Thankfully, after an hour and a half in the restaurant, everyone was thoroughly well-fed and quickly lagging. A collective groan had been the response Naomi received to her question of where they should head to next. After over five and a half hours of arcade games, ice-cream, food and more sweets than they should ever have indulged in, everyone had concluded that the celebration was over, and they were ready to return to their dorms.
Everyone stood and headed to the bar to pay for their food. Akane had rightly guessed that Miu would insist on paying for her but refused her friend's well-meaning gesture. Kenshin and Nori decided they too would offer to pay for Akane's meal and began arguing over who would have the honour. Akane countered, saying she was perfectly capable of paying for herself and shot down their offer firmly, causing the boys to lower their heads in apology.
Aido stood off to the side, thoroughly amused by the expressions on the males' faces at the stern look Akane sent them. Miu only giggled at the scene before happily linking arms with the academy Idol and steering him out the restaurant door. She was still trying to cope with the fluttering in her stomach every time he looked and smiled at her. Even after spending some time in his company, and speaking to him freely, it did nothing to diminish her nervous giggles.
Her excitement was obvious to Akane as she walked with Kenshin, Nori and Hiroki, at the back of the group. She watched as Miu walked and talked animatedly with the Vampire, blissfully unaware of the danger she could be in. A sigh escaped Akane's lips once again. She scolded herself for thinking the worst as Miu skipped down the street with her crush.
She turned to the rest of the girls in their group currently being entertained by Ichijo as they crowded him, all trying to involve themselves in the conversation. Though Akane didn't associate benevolence with Vampires, she was smart enough to know her fears were what governed her opinion of them. Those feelings could easily skew her views, as they had since the two had appeared. Because, since they'd showed up, they'd been perfectly charming and courteous, discounting the sneaky smirks Aido had sent her discretely through lunch.
"Is everything alright, Miss Nakamura?" Nori asked, calling Akane back to the arrangement they were discussing to finish off their English paper. Akane shook herself before letting her attention slip from the Vampires to the boys beside her and allowed herself to give them her full attention.
"Sorry, Maki. Yes, I'm fine… I'll meet you in the breakfast room in the female dorm about fifteen minutes after we get back. I need to get permission from the Dorm President again first." Nori smiled; thankful the emerald-eyed girl wasn't completely ignoring him this time.
The rest of the twenty-minute walk was spent on idle small talk between the teens. When the group made it into the safety of the academy gates, Ichijo and Aido left, bidding the Humans good day, leaving Yuki to escort them the rest of the way to The Sun Dorms.
The Vampires returned to The Moon Dorms, and at once were led by Kaname to Kaien's office to deliver their report on the days' events. The ex-Hunter and Pureblood requested a detailed account of everything that had occurred, as well as their thoughts on the potential risk Akane posed to the school and herself. Aido had scoffed to himself at this. Some experiment there, Headmaster. Kaien and Kaname had also enquired after the number of blood tablets the pair had gone through.
A little over an hour later, the meeting was over, and Aido was grateful to finally, stagger, exhausted, into his room at half-past four, falling face-first and fully dressed onto his bed, praying for sleep before he left to visit Akane. Also, he was thankful Ichijo hadn't thought there was more to his interest in Akane, and though it no more than blood fixation. He hadn't mentioned it to either Kaname or Kaien. He wasn't sure what he would've said if questioned.
When the group of Day Class students got back to their dorm complex, the girls bid the boys goodbye at the gates with a promise to meet up later, either to study or eat lunch at school. Nori boisterously called to Akane, reaffirming their plan to meet in a quarter of an hour to finish their English paper that was due on Monday. Kenshin had huffed at his rival and bid Akane goodnight with a kiss on her hand, admitting his exhaustion after such a long day.
A chorus of 'Happy Birthday's' followed them as they noisily entered their buildings. Akane climbed the stairs to her dorm room to collect her English textbook, dictionary, papers, and markers, before heading up a further flight of stairs and down the corridor.
She knocked on a door with a silver plaque engraved with 304. After a call from inside the room to hold on, the door opened on a short, slim, pale-skinned girl with large, dark-brown eyes and wavy, shoulder-length brown hair.
"Good afternoon, Abe. Maki, from the boy's dormitory and I, are going to need to study together again in the breakfast room. Is that ok?"
Shinobu Abe was the Dorm President for the girls building in The Sun Dorms. All mixed-sex meetings within the building (studying or otherwise) had to be authorised by her, or she could issue out detention and get Kaien, or even the Board of Directors involved, depending on the severity of the student's miss-conduct.
Before Shinobu could give Akane her permission, however, a haughty voice called out to her.
"Well if it isn't, Nakamura?" The door next to the Dorm President's room was open, revealing Kasumi Kobayashi, along with her roommate. An eyebrow arched on Akane's face in question but quickly reverted to an expression of dull indifference as Kasumi stepped into the hall. She was followed by her red-haired friend, whose stark blue eyes were set in a steely gaze, directed at Akane.
Akane had not committed the girls' name to memory but recognised her as one of the many involved in the Aido fan clubs. She also knew she was just as infatuated with him, as many of the Academy Day Class were who were all perfectly content to delude themself indulging in their fantasies. She, along with Kasumi and a few others, still considered Akane a threat to their shared effort in gaining their Idol's attention and had continued the less effective glaring campaign that had once been a common practice throughout the school.
"What is it, Kobayashi? I have studying to do." Kasumi folded her arms and with an accusing tone questioned Akane about something she'd heard from a reliable source.
"I want an explanation as to why you came out of the male toilets in Mr Floss's Ice-cream Parlour this afternoon, followed by Idol?!" Akane blinked, her face taking on a look of dumbfounded surprise. What? How? Kasumi tapped her foot impatiently with her friend mirroring her actions while Shinobu stood in her doorway, not knowing what to do to settle things before the situation got too heated, as it often did when the Night Class were involved.
Akane was startled by the brunette's accusation, but thankfully, she had thought of a semi-plausible excuse in the seconds before the silence became too suspicious.
"Aido was attempting to amuse Miu but caught me by mistake. It was a get-together for her birthday after all, and he does speak to her often, from what I'm told." Akane's off-handed tone and disinterested expression caused Kasumi to bristle more at the jab at her jealousy. She was not among those select few Aido stopped to talk to during the changeover.
"I was not happy with his antics, but he apologised, so no harm was done."
"You expect me to…!" Kasumi began to argue but was interrupted by Shinobu, who thought it was about time she interjected, as she had planned to study herself.
"That's enough, Kobayashi! Yes, Nakamura, Maki can come to the dorm building until curfew to complete your work, but no later. Last night you were both in the breakfast room until nearly 10 p.m." Akane nodded then walked away, sending an apathetic look at Kasumi and her nameless friend, leaving them fuming in the empty corridor.