Eyes Red as Blood
Twenty First Night: Of Love and Wounds
If asked, Arisu would say she wasn't avoiding anyone in particular, especially not Kai. She would, however, reply that she would much rather avoid Kaname than any of the others, but that was not possible because she saw him whenever they had classes.
If asked if she was distraught because of Kaname's sudden confession to Yuki in the days following their return to the Academy, Arisu would laugh at the question even though the mirth didn't reach her eyes. In fact, she could tell you exactly how she had overheard the confession. She had been walking back to the dorms early one night when she walked into a conversation between the two of them. She quickly ducked behind a pillar and waited. Her presence didn't stop Kaname from confessing his love to Yuki. No, she wasn't sad at all. Arisu had been expecting it, so she went about her days as normal.
What she hadn't been expecting was Zero to come to the Moon Dormitory, demanding to talk with Kaname. It wasn't exactly unsurprising when she smelled Kaname's blood in the air. One of them was bound to attack the other with how wound up they had been the past few days. When she reached Kaname's room, the other aristocrats where already there, standing wearily in front of the door.
"Arisu-sama," Hanabusa was the first to address her.
It didn't go unnoticed that they shifted so that they were standing between her and what they thought to be imminent danger. She lifted a hand to stop him from telling her it was safer to go back to her dorm.
"It's fine, Hanabusa," she stressed, "Everyone, thank you for your concern, but you can go back to your dorms."
They all heard the implied command in her tone and bowed before leaving. Arisu watched them leave in a huddle. Ruka and Hanabusa looked back worriedly, so she smiled at them in hopes that they would listen to her afterall. She turned back towards the door as soon as she could no longer hear the aristocrats so closeby. Her hand hovered over the door, snd she heared the faint murmuring of voices before the window pane slammed open.
Finally she knocked and heard Kaname's low response beckoning her to come into the room and close the door behind her. She rushed to his side when she saw him draped on a chair, clutching at his neck. Blood was dripping profusely from his wound, even more had already stained his shirt.
"Kaname, what happened?" Arisu hovered over him, trying to asses all his wounds. There was the one on his neck and splotches of crimson that indicated bullet wounds.
"Kiryu wouldn't be of use if he became level E," Kaname explained, studying Arisu. He expected her to be a mess of tears and panic, but she wasn't, just barely. He let her tilt his chin up so she could inspect the bite wound. He didn't say anything and closed his eyes when she leaned in to lick his wound. A moment later she pulled away, just shy of biting him herself. He studied her again, "You can continue if you'd like to satiate your thirst."
"No, Kaname. You must heal." Arisu walked away to soak a towel in warm water to clean up his wounds.
The older vampire watched as she methodically undid the buttons of his bloodied shirt. He didn't flinch when she pulled the bullets out.
Arisu worked in silence as she wiped the blood from him. The voice whined about wasting the blood and wanting to consume it instead. When she was done, she walked over to his dresser to get him a new shirt. Kaname never once moved from his position. She handed him the dress shirt and let him put it on himself. The wounds had started to heal faster now that the bullet was no longer in him. Content with the work done, Arisu turned to leave the room.
"Thank you, Arisu." Kaname murmured after her. Arisu nodded before closing the door behind her.
'' '' '' ''
The following night Kaname asked Yuki to be his lover, and it was the night Arisu saw Ichiru wandering about the halls during her shift. She almost mistook him for Zero.
"Ichiru!" She jogged to catch up to him. He didn't turn around. "Hold up! I know it's you." She finally reached him, and grabbed his arm, but he violently pulled out of her grasp. The look in his eyes held the same contempt and hatred when they had first met. "What's wrong, Ichiru?"
"From this point forward, Arisu-sama, I would appreciate if you didn't act so friendly with me."
"What happened to you, Ichiru?" she asked after the initial shock passed.
"I realized where my loyalties should lie," he turned away from her. "Good bye, Arisu-sama."
Arisu stayed there until she gathered herself. When she got back to the dormitories, Ruka handed her a bouquet of soft pink begonias and purple hyacinths. Arisu asked who they were from.
"The bouquet was carefully laid at the steps of the Dorm building. We only knew it was for you because this was sticking out of it." Hanabusa handed her a small card with her name written on it.
Arisu thanked them and took the bouquet to her room. She examined the card but found nothing strange about it. The flowers were pristine, so she filled a vase with water. As she arranged the flowers into the vase she stilled when she took the flowers out of their wrapping. Hidden by the wrapping was a solitary dark red rose. Her suspicions had been confirmed. She placed the vase on her desk and went to her window to let the night air in. The night before dawn was always the darkest.
To keep herself busy she sent her fox familiar with a letter detailing her encounter with Ichiru to Reiko, hoping to find out any more information. Arisu hadn't slept the following day as she awaited for a response. It should have arrived at the manor twenty minutes ago, she assured herself. To pass the time she had been trying to read on her bed, but that wasn't working out. Maybe there was something to do in the common room. At the very least she could see who was still up. When she reached the room, the only ones there were four aristocrats whom she had met briefly at the soiree.
"Arisu-sama," They all stood up and bowed when she entered the room. She nodded her head as a response.
"How are you all doing today?" She asked cheerily while sitting down in the nearest arm chair. They took their seats after she did.
"We are doing quite well," The sandy haired male replied. His companion, a long raven haired aristocrat, hid her smile behind her tea cup. Arisu vaguely remembered her to be the daughter of a viscount. The sandy haired vampire was her cousin, and the other two were twin heirs form a prominent family in England. She found the tittles trivial because nobody really paid much attention to them anymore. She only knew because that was the way the girl had introduced themselves as.
"Arisu-sama, if I may," the girl spoke to her, "We were wondering what you thought of Kaname-sama's recent actions?"
Briefly Arisu wondered if the girl was trying to get a rise out of her.
"That was only you, Layla," One of the twins interrupted. His brother nodded in agreement.
Arisu smiled, and looked at the girl directly in the eye as she answered. "You must be referring to the fact that he asked Yuki Cross, a human, to be his lover instead of me, correct?" She waited until the girl nodded. "I wish them the best as I am sure that Miss Cross will accept the offer of my brother's courtship."
Her response must not have been what they were expecting given their troubled expressions.
"But, Arisu-sama, surely you were taught the importance of purebloods in our society!" This time the sandy haired aristocrat spoke in a rush.
"Believe me when I say I was taught the same as you were," she admitted, "However, I do not believe that everyone should live their lives per other's expectations of them. Kaname is doing what he wants. I am not in the least bothered by the fact."
The twins smiled and nodded at her response Those two seemed to be the unorthodox of the bunch. The sandy haired aristocrat thought it over; however, Arisu could tell that the girl- whose name she remembered to be Layla- was dissatisfied with her answer.
"I believe it is unfortunate that the heir of the Kuran is indulging in frivolities," Layla sniffed.
"Yes, well, your opinion doesn't matter does it," Arisu replied bluntly.
The twins burst laughing much to the indignation of the aristocrat. Her sandy haired cousin went slack jawed at the remark. Layla opened her mouth to convey her indignation.
"However, neither does mine, Miss Layla," she continued before the girl blew a fuse or stormed out of the room, "which is the point I am getting at. I apologize if I seemed rude just now." Arisu felt rather proud of herself. Part of her would have loved to see Layla storm out of the room angrily, but the diplomatic side of her had decided to diffuse the situation.
Layla, cheeks now colored pink, accepted the apology.
"Now that your curiosity has been satiated. Let me satisfy my own," Arisu carried on cheerfully once again, "I know I met you four at the soiree, and this is unbecoming of me, but would you three remind me of your names, please? I've gathered that you are Miss Layla McEvoy, heiress to her family name, and you are her cousin whose name escapes me. As do the names of both of you."
The auburn-haired twins grinned at one another, not at all intimidated by the pureblood.
"Before you two do something that'll cause us all second-hand embarrassment, I would like to reintroduce myself," the third boy stated before turning to Arisu, "I am Erin McEvoy."
"Ah, yes, of course. Both you and Miss Layla are only children," She vaguely remembered the information Kaname had given her.
"That is correct, Arisu-sama. Please, just call us by our given names if you'd like," Layla expressed hopefully.
"Of course, Layla," Arisu smiled back. There was no point in distancing herself from her classmates.
"My, what a charmer we have here, brother," one of the twins spoke.
"Quite right, brother," the other replied, grinning as deviously as the first. Arisu leaned forward excitedly. Erin dreaded what was coming next while Layla sighed exasperatedly. "But we can also be charming." The first pulled out a flower from inside his uniform jacket, and presented it to Arisu who graciously accepted. The second winked.
"You two were certainly subdued at the soirée."
"Indeed we were," one of them acted dramatically, "It was just so hard acting all posh and stiff for so long."
Erin rolled his eyes and muttered about proper conduct under his breath.
"I'm Hibiki Verill, the oldest twin," the one furthest from Arisu who had winked introduced, "This is Kouki, my younger brother."
"Very nice to meet you all again," Arisu smiled. The conversation soon turned to other topics such as the Academy or their views on interacting with humans. To Arisu's surprise they were more open minded about coexisting with humans than she would have given them credit for. They delved into the topic and discussed the history of vampire human relations. This in turn turned into a heated debate on the origin of the ancestors to which the twins and the two McEvoy's shared differing opinions. Arisu proposed a game of chess to end the argument, and that's what they did for the next hour or so. Soon sunlight peered in through the open drapes and the aristocrats bid Arisu good night as they retired to their rooms for slumber.
Arisu sighed and looked around the common room. There was nothing to do now, so she just sat there studying the wallpaper. It was just so interesting. Arisu inclined her head when she heard a group of people walk down the stairs. Her face lit up when she saw Hanabusa through the doorway. "Hanabusa! Good, you're up. Would you like to come with me to –"
"I apologize, Arisu sama," he cut her off. His voice coolly detached, "Kaname has asked me to accompany Yuki Cross for the day."
"Oh... carry on then," she waved him off dismissively. She went back to studying the wallpaper. She had just about memorized it when her familiar returned. She was disappointed with the content of the letter letter Reiko sent. The woman did not know anything about what Ichiru had meant or an inclination as to what he was up to. Disappointment turned into anger when she read the end of the letter.
Nathaniel and I strongly recommend that you cease all communication with Ichiru for your own safety, Arisu.
Quickly, she set the letter on fire, fleefully watching as it turned to ash.
"Arisu, why does it smell like smoke in here," Kaname frowned, walking into the room.
Arisu rolled her eyes, as if he couldn't guess. She stared at him. He was wearing his uniform save for the blazer, and his hair was damp.
"To allude to how your relationship will go," she bit out angrily. The subdued and distant demeanor she had put up for the past days was now crumbling.
"Stop being childish, Arisu," his eyes narrowed, ""It's not as if what I said to her was untrue."
Arisu looked at him incredulously and stood up from her seat to stand directly in front of him. Kaname tensed, but didn't let it show on his face.
"Do you really love her like you say you do? Or are you just trapping her in a cage like you did with me?" Really, she could have passed off the remark about his relationship as a joke, but she was stupid enough to continue speaking. "Or maybe she reminds you of the Ancestress and that's why you want to make her your lover?"
"Watch your words, Arisu" He stepped closer to her, but she didn't back down.
Arisu knew she had hit a nerve; never had they discussed the memories she accidentally saw the first time she drank his blood.
"Fine," she sneered, stepping away to storm out of the room. Her fox familiar barked at Kaname before running after its master.
Kaname sat down in the common room and buried his face in his hands, wondering how he was going to deal with this.
Outside, Arisu ran from the dorms, and only stopped when she reached the gate separating the Night Dorms from the rest of campus. She was out of breath, but she was still a mess of emotions, especially now that guilt was setting in because of what she had said. The tiny fox barked up at her, so she bent down to pet its head. She managed a laugh when it jumped at her, but was too small to even nudge her. "Thank you," she said rubbing its ears. It leaned into her embrace, yelping when Arisu removed her hand and stood up. "Help me find, Kai, will you?" The fox huffed, but pranced away. Arisu followed it knowing it would lead her in the right direction.
Kai had been napping under the shade of the trees that surrounded the dorm building when a fox had jumped out at him to dirty his white uniform.
"How dare you," Kai exclaimed, looking at Arisu. The fox leaped off him and raised its nose upwards as it walked back to Arisu.
"He did that on his own," Arisu defended herself. The fox turned to taunt Kai before settling behind Arisu.
Kai raised an eyebrow. He remained sitting, his arm extended out, resting on his bent knee. He glared at the little fox when it seemed to be laughing at him.
"Should I send him away?" Arisu asked, glancing at her familiar. The two were in an eye staring contest now.
"No, no. If you send it away now, it will have won," Kai replied.
"Then pay attention! I need to discuss something with you!" She crossed her arms in front of herself, which made Kai chuckle and pat the empty spot next to him. Never once looking away from the fox. Arisu knitted her eyebrows, but gave in when he patted the ground once again.
"Check to see if there is anyone within hearing range," she instructed her familiar. It bounded away merrily and came back quickly to confirm that there was no one nearby that could overhear the conversation. The fox placed itself on her lap and laid there.
"What is it you want to discuss?" Kai asked; finally sparing a glance at her.
"First, I need you to confirm that you will never repeat any of this without my expressed permission." Without breaking eye contact, he lifted his right hand for her to see. In the same movement, Kai sliced the side of his index finger with his thumb nail. Arisu was surprised that he wanted to make a blood oath. By far that was one of the contracts that was hardest to break. She suspected magic was involved to make the blood oaths unbreakable, but she never found it necessary to look into. Arisu nodded and held out her left hand. Since this was a one-way oath, she didn't have to shed her blood. Kai hovered his hand above hers so that his blood trickled onto hers.
"I, Kai Koruya, heir of Koruya, vow to Arisu Kuran, second born of Kuran, that I will keep what she tells me in confidence a secret on my honor and life." The blood stopped flowing as the wound healed.
"I accept your vow," Arisu replied. The blood on her hand began to disappear before their eyes. The fox lifted its head to sniff at her hand, but laid its head back down on her lap. The oath had been sealed. Now there was no reason to beat around the bush. "The man that murdered my parents was Rido Kuran. He thirsted for the position as head of the house, but my mother would have been the one to choose who became the head. Peculiar tradition, really." Kai frowned not understanding her. "Whenever there is only one male or female within the Kuran, they get to choose their partner. It was my mother before, and now it will be Kaname. Naturally a male Kuran becomes the head of house, but ultimately their partner is their equal and has as much say about the family as they do."
Kai opened his mouth to question her, but he shut it and motioned for her to continue.
"Anyways, he unsuccessfully attempted to court my mother and became enraged when she chose my father over him. His obsession increasingly became worse, and eventually he snapped. He was disinherited from the family, but he still tried to kill his way to the top so to speak. Thus, causing the death of my parents."
"As well as the loss of your sister?" Kai tentatively asked. He was looking sideways at her; resting his head on his arms that were situated on his now bent knees.
Arisu knew he had picked up on her hints. "In a sense. The reason my mother passed was because she sacrificed her life to make my younger sister mortal."
"That younger sister being..." his voice trailed off in question though he was mostly sure of who it was.
"Yuri Cross," she confirmed. Kai nodded. He was taking everything in stride. "Rido didn't die that night. My father nor Kaname could kill him. A source of mine has alerted me that Rido will make his move soon. I don't suspect he knows about Yuki, so he will most likely be after me after killing Kaname."
"You'd be willing to sacrifice your life for a mortal?" Kai asked. He hadn't shared the same passion for coexistence like his parents. He was completely fine to let humans be if they let vampires be. Easy enough as the humans didn't know of their existence. Yet he didn't think he'd ever lay down his life for a human who he didn't know.
"A mortal who is my baby sister," Arisu reminded him. Kai thought he heard her voice quiver. The fox sensed her change in mood and nuzzled her with its head. Arisu looked up at the leaves on the trees. They were stating to change color. "Autumn is a beautiful season, but it's sad in a way. The beauty of the changing colors comes from the death of thousands of leaves. Fitting, isn't it?" When Kai didn't respond, she continued, "Protecting Yuki is the only reason why I debuted in the Vampire world despite Kaname's objections."
"So, you drew attention to yourself as the only remaining female Kuran." Kai pieced it together.
"That's the plan," she agreed, "it's gone along rather successfully until now."
"Who else knows about this?"
"Reiko and Nathaniel, your father in vague terms as well as my source."
"And you're keeping your source anonymous?"
"Hmm. I was debating telling you or not, but I guess it doesn't matter. Ichiru Kiryu."
"The prefect's twin?" He raised an eyebrow.
"The one and only," she admitted, "I suspect he gained direct access to detailed information about Rido recently."
"You don't know for sure?"
"No," she blushed, fingers pulling at the blades of grass underneath. "To tell you the truth, the message he sent wasn't specific at all."
"What was it?"
"A bouquet of flowers."
Silence.
"Care to repeat that? I may have misheard."
"You heard me correctly," the girl grumbled, tossing clumps of crushed grass at him.
"Excuse my language, but how the hell is that practical in any way?"
"It's not, which is why the message is unclear, idiot," Arisu mumbled and sheepishly turned away.
After a moment, Kai caved in. He tapped her arm to get her attention. "Fine, we'll work with those assumptions. What do you need from me?"
"For now, Rido is the main problem, but we can't act on that until I get more information. So, I'd like you to help me monitor Kaname's actions. I've a vague idea of what he is planning, but I want to confirm before I do anything."
"I'm definitely glad I'm an only child now," Kai joked, trying to lighten the mood. Arisu rolled her eyes. "Alright. I can do that."
"Good," Arisu smiled. The fox perked its head up and growled in the direction of the dorm building. Her master looked up. Hanabusa Aidou was walking in their direction. A clear frown on his face. "Hello, Hanabusa." She greeted cheerily once he was closer. Kai looked up at him bored while Hanabusa looked at him in disdain.
"Arisu-sama, what are you doing here with him?" He all but stomped his foot.
"Talking," Arisu replied in a blasé tone that irritated the aristocrat further/
"But, Arisu-sama it's not safe to be –
"Aidou, shut up, your incessant nagging is already giving me headache," Kai scrunched up his nose and turned away. Hanabusa opened his mouth to retort, but Arisu cut him off.
"If you're so worried why don't you stay?" A hint of irritation slipped into her voice. Kai smirked at Hanabusa, but remain silent. "But I'm sure you have Yuki to look after, right?" She smiled at him, but the smile was cold and calculating.
"Kaname -
"Is much too preoccupied elsewhere." Her grin became wider.
Hanabusa opened his mouth and closed it. He looked troubled.
"I must be going then," Hanabusa remarked finally. He glared at Kai before leaving.
"Are you sure that was a good idea, Arisu?" Kai asked as they both watched him go. "He'll more than likely go running for Kaname now."
"It's fine. Besides he shouldn't be involved too much with me considering he'll more than likely serve Yuki once she's been turned." The blond aristocrat's back became smaller and smaller until it disappeared behind a door.
Indeed, Hanabusa went to look for Kaname to detail his encounter with Arisu to him. The pureblood responded with indifference. "Let her do what she wants."
Hanabusa bowed and left Kaname's room feeling helpless. He couldn't understand what was going on. There was tension between the Kuran siblings ever since they came back from winter break, but they wouldn't admit it. Both or at least Arisu had been plotting something. To make matters worse the others wouldn't listen to him. Even Ruka thought he was over-analyzing and being too dramatic. He clicked his tongue as he walked down the staircase in the dorms. It would be a while until Yuki Cross would get out of classes, so he had time to kill. He suspected Arisu was out there still talking to that jerk. Honestly, he couldn't fathom what they had in common.
"Hello, Hanabusa."
That simple greeting snapped out of his thoughts and made him feel uncomfortable instantly.
"Ah, you're back, Shiki," the startled aristocrat replied. In all the years, they'd known each other Shiki had never used his given name, much less smirk at him like he was doing now, "Is Ichijo with you?"
"Hmm, he is." Shiki draped himself on the railing, and continued smiling up at Hanabusa.
"I see. Are you wearing contacts?" Hanabusa squinted to make sure, the color difference was subtle because his bangs always caused his eyes to seem darker than they were.
"Maybe," Shiki replied in a singsong voice. The aristocrat cocked his head to the side, and his tongue peeked out in between his lips.
There was something definitely wrong with the other aristocrat Hanabusa thought.
"There you are, Senri!" Takuma Ichijo briskly walked through the entry way. He placed a hand firmly on the other boy's shoulder. Shiki turned to look at him in annoyance. "What did I tell you about wandering off?"
"Right," Hanabusa tried excusing himself down the remaining steps towards the door, "well, I need to go. I'll see you two later."
"But it was just getting fun," Shiki called after him. Ichijo's grip tightened. Hanabusa closed the front door just as Shiki called out one last thing, "Say hello to, Arisu. I've missed her terribly."
Revised 3/20/20