Eyes Red as Blood
Fourteenth Night: Making Amends
The ride home was silent. Arisu stared outside the window for the majority of the ride. Stare wasn't the right word; sometimes she would glare outside or she looked on with a vacant expression.
Hanabusa wanted to ask what was wrong, but couldn't bring himself to do so. She didn't seem like she wanted to talk in the first place.
As the car came to a slow stop, Arisu muttered, "Thanks for everything, Hanabusa." She got out of the car leaving no time for Hanabusa to respond.
Never the less he tried to call out to her when he noticed the crushed envelope she left behind on the floor of the car, but she was long gone. Sighing, he picked it up. He would give it to her the next time he saw her. Hanabusa put the envelope in his breast pocket while he got out of the car just as the others pulled up behind him.
"What was wrong?" was the first thing Ruka asked when she got out of the car after nearly slamming the door shut in Ichijo's face as he tried to get out after her.
Sighing again while running his hand through his hair, Hanabusa replied with a dissatisfied, "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know? She was clearly upset," Ruka pressed on.
"Now, now, Ruka, calm down," Ichijo placated, trying to tone down Ruka's temperament. The others remained silent not knowing what to say.
"I will not calm down, Takuma. Something happened that clearly upset Arisu-sama and I want to know what so that I can help," Ruka rebuffed, crossing her arms in front of herself
"Ruka..." Akatsuki intervened with a small shake of his head indicating that she shouldn't push the issue further.
"I'm pretty sure she'll tell us if something is wrong," Rima spoke trying to comfort the dejected aristocrat.
Ruka looked unconvinced, but decided to drop the subject. She would talk to Kaname about it later.
Sensing what she was thinking, Hanabusa firmly spoke, "Please don't mention this to Kaname-sama, Ruka. I have a feeling Arisu would become more upset if one of us were to tell him." He looked at her and the others pleadingly despite his firm tone. The others, mostly Ruka and Ichijo, reluctantly nodded in affirmation. Satisfied, Hanabusa turned to go to the dorms with the others trickling behind him.
The next two days were uncomfortable for everyone, especially if they had to be around Kaname. The only three that weren't affected by the atmosphere were Akatsuki, Rima, and Shiki.
Arisu wasn't aloof as she was on the car ride home anymore, but something was still bothering her. She tried to avoid Kaname and Hanabusa like the plague, but when it came to Kaname, she was unsuccessful and had to make excuse after excuse for her odd, mostly cold, behavior towards him. Evading Hanabusa was much simpler because she could wander around the hallways until she lost him or she could go outside during the day using her powers because it rendered her able to be in the sunlight without problem.
On the third day Kaname cornered her as she was trying to flee in the opposite direction. "Why are you avoiding me?" he asked bluntly. He placed his hand on the wall next to her head when she tried to turn and leave. His other hand held her in place.
"What are you talking about, Kaname?" Arisu looked away from his face. The pit in her stomach made itself known, yet her face flushed because of their proximity.
"Don't you dare lie to me, Arisu," Kaname menacingly said, "Tell me the truth."
Arisu continued to look down; refusing to answer his question. In reality, she didn't know how to reply. She didn't even know what was going on in her own head that made her avoid him.
Kaname sighed seeing that he was getting nowhere fast. Damn her stubbornness.
"Just look at me, Arisu," Kaname softy spoke, trying a different approach. Slowly and reluctantly Arisu looked up at him. "I do not know what is wrong. You've left me out of the loop on this one, and I'm worried. Hanabusa told me that you are avoiding him as well. Did something happen at the soiree?" Surely that was the correct guess. The flicker of her eyes away from his indicated as much. "What happened, Arisu?" Kaname pressed on. If any of the vampires had dared hurt her there would be hell to pay.
"… It started snowing and… Kaname, it's almost the anniversary of…" Arisu abruptly cut off. She was so confused. Feelings she had kept buried for Yuki's sake kept on boiling back up. She could only hope to trick Kaname into thinking that that was the only reason why she was upset for the past days. It was an easy lie to tell because it held a grain of truth in it. She was angry with herself for being so weak and selfish. "Yuki doesn't remember a single thing, yet…" you pay more attention to her, she bitterly finished in her head. Her eyes widened. She was appalled by the thoughts that went through her head. Selfish, weak, searching for someone to blame. Fresh tears began to spill. It seemed the monster inside of her with the permanent red eyes began to stir once again, making her think like that, making her resent her own sister.
Kaname's eyes softened as he pulled her into an embrace, not knowing the real reason behind her tears.
Arisu clung to Kaname whole breathing in his scent. She didn't want to turn into something like the thing that killed her parents ten years ago. She was so scared of herself at that moment.
"Don't worry, Arisu," Kaname murmured into her hair, rubbing small circles on her back. He held her tighter as he continued, "I won't let anything happen to her, just like how I'll always protect you. As I have been doing."
Arisu was calming down in his arms. She pushed the monster to the far corners of her mind. It was out of sight, but she knew it would always be there. Arisu needed a distraction; she needed to forget. She tried to get out of the embrace, but Kaname held her at arm's reach as he began to dry her tears with the sleeve of his black shirt. "You're too nice to me…" I don't know what to think of you anymore, Kaname.
"Why wouldn't I be?," Kaname replied cocking an eyebrow, "I care for you."
Right, as a brother who is just fulfilling his duty. Despite the thought inside her head Arisu willed a smile on her face before bringing her hand to rub the side of her neck, "Yeah… I guess I should apologize to Hanabusa, huh?"
"I think he'll be fine if you just talk to him and the others again," Kaname replied nonchalantly. He finally dropped his arms to his side.
"Do you know where they are?" Arisu asked, needing to do something. Anything would do at this point.
"They should be at the Dorms if they haven't left for class already." Kaname looked down the hallway.
"Alright. I need to talk to Hanabusa at least." She thought she felt his fingers brush softly against the ends of her hair when she started to walk away from him, but when she turned around, he was already gone.
Arisu quietly entered the Moon Dorms so as not to disturb anyone because most were probably just waking up if not still asleep. She soon found out that Hanabusa formed part of those that slept in unlike Akatsuki who was walking in the hallway near their room. He was already fully dressed in the Academy's night class uniform. "Hey, Akatsuki, is Hanabusa still in the dorm room?"
"Good evening and yes. He's still sleeping, so don't bother knocking. You can just go in," Akatsuki replied.
It's almost time for class and he's still sleeping, Arisu thought amused "Okay." Akatsuki cracked a grin. "Alright, I have to get going. Goodbye, Arisu-sama."
"Yes, thank you," Arisu beamed up at him. If Akatsuki was being honest with himself, he felt relieved at her change in mood. Now Ruka and even Hanabusa could stop fretting over her.
Arisu made her way to their shared dorm room. Just to test what Akatsuki had told her, she knocked at the door. She waited for a response, but other than the soft ruffling sound of silken sheets as Hanabusa turned in bed, there was no response. She opened the door as loudly as she possibly could, but the aristocrat remained asleep. She practically stomped her feet while making her way towards him, yet he didn't even budge. Giggling, Arisu began to poke at him until he stirred, but that wasn't enough to wake him up. Then she noticed the glass of water on the nightstand next to the bed, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. Arisu poured some water in the palm of her hand before holding it above Hanabusa's face. The drops fell onto his face, and he swatted weakly at whatever was disturbing his sleep. Giving up, she finally rolled him out of his bed. He woke up startled as he fell onto the wooden floor.
"Jeez, the only way you wake up is if you fall off the bed?"
Hanabusa looked straight at Arisu embarrassed, how long had she been there? She was kneeling on the bed, looking down at him over the edge of the bed.
"Uhm, what are you doing here, Arisu?" He tried disentangling himself from the sheets, but the edges were caught underneath Arisu. She moved, so he could pull out the sheet from underneath her.
"Oh, right. I came to apologize for the way I acted after the soirée and for my behavior up until now. It was unsightly," Arisu fidgeted with the ends of her sleeves.
"Uh," It t was too early for Hanabusa to be functioning, "Tell you what. I'll accept your apology if you tell me you're alright with Kaname-sama now."
Arisu smiled, hitting the bed with her hands in delight, "Of course!" Then a little subdued and conspiratory she added, "By the way, never get cornered by Kaname. It's truly terrifying."
"Believe me, I know," Hanabusa finally stood up from sitting on the floor. "You won't tell me what was wrong, will you?"
"Maybe some other time, but everything's fine now," Arisu replied, sliding off the bed and standing on the opposite side of the bed from Hanabusa. "Well, I'll leave you to change clothes and get ready."
"Wait, Arsu, you left this envelope in the car when you got out. It's still sealed." He opened the top drawer from the night stand and handed her the envelope. He had managed to smooth it out a bit, but there were still crease marks all over the envelope.
"Ah! I had forgotten about that," Arisu murmured and received the envelope, "Thank you, Hanabusa, you really are a lifesaver"
"You're welcome," Hanabusa smiled, and walked her to the door of the room. "I'll see you in class then."
Arisu nodded, but her attention was already fixated on the contents of the envelope as she opened it. Wondering what it could be, she walked in the direction of her room, but stopped abruptly when she scanned through it. That... She needed to read it again.
Dear Arisu-sama,
If you are reading this letter, then that means that we got the chance to meet at the soiree in the Aidou villa. I'm glad I finally got to meet the daughter of Haruka and Juri Kuran. I'm sure you look almost exactly as Juri did when she was your age.
Other than Kaname, I am one of the select people that knew you were the daughter of the Kurans long before your debut in the vampire world. You see, your mother and I were good friends centuries ago. Unfortunately, we lost touch about two decades ago. I didn't know why until a couple of years passed. When Kaname came up to me with you in tow (you probably don't remember as you were still in shock), he said he wanted to keep you hidden from the world and asked for my help. Juri must have told him about me. I immediately agreed, and that's how you ended up living with Reiko, a trustworthy friend of mine. I'm sure you've grown to like Reiko as I have, and I do hope that Nathaniel wasn't too stern on you.
I'm strtaying away from the topic. My son, Kai Koruya, as you probably already noted is a pureblood, but unlike you, he is only able to conceal his vampire presence and cant' switch between human and vampire. I daresay it is obvious that he is adopted, considering there hasn't been a pureblood born to an aristocrat in over 6 millenniums if not longer. He's known this for some time (I believe that is why he acts up). Kai was abandoned when he was just a baby. Juri was the one who found him and brought him to me. Given my nature I couldn't refuse, and after some time we concluded he was a descendant of the Shirabuki though we haven't been able to confirm our theory or not. We don't know what his relation to Sara Shirabuki is, but we suspect they are closely related.
Recently, I have received news from trusted sources that Rido is alive. He will more than likely go after anyone with relations to the Kuran, which is why I fear for my son's safety as well as for yours. I hope you can come to understand my son and think of him as an ally. Reiko is in contact with Ichiru Kiryuu. I believe he is currently working on a plan to get you out of harm's way if that despicable man tries anything.
I apologize for not telling you this in person, and I hope you and your brother stay safe. If you ever have questions that you need answered, please feel free to contact me at any time.
Sincerely,
Atsushi Koruya
After finishing reading the letter, Arisu rushed to the common room where some aristocrats were gathered in. "Excuse me, have any of you seen Kai Koruya?" she asked to no one in particular.
Everyone shook their heads, some confused. Then a petite girl with sandy hair stepped forward, "He left early for the holidays, Arisu-sama."
"Do you know where to?"
"I'm sorry, I do not. All I know is that he left, Arisu-sama," the girl replied looking down.
"It's aright. You were a big help," Arisu smiled at the girll. She turned and walked straight out of the dormitories heading for the only place she thought of to get the whereabouts of Kai, the Chairman's office.
Revised 3-17-20
A/N: A pretty slow chapter, but there you have it. I won't be updating this Sunday as planned. My summer vacation is coming to an end, and guesses who decided to leave all their ToK homework to the last week of summer vacation? You got that right! Me! UGH ToK moments. Have fun for the rest of summer guys!
4-10-17
Also to update on that Theory of Knowledge Class (ToK) now that I've graduated from high school: I ended up dropping the class for the second semester, so there was no point in doing the summer homework. I did it though, and I highly recommend you read the book The Sunflower by Simon Weisenthal. It's extraordinary and offers different perspectives on forgiveness. It really makes you think and ask questions. That's all I have for now
Thank you to those who reviewed, and don't forget to keep on reviewing! The more reviews I get the more motivated I am to write.