A/N: Hope didn't make you wait too long.
His cheeks were warm when he had touched them. Her blood was running in his body, making him feel alive and strong. He brushed the tips of his fingers over his face and gasped terrified. What had he done? How could he be so careless? He had frightened the living daylights out of the girl. The look in those chocolaty eyes lingered in his mind, and he nervously shook his head. No! What he did was stupid, irresponsible and absolutely wrong. He lost the control over himself when her smell touched his nostrils. He had never been this taken, intoxicated and overwhelmed by someone, by something.
The memory of her warm trembling body so close against his own and the taste of her sweet blood, flowing out of her neck into his mouth, shook Kyoya's being. He didn't want to remember. He felt so strangely alive and real when he bit her, as if she was made for that very reason, and his own thoughts forced him shudder in disgust. Now everyone would know. She would tell about this to the school consul. His father was going to be very angry. But most of all, he was scared of how his mother would react. If she knew what he did, what would she feel?
Kyoya ran his fingers through his raven hair and leaned against the seat. He was not tired like he usually was. It was strange and pleasant to have energy and strength when his muscles could move freely, and hunger and thirst weren't driving him mad. The blood from the hospital never did this. It was her blood. He closed his eyes, and her terrified face was there, in the darkness of his mind. His stupid mistake would cost him everything, but sickeningly enough, deep down he thought to lose everything for the girl's blood was worthy deal.
"The morning sustenance was apparently good," Tachibana had spoken. "You look very much lively, Kyoya-sama."
Kyoya looked back at the older man, and his lips curved back a little to show his acknowledgement. Could he trust Tachibana? Could he tell him about what happened? He knew that everyone would soon know about what happened. He expected his father to be informed and call him any moment. It was just matter and time. But a part of him didn't want to admit even to himself what he had done. He closed his eyes again and tried to think of nothing―at least, a little bit for a short time.
The temperature changes in the air never bothered him: for one he couldn't really feel cold, and warmth had never affected him. His body had its own temperature, and his skin wasn't getting impacted by the outside influences. But her warmth―it was pleasant, it was something that was making him feel so very alive and relaxed. It was something he was capable of experiencing. How could it be possible? He could still taste her blood in his mouth. He had drunken so much of her blood like a bloodthirsty leech, uncaring of the well-being of its victim.
The driver soon stopped and parked the car in the vast yard of the Ootori estate. One of the security members went forward to open the door of the car. The day had turned more gloomy―the grey clouds had swallowed up the sun. The small silver light, that poured down from the sky, illuminated the city in monochrome, dull colours. The wind was slow, but as soon as Kyoya stepped out of the car it started to play with his dark bangs. He looked around curiously, trying to read some agitation on the faces of Ootori staff. They all looked like nothing really happened. His father might have not known, yet. He sighed and walked home.
The house seemed quiet. The maids very timidly approached him to help, but he as usual refused to hand them his schoolbag and just walked to his room. They looked so terrified of him. She looked so terrified of him, too. He clenched the bag in his grip and quickened his steps. He walked into the dimly lit room and took out his jacket. The air washed through it, and he smelled her all over his clothes. He gasped when the feelings―awoke in his mind―reached the most carnal parts of his consciousness. He never felt like this. Why was he driven insane by her very smell?
He needed to concentrate on something else. Distract himself from thinking about the delicious girl and her intoxicating smell. As the smell that lingered in the air, brought from the surface of his jacket, disappeared, his breathing relaxed and calmed. He took the books out of his school back, and small strawberry fell down on the floor. He blinked, seeing it. She had given it to him, she had shared her food with him. How he wished he could eat it. It smelled so strong of her that he was tempted for a moment to devour it.
He took it in his hand and looked at it with longing. He placed it on his table. It was red like blood. It had her smell clinging to its meaty surface, and he closed his eyes again. He was insane. He cupped his face and sat at the floor. He couldn't stop himself. His mind was poisoned with her image, with the sensations of her warm body, with the taste of her blood, and his breathing grew loud again, and he longed to drink her again.
Time passed, but he couldn't guess how much. He had crawled into the corner of his lavishly decorated room the entire day, trying to remove from his memory what happened that day. His body still felt strong and alive. Something he had never felt before, and he was scared how easy and good it felt. He was scared because he knew that he wanted to feel this way all the time. His body no longer felt as if it was breaking, and his heart was beating steady. He lay long like that until a maid came in and told him that he was expected for dinner.
He wondered what his father would do. What would be his punishment for what he did? Maybe he would just bribe the girl's family not to utter a word about it, after all she was an honor student, a poor commoner who managed to enter Ouran High school only because she was bright enough to get a scholarship. He fixed his clothes and walked down into the dining hall.
"You look good today, Kyoya, dear," he heard his mother's voice. "The color had returned to your face."
"You mean he looks normal today," Akito commented and earned a warning stare from Yoshio.
"Thank you, mother," he said politely and took his seat at the table.
He glanced at his father, wondering if he knew about the school incident, but the man's face was blank and emotionless. When they started eating in silence, he realized that no one knew anything. Maybe she was too scared to tell anyone yet. But sooner or later everyone would find out. Maybe he still had a chance to meet her and explain himself. But who was he kidding? She wouldn't even come close to him, if she was sane, after what happened and listen to what he had to say in his defense. But he couldn't defend himself, because he was wrong. There was nothing to justify him.
He stared at food and realized that today he was willing to eat just to punish himself for what he did. The disgusting, juicy vegetables and meat went down his throat like a pile of needles. It tasted disgusting, and it felt disgusting against his tongue. He was going to puke very soon. He looked at the faces of his mother, father and brothers. They looked pleased to put the food into their mouths, and he was the only one who dreaded it, and that very thing separated him and distanced him from the rest of them.
After the dinner was over, and Kyoya had spent half an hour in the bathroom, throwing up the food he had eaten a few minutes ago, Yoshio called him into his office. The young Ootori walked slowly, wondering if the conversation was going to be about what happened in the school. It was most likely that he had learnt. He rarely wanted to see him or talk to him.
"Sit, Kyoya," Yoshio said, as his son appeared in the room. "I want to talk about your condition."
Kyoya blinked uncomfortably, as he walked forward and sat in front of his father, "What about it?" he asked slowly.
"You know that you can't continue to live like that. You can't get blood from the hospital forever. You can't just hide in your room all the time. This needs to be cured. You are not a child anymore, and if you want to have any future at all as a member of the Ootori family, you need to get treated."
"You know very well, father, that nothing can be done," Kyoya spoke, and despite the frustration inside him, he remained calm. "My entire digestive system isn't functioning, and you can't just treat my skin against the ultraviolet rays. It's not sickness that can be treated. My organism is completely mutated. And you know it, father."
Yoshio's cold face wrinkled. He knew that Kyoya was right. All their family had the chance of being born the way he was, only they were lucky not to. But he wasn't willing to accept it. He couldn't just accept that kind of condition for his son, for an Ootori.
"You understand that if anyone finds out about what you are, you will shame our family," he said harshly.
The muscles on Kyoya's face twitched. He blinked quickly, and then gulping, looked up at his father. His face expressed nothing. There was no anger, frustration, disappointment or hurt on his face, even though he felt all of them.
"I know," he said coldly, "but I can't change what I am."
"Your brother is working on a new medication," Yoshio said after a short moment of silence. "We are thinking it can help you. If you are willing to..."
"You want to use me as a lab rat?" Kyoya laughed bitterly.
"We can't test it on any other animals. You know there are no other life forms with that condition," Yoshio explained as if feeling guilty. "You know that either way your life isn't exactly a real life. You are just surviving. I know that the blood I give you from the hospital is not enough."
The young man's face darkened. So he knew? He knew, and he was willing to torture him, to turn his existence into a painful suffering. All this time he thought the man wasn't aware what he was doing. But how wrong he was. His hands started to shake, and he clenched them into a firm fist. He control his features and remained stoically unreadable.
"You can't get married even like this," Yoshio continued, "no family would agree. You should think about your life and your responsibilities as an Ootori. You should try this new medication. It's your only hope to ever having a normal life."
He wanted to be far away from his father. He couldn't be close to him now that he had heard everything the man said. He treated him as if he was some kind of animal and not his son. He cupped his face and inhaled a gulp of cold air.
"I will think about it," he murmured slowly, then apologized and left the room.
He decided to do this homework and completely ignore all the thoughts and emotions that were stirring inside him and bothering him. The amount of classwork he did until nearly the morning surprised even him. He usually would stay up to work on more material than he was assigned to with his extreme desire to please his father, but today he was doing it for sole reason of numbing the screams inside his head. He wanted to shut down the stream of thoughts that were telling him how worthless his life was that even his father was ready to push him away.
He woke up lying in his chair. There was a pile of paper and books in front of him. His computer monitors were still on. Their neon bright light almost blinded him when he opened his eyes. He felt like a corpse. He rubbed his eyes and got up. There was the small strawberry at his desk, and it had withered down and looked dried up after lying there the entire night. He walked closer to it and sniffed its smell. It still smelled of her, and his heart quickened treacherously.
He put it quickly into his drawer and went into the bathroom. Looking into the mirror, Kyoya saw his face. It wasn't as lively as it was yesterday, but he still had some color in his cheeks and looked very much like a normal human being. No blood ever lasted this long. He realized bitterly that her blood was different, and he was screwed for trying it.
He was still angry about the conversation with his father the day before and decided to skip the breakfast. He got dressed and called Tachibana. He needed to get to school sooner to find out if the girl had told everyone about what he did. Maybe he could do something before everything went out of control.
When he got to school, though, nothing seemed out of ordinary or usual. No one looked at him strangely, well at least not any more strangely than they already did. He concluded that no one knew anything. He sighed relieved, but part of him started to worry. Why wouldn't she tell anyone until now? Was she alright? Did he bite her so deeply and severely that she got hurt? He didn't think about it until then, and his body throbbed with anxiety. He was a selfish bastard who worried what will happen to him and never wondered maybe he had hurt her too deeply.
"Kyoya-kun," he heard the bothersome Suoh's voice who wouldn't just leave him alone, "are you heading to the classroom? Wait for me!"
Kyoya groaned and stopped. Why was this guy insisting on being so impolite? They were not close, and he never gave any indication he wanted to be addressed so intimately, nor he ever give the guy a reason to think that he enjoyed his company. Yet, chairman's son loved to attach himself to him, and he hated him.
"Ugh" the guy moaned, catching up with the youngest Ootori, "thanks for waiting."
Kyoya nodded and continued to walk. Tamaki Suoh always smelled good, but only now walking side by side with him, Kyoya realized that the smell of his blood was nothing like the first year honor student's blood. Her blood was strange. It was tempting, strong and just twirled his head around.
"You look good today," the guy suddenly talked, "I don't mean to say you usually don't look good. It's just that..."
He paused and stared at Kyoya's face carefully, "You look more alive," he said awkwardly, "I am sorry it must sound strange and rude. I apologize."
He had manners! Who would know! Kyoya nodded in acknowledgment and continued to walk in silence. He still kept looking around at people's faces, trying to read on them any indication of anyone knowing anything. Suddenly his eyes caught the girl. He spotted her with red-headed Houshakoji. That blathering girl who was the daughter of one of his father's business partners. He remembered her jumping to him with love announcements, which she very soon abandoned. There was something about him that scared people, even when they didn't know what he was. He tried to see her face, but she was looking at the redhead. He felt relieved that she was fine enough to come to school.
"So what do you think?" he heard Suoh's voice and turned to face him puzzled.
"About what?" he asked surprised. He didn't realize he was talking to him this entire time.
"We are having a ball in the host club," he smiled, "I wondered if you would like to come."
"Thank you for the invitation," he said politely, "but I am afraid I won't be able to come, Suoh-san."
"Why not?" Tamaki scowled, "you never have fun. You always study. Wouldn't it be great to have fun with others?"
No, it wouldn't be fun because he couldn't have fun. He never could have fun like others could, and it was the reason why he wanted to keep his distance from others. When he didn't like yesterday, he hurt an innocent girl.
"And Renge-chan would be there," the blonde classmate added. "She likes to come to our club with her friend, that weird girl."
Kyoya turned to glare at the guy. He had noticed that he was glancing to their direction and wrongly concluded that he liked Houshakoji. How very stupid! But on the other hand if the redhead came to that ball with the honor student, maybe he could talk to her and apologize for what he did. He knew he had no place to expect her to even listen, but maybe in front of other people she would feel safe enough to try to hear what he had to say.
"Maybe I will come," he said, and the blonde guy grinned triumphantly.
The classes were boring, and when the lunchtime came, he decided to walk out of the school. After all, he didn't want to smell any of the food people were eating. He found the bench in the Ouran garden, where he usually would sit and read, and where he met that girl the second time. He sat there and stared at the green fir trees. They were strange. They were proudly green when all the other trees that lost all their leaves and colour. Even in the winter cold they stood there all green and fresh. If only he could be like these trees and never wither, because he needed to drink human blood to survive.
"Hello," he heard a soft voice and jumped up startled.
His eyes widened in shock as he saw the girl: Haruhi Fujioka, standing in front of him. She was looking at him cautiously, like a prey looking at possible predator. He was so startled and surprised that he didn't even say anything. He noticed the small band-aid on her neck, covering his bitemarks.
"I have brought your book," she said, gesturing towards a book in her hand, "you had left it on the bench yesterday."
Hello everyone! I hope you liked this chapter and sorry for cutting there. Tell me what you think of the story so far. Have a wonderful day and night wherever you are. And try to stay happy! 😺