Ichijo stepped into Akane's room, sending her a pleasant smile, and greeting, followed by a decidedly, disgruntled Aido. Ichijo held the door open for the younger Vampire with, receiving no more thanks than a glare. Aido marched in, face set in a frown, cheeks pinking in embarrassment to realise, his shouting match with Akane's door had likely been witnessed by the whole Night Class. He stepped right up to the girl, stopping at the side of her bed and folded his arms, a deep scowl aimed at Akane as she continued to pointedly ignore him.
He was immensely put out that Ichijo had chosen to stay (all be it, by the door), but Aido was determined. He felt Akane had been left to her own devices for as long as he could allow. Enough was enough! She couldn't lock herself away forever. They needed to talk, he needed to talk but he wasn't comfortable doing that with an audience. He turned to Ichijo to convey this, but the blonde's smile merely widened at Aido's annoyance.
Akane continued to sit quietly in the corner of her bed, her eyes directed out the window, away from the pair. Aido tilted his head back and counted to ten then sighed, relaxing his rigid stance. Lord Kaname asked for an update on Nakamura, Takuma had to come. Just get it together! If I don't get her talking, Lord Kaname might let this idiot take over mentoring her.
"Nakamura, will you please come here, so we can talk?" His voice was an attempt at amicability, but an irritated edge remained in his tone. Akane's eyes trailed to his lazily, a challenging frown forming on her brow the longer she gazed at him. "Fine!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air. "Can I come to you?"
Her glare hardened but didn't deny him, turning her attention out the window again. Aido took her silence as permission and climbed onto her bed, shuffling to the end to lean against the wall next to her, keeping as much of his dignity intact. It was wholly uncomfortable having The Moon Dorms' Vice-President, watching him crawl onto a bed, but he was adamant he would do this. Kaname had asked for an update so, with or without a spectator, he would get her talking.
Once Aido settled next to Akane, and calm returned, Ichijo quietly entered the room and sat in the high-backed chair at the dressing table. He waited respectfully while the two sat in silence, the tension continued to build. Kaname had asked him to check in on Akane after she'd shut herself away. He would have left her for another night with her grief, knowing she had a lot to deal with and probably needed the time alone to digest everything that had happened.
However, that courtesy had been denied Akane in the form of one, Aido Hanabusa, stomping his way down the corridor leading to her room. Ichijo had shaken his head with a chuckle before following the aggravated blond. I guess three days is how long Aido can tolerate. He was by no means needed to be present and had only followed to make sure Aido didn't attempt to break down her door, but the disgruntled look on the younger blond's face was more than enough incentive to overstay his welcome. He was so entertaining when rattled.
The silence lasted, long enough for that high-pitched ringing to drown out all other sounds before Aido spoke, sighing his words with uncharacteristic hesitance.
"Look, I know you're not, and I know you're angry, but I'm going to ask anyway, 'cause I have to start somewhere. So… are you ok?" A mix between a choked sob and a snicker sounded in Akane's throat at his question. It was ridiculous, stupid even. Of course, she wasn't ok! But, without knowing how or even realising it, Aido had said just what Akane needed to hear, to feel that little bit more like herself.
The bitter laugh, accompanied by the tears in her eyes as she turned to give Aido a broken smile, almost made him wince, but he held her gaze as she spoke.
"N-no," her voice quivered in reply as she fought to keep her tears at bay. "I'm not ok, but I will be." He was frowning again but nodded, accepting her answer and ignoring the pang in his chest. He saw the flicker of the girl he'd come to know behind the crumpled mess before him. She was still there, and he'd help her find herself again, and that thought had nothing to do with his sense of duty to Kaname.
"Miss Nakamura?" Ichijo called from the foot of the bed as he stood from the chair, drawing their attention, Akane having to lean forward to see him behind Aido after she whipped at her eyes. "Lord Kaname asked us to check on you and for us to reassure you, that you can take all the time you need to come back to school. You'll need to take some remedial classes to catch up with the work we're currently doing, but there's no reason to force yourself before you're ready, ok?"
"I'll make sure she's ready to enter the Night Class. We don't need any help with that." Aido affirmed with a confident, superior like tone. Ichijo nodded, that irritating grin stretching back across his face, making Aido's eyebrow twitch.
"Well, as Miss Nakamura is in such capable hands, I will inform Lord Kaname. Good day, Miss Nakamura, Aido."
"Night, V.P… thanks," Akane said as Ichijo left the room with a wave over his shoulder as the door closed behind him.
Aido's eyebrow twitched again. V.P.? He has a nickname now! He mentally shook himself, turning back to Akane. Not the point! Now, how to get that fire roaring? Oh! Perfect!
"Now, that he mentioned it, it'd be better if you were ready to come back to school sooner rather than later," he began with a tired sigh, slumping a little against the wall. Akane looked at him tiredly, as if to say, 'you're kidding, right?' "You locked yourself in your room and wouldn't answer me, so, I haven't had much to tell Miss Miu when she asks about you at the Changeover, every night. It's getting annoying."
The reaction had been immediate and exactly what he'd wanted. Distracting.
"Miu?! Is she ok? Is she still hurt?! Did she say anything?!" Akane had jumped out of her corner to the floor at the mention of her friend and stood in front of Aido with a frantically anxious expression, wringing her hands with wide eyes and a worried lip between her teeth.
"She's fine. No lasting damage, and just a small scar to show for her trouble." The relief Akane felt was short-lived as her guilt for the injury her friend suffered grew, increasing even more when she realised, she hadn't even thought of Miu since she woke. Akane turned and sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward onto her knees, hiding her face in her folded arms.
"She doesn't remember," Aido supplied in a matter-of-fact tone as he shuffled his way beside her. Akane lifted her head, eyes squinting in confusion up at him. "Her memories were erased. She doesn't know what happened, but she is worried about you and asks every Changeover if you're ready for school yet. I'm running out of excuses to give her. She's gonna think I kidnapped you," he teased with a smirk, side-eying her.
Akane managed a grunt of a laugh at Aido's attempt to lighten her mood. However, her heart had sunk at the thought of Miu's memories being tampered with. But she knew, despite the sour taste it left in her mouth, Miu shouldn't have to suffer such horrible memories. I wouldn't wish the feeling of those teeth on anyone, especially someone like Miu. The fear, the hopelessness when you're just lying there drained, groggy, and disorientated. It's awful.
Akane sighed her head bowing down again in relief and acceptance before turning back to the blond.
"Thanks." Aido nodded, satisfied he'd put one of her worries to rest. On to the next.
"What do you want to eat?" he asked, jumping to his feet, and turned to stand before her.
"I'm not hungry," Akane answered honestly. She hadn't felt the familiar pang of hunger since she woke.
"I didn't ask if you were hungry, I asked what you wanted to eat." Aido's voice was lighter now, more like the chipper tone he used for the Day Class and Yuki. It pulled a raised brow from Akane. "Vampires can eat, Nakamura, we just don't get much from it. Most of your nutrition will come from your blood tablets, but that shouldn't stop you from enjoying food when you want to eat it. So…?"
Akane stared at Aido with a contemplative expression for a solid minute before a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, gratitude shining in her eyes, making Aido grin in triumph.
"Raspberry pie, with vanilla cream." He nodded.
"Sounds good." Aido turned towards her wardrobe and opened the doors. "I'll deal with the pie and get the books to make a start on catching you up. In the meantime," he continued, turning to look at her over his shoulder with a charming smile. "You need to shower, and to change out of that immediately."
Akane looked down at herself, confused then groaning in humiliation. The nightgown she'd woken up in three nights ago, was wrinkled. The small stain from the wound in her abdomen hat left a dark, angry imprint on the once-crisp, white material. Hazarding a discreet sniff, she was relieved to find she'd let herself sink lower in the past, but her hygiene was still in the realm of questionable. With a grimace, she looked up pathetically at Aido who chuckled, thoroughly amused by her childish expression.
"Come on, I'll show you to the bathroom," he offered.
Aido pulling out a pair of light blue, fitted, denim jeans and a long-sleeved, grey blouse from inside the wardrobe, her blue jeans and blouse. He turned around, seeing the curious look Akane was sending him as she stood, pointing to the shelf inside the wardrobe, where the familiar strap of her bag was visible. The question in her gesture obvious and again, amusing.
"Ichijo brought it in when you were with Lord Kaname," he clarified before continuing in the more teasing, bordering on a suggestive tone, one she was familiar with. "And I think the white lacy set would accentuate your figure best. Or do you want me to pull out the black ones with the red bows, if you're feeling daring?" Akane ripped the clothing from his hands with an indignant growl and stretched to pull her bag from the wardrobe, holding it and her clothes to her chest protectively.
Aido chortled as he made for the door.
"That's better."
"Better?" Akane asked as she stomped after him. Realising, belatedly, she was walking the corridor in a dirty nightgown, and not much else, when they passed a student on his way out of the room opposite her own. She blushed in embarrassment, ducked her greasy head down and trotted to catch up to Aido's longer strides.
"Yeah, I told you, you're cute when you're mad." Her steps faltered, but one look at the satisfied smirk he wore, at he stopped at a door she correctly guessed lead to a bathroom, chased any traces of shock and flattery away with the irritation she was familiar with when dealing with this Vampire.
"One peek," she threatened, pointing a finger in his wickedly, grinning face, "and I'll rip your eyes out!"
"The one I had when we met, was more than enough," he replied, tapping his temple. "My mind's a steel trap, Nakamura. You've already been caught." Her blush, the one he was always fond of being able to induce so easily, was back. It started at her cheeks them bloomed across her face, travelled down her neck, and continued under the neckline of Ruka's nightgown.
He loved flustering her like this. The dirty vision in white and cherry red quickly ducked into the bathroom, slamming the door in his face as she went.
"Do you need me to wash your back?" he asked cheekily.
"Get lost!" she cried through the door.
"I'll just wait here then?" Akane replied with a heavy, foreboding thump. Aido's grin widened.