Eventually, Akane stopped dry heaving into the bowl, left with her head rested against the cool porcelain and her muscles wracked with spasms and aftershocks. Lifting her spinning head, Akane sat on the cool, tiled floor, bending her head between her knees, breathing in through her nose, and slowly exhaling through her mouth. Her heart and lungs ached, her nose and throat burned with the acidic scent and taste of bile.

Soon, she felt confident enough to lift her head and open her eyes, without feeling the need to vomit a second time, and stood on shaking legs to wash her face and gargled the vile taste from her mouth. Her eyes looked into the basin of the sink, needing to build up her courage to look into the mirror on the wall above. With a shudder, her eyes lifted and were met with familiar, forest green. Her body slackened as her head bowing again. An empty chuckle rattled her chest, ending in a hacking cough.

The sheer intensity of her impulse, imaginary or otherwise, had been disturbing, and a slap to her face at her belief she was gaining control. The desires to chase, stalk, hunt, catch and bite had been much stronger than she'd expected and far more animalistic than she'd been led to believe from her reading into Vampires. Aido never seemed animalistic, terrifying, but not like some beast from the darkest, deepest pit of her nightmares.

The pills had helped with the blood craving. However, being surrounded by so many new scents again, after spending so much time alone in her room. Was she even safe to be around right now? Just, the sight of that boy had driven her imagination to such dark and vicious places. She'd never bitten anyone before, not counting Kaname and some kind when she was three. Thinking over both of these instances, Akane recalled the feel of her teeth cutting through flesh, the iron tang of Human blood and the strong flavour of Kaname's blood. Unpleasant experiences, yet staringly satisfying, in their own way.

Her eyes fell to the pendant she'd worn since the night she'd been turned and watched as it swung innocently. The light caught the deep blue of the centre of the Sapphire, almost mocking as it twinkled up at her. The necklace and pendant had belonged to her mother, bought when she was thirteen by her older brother. A reward for finally becoming a teenager. One of the few stories of her estranged family her mother ever shared with her. He'd gifted her a Sapphire because he'd said it matched the blue of her eyes. Akane's father matched the keepsake with another (less dazzling) gem, set in the engagement ring, which was buried with her.

Turning from the mirror and forcing back the unwelcome sting of tears, Akane wrenched the bathroom door open, to be greeted with a worried glare on Aido's face. He stood at the threshold with his arms crossed and an air of impatience about him as he waited for her to speak, throw an excuse, or just blink after a minute of shocked staring. Her eyes were stretched so wide, he was afraid they'd pop out.

His scent battered her senses. So, consumed by her emotions and thoughts, Akane had disregarded Aido's presence completely. Her eyes flashed that beautiful deep, dark red, Aido would never admit to admiring, or that they caused his legs to tremble with how quickly the forest in her eyes fled from the fire.

Her nostrils flared as she breathed out forcefully through her nose while her eyebrows knit together. Subduing her beast, Akane stalked past the Noble without a word. Aido's scowl deepened. With a huff, he followed the ex-Human.
"Nakamura! What's going on?"
"Nothing!" Akane spat.
"Didn't sound like nothing," he challenged, stepping in her way, and halting her obvious attempt to escape his questions.

The green was fully seated in her iris' again, but there was still that tell-tale darkness clinging to the centre, around her pupil. She groaned, rubbing at her face, and dropping her shoulders from their previously, rigid, and guarded stance.
"It's nothing." Her hands fell from her face to fold across her chest, unable to look him in the eye.

Aido waited, unconvinced and unmoving. It was a worrying thought that Akane could reject the blood tablets. Damned, Shiki! If that were true, she'd need to feed. The idea of offering himself to her to feed was a thrilling one. But what if someone else offered first, or Kaname insisted she takes from him? The Pureblood certainly felt responsible for her, despite his insistence that Aido was to carry the burden.

"I…" she mumbled. His frown softened at seeing her struggle to explain herself, but the irritation did not fade completely. His arms crossed in a display meant to convey she had his attention, but that he was not letting her by without an explanation. "I was… thinking," she settled, lamely.

I can't believe Aido heard me throw up. Yes, that was as stupid as it sounded. However, given the circumstances, understandable, especially when she stood in front of him, twiddling her fingers, staring at his shoes and smelling unpleasant, to say the least.

"Thinking? Sounded more like you were getting a second view of your breakfast to me." Akane suppressed a grin at his attempt to get a rise out of her. She was aware Aido enjoyed provoking her. Driving her crazy was a regular pastime for him and had been since they'd met.
"I carelessly let my thoughts run away without me. I gave in to my impulse and let my imagination run a little wild for a minute… I couldn't stomach what I saw." His brows rose at her admission. She peeked up sheepishly and, dare he say it, offered an apologetic quirk of her lips.

Aido coughed, glancing away to cover for his reaction to Akane's coy smile.
"Well, ok then. Umm… Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head, her smile turning grateful as she manoeuvred around him and continued her walk to her room, with Aido at her side. He watched her carefully, shutting the door to her room behind them as they entered, and she moved to sit on the edge of her bed.

She sat with a far-off look in her eyes. Aido noted she'd changed her clothes. So, had intended to show her face at Ichijo's party tonight. What startled her to earn such a violent reaction? If Akane had been at the party, she could have spoken to Yuki. She knew Akane, didn't she? She'd been asking after her an awful lot, almost as much as her friends had. That would have made Akane feel better, to have someone familiar to speak to.

"Why didn't you come to the party?" he queried after the click of the door was met with silence. Akane turned to him with mild surprise then down at her clothing, as if she'd forgotten she'd put them on at all. Her expression hardened. Her eyes narrowing, and her lips pursed.
"I've decided I'm ready for school on Monday," she said, ignoring Aido's question completely. "Putting it off any longer would just mean I fall further behind." Aido frowned but decided not to push for answers again. It was obvious she wasn't going to tell him what had rattled her, no matter how many times he asked.

He sighed and crossed his arms, leaning against her closed door.
"Fine, I'll tell Lord Kaname. Headmaster Cross already gave him your uniform, but he kept it for when you decided you were ready." Akane nodded, and then the room was silent. For two minutes, Aido stood and watched Akane look or potter around her room, not so much as glancing at him. He frowned and huffed as she ignored him, it always annoyed him when she'd do that, and so blatantly too.

Giving up, and not wanting to cause an argument, Aido left the room, making his way back to the party. As he reached the door to the outside patio, the air boomed with the sound of a gunshot. Everyone stopped at the distant sound, listening for another, but none came. Their heightened senses told them the shot had been close enough to be within the school grounds and knew Zero had a gun as his chosen weapon. Those that had not, certainly did now, after his stunt with Kaname.

Aido shrugged and walked to the buffet table to bury his irritation in food.
"Miss Nakamura, isn't coming?" Ichijo asked with a tilt of his head.
"No, but she said to tell you 'Happy Birthday'." She hadn't, but he knew Akane would have if she'd had a clearer mind.
"Oh well, I suppose it was a lot to ask of her so soon. It has only been a few days," Ichijo reasoned, looking up at the building.
"She feels ready for school Monday."
"School? That's great news!"

Ichijo visibly brightened, accepting a champagne flute from Shiki, filled with water, slowly turning pink from the blood tablets currently dissolving at the bottom. Shiki drew his attention to Aido who was placing a vanilla sponge cupcake onto his china plate.
"What excuse did she have for not coming?"
"Senri!" Ichijo scolded. Shiki shrugged and waited for an answer.

Aido turned to the Noble, his plate now filled with sweet, delicious treats.
"Thinking," he said finally, not finding the need to defend or explain her behaviour. Shiki and Aido stared at each other, both wearing the same dull expression, silently challenging the other.
"Of course," Ichijo began. "Miss Nakamura has much on her mind. It was insensitive of me to insist on her coming tonight. I will apologise to her first thing tomorrow," he declared, earnestly.

Aido turned away to watch the crowd around them. His cousin, Kain, walked over, his hands deep in his pockets. His flower-patterned silk shirt, with far too few buttons done, flapping at his sides.
"Hanabusa," Kain greeted as he came to a stop at his shorter cousin's side.
"Oh, what a shame. And here I was thinking you were stupid enough to chase Kiryu, after all," Ruka drolled from behind Aido. The blond turned with a twitch of his brow and a forced smile to his least favourite cousin.
"What a coincidence. I was thinking the exact same thing about you, dear cousin." Ruka scowled but made no further comment while the conversation shifted to the gunshot heard minutes ago.

"Kiryu is the only Hunter with a gun with access to the school in the area, but his, are handguns," Ichijo pondered thoughtfully.
"The shot earlier was from a bigger gun than his, Bloody Rose," Kain added, taking a swig from his glass.
"I don't think it matters, we're all here and accounted for. Whoever was shooting, they weren't shooting to kill Vampires," Shiki said as Rima came to join them and accepted the poki stick offered by her model partner.

Ruka flung her long, straw-coloured hair over her shoulder and said, with righteous anger and irrevocable dislike,
"Perhaps he did us all a favour and blew himself away before either of us had to sully our hands in his filthy Hunter blood!" Surprisingly, Aido was angered by his cousin's words. She irked him anyway, but what he felt was irrational at that moment. He offered no comment and moved away from the group, the others watching him in mild confusion.

He slunk to a secluded corner of the courtyard garden and sat on the miniature columned wall that separated the upper and lower levels of the courtyard. He had intended to find Kaname and tell him Akane would need her uniform for Monday, but he found even moving away from Ruka, hadn't dwindled his anger. Her words kept replaying in his mind and he was struggling to fathom why they angered him so. Nakamura is the daughter of a Hunter, he realised and scoffed to himself. What an idiotic reason to become angry, he scolded, shaking his head at the absurdity.

Akane had not been raised a Hunter. He wasn't even sure she knew her mother's lineage. It was beyond senseless for him to feel offended on her behalf. He, himself, had said far fewer flattering things about Hunters in the past. He also doubted Akane would even care about what Ruka said or thought about Hunters. There were few things Akane seemed to take to heart with regards to insults. The only times he ever got a rise out of her, was when he was either too close for her liking or being suggestive with his teasing.

He shook the useless thought and the dwindling anger from his mind, placing his uneaten plate of treats on the wall and walked through the partygoers to Kaname who was still sat on the grand sofa.
"Lord Kaname," he greeted as he ascended the steps. Kaname placed the glass he'd been sipping from down on the floor, with a small clink of crystal touching stone. "Nakamura says she's ready to attend classes on Monday."

"She did not come tonight," Kaname remarked thoughtfully, after a moment of silence. "Was she unwell when you checked on her?" Aido stiffened slightly. If Kaname suspected she couldn't swallow the blood tablets, he might take to feeding her. He just knew Akane would not agree to that and fight him tooth and nail. On the other hand, if he said nothing, or anything less than the truth, he'd be lying to his Pureblood Lord.

I'll confront Nakamura first, he decided. She didn't say she couldn't swallow the tablets, and she won't be able to lie if I ask her. I'll confirm if my suspicions are founded, before telling Lord Kaname about this.
"She said she was thinking." It wasn't a lie, it was what Akane had told him, so that is what he settled on. Kaname didn't seem to mind the lack of an answer and said he'd give Akane her uniform before sunrise. Aido dismissed himself, feeling a little better, and walked back into the group surrounding the Birthday Boy.