Chapter 8

The hallways were empty aside from three of the boys and Yui. Azusa had stayed behind and Yui wouldn't dare ask why, or even mention his name in front of Ruki. Her body was aching dully and she found that her feet were dragging with each step. "C'mon, M-Neko Chan!" Kou sang as he grabbed her firmly by the rist. "You're falling behind - how come?" His fingers tightened around her bony wrist and squeezed until she finally said, "I'm feeling a bit light headed. That's all." Neither Yuma or Ruki cared enough to turn their head as she spoke and Kou grinned to himself, loosening his grip on her arm. Feeling faint had become a normal occurrence for her, for obvious reasons, and the boys found no reason to question or pay attention to it. "I'll carry you to class then. How romantic, Yui-san!" Kou flipped his arm position to bring his arm underneath her bottom and scoop her off of the ground, hooking his arms around her thighs tightly. Yui whimpered as her bruises cried out in pain but she smiled just in case, hoping to distract from the tears collecting in her eyes. "Thank you, Kou-kun," she choked helplessly. Yui and Kou had parted ways from Yuma and Ruki only moments later, and Kou carried the girl in silence through the school halls. After a few minutes of walking, he stopped in front of a classroom and and dropped Yui to the floor. She quickly found her footing and clutched onto her knees, struggling to stand up straight as she huffed, "But Kou-kun, this isn't my class-" He quickly shushed her and said, "Why, of course not! You didn't think you'd be left alone, did you? I'm sure my class will fit your standards," Kou sneered. He playfully dusted off his shorts and grumbled, "You sure are heavier than you look."

Walking into the classroom was an excruciatingly awkward experience. Kanato and Laito Sakamaki sat in the back row of the desks and only Laito dared to look in her direction. "Ahh, bitch-chan," he hissed. "I knew I smelled a whore." His eyes narrowed and he grinned, holding back laughter and leaning to his side to bump Kanato with his elbow. Kanato visibly cringed and clamped his hands into fists on his desk. He said nothing. Yui nodded at Laito and muttered, "Laito-kun. Kanato-kun." She didn't know what else to say which was convenient, for Kou cut her short by tugging her by the forearm and guiding her to a desk. He had chosen the seat open right beside Kanato to sit. "All the seats by me are taken," Kou smiled, "behave, M-Neko Chan!"

Yui shifted uncomfortably during the lecture and was too afraid to look to her right; the thought of Kanato or Laito's eyes staring back at her if she did was unsettling. Kanato's hands remained clenched around his pencil and he didn't write a single note. She could hear him growling gibberish underneath his breath, he was clearly angry and distraught. As soon as the lecture ended, he had hopped up from his seat and exited the room. Laito lingered behind and stood up in his seat, striding towards Yui and leaning down beside her. "I've missed you..." He parted her hair to the side to expose her neck, which was brutally mutilated by Azusa's fangs, and slowly dragged his tongue across it. "Bitch-chan," he mumbled before straightening up, smirking before he left the room. Yui slowly rose from her seat, expecting to leave with Kou, and was surprised to see he had already left the room without her. Out in the hall, he could hear him and his fan girls. I saw your show last week, you looked so cute!, Can I please have a picture with you, Kou-kun?, I looove your jacket! The girls desperation was almost sickening and Yui can't help but giggle under her breath.

"What's so funny to you?" Yui quickly turned around and found herself staring into the deep eyes of Subaru Sakamaki. His eyes were dark and angry, they were enough to scare her stiff. Subaru suddenly slammed the door to the classroom shut and charged towards her at an alarming rate. "Subaru-kun!" Yui cried as he snatched her wrist and yanked her up from her seat. She shrieked out as pain surged through her lower body and she collapsed to the floor, her chest heaving to catch a full breath and her arm being twisted in Subaru's grip. He let go of her arm and stared down at her with wide eyes. Yui propped herself slowly on her left arm and wrapped her right around herself, embracing the hurt and still attempting to hide away from Subaru. "What have they done to you," He spat through his teeth. Yui wouldn't look up at him but could see in front of her that his legs were shaking in rage. She focused on her breathing before Subaru yelled, "WHAT DID THEY DO?" His words streamed right through her and suddenly Yui had been reduced to tears. She cried loudly through her mouth and shut her eyes tightly, feeling as the tears burned down her cheeks and allowing her left arm to collapse so she was sprawled on the floor. She felt a tickle running down the front of her stomach and suspected that her cut had torn open again. Soon blood had leaked through the front of her uniform and had began to rub off on the hardwood floor. Subaru sank down beside her and slowly lifted her in his arms. The light was draining out of her pores and she gazed at his with watery eyes. Fire was burning in his pupils yet his voice became softer. "Come back," he said in a low tone. "Devote yourself to me and I will protect you." Yui looked at Subaru and kept a steady gaze for a long time. She was no longer thinking of her pain, but she wasn't thinking about Subaru either. All she could think about was Azusa. "I can't," she whispered. Tears were steadily streaming down her face and Subaru sighed, dropping his arms to lower her to the ground and now avoiding her eyes. She stood up slowly and said in a sudden stern tone, "Then no one will protect you. You truly are as stupid as they say."

She laid alone in a pool of her own blood for the remainder of the day. Nothing could motivate her to stand and she secretly wished another class would use the room and discover her, but no one did. Not until it was time to leave and one person decided to come looking for her. Ruki. "What happened?" He shouted as he entered the room. He had been looking for her for at least an hour before Kou finally spat out where he had last seen her, and there she was, laying awkwardly sprawled out between the desks and panting on the floor. "Ruki-kun," Yui whispered. He sank down to her side and quickly snatched her up into his grasp, propping her up bridal style and saying angrily, "Which one of them did this?" Yui simply shook her head. Tears started to form in her eyes again and she managed to say weakly, "Can we please go home."

The walk home was a blur, for Yui drifted in and out of consciousness in Ruki's arms. She listened to the bickering between the three of the boys and buried her face deeper into Ruki's chest, wishing to disappear and wake up in her own bed. "Must have been Kanato," Kou had said nonchalantly. He began to snicker, "You should have seen his face when he saw M-Neko Chan!" Yuma continued that it must have been Shu Sakamaki trying to get back at him somehow. Ruki kept quiet on who he thought "did it" and instead focused on scolding Kou for leaving Yui's side. They rarely quarreled, but when they did, they fought like cats and dogs. After listening to the constant arguing, Yui had finally had enough and fell unconscious in Ruki's grip.

The pain in her torso and limbs was so intense that Yui's body could no longer handle it. She awoke frantically and in tears, her breaths coming out in quick hiccups and the feeling of drowning washing over her. A hand pressed down hard onto her chest and she gasped, opening her eyes and suddenly being face to face Azusa. It took her a few moments to realize that she was once again in her bedroom. The sheets had been changed again and were now drenched in sweat. "Shh," Azusa hissed through thin lips. Yui's heart was racing at an alarming rate and she feared that it was going to spring out of her chest, where Azusa was applying a strong amount of pressure. "If you put pressure onto your chest," he said softly, "then your muscles will all start to relax..." He kept a firm hand on her skin until her body began to follow is relaxing voice, beginning to slow down and allowing Yui to breathe properly. She wanted to thank him but couldn't grasp the proper words. Azusa somehow seemed to understand and instead continued to speak. "I told you I wouldn't break you..." he sighed, "it seems that I almost broke that promise." He finally pulled his hand away and instead places it onto her cheek, cupping it as she gazed up at him with glossy eyes. He examined the shell of the girl he had made love to only a day ago ad something inside of him began to twitch with a siering anxiety. Dark bags were underneath her eyes, her hair was soaked in sweat, and her face was locked in an utterly fear filled expression. Normally the look of fear in her eyes was a mysterious excitement for Azusa but tonight, it was different. It was as if he was somehow sharing his pain and he wanted to take it away. "Azusa." Yui peered up over Azusa's shoulder, who had turned away from her, and watched as Ruki stepped into the bedroom and slowly shut the door behind him. "Come with me," he ordered. Azusa turned his back to Ruki and knelt down to the bedside, grasping onto Yui's hand suddenly and saying quietly, "No." Ruki stepped forward to hover over Azusa, intimidating him to the point that he would speak again. "I want to be here right now..." He looked at Yui and didn't smile. His face was stone cold and his hand clutched tighter onto hers, weaving between the gaps of hers and holding them in a protective lock. "Then we will speak here," Ruki said.

"I know that you did this, Azusa." Still, Azusa refused to look at Ruki. "The wound is clearly infected. I can't stitch it. And if she experiences blood poisoning, there is nothing I can do. And I will not allow your carelessness to go unpunished." Yui's heart began beating harder and she found herself in the same state she had woken up in. She was panting quickly through her mouth and occasionally hiccuping, only this time, Azusa didn't touch her. He instead let go of her hand and stood up straight to face Ruki. "Fine, then..." He growled, "then stitch it." And within the amount of time it took Yui to open her eyes, Azusa was gone and she was left alone with an angry Ruki. "I only know one person who can fix this for you," he said. She opened her mouth to speak but he immediately stopped her, his body tensed and jaw clenched. He reached forward to suddenly snatch the covers off of Yui and yanked up the front of her uniform, exposing the slice across her belly. The redness of the crusted blood had turned black and a clear stream of dried blood ran down her front and all the way down her legs. Ruki touched it and Yui immediately screamed. "If you are that reckless again," he said, "I will lock you away and you will never see the light of day again."