Chapter Five:

She knew she'd hurt him. She couldn't see behind herself as she walked, but she somehow figured his head was lowered. It made her feel like a terrible person—taking someone so prideful and powerful and making him walk behind her, head low, like a puppy. She didn't want this, and especially not with Kaname. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She didn't even feel like herself in this moment.

"Kaname…" she whispered, pausing. They'd only walked maybe four or five blocks from the bench, but she felt exhausted. Maybe it was some side effects from that drink, still.

He paused behind her and she turned around to face him. She wasn't sure what she'd been expecting, but he certainly didn't look like any puppy dog. His head was high, his back was straight, and his eyes were forward. His expression was blank, though, and it took a few moments of silence for his eyes to drop down to meet hers.

"I didn't… mean a lot of the things I said back there," she started. She couldn't help it when her eyes left his and dropped to the sidewalk between her feet. "I don't… I don't want to be left alone…"

"As long as I live, you'll never be alone," he replied, but his tone was sad again.

Yui wondered if maybe she should just try to get used to the way he spoke. Maybe it was her mistake. Like now, he must've known she was referring to when she told him to walk behind her. And he replied with something so kind… yet off the subject. Maybe it was just who he was.

"I'm sorry."

"For what, Yuki?"

She slowly raised her gaze and looked at him. God, the way he said her name… His eyes had never left her face. "I will try to understand you better… But please try to understand me, too. Okay?"

"Of course."

Yuki pursed her lips for a moment. As much as he was stubborn and prideful, she was very aware of the slight power she held over him. She told him to walk behind her, and so he did. Idou had referred to him as "sir" and almost recoiled with fear from Kaname, but she would never do that. And she had the feeling he would never try to scare her like that, either. What they'd just done was argue. It was one of the first conversations she'd ever had with the man, so how could she expect the two of them to see eye-to-eye. And how could she possibly expect him to be perfect… That wasn't fair to him.

"I'm sorry," she tried again, "…for scaring you tonight. I know you worry about me, but it wasn't intentional. And I don't need to be controlled. I mean… I don't appreciate any attempts from you to control me."

"Control you?" he frowned, and Yuki prayed this wouldn't become another spat. But Kaname sighed and his eyes closed for a few seconds before he opened them again. They were a bit softer now. "Do you truly not understand that I'm trying to protect you? You were not safe tonight. I shouldn't be the only one who can see that. It worries me that you do not understand what could happen to you if you aren't careful. I don't mind watching over you, and I never will, but…"

"I understand."

"Do you?"

Yuki frowned again. "Like that. I just said I understand. Why do you have to ask me again?"

"What do you understand, then?"

"What do you mean?" she replied, her voice raising slightly, feeling like he was treating her like a child again. She looked around for a second, making sure no one was walking nearby enough to hear her in the dark. "I understand that there are creatures… Level E's… that are drawn to me because… because you've put a bond on me or something and… now I give off some kind of scent. Right?"

"And that's why I asked you again," he said, frowning. He clearly wasn't happy with her answer.

"Well, if I'm missing anything, it's probably because you always change the subject when I try to ask about it." Yui crossed her arms. Was everything going to be a fight with him?

"Like I said… I'm just trying to keep you safe, Yui. I don't want to scare you." He paused. "But maybe what you need is a little fear, to prevent you from making more reckless choices like the ones you made tonight."

"It's not like I chose for all this to happen. It just… did." She lowered her eyes again. The drink was an accident. She never would've ordered anything. And losing her friends… she'd been unconscious and borderline nauseous. And that man in the club… that she thought had been Kaname… She'd kissed a stranger.

"Yuki?" Kaname took a quick step forward and she felt strong arms wrap around her. She quickly inhaled and realized she'd started crying. His breath was in her hair, and his grip on her was strong… protective. But… she'd kissed another man tonight. With the same passion she'd felt with Kaname, and more tears slipped down her face and her body heaved once with a sob. If she had any regrets about tonight, it was that. She remembered being sure it was him… and then it was a stranger. Her body heaved again and she felt him squeeze her tighter. "It's all right… You're safe with me." But she couldn't bring herself to hug him back. Wasn't this a betrayal? She felt like she broke some strange, unspoken vow with him and she didn't want to tell him. She was afraid she would make him upset with her.

Kaname leaned down and his lips grazed the side of her mouth and she jumped, pushing him back as more tears slipped down her face. She stared at him wide-eyed, and his expression made her weak. He looked dead. His eyes almost lidded, like she'd just sent a bullet through his chest and he was about to fall to his knees.

"No," she quickly whispered, "No, no, no, no, no, no, Kaname." She leaned forward and took his face between her hands and forced him to look at her. Why did he look this way at her? Because she backed away from a kiss? Just a moment ago, it almost felt like he didn't care… But of course she knew he cared. She could feel it. "You don't understand."

"I've hurt you…" He took a step back from her and Yuki felt panic rise in her stomach.

"No, no, no, no, no." Her voice was panicked. "Please. You don't understand."

The laugh that came out of his mouth was soft and anything but real. "Now I'm the one who doesn't understand." He took another step back and Yuki's eyes went wide.

"Kaname, please," she panicked, reaching for him. "D-Don't leave me."

And then his eyes looked hurt again. "Leave you?" he asked sadly. "What makes you think I would ever…"

"Because I…" The thought of that man, his tongue in her mouth and her hands on his body, brought tears to her eyes again. What a foul drink… that made her brain so foggy that she thought Kaname had been another man. "I'm so sorry…"

"What happened?" he slowly asked, finally catching on. His eyebrows creased a bit, but he took that step forward that she'd been longing for, and she reached out and took a handful of the front of his shirt and tried pulling him closer. He covered her small fist with both his large hands and slowly caressed her grip off of his shirt. He held her hand in his and brought it up to his lips. Closing his eyes, he kissed the tips of her fingers. "Tell me, Yuki. What happened? Why are you upset?"

"It was an accident," she cried to the ground. "It was whatever was in that cup and I… I couldn't think clearly. I couldn't even see or hear properly and that man… I didn't mean to. I just thought—"

"That's enough." He brought her hand down and held it at his side and she looked up at him, vision blurry with tears. "It's all right. Let's just get you home."

…..

He wasn't mad at her? But why? She basically felt like a terrible person. The first man she'd ever felt romantically involved with and she was already a cheater… And to Kaname, of all people. Her nighttime visitor, that she'd always cared for and loved so much, for all these years. What a terrible person she was… This was the first time they'd ever spent any real time together and all she did was fuck everything up…

"You've had a long night. You should rest."

Yuki faced the ceiling on her mattress. She couldn't even turn to look at him, but when he moved towards the window, she did. "Wait. You're leaving?"

"I was in the middle of a meeting when I had to come get you. They are waiting for me to return."

"Who's "they"? People that you work with? What do you even do? Are they vampires like you?"

Kaname sighed. "You need to rest, Yuki. We can talk another time. I'll have Idou watch you tonight."

"When is another time? Will you be back in the morning?"

"I can't. I have business to take care of."

"What business?"

"Yuki… rest."

"I will, but… I just feel like you're never going to tell me anything. You push everything off until next time, next time, next time. When will I ever learn more about you? I'd tell you anything you asked of me and you know that."

"I just think you could use a good night's rest. I will answer your questions tomorrow. I promise."

"You promise?"

"Yes."

"You swear? Can we make a deal on it?"

"I don't have time for childish games, Yuki. I need to head back." There was a pause and he sighed. "I will answer your questions tomorrow. I'll stop by for a little while before you sleep."

"You can't stay… just for a little while? Just until I fall asleep?"

"I hope you know I'd like nothing more than that right now. But there are things that only I can take care of and they need to be done."

"Can I… have your number then? I didn't even know you had a phone… This whole time I could've called you whenever… well… I guess I would've been bothering you…"

"You could never bother me," he said softly, holding out his hand. Yuki flipped onto her side and handed him her phone. She watched his long fingers as he called himself and answered the ringing from his pocket. "There," he said, handing it back to her. But when she took it, he grabbed her hand and held it. Her heartbeat sped up when he slowly pressed one knee into the side of the mattress and leaned forward. The dim light from her lamp hit the side of his face and she was mesmerized by his half-closed eyes as he leaned towards her. But as they lidded and closed, so did hers and she was met with his soft, gentle lips.

He kissed her for less than a minute, just gentle lips, and when he pulled back and Yuki opened her eyes, he was gone. She looked down at her phone and saw his name—Kaname Kuran. She rolled onto her other side and waited a couple minutes until she was sure he was out of hearing range and whispered under her breath, "I don't want to be alone…" before falling fast asleep.

…..

Yuki couldn't even come close to paying any attention to her teachers. She knew something was being written on the chalkboard ahead of her, and she heard the scribble of notetaking all around her, but she could only stare blankly ahead of herself. Would he grow to dislike her now? Was their constant fighting going to be a regular thing? Was it something that would put distance between them? And suddenly she felt like she should've never asked him to speak. She should've never found out what he looked like. Everything would still be the same if she hadn't been attacked that night. Kaname would still be her nameless, faceless stranger, who protected her in the night.

But she had an opportunity tonight. He said he would answer all her questions, but her mind was drawing a blank. She finally opened her notebook and pressed the back of her pencil against her lip. She numbered the page one through ten and stared at it for a moment. She wrote the first question "What do you do for work?" and stared at it even longer. Of all the things she could ask him, why was this the first one…

She mentally sighed and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she wrote number two, "Why am I being hunted now more than before?" and placed her pencil down on her desk. She quickly picked it back up and wrote number three, "Why did Idou call you 'sir' last night?" and her hand shook as she wrote number four, "What am I to you?"

She began to think of too many questions and squeezed her eyes shut. Like how old was he? Weren't vampires supposed to be immortal? Did he hunt and hurt people to drink their blood? He'd only bit her once and his eyes had glowed blood-red. What was that about? And suddenly she thought to ask him how many girls he was bonded to…

She loudly ripped out the page in her notebook and scrunched it into a tight ball. The teacher looked over at her for a moment and paused before turning back to the chalkboard.

Yuki couldn't wait for the school day to be over.

….

Yuki stood frozen in place when she walked outside to get on the school bus. A black limousine was parked sideways in front of the long line of busses, and it looked like teachers were complaining about its placement. But she saw Fuka shouting by the luxurious car and decided to walk over to see what it was about.

"—isn't hurting anyone, so it's fine."

"Ms. Kisaragi, please go back to the other students and get on your bus," one of the teachers said, but Fuka crossed her arms and stood her ground. When she saw Yuki, she took a quick step towards her and grabbed her arm. Yuki gasped when she was pulled close, to stand with Fuka between the three teachers and the limousine.

"We're his friends! He'll be out any minute now!"

"Ms. Cross…" one of the teachers sighed. "We're going to give your father a call right now."

"Yoo hoo!" a familiar voice shouted, and Fuka lit up. Yuki saw Idou coming out from the school building, wearing some very dark sunglasses and waving one long arm at them. Her face dropped. Why was he here…

"Idou, we missed you!" Fuka swooned, and Yuki just watched him as he neared them. The three teachers turned, but he spoke before they could question him. They looked slightly mesmerized now, anyway.

"Sorry, sorry. Am I parked in the wrong spot? I just had to run inside to use the restroom. I'm actually here to pick up these two lovely ladies." He winked and the teachers just looked back and forth at each other. Were they blushing…? Yuki sighed.

"Yuki!" another voice called, and it was Sayori, jogging towards them, her backpack seemingly stuffed to the point where the zipper wouldn't close, and another stack of books in her arms.

"Since when do you do homework?" Fuka muttered to herself.

"Hey… you're the guy from last night… Yuki's friend?" Yuki nodded when Sayori looked to her for confirmation.

"What a coincidence. I'm here to pick you up, too." Idou said with a brilliant smile. "Three lovely ladies. What's a man to do?" He shrugged, holding open the side door on the limo.

"But I'm waiting for Nadeshiko and Kasumi. We always go home on the bus together."

"I guess I'm here to pick you all up, then," Idou smirked.

"What's taking so long?" another voice said, and it came from inside the limo. Yuki watched as Fuka leaned down and almost lost her balance at what she saw. But she immediately got into the backseat. Sayori pulled out her phone and called the others, and Yuki noticed the teachers had already started walking away.

"What going on?" she asked Idou, when both her friends were distracted. "Why are you here? Is Kaname all right?"

"Yuki, that's one man you'll never have to worry about," Idou chuckled.

"Why are you here?" she repeated.

"Orders."

"From Kaname?"

"Who else?" he frowned.

"What did he say?"

And suddenly she realized she was making this vampire uncomfortable. Was he under orders not to talk to her about Kaname? What was it about asking questions that made all the vampires dodgy? But he was still standing there with the door open, so she just stepped down and into the car.

The seats were long. It was almost like it had it's own hallway. And the first thing she saw was Fuka, sitting against a man with rust-colored hair. A very attractive, tall, dark man… Another vampire. And the second thing she noticed was that there were three more of them. Another blonde, a smaller one staring out the window, and an orange-haired girl sitting next to him, munching on a snack. Were they all…? She didn't know how she could tell just by looking, but for some reason she knew that these weren't ordinary humans… And her friends seemed to have no idea.

"Hm?" The larger man looked up at her when she moved to take a seat, at least one space away from everyone in the limousine. She felt very small and looked at the ground. "So… you're Yuki," the man pried, and she could've swore she saw him sniff the air.

"Leave her alone, Akatsuki," Idou said, poking his head in. "Play with that other one."

"P…play?" Yuki repeated. What was this? But before she could say anything more, Sayori entered the car, followed by Kasumi and Nadeshiko. Her friends sat next to her and were clearly just as nervous as she was. Fuka seemed to be the only one enjoying herself.

"All ready," Idou said, closing the door behind him. He took his seat on the other side of the man with the rust-colored hair and folded his legs. As soon as he was seated, they all felt the car pull off.

"We're just going home, right?" Nadeshiko whispered.

"Yes," the other blonde man said, raising his eyes to everyone. He looked so proper and formal. "We will be taking no detours today."

"T…Today…" Yuki's quiet friend lowered her eyes to the floor of the car.

"What do you mean, today?" Sayori asked for her friend.

"Yuki will be travelling with us when she leaves school from now on. Since you are all her friends, you're welcome to the free ride whenever you like."

"Count me in," Fuka snickered, still pushing herself against the larger man. He barely seemed to notice her efforts, but Yuki noticed his eyes were mostly on her. He looked away when she caught him staring, though…

Yuki wanted to ask questions, but she didn't want her friends to get too involved and start asking questions of their own. Everyone but Fuka was clearly on edge and cautious. She was surprised they'd even agreed to be driven home like this. The gorgeous vampires hadn't even introduced themselves.

"Here," the formal blonde man said, motioning Kasumi to the door as the car parked. "Your stop."

Kasumi took a fleeting glance at Fuka before murmuring something under his breath and stepping out of the vehicle. After a few moments of silence, he closed the door and the car started moving again. How did they even know where her friends lived? Had they been stalking them?

"You're not even going to ask me my name?" Fuka asked, and Yuki looked over at her too-eager friend, but she was being ignored. "What's your name, then?"

There was a long pause before Idou sighed. "That boring pile of bones is Akatuski." He pointed to the two vampires staring out the window. "That's Senri and Rima. And—"

"Takuma," the other blonde said. His smile seemed genuine. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." He nodded once at Yuki and she nodded back, not really sure what the strange greet was for.

After about ten more minutes, it was just Yuki and Sayori left, and they came to a halt at her friend's house. Sayori gripped Yuki's arm with a gentle squeeze. "Call me if you need anything," she said, before stepping out. But as soon as the door closed behind her friend, a strange aura made the air around her a bit colder. In a moment, Idou and Akatuski were on either side of her and she almost yelped from the suddenness of it.

"I can see why you're hunted so much," the larger man said, running his nose up her hair. Yuki did yelp then and hear Idou chuckle.

"Leave the poor girl alone," Takuma sighed. "Kaname will have your heads if you scare her."

"Maybe…" the man said, burying his face in her hair. Yuki tried to scoot away, but she bumped into Idou on the other side of her. "But she does smell… delicious." Yuki froze in place.

"Just listen to her heartbeat quicken. Cut it out, Akatsuki."

"Fine," the man said, closing his eyes and leaning back in his seat.

"Please don't let this big moron intimidate you," Idou smiled. "We would never hurt you."

"Speak for yourself…"

"Well, if you value your immortal life, you wouldn't," Takuma said, rolling his eyes.

"H-How old are you guys… anyway?" Yuki stammered, eager to change to topic, and remembering that this was one of her questions. Maybe she could even get them to answer some she had about Kaname.

"Seventeen," Idou said, winking. "Just because we're immortal, doesn't mean we weren't all young once."

"Yea, he's the baby of the group. And I don't mean his age," Akatsuki said, his voice monotonous as he closed his eyes.

"We're all about the same," Takuma smiled at her. "I'm 18. Akatsuki and Idou are 17. And these two social butterflies are 16." He pointed at the two vampires ignoring everything around them but each other and the window.

"And… Kaname is… about the same?"

"Eh?" Idou blinked a few times, and Yuki felt the awkwardness in the car get dense. "How long have you… known him?"

"Over five years," Yuki said, almost proudly.

"Have you… noticed him age at all in that time?"

Her face fell… Up until this week, she'd never seen him before, but she was almost embarrassed to say it. "Uhm… no… I haven't really noticed anything… like that…"

"We shouldn't be speaking for Kaname," Takuma piped in, and the atmosphere got quieter. "We're almost to our destination."

"Destination?" Yuki repeated. "I thought you were taking me home."

"Kaname doesn't have time to stop his work in order to see you tonight, so we were asked to bring you home with us so he can speak with you."

"Oh… you all… live together?"

"We do."

Again, it got quiet in the car. And Yuki almost felt like it was hard to breath. Idou and Akatuski had both moved a bit away from her and she felt cold. Not that she wanted them near, but the distance now was obvious. She didn't know these people. All she knew was that Kaname gave them orders and they followed them. They were most likely people that he worked with… vampires that he worked with.

"Here we are." Takuma was the first to stand and, bent over, he made his way to the door. Yuki waited until everyone exited the limo before stepping out. The formal blonde helped her out and shut the door behind her.

Yuki stared in awe at the building laid out before her. It was… a mansion. No, it was a palace. A castle. She had no idea what to call it. But it definitely wasn't what she was expecting. Well, she didn't know what she was expecting, really. But this was Kaname's home… This was where he'd been on nights when he didn't come to her. She wanted to look around so badly, and it seemed like she was going to be able to. The other vampires started walking away from her and towards the large home. Takuma stayed behind and motioned for her to head for the building, as well.

"I'll take you to him," he said with a gentle smile. "Come with me."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hello readers!

Did you miss me? :C I feel like I've been away forever. Even in that short time, I don't feel like I have much to say… Life has been very life-like. Progressive, I suppose. I'm getting older. Haha. I've been painting and sewing and the same stuff I was doing 5 or 6 years ago. LOL. Been collecting plushies recently. Playing a lot of PC games with friends. Might switch jobs. Might go back to school. Who knows? Haha. Anyway, I've had a few life changes recently, so I will be trying to write in my spare time, which means I will definitely be updating my stories, and I have an idea for a new one, too. Just be patient with me, because I will probably have to go re-read the stories I want to update to remember them… xDDD And I'm not sure which ones will still interest me anymore. Oh, and the last time I wrote, I had a different laptop, so all my story notes are gone… Oof. But yes, I will do my best~ Looking to get more involved in the community and talk to some new people, so feel free to shoot me a message if you're bored, too! Love you guys! Thank you for sticking with me, even when I wasn't making any new content. Hehe.

Yours Truly,

-Light