Akane turned her head and brushed Rin's hand from her hair, sending him a disgusted look as she stood and stepped away from the couch.
"Aido is the one to decide if I am, as you say, 'suitable' to be his friend," she began. There was a definite, insolent bite to her tone, and Aido, who stood on the landing, watching, and listening, grinned maliciously. That tone meant she was furious. Now before, that wouldn't have mattered, but Akane had been Human and had posed no threat. She was a Vampire now, and not just any Vampire, her sire was Kaname Kuran. Rin Yamiyo had no idea the storm Aido imagined would be brewing behind her eyes right now.
Rin leant forward, his mouth opening to give a counterargument, Akane had no mind to hear. She turned back to him sharply, her fierce gaze ensnaring him, rendering him immediately immobile. It was as if he were prey and had just realised a predator was coming upon him. Her eyes were cold, narrowed, and as hard as the emeralds they so resembled. She stepped towards him and Rin felt himself leaning away.
"Another thing," Akane added. "Considering your logic, and applying it to your proposal, that would mean, someone at your current 'level' is not 'suitable' for me." She'd continued to lean in until she was right in his face and he was staring, fixated by the dark clouds swirling in her eyes. "Wouldn't it?" Her voice deepened, a growl brushing past her lips with her words, while Rin was trying to comprehend why his heart was racing so hard in his chest.
"Hay, Nakamura?" Aido called from the foot of the stairs, the grin still plastered on his face as Akane stood and turned to him with a smile, while Rin looked up at him dazed and pale. He practically pissed himself! Aido laughed to himself. "Making new friends?" Akane's pose changed to display an innocent persona, her hands held behind her back and her head tilted to the side, while a bright smile played across her lips.
"Nope, just educating," she quipped back pleasantly, before picking up her bag off the coffee table and walking to his side.
"Good, because I introduced you to everyone worth knowing," he said as they both walked toward the kitchens. Her smile was wide, but her eyes were still a wash of anger as she looked up at him.
"I'm not one to waste my time Aido, you know that." As they spoke, they kept their voices raised, ensuring the Vampire, still anchored to the couch, could hear them as they entered the darkened corridor.
Rin sat frozen for a time before a presence in the room had him whipping his head around to the top of the stairs. Kaname stood, staring at him with a calm yet reproachful expression. Rin rose immediately, straightening out his uniform while his heart fought to return to a normal rhythm which was currently jackhammering his ribcage at having the Pureblood attention fixed on him.
Kaname said nothing but allowed the lesser Vampire to fidget and tremble in anxious expectation. He had no intention of harming or reprimanding him. He'd seen the anger in Akane's eyes, as well as in Aido's as he'd scurried silently down the stairs. He'd been so intent on Akane, he hadn't even acknowledged Kaname's presence when he'd passed him on the landing. Also, Kaname decided not to scold Rin because Akane's tongue had cut the prideful Vampire deep enough. It wasn't everyday Rin Yamiyo was told he wasn't good enough for a woman as the lesser pressured Noble Ladies of the Night Class were frequently willing to indulge him.
Kaname watched as Rin suddenly bowed, saying he needed to collect his satchel from his room before making a hasty retreat up the other set of stairs and walking down the corridor, his steps, faster than usual for a relaxed walk. Kaname remained just long enough to watch him reach the third door down the corridor before continuing his way down to the archives below the dorms.
Aido followed Akane to the kitchen and was not surprised when she threw a spoon (that had been left on the counter) across the room, as he closed the door behind them. Not content with that, she retrieved the spoon from the floor and threw it into the sink, not so much as flinching as it clattered, threatening to break a cup that had been left there. She huffed, crossing her arms, and bouncing her leg where she stood, a tell he'd come to recognise as agitation, after many a Saturday night spent with her, drawing out this very habit.
He waited, leaning against the door, listening to her heart settle and her breathing even out. Eventually, she sighed and looked at him from the corner of her eye. He met her eye and waited until she turned to face him, before removing the poker straight expression he wore. A wide grin spread across his face as her scowl deepened.
"You enjoyed that, didn't you?" His answer was a chuckle and a nod of his head as he moved away from the door towards her.
"You could have told me about that creep!"
"I did," Aido defended.
"You said he was sickeningly flirtatious, not an egotistic, chauvinistic, sexist pig!"
"Well, yeah. That personality would make anyone sick." Akane punched his arm in irritation. Aido laughed again as Akane turned from him in a huff. "Why are you so upset?" he began as he walked around her. "You told him off pretty good."
"Doesn't do me much good though, does it?" she bit back.
A frown flashed across Aido's face at her words. She was looking at his chest, refusing to raise her gaze higher. So, he leant down to see her frown which appeared to be more troubled than irritated.
"Don't tell me you believed what that man-whore said!" Her eyes still evaded him as they travelled to the side. Aido clicked his tongue in annoyance as he straightened and pulled her to him, trapping her in his arms as they wound around her.
"Aido! Let go of me!" Akane's attempts to escape him were half-hearted at best. Her voice, a tired whine rather than the usual demand and growl.
"You're not unsuitable." She stopped struggling and stood still in his arms, staring directly at the base of his neck while he looked over the top of her head. "That bastard has no right to talk about obligations anyway. You don't need to concern yourself with any of that crap!"
One of his hands came up to her head and stroked her hair gently as his voice softened. Akane continued to stare at his neck, not daring to look up at him, and allow him to see the flush of colour he knew he was creating across her cheeks.
"You were right, I decide who my friends are." He plucked the hair he'd seen Rin holding and frowned at it as he twirled it through his fingers, removing the other Vampire's touch and replacing it with his own.
Aido looked down at Akane's face. She still averted her gaze and the anger was still visible from the flush in her cheeks, but the stain had darkened and travelled down her neck, disappearing under the black blouse of the Night Class uniform. A sudden (but not, unfamiliar) desire set in his mind, to see how far down he could make that blush go before he buried it, along with many other thoughts he found himself having around the ex-Human lately.
He stepped back from her, his cocky grin firmly in place as Akane finally flashed her angry eyes to his face. Her frown deepened briefly before her face softened as a tired sigh escaped her lips.
"I guess. He just… got under my skin, is all. I'm ok now," Akane affirmed with a nod. She forgoes mentioning the first slight tint she'd ever seen on Aido's cheeks, preferring to focus on the new classes she'd be attending, and that she'd be, hopefully, seeing her friends for the first time in over a week.
"Good," Aido said with a nod. "Would the lady care to join me for a walk to the lobby?" Aido bowed theatrically, his arm, outstretched in an invitation to Akane. When he received no reply, he looked up to find the most unimpressed expression Akane had ever thrown at him. If this was near the beginning of their relationship, he may have been insulted by such an expression on her face. But now, he just found it amusing and somewhat endearing that she was never so easily swayed by charming words and gestures without any heart in them.
Akane arched a brow as his grin widened devilishly, which only served to irritate her further.
"If you're going to start that nonsense, you can walk to class alone. I wouldn't want to give your fans the wrong idea." She brushed past him as she spoke but still fought the attempt her lips gave to lift into a smile at the familiar banter. As she went to leave the kitchen, she stopped to locate her satchel (that she'd also thrown when coming into the room but hadn't realised). It wasn't lying on the floor by the door and wasn't resting on the counter.
"Ahem!" She turned at the sound of Aido clearing his throat to find him holding her satchel, along with his own. Akane went to reach for her bag but he pulled it away from her hand. "Maybe I want them to get the wrong idea," Aido revealed cheekily. He waved for her to open the door when Akane just stood there, dumbfounded. He patted himself on the back for causing that blush to dust across her cheeks once again.
Akane turned, spun back to face him, as if to protest, but then turned to the door again, and opened it up to the corridor. Aido grinned in silent triumph at effectively rendering her speechless, and followed her through the darkening corridor, back to the entrance, with a part of his mind questioning, what he was truly feeling victorious about.