chapter ix.
It almost seemed like a dream. She had fallen asleep in his arms, and he couldn't bear to have her back in her own room, away from him; so he had easily lifted her up and placed her in his own bed, watching over her as she slept, till he finally succumbed himself to sleep. Kaname almost couldn't believe that she was finally here. Asuka. By his side. Like he had dreamed over the past few years.
And whilst they still had much to discuss, he was relieved that she was relatively unharmed and now by his side, as she had been born to be. Her rightful position, since her birth.
And didn't that thought comfort him when he had awoken in the middle of the night, frightened that Asuka had disappeared yet again through the clutches of Rido.
Stroking her brunette tendrils of hair as he sat beside her asleep figure, he was almost tempted to delve into her mind through his own powers to discover what had exactly happened over the past year. Yet, he knew that his sister would most likely never forgive him if she were to find out what he had done, especially as he knew that she valued her privacy. And whilst he could have easily done it without her knowing, Kaname knew that if she discovered his deceptions, there was a chance that she could disappear again or decide to hate him, and wasn't that something he could not live with? He didn't think he could bear it if Asuka were to hate him.
It almost felt as if he had stopped feeling alive until he had her back in his presence, and it was something that brought him an immediate relief to have her here beside him.
But there was still one thing that blocked his path from having her forever.
Senri Shiki.
Gritting his teeth at the thought of the noble who had been by his sister's side since she had been abducted, he couldn't deny the jealous green monster that arose at the thought of her sister having someone other than him in her life. Not that he minded her having friends. But a male figure, one whom she could rely on other than him, whom she could trust her secrets with?
It hurt.
And whilst he had his plans in motion to ensure that Rido would never have his dear sister in his clutches again, he had never planned for Asuka to have someone like Senri whom she would call her friend. And one that she called her dear companion.
What did that even mean? Were they lovers? Did she no longer desire him, like he had thought she once had?
That thought was almost too hurtful to even consider.
No matter. He was the original Kuran vampire, and he had watched empires rise and fall. He was the conqueror, and the victor. And he would win this war.
For his sister's heart.
No vampire would stand in his way.
His agitated thoughts causing him to run a hand through his auburn locks, a small smile arose upon his features as he sought to memorise each of Asuka's shifting features as she began to rise from her slumber. How he had missed this. Her abduction at the age of eleven had caused a tumultuous rage that had not quelled until last night. And now that she was here, he was sure he would not let her go.
"Did you have a good sleep As-chan?" He rumbled softly, as he raised a hand to stroke her cheek as she began to sit up, confusion evident in her look as she yawned, familiarising herself in her surroundings as Asuka realised she had fallen asleep in her brother's embrace.
A small flush appearing in her cheeks, Asuka replied, "Yes, it was indeed good. I'm sorry Ka-chan that I fell asleep on you, you must have been uncomfortable!" And that wasn't even the extent of her thoughts. How careless she could have been — letting down her guard to relax to this state with Kaname when she knew that she wasn't the intended for him, when his fiancée was to be Yuuki. Allowing herself to so easily fall back into her old patterns, and likely allowing her heart to break into even more miniscule pieces when she was to finally let go of her brother for her younger sister.
Oh, how the Gods must have enjoyed to play with her fate.
"What are you thinking about, hm?" Kaname asked, sensing her guarded thoughts, as he continued to stroke his thumb across her cheek, as he wondered where her contemplations had drawn her when she was in the same room as him. What are you thinking to give you such a saddened look upon your face, Asuka? Share your burdens with me, I plead you.
Knowing that she couldn't possibly tell Kaname the direct truth, Asuka offered a weak smile as she replied, "I thought that this had all been a beautiful dream." Offering particles of the truth, but not enough so that Kaname would know that she was lying. Or at least so she hoped. She knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of hiding what had truly happened in her disappearance, but she hoped that eventually she could tell him her secrets, and reveal all her inner most thoughts.
Eventually.
When she found the courage.
For now, she was just grateful to be in his arms.
"It wasn't. And now that you're here, I'll never let you go again." Kaname promised, a dark look upon his features as he sought to relieve his sister's fears, knowing that her abduction was something she hadn't quite explained yet, but knew that she would need time. And he would give it, for he knew that it was a topic that probably haunted and fuelled her fears and nightmares. Trauma wasn't something to be taken lightly, and he would be there for her side, to guide her in her darkest times and to be there for her when she needed. Her twin, her pillar of strength for when she needed it.
Moving her hand to cup his own, her smile widened as she replied, "And I am all the more grateful for it, onii-chan." How long had it been since they had spent time like this together?
Too long.
"I should probably check on Senri, you probably have President duties to do anyways." Asuka mentioned softly as she finally arose from the bed, kicking out the duvet cover from over her figure as she moved towards her room, tilting her head to examine Kaname as he blocked her path from being able to reach her own room. "Nee Ka-chan, what's on your mind?" Asuka asked, confused as she reached out to reach for his own hands, grateful for their contact with one another.
How that resentful monster came out to play again when she mentioned his name. And now she was leaving him to spend time with the other. But for now, he would play nice. But perhaps he wouldn't be amiss to let out a warning to the other noble about boundaries with his sister. Especially since she was a pureblooded Kuran, and the other was a lowly noble.
"Oh nothing. Just can't quite believe that you are finally here." He murmured as he embraced his twin, breathing in her scent deeply before reluctantly stepping back to allow her to leave to her own room. How embarrassing. He couldn't bear to have his twin leave him, and she had only been back for less than twenty-four hours.
Of course, he couldn't quite let her know this yet. Not when he couldn't even gauge her true feelings to him. "Go on, I'll find you after I fulfil some duties." He ushered Asuka to her own room, as he shut the door behind her, his eyes flickering to become a dark crimson as he struggled with his control at the thought of his dear twin in the arms of another.
Cracks briefly appearing upon his chessboard as one of his pawn pieces began to disintegrate into pieces, Kaname shut his eyes to allow his tendrils of control to seep through, lest Asuka find out something truly was wrong. No, he knew that she would most likely be protective over him, and he couldn't have her find out quite yet about the fact he despised that she had another man to stand by her side. Turning his attention back towards the reports, he was glad that he had sent Takuma to oversee the Night Class in his absence, knowing that he would have to introduce Asuka to the rest of the vampires when time came for them to leave to class.
Her scent would have already notified them of a new vampire attending the class, but he would have to be certain to make sure that they were aware that she was off limits. To everyone. Especially as a Kuran, but also as his intended fiancée.
Now just to get the point across to these vampires without Asuka noticing.
Moving fluidly through the corridor of rooms, Asuka finally stopped when she found Senri's room. Knowing that he roomed by himself, she knocked briefly on the door before pushing it open as she let a fond smile appear upon her lips at his disgruntled look at being awakened much earlier than he was used to.
"Did I disturb you from your slumber?" Asuka teased, as she moved to take a seat upon his couch opposite his bed as she tilted her head to examine him closer as she remarked, "I'm sure you're glad that you're rooming alone, huh?"
Hearing a knock upon his dormitory room door, Senri had feared that it was an unknown vampire come to disturb him. But the moment he smelt Asuka's sweet scent, he immediately roused from his sleep as he pushed himself against his bedhead to welcome her better into his room. A yawn escaping his lips as he looked outside to see that it was barely past noon, Senri grunted at her teasing before replying with a small smirk, "Indeed. Can't imagine what it would have been with a roommate other than you."
And wasn't that the truth? Senri detested socialising, and especially with people that he did not know. But Asuka had been his friend for nine years now, and he couldn't quite imagine his life without her.
"You're just saying that because you were scared that you would have a roommate that would snore." Asuka replied with a chuckle before moving towards Senri's bed to plonk herself rather ungracefully upon his side as she asked, "How did you sleep?"
It wasn't uncommon for the pair of them to have nightmares from their abduction or with their minds imagining that they had been captured again by Rido or one of his servants in the cover of night. A knowing look appearing upon Senri's features, he moved to ruffle her hair as he replied, "No nightmares, if that's what you're wondering. But I could have gone for a longer sleep if someone hadn't come to wake me up so early."
Slapping away his hand playfully, Asuka rolled her eyes as she asked, "Should we go explore the dormitory and find my brother so you can get to know him better? You barely spoke to him last night." And there was nothing Asuka wanted more than for both Kaname and Senri to get along. They were the two most important people in her life apart from Yuuki, and she hoped that apart from Senri's relation to Rido that they would come to be close just like her bonds were with both of them.
Ugh. Of course, she had to bring up him. But the thick tension that had arisen between both himself and her dear brother had obviously flown over her oblivious self last night if she wanted them to socialise. But at least he was guaranteed that she would also be there if it was her own brother.
"Fine. But after that you owe me a cinnamon roll or two. Because I'm starving."
That and he was thirsty for blood, but he could offset that with one of his favourite treats.
Maybe.
"Alright. But you better get out of bed now if you want to avoid the other vampires from discovering us quite yet. I can sense that some of them are starting to wake up." Asuka agreed, a slight smirk upon her lips at Senri's demands as she shook her head at mirth at his reply as she tapped her foot impatiently for him to make a move.
"Slave driver." He grumbled as he finally pushed off his blankets.
author note: okay apologies for the short chapter but i'm so busy this week i wanted to sneak in this chapter to keep my updates as they are once a week! hopefully you don't mind that this was a mostly filler chapter in mind for next times chapter in which the night class all will finally meet the elusive creature they have been smelling ever since she arrived and her faithful companion. and poor kaname, senri and asuka all under different misconceptions and all not brave enough to tell the truth. i wonder what would happen if they were to actually speak their mind?! we'll have to see. (mainly i just feel bad for kaname and senri because asuka is one (1) oblivious vampire who is just driven to make sure that everyone is safe from rido)
for those who have been sending in all the reviews — thank you so much! there is nothing better than being able to see your comments appear in my inbox, and i truly look forward to it each time, and treasure each and every one. i appreciate all the votes as well, i am currently leaning towards a certain pairing now but please keep voting, i am keeping a tally of all of them! the options are asuka/kaname, asuka/senri or asuka/senri/kaname. i also have not finalised who yuuki will be with so if you have any interest in her pairing please let me know! and for all those who have favourited, or followed my story — i am so grateful. can't believe that this first story of mine is even getting traction from views, so i really do appreciate it each and every time!
a certain reader asked for a type of timeline for the events, and i'm grateful they did because i might have accidentally messed up some of it because i didn't plan properly oops! so what i've done is a rough outline with juri's vampire powers changing yuuki's age so that she doesn't have such a huge age gap when it comes to her and her older twin siblings so that it is still more plausible as a school setting. i have it that the day class are of normal schooling age, but the night class have a range of ages and that both kaname and asuka are aged twenty, and will be turning twenty one at some point during this story! asuka abducted — asuka/kaname age 11, senri age 10
yuuki born — asuka/Kaname age 11, senri age 10
asuka and senri escape — asuka/kaname age 11, senri age 10
yuuki turned into a human with no memories of her past similar to the anime (powers changing her age in relation to the Kuran siblings) — asuka/kaname age 11, senri age 10, yuuki age 7
cross academy established — asuka/kaname age 20, senri age 19, yuuki age 16
hopefully this makes things less complicated!11! and also makes sense. please do remember, this is an au anyways so normal rules do not apply here in this fanfiction! anyways thank you for reading my ramblings and hopefully this chapter is coherent as i am running on not very many hours sleep so hopefully there isn't any major typos!
till next time xx