REMINDER: For a chance to win a drawing of your choice, be the 97th-100th reviewer. The "offical count" for this is at 95 because I said so. Just so you know. Now onward with the story.
A sweet scent filled the room where a girl was humming. She had her blue hair in a ponytail as she was bent over the counter with a piping bag in hand. She was putting an extremely small amount of black frosting on tracing paper to mimic the lines of the drawing underneath. Once she was done, she laid wax paper over the tracing paper and carefully flattened the two tighter so that the icing would be on the wax paper. She then iced over the small amount on the wax paper. Being precise and extremely careful, the blue-haired girl placed the wax paper, icing down, onto the side of a light-pink fondant covered cake. As she smoothed the paper to make sure all the icing was on the cake, the girl muttered to herself, "God damn it Gina-chan. Why must you have so many lines?"
The door to the kitchen opened and the chairman came in. When he saw the girl's creation, he exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing Kemino-chan!"
Kemino turned to the chairman and smiled. "Thanks. I just hope Gina-chan will have a similar reaction." Turning back to her cake, Kemino slowly peeled off the wax paper, the icing now on the cake. It was an exact copy of her friend's drawing. Kemino walked around the cake, the chairman joining her.
"Are all these Gina-chan's drawings?" the chairman asked, indicating to the designs on the light pink cake.
"Yeah," Kemino said. "I'm not sure if I should add anything else to them."
"Well, what would Gina-chan say about it," the chairman said. "This is supposed to appeal to her."
"She would kill me for any sort of sparkles."
"There's your answer."
"She's so plain." Kemino continued around the cake. "Do you think I should add any more?"
"I think it's perfect the way it is." The chairman stopped in front of one picture. "Is this Zero-kun?" he asked.
Kemino giggled. "Yep. I went through Gina-chan's drawers and sketch book." She nodded her head toward the counter covered with papers. "And it's a cute one of just him."
"May I ask what else you are planning for this cake?"
Kemino nodded. "I have another tier in the oven right now and I'm going to make the batter for another one. They are going to be covered in fondant and the middle tier will have more pictures on, not drawings, and the top will say 'Happy Birthday' and look like her desk."
"Do you think you can finish?"
"Yeah. Thanks again for letting me use your kitchen."
"Not a problem."
Now over at the mixer, Kemino was measuring the dry ingredients for the cake. The chairman joined with her, mixing separate ingredients in another bowl. They were silent for a few minutes before Kemino decided it was now or never. "Chairman Cross?"
"Yes?"
"Could it be possible for Takuma-kun to come to Gina-chan's celebration?" she asked.
The chairman thought for a few seconds. "I don't see why not," he said, "but I will have to check with Kaname-kun."
Kemino frowned slightly to herself. "Kaname-kun won't let him have fun…" she muttered to herself. "What time do you think Aki-san and Sekino-san will be her?" she asked out loud.
"I'm not sure," the chairman said. "Aki-chan said Tuesday evening so I would imagine anywhere from 5 o'clock to 10 o'clock tonight."
"I got plenty of time."
1111
This was the best way to relax ever. The small girl slid further into the water, covering her mouth. The heat of the water soothed every muscle under her slightly pale skin. However, it wasn't enough to un-twist her heart, but was able to help push the thought of it to the back of her mind. She rolled over onto her stomach to feel the heat on her chest. A relieving sigh passed her lips. "This is the only reason I like being short," she said to herself. If anyone had heard that from her, they would have died of a heart attack.
How long has she been in here? Who cares? Just let the time go by. He'll be alright; he'll be back any minute…
Gina rolled back over, leaning her head on the back of the tub. "Damn it," she muttered. The silver-haired boy had been on her mind all day and night. The last she saw of him was when he went to that building. Right into Hio's clutches. Fucking Kuran… She sat up and brought her legs to her chest, hugging them and resting her chin on her knees. She could have done more. She should have gotten in that building, not given up. "Looks like we broke our promises." Why am I not surprised?
You were going to break yours from the beginning.
Gina looked at her reflection in the faucet. I have my reasons.
So did he.
It'll save his life.
He wanted to ease his soul.
I know. Selfish bastard.
You're selfish too.
Not in this situation.
Yes you are. The eyes of her reflection changed from blue to a glowing silver. They glinted with lust. You want to be the one to save him so he'll see only you. You don't want him to look at Cross anymore. You want to get rid of Hio. You want to be the only woman in his life and have him be yours. To have him be your side for the rest of time; to serve you; to pleasure you.
"Shut the fuck up!" Gina yelled, closing her eyes and putting her hands on her head. "It's nothing like that!" She kept her body close to herself and stayed like that for a couple of seconds. Slowly she put her hands down and opened her eyes. "That's not it at all…" she whimpered. The reflection was back to normal, but the image of the lustful look on its face was still in her mind.
"This isn't working anymore," she said to herself. She stood up and stepped out of the bath.
Gina dried her body quickly and dressed in a baggy, black, long-sleeve shirt with jeans. The bra straps showed due to the big neckline of the shirt. Her reflection in the mirror caught her eye. She studied it, seeing the well-known blue eyes and plain expression. That's when she noticed a dark spot on her left strap. She touched the spot with her left hand and looked at it. It was faded, but there was still a hint of red to the mostly brown spot. This made her chuckle to herself. It was the same bra she wore when Zero saved her from the Level-E. When did that happen again? It felt like forever ago, but really it was less than a month.
"Why does everything lead back to him?" She covered her eyes with a hand and violently turned away from the mirror. "Damn it."
There was a knock at the door. Gina growled to herself. She did not want to deal with someone else, let alone a girl obsessed with a vampire boy. Wait, wasn't that how she was right now?
"What?" she asked with a snarl.
"Found you," a familiar voice said. "On my first try too."
"Mom?" Oh, this just makes things so much better.
"Hi Honey. Are you presentable?" Aki asked from the other side of the door.
Gina opened the door to her mother with an annoyed look on her face. "You couldn't wait for a better time?" she asked.
"How was I supposed to know that this was your bath time?" Aki asked with a playful smirk. Her orange hair was in a ponytail like always. She wore skinny jeans and an old t-shirt of Sekino's, seeing that it was modified for Aki's taste for tight clothing. The sides were cut on the sides and retied together. The sleeves were laced through with thick ribbon.
"You asked Kemino where I was," Gina said bluntly. She did not want to deal with her mother's playfulness.
"Oh, lighten up." Aki patted Gina's back. "Your father is waiting outside. Let's go before he gets himself into trouble."
Outside the Sun Dorms, Sekino was chatting with the chairman when Gina and Aki came to them.
"Aki-chan, you should really have someone with you before you go wondering the grounds," the chairman said.
"I knew where I was going," she said, pulling a face at the older man. "It's hard to get lost here Kaien-kun. And I couldn't find Zero-kun to take me."
The two friends continued their conversation. When Gina heard Zero's name, she blocked their voices out. Why did everything seem to have him associated in some way? Feeling something on her shoulder, she jumped at the touched. Looking, she saw Sekino looking down at her.
"Are you alright?" her father asked, his voice barely audible.
Gina nodded. Before she could make an excuse, the chairman's voice said, "Speaking of Zero-kun, he was listed as absent, but there was an answer sheet for him. Do you know why Gina-chan?"
"He's been feeling sick and he and the teachers worked together to take the exam early," Gina said. Of course that was a flat out lie. When she didn't see Zero in class that morning, she did his exam as well as her own. Hopefully the teachers wouldn't notice. She mimicked his writing style and handwriting as best she could and tried to answer the questions like he would. And Zero wasn't sick; he was God knows where either dead or almost dead. When the thought of the white-haired boy as a bloody pulp went through her mind, Gina saw stairs descending into a ballroom-type basement and in the middle of the floor was Zero. His eyes were closed and he was missing is uniform's vest, making the blood-stained, ripped, white button down visible. She had to go there. Now.
"Uh-oh," she said to herself, stopping the adults in mid-conversation. "I just remembered that I left my sketch book somewhere. I'll meet you guys in Cross'." Before any objections could be made, Gina ran off.
"Gina!" Aki called out, about to go after her. Her husband's arm blocked her path. She looked up at him in confusion.
"Just let her go," Sekino said.
"But…"
"She'll be fine." His usually playful blue eyes were now serious and silver.
"But her eyes…"
"I know darling." Sekino's eyes faded back to blue and put his arm around Aki's shoulders and hugged her close.
Kaien looked at the two with concern. He had understood what had happened. Something was wrong, here at his own school, and he didn't know what. But Gina did all of a sudden. The timing was very unfortunate for a number of reasons. "What are you going to do now?"
The last bet of sunlight was disappearing under the horizon when Gina reached the building she saw Yuuki go into the night before. She panted heavily at the door. Once she got her breath back, she opened it and ran inside. Almost immediately she found the stairs to the basement. She ran down as fast as she could, completely jumping the last seven. Laying there in a small puddle of blood, exactly in the place she saw him in her mind, was Zero.
"Zero!" Gina ran over to him, falling to her knees at his side. Next she laid her head on his chest. Bump-bump. Bump-bump. A wave of relief went through her when she heard his heartbeat. "Thank God."
Getting off the unconscious boy, Gina took a look at the rip in Zero's shirt. The blood-stain indicated that he had been cut with something bigger than a knife, but there was no scabbing or scarring on his fairly muscled chest. She moved the ribbed fabric around, looking for any sign of a wound. His skin was flawless. "He's a vampire; super healing! You have it too, idiot," she muttered to herself. But at least he was alive. She found him and he was alive. Tears began to gather in her blue eyes. She was just so relieved that he was alive. "You fucking bastard," Gina half-sobbed, "making me worry about your ass." She wiped her eyes with her sleeve, holding back from sobbing completely.
Things were slowly registering in his mind. First, he realized he was conscious. Next, he could hear a faint noise. As he became more aware, the noise continued and became more recognizable. Slowly, Zero opened his purple eyes and saw the pink-haired girl crying softly. "Gina…?"
It was like a little kid hearing the ice cream truck. Hearing the quiet voice speak her name, Gina uncovered her eyes and saw Zero, who was now starting to sitting up. She smiled as more tears filled her eyes. "Zero!" Without even think anything through, she hugged him.
Zero was taken back slightly from Gina's action, but he didn't care. He felt exhausted and like absolute shit, but seeing his best friend after a failed attempt to kill his parents' murderer was nice. He pet through her pink hair as Gina cried into his shoulder. "I'm ok," he said softly.
"I know," Gina sobbed. "That's why I'm so happy." She tightened her arms around his neck. This moment will forever stay with her: the feeling of their bodies against each other, his hand on her head, the unique scent of dying roses in winter snow, and no one was there to witness it.
When her grip tightened, Zero's nose was filled with Gina's scent. It was like warm, freshly cut wood and a summer breeze with a linger of paper and lead. Right under his nose he could almost feel her pulse. Underneath the skin he could smell something rich and inviting. He clenched his hand to a fist of her pink hair, feeling the dryness of his throat. It was the most intense it has ever been. He couldn't stop himself.
As soon as she felt him grab her hair, things clicked in Gina's mind. He needs blood because he lost a lot from being cut. And I'm sure that drinking would help him heal more; seems logical enough. She stretched her neck to the left, giving Zero plenty of room to bite.
There was no hesitation when Zero bit into Gina's skin with his fangs. He pulled the small girl's body closer to his to get a better angle. She winced as she felt the fangs go deeper into the muscle, right to the vessel. The only sounds in the vast room was the sound of Gina's blood pumping right against Zero's mouth, the blood flowing down his throat, Zero's hot, heavy breathes through his nose against Gina's skin, and Gina's small panting.
"Zero…" His name carelessly breathed out from her lips, almost sounding like a moan. It seemed to cause him to hold her even closer. In elegant wording, Gina was on air. In common wording, she was high as fuck. It was almost an orgasmic feeling to feel her blood being forced from her body. Zero did it in a forceful, yet gentle way. The mixture of the two was perfect. This feeling created a deep craving inside of her. The thought of the white-haired boy's blood going down her own throat made her mouth water.
Her taste. Her smell. Both were dangerously intoxicating. Gina's blood was thick and rich, so full life that vampires craved. The closest thing to its taste was warm honey, though not quite as sweet. So thick, so delicious, so comforting; it left Zero wanting more and more. There was a unique flavor hidden within the addicting liquid that made it even more desirable. Zero could taste what Gina wanted, and this was it. All she wanted to do was to help him (that much he knew on his own) and that including giving him blood. She didn't even care if it killed her. As long as it keeps you alive, every drop is worth it. Everything was so inviting, he almost couldn't stop himself from drinking it all.
To the two teens, it felt like this moment lasted forever, but in reality it wasn't even ten minutes. Zero eventually removed his fangs from Gina's neck, almost regretfully for giving up the amazing taste. Gina felt slightly light headed due to blood lost. She looked up at the boy whose eyes were filled with unspoken apologies, and smiled softly at him.
"I'm sor-" Zero's words were cut off by Gina placing a finger on his lips.
"Don't fucking say it," she said. "Don't even think about saying it." The expression on Zero's face, regret, yet she could notice a small amount of lust, with her finger on his lips and, at the corner of his mouth, a trickle of blood, made her giggle slightly. Gina slowly slid her finger across his lips and wiped up the blood. She held it back to his lips.
The scent immediately was recognized and, slowly, Zero took hold was Gina's hand with care and licked the blood from her finger. The small amount was such a tease compared to the actual, flowing blood. Dear God, the taste was getting to his head.
Gina adjusted her legs and moved to lean against Zero's chest. She didn't want to move. The last thing she wanted was to be pestered by her parents and/or Kemino. This was just so nice. Why? Who cares?
After a few minutes, Zero moved Gina off him slightly. "We need to get going," he said.
Gina held on to him by his jacket to hold him still. "Not now," she said. "Please, just let me have this moment." Ok, maybe she was a little more light-headed than she thought.
1111
"Damn it Gina-chan, you got to stop leaving your stuff in Zero's room. Last time it was the bra and now the sketch book. I bet that's secret code for undies…"
"Gina did what?"
Kemino turned to the hysteric father of her friend. Aki patted his shoulders. "She was only joking," she told him. She looked at Kemino. "You are, right?"
"Yes," Kemino said with a small sigh, "unfortunately."
"See? Everything's fine," Aki said. In Sekino's ear she whispered, "Weren't you the one saying that earlier?"
"That was half-an-hour ago," Sekino whispered back.
"Whatever she's doing, she needs to hurry her pretty little butt up," Kemino said, crossing her arms. "I did not slave all day on this cake for nothing."
The said girl of the topic was right outside the door at this moment. With her was her white-haired boy that was the sub-topic. Gina was wearing what she was earlier, Zero had a fresh button down shirt on (they had gone to his room first in order to not cause suspicion of the blood and rip on the shirt). Taking a breath to prepare for all that would be said, Gina opened the door.
"Finally!" Kemino said. "Happy freaking Birthday! Now come and be amazed by my freaking awesome cake." She took her by the sleeve and dragged Gina in front of the cake. There were three tiers. The bottom was covered in light pink fondant and imitations of Gina's drawings. The second one was covered in white fondant and drawings of Gina with her family and friends. The top was light blue and read "Happy Birthday." The top of the tier was brown and covered in chocolate papers and all sorts of chocolate writing utensils. The tiers were not stacked on top of one another like traditional cakes, instead they were held up with columns that looked like pencils.
"Nice," Gina said.
"'Nice?' That's all you can say?" Kemino asked.
Hearing the disappointment in her voice, Gina said, "It's amazing. Thanks Kemino." She gave her a hug.
Kemino beamed. "So did you find your sketch book?" she asked.
"Would I be here if I didn't?"
As the two friends talked, Zero placed himself against a wall. He watched as Kemino dragged Gina all around the cake and showed her all the different things on it. Because of her short hair and the neck of her shirt, Zero could see Gina's pulse each and every time blood flowed through it. Not long ago he had his fangs in that vessel and the blood in it went down his throat… Damn it. He shook his head to clear it and angled his eyes away from her.
"Are you alright Zero?" Sekino asked, standing next to him. Zero nodded. "You sure? You don't look so well." Sekino leaned against the wall with him.
"I'm fine," Zero said.
"If you say so." Sekino looked at his daughter and smiled to himself. She was growing up so fast. And she was proving to be an amazing vampire already. He sighed to himself. How was she going to take it when they, he and Aki, tell her that she can no longer be the human Yukimura, Gina, but the vampire Yukimura, Gina, the daughter of a Pureblood and a Hunter? It could break her heart. "Do you still hate vampires?" Zero gave the red-haired man a questioning look with a small glare. "I won't take any offense. I was just curious."
"Yes."
"What about Gina?" Zero opened his mouth slightly, but then closed it. He was stumped. Sekino turned to the teenage boy, leaning on his shoulder with his arms crossed. "She is a vampire and her instincts are going to awaken soon. It's something that can't be stopped. She already has most of the healing and she has started to show her own ability as a high-rank vampire."
"What?"
"It's how she found you. I don't think she knows that yet. Because of my own ability, I was able to see that she had a vision of where you were."
"Why are you asking me this?"
"You are her friend. You're one of two and very close to her. I know I'm being slightly selfish for asking – no, telling you this, but please, you must always be that friend for her."
This sounded slightly familiar. What was it with people telling him to take care of someone else? "Gina can take care of herself," Zero said, "she's strong."
"That's not what I mean. How often does she bring up the fact that she is a vampire?"
"Maybe once or twice in a joking way."
"How often does she bring up vampires themselves?"
"Only when I'm going through her sketch book."
"Why do you think she does that?"
"Because I don't like them."
"Exactly." Sekino looked at his daughter. "I guess my original question is more like this: will you despise Gina and turn away from her once she is a full vampire?"
Zero looked at Gina, who now sat down in a seat and given a decorated bag from her mother. From inside, she pulled out a new sketch book and a camera. That was going to be fun. Knowing of her current artistic skills, Zero knew that she could do amazing things to photos. She would show him what she'd make and be smiling in that way that she does when they talk. He would miss that himself. Like Sekino said, they were close friends; now that she was in his life, he couldn't imagine it without her. Gina was some sunshine to his dying garden.
"No," Zero said. "She helped me, I'll help her."
Sekino smiled sincerely. "Thank you Zero."
Just then there was a flash. The two turned their heads and saw Gina smirking with her new toy in her hands. "Get your asses off the wall and have some cake."
I'll also show you a sweet dream next night.
D'aww wasn't that cute? The funest chapter to write ever, besides Gina's little dream lol.
Thanks to Mood Monster, lmamc, Maria-Chocolate-Chan, and DeadlyVampire-DayDream Corp. for reviewing since last update. Remember my offical count of the reviews is 95 as of now at 1:48 on this partly cloudy Sunday afternoon on the East Coast.
Climax is a-coming! I'm working as hard as I can on it. I have finals to study for this week so that'll cut into some time. I keep getting writing cramps and it sucks. Hopefully I'll get it done by the next time I update, which will be June 26. Don't worry if I don't finish (not like any of you know) because I have the next chapter done. See you next time.
