make a mark in someone's life instead of just being another passing face in the hallway. Go somewhere..." I felt his eyes one me and I forced myself to stop speaking so quickly, slowing it down instead, but I couldn't stop. "Somewhere without huge buildings, maybe the Savannah?" Savannah was cool. Africa seemed fun, adventurous - different. "Just the ground and sky and stars...I mean, that just sounds like the best life to live, you know? To have to follow no rules, to just go with your instincts and live - and I am getting ahead of myself. " I blinked and then stopped, laughing nervously as I fingered my hair, pushing it back. But when I had the courage to turn to look at him, it turned out I was right and his unwavering eyes were intent on me.
"Kaede," he said quietly, those eyes of his never leaving mine, "you are something else."
I didn't know what to say.
Except, "thanks".
He took a deep breath and then looked back at the sky. Another clear, cloudless night with the pale lights out to shine. I just stare at him, waiting for him to say something - wasn't he the one supposed to be telling the story, not me? At last, he talked, his voice so smooth it didn't so much as to break the silence as it did provide a comprehensible deep noise beneath it. "But it's not possible."
"Thanks." Sarcasm.
He sighed but when I glanced at him again, he didn't seem uncomfortable or bothered or sad or even tired. There was a small smile on his face. "You put up a good show, Kaede," he said lightly as he stood up. "But you should go back to the dorms and sleep. I'll see you tomorrow night."
"Will I really?" I ask, repressing a smirk. There was no hopefulness in my tone, just that same teasing as earlier.
"I promise." Why did he sound so serious?
"You know, Hanabusa," I said as I got up too, folding the blankets and throwing it across my forearms. I glanced up at him, brushing my hair back with my free hand and awkwardly juggling the blankets in my arms to do so. "You should lighten up a bit."
"I should?" he countered, his eyebrows raised. "Look who's talking."
"What?" My smile dropped.
"You're the one who is going crazy with far-fetched ideals that you will never reach because the truth is, we're still in school and you don't have the opportunity of going everywhere, and you may never will."
My God, was he moody.
I didn't know what to say.
But I knew from watching too much TV that this was usually the time where the girl would say something along the lines of go to hell before throwing whatever it was in her hands – this time, a blanket – on him, and maybe even unleash Akira on him. But instead, I just blinked, surprised that I was surprised by his flip of emotions. "Well, okay," I said quietly, awkward, my eyebrows knit together. I didn't know whether or not I should wave or say bye, but all I saw was Hanabusa staring at me with a stricken but otherwise an unapologetic expression.
Neither of us wavered, neither of us thinking it as worth to patch up the last several seconds.
Time to start writing more, seeing as to how people are still reading - so thank you for that! Feedback would be very much appreciated :)