o o o
This can't be happening.
The masked man raised the sword over her head. Black swirled into her burning vision, his face faded, the hard ground against her knees numbed. The fresh scent of swaying trees depleted in blood. Ichiru had been dragged off the horse, thrown into the stream. Carcasses of Ichijo samurai circled her, only to be stepped over the lurching loom of Toma samurai.
"Get her!" The lord commanded from the stallion. His eyes glistened victoriously down at Yuki, smirking.
Lord Toma was not in the west penetrating hunter magic. An angry bolt of searing pain grated up her sternum. Yuki clutched herself in rasping pain, doubling over as the grip on the gun slackened. The seizure dragged her on all fours against the ground, trembling violently.
Not now.
"You've served me well, Jinmu." Lord Toma praised the masked man domineering the girl, "If it weren't for you, tonight wouldn't be a success."
"I am just following your orders, my lord," Jinmu replied.
"I mean it," Lord Toma went on, "If you hadn't told the loyalists about an impending attack in the north and the west, this wouldn't be happening."
Jinmu stilled as the glaring eyes of the Toma samurai reared on him. A cold shiver tumbled his bloodstream. "My lord, why would you say such things?"
"I told you, Jinmu," Lord Toma worded coldly, "If I suspect betrayal, I will kill you myself."
Jinmu tightened his grip on the sword. Three seconds prior, the Toma samurai stood tall in surround calm. Three seconds, they leapt on him, swords and daggers raised, charging simultaneously. He thwarted the attack from the front and back, but did not have enough time to block the side as a sword dipped into his ribcage, cutting into his heart. His eyes heavily winked as the blade nestled in the muscle of the winding and slowing organ.
"Let's say I did your master a favor by getting rid of you," Lord Toma stated disdainfully as the vampire dropped on the floor in front of Yuki. "How dare you pretend to be my ally and spy on me." Glaring at the rest of the obedient samurai, he growled noxiously, "Don't stand there. Grab her!"
The samurai darted toward Yuki. She shakily lifted the gun, however, the tragedy was not in the effort but in the lack of. With no power and uncorroborated from constant seizure, she could not pull the trigger. A black shroud coiled around Yuki in the form of whirling smoke, bats stroked the wind, colliding ominously with the samurai. Thrusting them two feet back, the wind wound into the glaring silhouette of the crowned prince. His black hair drizzled noisily around black-garnet eyes that narrowed threateningly on Lord Toma.
Kaname did not waste a second and summoned a tectonic reverberation, splitting the ground between the samurai and Lord Toma from Yuki and him. For a good measure, he apprehended the samurais and dragged them to the stream as well. He could've given into rage by continuing and leveling the playfield, but Yuki was gasping and turning dangerously blue, stabilizing her was priority. Kaname sensed hoofbeats bubble against his feet. Horns sounded and emerald banners floated in the distance. He whisked Yuki, still seizing, and floated up into black mist.
Lord Toma cursed at the approaching Ichijos samurai. He signaled the backup, letting them rush toward the army.
o o o
Yuki collapsed against his chest, heaving as he brought them back to her room. She wasn't precisely in control, convulsing protractedly time and again. She tried to move toward the table, fighting to snatch the hidden bottle of blood wine that temporarily alleviated the symptoms but failed to cure. Kaname held her down, arms crisscrossed and locked around her waist, pinning her ultimately in a silent wrestle. She fought for two minutes, wincing, sobbing and gasping as shocks pulsed through her veins. Sharply ripping his hand out, he slit a fang against skin, a justified deep nick. She contorted in his arms, but Kaname locked her for a noticeably breathless moment where her tearful eyes widened. He wiped the blood from his mouth, a hand cradled the back of her head. His mouth full of blood pressed on her gasping lips. Her convulsive arms and legs struggled against the bolstering column of his body.
"Mm-" Blood pooled in her mouth, coating her gums until she gulped to soak her burning throat. She staggered, backpedaling downheartedly flush against the wall.
His fangs were a mere inch from her tongue, the heat ricocheted a malevolent shiver down her back and legs. Warm blood dribbled down her chest, soothing black veins and causal pain from energetic resistance. Her eyelids whimpered shut as the rest of her thawed in supple relief. His arms stayed taut, restrictive, and controlled around. If not for them, she would have plunged indolently to the floor.
Kaname could feel her breathing equalize. Her eyes doubled close again while her consciousness relapsed into a steadier reality. He pulled back enough to examine her flushed cheeks and hungry rasps. Tears had dried, a relatively somnolent tremble undulated her bloodstream, an elusive sensory response to his blood melting in hers.
She did not move or dared to. Her struggling and shoving hands had transformed into notched hooks in his sleeves. When she swallowed his blood, her body instantly received the potent delicacy with fervent delight and expectation. She craved him. She always did and hoped running away solved the hunger. However, she did not reel from hunger pains anymore. Every time Kaname reached or reacted emotionally and energetically, she sensed the energetic translation, which summed into bolts of convulsions. Typically blood bonds did not encounter such deviations.
Unless she…
Yuki peeled her eyes open at last.
Kaname wisely examined the red-eyed girl tucked fast in his arms. She did not resist or run away. Wide-eyed and breathless under inspecting eyes, she glowed red, a secret quiver tinkering the back of her throat at their closeness. He noticed how crudely her nails dug into the material of his jacket, seeking skin and muscle.
Thump thump, thump thump.
She began shaking nervously. The secret in her blood, in her heart, recognized his arms—him.
Kaname pressed his forehead to hers, tumbling into wheezing relief, "Feel better?"
Her eyes widened as she numbed her stupefaction at the contiguous physical touch. How easily he rested his face against hers, breathing wholly in liberation. How immediately it did not seem inappropriate or awkward. True, he did not feel like a bewildering stranger. Despite purebloods were born cold-blooded, Kaname was always warm. When she found herself in his arms on rare occasions, he remained tender and thoughtful like a gentleman, unless the joke guaranteed a specific reaction, like telling him off or empty threats. And he knew exactly what they were, baseless and untrue. She would die than harm him. There was a darker side to the pureblood she sensed regardless of physical equity. He also had unfathomable hunger and watched her wallow in blood bond without having his fill. Not once did he demand a taste for saving her life.
Thump thump, thump thump.
Kaname traced her mouth with the pad of his thumb. "I thought I lost you again."
Footsteps stormed the hallway outside her room. "Yuki!"
Kaname peeled off her, dissolving into nonpareil mist. The door stalled open to reveal Kaien. He meant to enter but retracted the footstep on second thought after sensing the additional presence in the room. He looked coldly toward her, nudging the glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"Get yourself together and come quickly. We found Ichiru." Kaien announced and turned back to the hall. He glared at the twisting black mist fluttering past the window, outside.
Yuki pushed away from the wall and hurried after the vampire hunter. "The Ichijo backup saw Lord Toma chase after you and Ichiru. Unfortunately, they were too far to grab him on time." Kaien hustled down the stairs to the foyer with Yuki fast at his heels. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw smoke rising in Kurashiki. Haruka was a step ahead by collecting the townsfolk in a safe place."
"Father's priority is the people." Yuki acknowledged in a heartbeat, "We hadn't realized we were tricked but we took governance over the border."
Kaien stopped in front of the guest quarters and opened the door. Takuma saddled the side of a bed, leaning over a figure under a blanket. "If it hadn't been for the Ichijo vanguard and the backup in the sky, I'm sure Lord Toma would've annihilated Kurashiki. Thankfully, we don't have a lot of damages."
Yuki could not believe how wittingly Kaien assembled the information in the time he arrived home and confronted the Toma samurais. The lamplight flickered from the moving door. She darted toward the unconscious silver-haired in bed. He was cold to touch but his breathing was regulated. She lifted his shirt to check the stab wound in his chest. Fear caved in place of reprieve, she sagged on his chest, fumbling to sobs.
"We bandaged him in good time." Kaien murmured over her head. "The wound isn't as deep as we thought."
"Thank goodness," Yuki leaned over the sleeping hunter, "Ichiru can recover. Zero will kill me if anything happened to him."
Takuma stood back with a forced smile. "We have everything under control. The backup drove out Lord Toma's forces. I'm afraid things are not as fortunate in the east."
Yuki looked up at the somber-eyed vampire.
"By the time the Aidou clan arrived, the village was ransacked, human carcasses were littered everywhere. Some taken as slaves. The minor lord of the region was killed. Kaname will face backlash, but that's not as important as the 1,500 lives we lost. Attacking humans while the reins lie in Nobunaga's control reflects negatively. This massacre is Lord Toma's beginning."
"To say he took advantage of our peaceful state, learned our ins and outs primarily to attack us is infuriating," Kaien growled sinisterly.
"Last we saw him head to the mountains. We've blocked passageways we can think of to prevent his escape."
"We have to prepare to rebuild," Kaien interrupted, "And provide assistance in the east."
Takuma nodded, "The Aidous are already on it. The rest of us will stay back and sort things from here. Haruka-sama's allies are scouting the mountain for places Lord Toma could've gone hiding."
Yuki ponderously sought Takuma through narrow eye-lids, "I heard Lord Toma has distinctive abilities with portals?"
"History accounts pureblood victories to his expertise in rigging doors and realm infrastructures but he never divulged the secret on how he found a way around it." Takuma answered.
"Since his exile from Kyoto and Yamato Court, he moves around unnoticed. The common point over the year is not the cities he shows up, pretending to give us leads to. He returns to the mountains."
Kaien bobbed his head in lieu of the thought. "His base would require distance from pureblood spies, the elements attributing magic to noble vampires like yourself, Takuma. He is a formidable pureblood. There's a reason why the Toma clan is the strongest army. The oddest part is why haven't we seen his extensively vigorous army in broad daylight?"
Yuki pointed to the legendary hunter who was like her second father and teacher, "To keep his resources intact and army hidden, he'll rely on the skill he's an expert in. If he can break portals and barriers, he can create one."
Takuma's eyes widened, "We can't unseal portals without hunter magic. There's one pureblood who can break all forms of magic. He has access to the heart of the hunter and the pureblood, Lord Shoto."
Kaien clenched his jaw, wringing away from the party. "He wants no hand in politics and prefers sitting back, waiting for the tide to taper."
Although Yuki saw a glimpse of the pureblood on the eve she went to the Grand Council, she was removed from further information on the significant lord whom even the Kuran king claimed to fear. He was a mystery decked in marvelous history of hunters and Kuran royalty. Attesting Kaien's acidic expression, it was fair to deduce Lord Shoto would be no help despite his imperious reputation.
An interesting fact was how the pureblood lord and guild leader of the Hunters Association avoided affairs that sought his presence. Almost like he preferred conflicts due to his absence. Yuki clenched Ichiru's hand tightly and regarded his unruffled profile, ruminating on how analogous and different it was to Zero. Zero's forehead was notably rougher. His cheeks and jaws hard from clenching his teeth during uncompromising ordeals that had to be mustered. Hard to ignore how she added a handful to his troubles. Not long ago she remembered clutching his hand, praying for his survival at the Healer Tribe. They were fortunate to have the pureblood king's assistance.
"We'll do what we can and check for spells around the mountains." Takuma finally asseverated, "I'll let you know if we hear anything."
"Let me join you." Kaien scrutinized the blond vampire critically, "I'd like to catch this convoluted pureblood and have a word with him."
"You're more than welcome to." Takuma accepted readily. "Yuki, I'm taking off."
"I'll watch over Ichiru." She replied.
"Keep your sword on you. Unless we can pin Lord Toma's location, we can't dismiss he won't show up here to exasperate you."
Yuki narrowed her eyes at the facetious order, "You don't think he minds me that much?"
Takuma's brows wiggled and soared a little. "Mind? He personally came to steal you when he could've sent his men."
"Precisely," Kaien followed bitterly, "His agenda is deadly. Stay out of sight."
She did not assert anger or emotion in the decision, merely nodded, and waited for them to gravitate out of the room.
o o o
Kaname stared at the ash scattering with each tussle in the fraying wind. His hands listlessly dangled at his side as emotions rifted his composure. Sadness, hopelessness, defeat oncoming and passing, fear, then snaking into sadness again. His maroon eyes shifted on the pair of shoes aligning next to his.
Lord Ichijo favored his right arm, he breathed weightily once he stopped. "The border is confirmed safe. Your formation in the sky was the perfect dose of assistance. We've managed to detain fifty Toma samurais. The rest committed seppuku." His pureblood lord was a prism of silent sentience, non-blinking and immobile. For a second, Lord Ichijo couldn't gauge whether the pureblood breathed. "You couldn't have won this round no matter how many times you analyze it. Lord Toma baited Jinmu with false information to lead us astray so he could pillage the eastern village and command Kurashiki."
Kaname knelt to sift the ash and retrieved a black mask.
"We'll get him, I promise." Lord Ichijo fatherly whispered.
"Tell me," Kaname traced the mask woefully, "Was Jinmu born in the south?"
"Yes."
"Good." Kaname swallowed the knot of emotion beckoning to voice at the back of his throat. "At least he was home."
Lord Ichijo understood the heaviness confining Kaname's blood and bones. No leader, no master, no caretaker was truly equipped to watch his or her fellow comrades fall. No matter how many plans and plots to prevail was undertaken. "His men have gathered in the east." There never existed a scheme after a comrade's demise.
Kaname rose softly to his elegant height, tucking the mask inside of his blanketing jacket. "Let's go."
Lord Ichijo balked, meandering at the notion of leaving Kurashiki, which was safer than anywhere for the time being. No thunder struck the same place twice. "The east is at disarray, you mustn't go."
"I can't stand by and let the damage resolve itself." Kaname raised a brow at the arm he clutched, "What happened to you?"
"I was too slow when a Toma attacked." Lord Ichijo glumly answered, "Think it over. You aren't used to seeing death in large portions, it'll—"
"Wake me up." Kaname's whisper feathered into a stream of black mist as he disappeared in the sky.
The challenge was not in the scene of dead humans, the challenge was not in the peerless defeat shining on the column's affect. The challenge was fathoming how feasible a destruction a skirmish caused. Lord Toma's hatred toward humans went underfed. The east had barely rebuilt and another attack was upon three western states. Nobunaga Oda met the rivaling Toma army in battle. Though he won, the war drained the economic resources. There was often a shortage in supply as demands skyrocketed, famine continued and runaway slaves slowly diminished. At the peak of the council, the warlords chased thin air under cloudless skies in search of Lord Toma. For four months mountains were hounded, but the pureblood lord seemed to pass through invisibly.
"No stone was left unturned. How can this be?" Shigeu Kuran roared in front of the pureblood and noble court. "He depreciates, scorns our resources, our economy runs dry by the minute. He walks away a free man until his next attack. Why is the Hunters Association incompetent? How can you call yourself warlords if you can't catch this pureblood?" He pointed accusingly at the row of broadly armored matchless crusaders.
Blood-eyed incensed, Shigeu sought Kaname at the bottom of the dais. "Nobunaga Oda was to combine humans in order to watch them. With minor lords getting killed and humans disappearing left and right, how can he fulfill your undying aspiration to keep them safe?" He demanded. "He makes a mockery of us! Proving he can do whatever he wants and walk off without a scratch."
Lord Shirabuki knelt in front of the throne. "It sounds to me we need more allies. We've limited trade and confiscated formidable weapons in the market. Ouji-sama managed to obstruct his armament. We see now he's using it on humans, not vampires. There is one mighty clan that can be of aid and turn the outcome in our favor."
"I'm listening."
"If Lord Shoto were available, we might not have to hold such councils. Truth be told, we know the lord has no interest in our well-being. I suggest we look for a solution in the Southeast. The Hiou clan is ever so prominent, ever so formidable with an army larger than thirty states combined. We know the clan does not entertain warfare and lives in the shadows. If we appeal to them accurately and properly, we may have a fighting chance next round."
Shigeu was looking at Kaname. "There is only one person in our present company who has the warmth and candor to win purebloods that turned their backs on the Kuran."
Lord Shirabuki, along with the engulfing purebloods, whirled in Kaname's direction. Unanimously, the court bowed.
He stood up gracefully and adjusted his bowing head in acknowledgment.
After the audience with the court, Shigeu marched to his office in growing dissatisfaction. He did not occupy the chair and his mind was not fascinated with blood wine. He waited for the door to close with ample patience, exhaled loudly and queried over the shoulder with an authoritative glare.
"I want you to leave tonight." Shigeu found himself hastily venting, "Take Kiryuu with you."
Kaname threw a neat glance at the armored shinsengumi on the left. He looked away momentarily, "Kiryuu hasn't completed training on palace laws."
"Protecting you is why I offered him the job, never mind training."
"I swore you wanted a Kiryuu because superstitious beliefs appeal to your higher intelligence."
Shigeu made a turn on the spot and narrowed eyes at his only heir. "You can belittle the idea and snicker all you want. No war is lost when a Kiryuu is on our side. I want Lord Toma dead so much that I regret having to be conscious of laws instead of thwarting the magic the condemned lord is using. Our army has grown yet we need more manpower."
"I will return with good news."
"That's what I like to hear."
"On one condition," Kaname said.
Shigeu clenched his jaw, looking him over. "You want to bargain?"
"Since we both held up our ends sufficiently last time, yes."
Shigeu closed their distance and met him in the eye warily. "What're you after, Kaname?"
"Nothing." Kaname answered, gesturing to the bored-looking hunter enigmatically, "Kiryuu, the lucky charm, is precious to our clan's future. I can't possibly drag him to dangerous places for the purpose of my welfare."
"He was bred to withstand cruel conditions, unlike you," Shigeu slurred between fangs, "Don't underestimate your position. Without you the monarchy dies."
"Isn't that why Lord Toma creates havoc in seventy states? Slaughtering and imprisoning humans, playing on our sensitivity to make us react. I bargain the blowback will be less on the Kuran clan if he focused on me."
"You want to surrender yourself to Lord Toma?" Shigeu interjected reproachfully, "And what happens after you're dead? He'll wipe us from the planet and take what he can get, that's what. The blood and sweat of our ancestors will have been for nothing." He closed his eyes as a jittery flash of tears burned his eyes. After seeing death nonstop in four months, the horridness of massacres toiled his mind. Kaname wanted to vacuum the suffering by taking it upon himself. Shigeu opened his eyes and stared gloomily at the young pureblood. "People around you will always die so you can create a better future for their children. You might blame yourself, but you have to maintain a path for vampires until the world ends. It is your eternal responsibility and oath as Kuran." Shigeu glanced at Zero, resignedly, "What do you plan to do going alone?"
The placidness of Kaname's expression vanished into thin lethargy. "Exactly as I need."
"Reconsider taking Kiryuu with you." Shigeu frowned.
"If it matters to you, fine. I won't go alone but not with Kiryuu." Kaname smiled mysteriously and waded out of the doors without a further word.
He strode into grandmother queen's quarters. The flourishing garden petered with singing birds in the sunset, and the quiet purr of the water fountain blazed like an afterthought while contemplating her flower arrangements. She pieced together a marvelous bouquet, tidied the bow and paused on the second knot, her garnet eyes bearing wonder and jubilation at the shadow. A tear speckled the corner of her left eye like a tittering diamond. Kaname halted by her table. The gentle stroke of the index finger chased the hot tear away before he seated across Fumiko.
Her eyes lingered over him as if the mere vision was not only surprising but heartbreaking. She averted, sniffed and busied over the abandoned bouquet.
"I want to annul the promise you made with Yuki." Kaname began.
Her mouth flattened but she did not look up. "She formed it herself."
"She needs my blood."
"And here I thought you'd have important things to talk about." Fumiko dropped the bouquet suddenly with a hiss.
His eyes narrowed coldly.
"You've been upset for too long. Have heart, Kaname."
"I'm not upset," He replied, "Yuki should not disappear due to someone else's influence. With her consuming hunger, she can't go far. It's unreasonable for her to keep your promise. Don't hold her accountable for my choices."
Fumiko studied her flower arrangements. "Your blood bond isn't based on homeostasis. You received the investiture, kept your distance, pushed it down to keep from spreading. You still can't give up. What's different now, Kaname?"
"That's not important."
"And she has no idea the ends you'll go to satisfy her."
Kaname stood up and moved the chair in. "Good night."
Fumiko sadly watched him glide toward the doors. The echo in his steps, hollow. The elegant shoulders and flickering silk hair on shoulders, rippling in white chasms in the passing shadow.
I want happiness for you, my sweet child.
o o o
Haruka fortified Kurashiki border in less than a month. War shelters were built for the chonin. The Ichijo samurai roamed in bulks in canals. After the east village reformed, the western states took considerable time to restructure. As a result of the declining human population, blood donations reduced, and the production of blood tablets were modified with artificial flavors. Needless to say, the consumption of illegal blood wine swiftly soared, making the task of finding blood wine tougher than before. Takuma was occupied working with the city council as Haruka's aid, he had to abandon monitoring Yuki's hunger. She did not mind for she believed her sense of control would ultimately be triumphant. The larger part of Yuki saw through the impractical lie and yet it quelled her momentary fears by repeating the mantra.
The Aidou clan hadn't returned to Kurashiki due to the tempo of attacks. Another formation was submitted to mantle the western states. Her eyes glazed at the row of 500 vampires armored in indigo, paneling the skyline of Kurashiki. Kaname's column was inexplicably powerful with agility and a timelessness insinuating centuries of pureblood connections. Each vampire hung in the sky like a deity, sword in hand, black eyes scaling the shadows in the mirrorless night.
Yuki closed Lilly's stall and secured the lock. Kaien patted the horse's pate to soothe her cantankerous affair with Zero's absence for the umpteenth time. He grabbed the lantern from the wall and waited for Yuki to move out of the walkway and gather at his side.
"We're lucky the Ichijos found Ichiru," Kaien held the lantern as they strolled back to his house, "I'm too afraid to consider the alternative. I'm still reeling from Zero's transformation."
"My selfish decision dampens his happiness," Yuki admitted lugubriously, "I want to believe he can live his best life."
"Zero is level-headed. Vampirism can double the quality."
"Hunger can be great and betraying at times. He might think otherwise."
Kaien considered her silhouette in the light. "That day the Ichijos claimed a black figure took you away. My guess is it was the crowned prince. We're out of blood wine, the tablets have become cheap knockoffs. The state of the country depreciates. With so much on his shoulders, he raced from the western border to get to you. To think if he were a minute late, Lord Toma would've snaked you somewhere detestable. The crowned prince's sincerity is rather poignant."
Yuki peeked from her hood.
The Head of the Hunters Association, legendary hunter and adopted father of Kiryuus smiled tentatively. "So many people died. He knew he let them down, but he couldn't bear letting you down. If this is not sincerity, what is?"
Yuki watched her shoes embed on the grass.
"Your mother is a very warm person, Yuki." Kaien patted her head quietly, "She is not terrible for trying to help you and Haruka live."
"I wish I can change his mind," Yuki murmured under her breath, "He tries to forget her. Deep down he misses her terribly. For many years he wished she'd live with us. The truth is he wanted to protect her, show her life could go another way if she'd trusted father instead of dealing with it alone."
" 'You ran away.' " Kaname said succinctly.
" 'To protect our futures—to save us both.' "
" 'Then what right do you have to be angry with your mother for leaving years ago? She made the choice to protect you by leaving Kurashiki. Are you aware of how identical your actions are?' "
She'd thought about it over and over.
" 'Don't carry the burden. Next time someone tells you to disappear, you tell me. If someone so as much tells you not to look at me, come near me, avoid me—you—tell—me. You tell me before you dare leave my side.' "
Kaname had meant every word that time. He never spoke unintentionally and he kept his end of the deal no matter the cost. He was protective, warm and cold-blooded when he wanted. All she had done was push him aside, run away from hunger, harbor ranks and duties to fabricate differences—why did differences matter? He undertook the difficult task of mantling the nation's welfare against a resentful pureblood and his schemes. Kaname did not need to fly halfway over the country to her rescue. He could have gone to salvage the eastern village instead.
Ichiru sat up the moment she entered the room with a tray of food. He smiled gaily as she arranged the meal on the bed. "You were gone awhile."
"Really, doesn't feel like it." Yuki offered him utensils.
Ichiru shrugged, "Must be because I'm bored inside that time hardly passes."
"Take your time getting better." Yuki advised, "Once you're out, we need you to make lots of weapons, not just holsters anymore."
He did not mind and grinned. "Any update on the Toma faction?"
"He was up north earlier in the week." She answered.
"What do you think he does to the humans he enslaves?"
"Feeds his army." Yuki whispered.
Ichiru cringed but did not refute. "Makes sense to keep a large troop strong and healthy before the war."
Yuki rubbed her tired eyes. "I wish for no war but we have to be ready for anything."
Ichiru finished dinner before she tucked him in, brushing silver bangs out of his eyes and kissed his forehead with a lithe tap. He blinked and clenched her fingers. "I'm not going to die yet." He promised. "If I survived my mother's womb with Zero, you bet I can survive the world too."
Yuki brushed his knuckles fondly, succumbing a smile. "We need you, we love you a lot."
Ichiru frowned, "Why do you look sad when you say that?"
"I'm glad Zero didn't have to see you unconscious. I don't think he'd be able to live if he lost you. I also realized how lucky we are to have each other. Can you imagine growing up alone with no one—"
" 'How you walked in the corridors, studied alone, trained alone, ate alone, slept alone. No one came to comfort you. No one shared your loneliness or listened to what you wanted. Takuma wasn't allowed, either.' "
" 'A person doesn't know loneliness until he finds company.' "
"Now that I think about it," Ichiru murmured, "I can't imagine life differently."
Some of us did not have a choice but to live alone.
"And we don't have to." Yuki beamed. "Good night, Ichiru."
He yawned, nodded, and wished her goodnight. She closed the door softly. Ms. Laison was back in the estate after Haruka deemed it safe. She fell asleep in the grand room, keeping a lookout by the window for Haruka's return. Yuki covered her in a shawl and snuck to her room. She wouldn't sleep, it was normal. Stacks of books crammed the table, bed, and floor. Yuki changed into a light yukata. Her gaze whipped the wall on the left under mindless administrations. She steeled her motions and inspected the blank wood on a nibbling lip. Chills peppered her svelte spine. Her breathing laced with excitement as heat ignited in her blood. The sinewy details of arms, the cold pressure of the wall against the insatiable richness of dark blood teethed her taste buds. She breathed inconsolably, hankering and blushing. For a second, she smelled his sweet sweat, taste his saliva, and shiver from the intoxicating sensation of sharp fangs. It was too comforting, too familiar. It couldn't be the first time she tasted him.
Years ago in the desert attack, she turned around in search of him in the whirlwind. He'd brushed his lips against hers as soon as she grew unconscious. Neither was it the last time. On Kyushu Island, she almost died from poison. Kaname sealed her air passageways with saliva, which allowed her to continue breathing as her body built antibodies from the poison. There was also the time she fainted from lack of blood in the cave and he'd provided her with blood. One might deduce how precisely.
Yuki worried her lips with her fingers.
How many times has he kissed me?
Was it considered a kiss?
"Do you want it to be?" A contour whispered from behind.
She froze, her arms erect and braced for self-preservation. Yuki checked over her shoulder at the imposing pureblood. His arms were folded, a well-manicured sleeve draped across his chest and his red-cat eyes shimmered brilliantly in the lamplight.
Yuki relaxed her posture to face him properly. "Why are you in my room in the middle of the night?"
Kaname's eyebrows flickered in an enigmatic manner, rehearsing veiled thoughts prior to eloquent speech. "Why am I on your mind late at night?"
"Who said you were?" Yuki deflected.
A knowing smile licked across his mouth.
"You can't read my mind, anyway. I won't be manipulated."
Kaname moved soundlessly across the room. From the slouching river of thick books, around a bridge of folders and letters. Finally, he stepped over a gaping meadow of maps. He towered her next to the wall. "We're not humans, we thrive on polyphasic consciousness instinctively. How can I not read your mind?"
Thump thump, thump thump.
Yuki numbed her reaction at his proximity by averting from his impeccable throat, as well as the lustrous and sensual direction of his gaze. She might have thought at some point her hunger was mightier. Was it hunger taking root or was she mistaking it all these years? She never delved further lest she attacked his throat. Was something deeper and darker beckoning her existence than feeding her belly? His arms tended to be heavenly warm, generously enveloping, and his scent was spring frolicking in autumn. Why did he always look toward her in deep unraveling patience? Not merely reading and catching the waves of hunger, but learning nuances of her unpredictable and usual affinities.
Kaname detected the tremble in her breathing. Moisture curled around her eyes and a yawning parch rigged the back of her throat. He tugged her against him. Her cheeks darkened like her eyes.
Thump thump, thump thump.
"Hungry?" He searched her face.
Yuki stared widely at his perfect lips, gasping. "Nn-no."
If I faint, will he kiss me again?
Kaname smirked, tilting his head. "Do you want me to?" He caressed her cheek. Her eyes fluttered close from the tenderness. Breath strummed through her lips and throat in wasps of shivers. She reoriented herself out of his arms in a dignified manner. He gaped questionably the minute she pulled away but resumed admiring her through half-lidded eyes. "Restraint has no reward. Why do you pretend to be unaffected?"
"You're a bad influence if you keep it up." Yuki sidestepped the pureblood and approached her desk.
"Who was the one to teach me to live freely?" Kaname countered.
"Freedom is costly under a brewing war," She continued to search through a drawer and returned with an object wrapped in a crimson handkerchief, "This belongs to you."
Kaname did not reach for the item nor did he peek at it.
Yuki unraveled the handkerchief. "Takuma says the dragon blade should be with you at all times."
"You believed him?"
"The Light of Heaven and the dragon blade are companions. You mustn't leave it around for me to play. Can't you tell by now I'll do things I shouldn't?"
He closed their gap and hunched directly at her eye-level. "If you intend to return what I gave, return everything. Otherwise don't return it at all."
Does he mean return his blood?
Yuki retreated a step, "I can't."
Kaname straightened his shoulders lightly, the movement cast a ripple of white across his collar and neck. "You value people of honor who keep their word. Shouldn't you stop being a freeloader?"
"When did I-" Yuki grimaced.
Kaname moved an elegant digit in the direction of the bed. "There," He pointed to the wall behind him second. "And there. You reap the reward of drinking my blood and I haven't stripped you of clothes yet."
"Why are you pouting?" Yuki glowered.
"We had a deal each time you drank my blood, I'd take off your clothes. If my calculations are right, you're over dressed right now."
"For a well-mannered pureblood of the palace, you have no manners." She snapped.
"You know my true nature, why else would you crave my blood?" Kaname smiled amorously.
Thump thump
Yuki sharply breathed, her blood pulsated excitedly. Unconsciously, she licked her mouth.
Kaname rested abating hands on her shoulders. "Which is why I'm willing to strike another deal."
She looked into his eyes inquisitively, "What deal?"
"Instead of taking your clothes, how about a kiss?"
Tingles soared up her toes. Thrill twisted and weaved at the pit of her stomach. A haze of madness and confusion clouded her vision. Her grip on the dragon blade unraveled. Little did she know her fangs nibbled nervously on her bottom lip in commutative suspense. She flung around, but Kaname had ensnared her back in his chest.
"Let me go." Yuki panted, unable to peer into his eyes.
Thump thump, thump thump.
"Or?" Kaname whispered.
Had it truly been hunger all this time or something more she was running from?
She briefly caught the dark of his jacket, her vision tearing unreasonably. Her heart, a trumpet in her rib cage, and her arms cradled, not in anger or animosity against his chest, but listless and powerless on flesh.
Why can't I push him away?
"Or I'll bite you." Yuki croaked.
Kaname combed longer fingers through her thick dark hair, training a strand from her cheek behind her ear. "Good." Lazily a finger danced across her pale cheek and traced her bottom lip. He was not insensitive and smiled at her flushed cheeks, at the quiet gasp in her breathing, the erratic quiver of her legs fighting to stand and pressed a delicate kiss on her forehead. As he expected, she succumbed undoubtedly, her eyes fell close in hidden satisfaction. Time did not morph and the trickle of breaths grew lighter, agile, and deeper. The tightness in her shoulders diminished a substantial amount, allowing her to lean completely into his frame.
There she was, estranged from the noise of the world, under velvet lids in the depth of her blood, somewhere lost and unreachable in his cosmos. Yuki opened an eye, followed by the other. She gazed at the warm reflection in his eyes. He was smiling distantly in understanding.
In all the time she fought and grew determined to avoid the pureblood, she feared her hunger would beat her, and she would drown in her attachment to his blood. But as Yuki looked in his impassioned maroon eyes, she saw how terribly misunderstood Kaname had been. She'd seen his childhood visions, the forlorn boy seeking comfort in books. The investigative intelligent man that matured to understand the world forbidden to him, because he was the son of the pureblood king. After he ventured out, he tried to stay hopeful and compassionate toward the ones who resented purebloods. It did not end as now thousands of humans died because a pureblood wanted to erase him.
Thump thump, thump thump.
Still, her heart pounded inside her chest but she saw clearer than ever. It was not hunger or attachment to his blood but how deeply she was drawn to the man. She had killed for his sake, took poison, an arrow to the chest. It almost did not make sense to be afraid of the power his blood had over her. He never aimed or exerted effort to harm her by any means. She had never been so safe in her life.
Yuki smiled, and he cupped her cheeks. "I said before, you'll make a good king one day."
"I have to, I promised you I won't regret and do better than my ancestors," Kaname replied softly.
"The war with Lord Toma will pass. Don't blame yourself for what's happened so far."
Kaname tilted his head. "I don't recall you interested in pep talks."
"Only for you," Yuki grinned, "I'll play along this once."
Kaname brushed her hair thoughtfully. "Come, let's put you to bed or you won't sleep again."
Her brows scribbled at the thought, "How do you know that?"
Kaname gave her a heavy smile. "Your Ouji just wants you to have a restful night." He nudged her to the bed and pushed her under the covers. "Be a good girl and sleep or I'll make you copy the 'Art of War' a hundred times."
"We're only two months apart and you boss me around." She grumbled, but submitted to the cool sensation of another dream spell.
o o o
© Nur Misurr • Read & Review • Thank You
I hope you all enjoyed this one *o* I am editing the next chapter, see you all soon.