I walked down the streets of Paris, making my way to my favourite café. It was midday and very warm, I felt glad that I had decided to not wear black. The sun wasn't showing any mercy and I began thinking about my life choices. Zero and I had taken a liking to Paris after staying a few weeks and we decided to extend our stay, much to my customers' delight. We live in a small apartment near the Eiffel Tower and sure, it's got a questionable aura, what with the arguing Italians above us and the baby screaming below us and don't get me started on the British couple next door. But it was cosy and if need be we could move out of Paris and to somewhere else where I could sell my works. Zero needed to be somewhere where it was easy to contact him, still being in the vampire hunter business.

I adjusted my sunglasses before entering the café. I decided to either keep the eyepatch or sunglasses in public to hide my empty socket. I didn't want to get a glass eye or something to replace my missing eye. I wanted it gone to serve a reminder of what I had to get through to be here. I have never felt more appreciative in my life.

"Ah, Mademoiselle Sakurai!" the barrister called and I smiled politely "Café glacé avec des macarons?"

"Non merci, juste le café glacé s'il vous plaît."

"Pas des macarons?!"

I laughed at his bewildered look.

"Mon petit ami et moi sortir pour déjeuner."

"Mon petit ami et moi allons sortir pour le déjeuner!" he corrected me whilst annunciating each syllable with a clap.

I shrugged helplessly and he chuckled.

"Trés bien, mademoiselle," he shook his head whilst went about preparing my order.

"Excusez-moi, monsieur."

A hand landed on my left shoulder and I stiffened. Someone was standing on my right and I had a feeling I knew who.

"Pourrais-je avoir un thé à la menthe s'il vous plait?"

"D'accord?" the barrister looked up at the gentleman beside me "Monsieur…?"

"Kuran."

Damn.

So, Mana, how did you end up in the most awkward moment in your life?

Well, it's crazy but it all starts when my twin sister and I find ourselves in the snow and we get attacked by a vampire.

Oh my!

Yes, indeed but we are saved. And said saviour takes us to this lovely man who adopts and raises us.

Right, right…

So we grow up and lovely father adopts another victim of vampires who becomes our brother. He is wonderful, I love him to bits.

Aw, that's so sweet.

But as we grow up, the first wave of awkwardness happens.

Oh?

Yes, said brother is in love with my twin sister. But, my twin sister is in love with our saviour. I'm in love with the brother, who is a vampire hunter that has been turned into a vampire, whilst Mr Saviour apparently is in love with me.

You normally hear of these love triangles but a love square?

I know right? Understanding this storm of drama, I decide to just stay in the background. Until Mr Saviour's uncle comes to town and declares that he wants to kill my twin sister and I.

Oh dear!

I know, so being the protective sister, I go in to fight the uncle whilst Mr Saviour turns my twin sister into a vampire. Turns out, Mr Saviour is our older brother.

This is such a mess.

I know, I know. But we do get rid of him in the end and my twin sister with Mr Saviour go off into the sunset, happily engaged, leaving me to pick up the broken pieces that is my vampire hunter crush.

Aw, how lovely.

Yes, it would have been hadn't Mr Saviour and my twin sister return and my love interest has fallen back in love with her, it seems.

Oh no.

And Mr Saviour proposes to me, asking me to swap places with my sister. After thinking about it, I decide to go through with it.

No.

So I get turned back into a vampire but here's the juicy part. I hadn't know exactly what transpired between the fight of me and my uncle. Turns out, he ripped my eye out to put his own in and control me from it.

Oh, it's always the uncle.

I know so when I drink Mr Saviour's blood, he wakes up inside me and controls me. I resurrect him and end up in his custody for God knows how long.

As you do.

So Mr Saviour and my crush come in to rescue me. I travel with my crush for a while but my uncle is in my head trying to get me to turn back. I break down and beg for my crush to kill me.

And?

Well, there's a reason why I gave Mr Saviour his name.

Ahhh…

Yep, before my crush can kill me, he comes in to save the day and whisks me off to this awful place, I hated being there.

And this uncle?

Oh, well I end up plucking his eye out of me so I won't have to listen to his incessant demands. And my crush kills him.

Oh wonderful!

Indeed, so Mr Saviour and I are going back to his mansion, he is talking about wedding plans for the next month.

He sounds rather pushy.

You have no idea. We arrive and my twin sister and I have this reunion.

Oh brilliant!

It was, it was indeed. Until my twin sister talks about her own wedding plans. Mr Saviour hasn't told her that we got engaged.

No!

Yep. After discussing this issue with Mr Saviour, he pledges his love to me and, get this, watches me sleep.

Oh how creepy!

Indeed, so I leave and go back to the lovely man who adopted me. I go incognito and end up submitting one of my paintings into a contest. I win and begin making money.

Sounds like a turn for the better.

That's not even the best part. A few months later, my crush turns up.

Ooo~!

And returns my feelings!

Oh excellent! Congratulations, I feel so happy for you!

Thank you, thank you, but we haven't addressed your question.

And?

So my crush and I go off to Paris and we start a life there together. A few months go by and I'm going down to my favourite café…

Yes?

And guess who's there to greet me.

No…

That's right! Mr Saviour who I had run away from around six months ago to avoid marrying him!

No…

Yep. And we're just sitting here at the café table, waiting for our drinks. He has not said a word, he's just been sitting there, staring.

Oh no.

And that is how I ended up in the most awkward moment of my life.

The fact that I had this conversation in my head whilst waiting for my iced coffee is supporting my theory that insanity might be genetic considering my late uncle. I turned my right side to Kaname, not really wanting to look, and watched the cars going up and down the road. He still stayed there, sitting and staring. I held my ground, I wasn't going to crack.

"Café glacé et thé à la menthe?"

"Merci beaucoup."

I nodded silently as the waitress placed our orders between us. She left and I turned to my drink, pulling it closer to me and using the spoon to stir it.

"France is beautiful, isn't it?"

I didn't even glance up at him.

"It's nice, the language is tricky."

"You've been having lessons with that gentleman there?"

I nodded slightly, picking my drink to sip it. I eyed his hand warily as it crossed the table to meet mine.

"I was very worried."

I looked up at him that time, seeing his emotionless mask of a face.

"I had my reasons."

"I know, I was putting too much pressure on you."

He squeezed my hand.

"Please come home."

I placed my drink down and sat up a little bit more, looking at him with pursed lips.

"My home is here," I said "The plan was to stay here for a few weeks but business was good here."

"I noticed. I have one of your works. You are quite the rising star."

I felt a pang of curiosity that I couldn't suppress.

"Which one?"

"I believe it's called Into the Sunset."

That's the painting I had submitted into the contest. The one that started everything. I swallowed softly, hoping he wouldn't notice my nervous posture.

"How long have you known that I was Sachiko Sakurai?"

"A few weeks."

I watched as he stirred his tea, a small smile on his face.

"It's a very prosaic name."

He placed his teaspoon down and picked the teacup up to sip his tea. It was silent again for a few more moments.

"Who is this boyfriend?"

His voice dipped a little lower and I felt the back of my neck prickle. I swallowed uneasily and glanced up at him.

"Zero."

I could tell he was furious. His eyes gave everything away. I sat up straighter and gave him a cool look.

"We are happy here."

"Are you sure? Are you supported financially?"

"Yes."

"Does he love you?"

"Yes."

He narrowed his eyes and I began hoping he wasn't planning to murder Zero.

"He doesn't have any lingering attachments to Yuki?"

"Do you think I would still be with him if he did?"

Kaname straightened up and I did the same, lifting my chin challengingly.

"Were you hoping for me to come running back to you?"

"I told Yuki about our engagement."

My stomach dropped and I hoped that he didn't notice my change of mood.

"Understandably she is upset."

"I don't want to marry you."

"Mana."

"The marriage will be doomed from the start; I never once took interest in you. I doubt I would be any good to you and I don't know anything about the vampire world. And I'd rather it would stay that way. I don't get involved with Zero's work and I can earn a lot with my work if business stays as good as it is now. Moreover, I'm happy here. If you loved me as much as you claim, surely you'd be happy enough knowing that I am happy."

Kaname sat there silently as I checked my watch quickly. I had fifteen minutes. I began drinking the rest of my iced coffee.

"So if I was not on the throne, would you be my wife?"

"Not a chance."

I grabbed my purse, leafing through the euros.

"If Zero wasn't around?"

"Don't even go there."

I placed down the payment, plus tip, on the table and stood to walk out of the café. Kaname grabbed my arm tightly before I could go out of the door.

"Then when would you marry me?"

He was not going to let it go. I turned to him, my eye peeking over my sunglasses.

"Honestly? I would never marry you no matter what the condition."

"Mana…"

I sighed shortly.

"I'm not going to keep you on the hook, I will never marry you."

"Mana."

I hissed as his grip on my arm tightened.

"What if you had no choice?"

"At the moment, I see I have plenty of choice."

"For now, yes. But Zero isn't going to be around forever."

"Neither are you!"

"You understand that Purebloods are immortal."

My heart dropped. I knew they had a long lifespan but damn.

"Zero will leave you for the next life and you'll be left in a financial crisis most likely."

I felt his fingers tighten around my bicep.

"…"

God damn it!

"If there truly is no other choice, if there is no other way and if it benefits me and my family," I sighed.

His grip slackened as I wrenched my arm away and stormed out of the café, marching off down the streets.

"What's wrong?"

I perked up as Zero snapped me out of my daze. My fork slipped out of my fingers and I began stuttering.

"Is something wrong with the mussels?"

I looked down at the bowl of mussels and shook my head.

"No…"

"You sure, you've been using your fork instead of the shells to scoop them out."

"Ah, sorry…"

"Don't be, but there is something on your mind isn't there?"

I huffed as I held my hands up.

"Please don't overreact," I said calmly as I glanced at him "but I had a bit of a run in at the café."

"It's that barrister, isn't it?" Zero growled jealously and I snorted.

"No, don't worry. He's married with child number three on the way."

"Doesn't make him safe."

"Zero, I can take care of myself…"

"Clearly."

I gave him an annoyed glare.

"It was Kaname."

Zero gave me a blank look until he gritted his teeth. I reached over the table to squeeze his hand tightly as I noticed his fangs had elongated slightly.

"What is he doing here?" he asked lowly.

"He just took me to the side to try and talk me into going back to Japan to marry him."

Zero squeezed my hand back.

"And?"

"And what? I rejected him."

Zero seemed uncertain and I kicked him in the shin.

"Oi, I've been in love with you for at least five years, I'm not going to leave you any time soon."

Zero picked at his sea bass as I picked up one of the empty mussel shells to resume eating the mussels.

It was around a year later when I found something interesting in our post-box. I hadn't open the envelope until I had come back into the apartment where Zero was making lunch.

"I'm home," I called as I came in.

"Welcome back!" he called over the noise of the cooking as I settled myself on the sofa in the small living room.

"Smells good, roast chicken?"

"Of course."

I grinned, a Sunday tradition we had, before leafing through the junk mail. It was the cursive handwriting that attracted me to this letter and I opened it.

"Oh."

"What is it?"

I jumped, Zero had crept up onto my right side rather silently. I sighed as he chuckled and slapped his arm.

"It's…It's a wedding invitation."

Zero fell silent immediately as we both read through the invitation. Yuki and Kaname had announced their engagement and a date had been set. Zero was quiet as I lowered the invitation.

"We haven't been back to Japan for a while," I muttered "Should we go?"

"…"

I glanced up at him and his blank expression.

"We'll consider," I said as I leaned over to kiss his cheek "I'm starving."

I placed the invitation down and skipped over to the kitchen, dragging Zero with me. We settled down at the small table and I began eating the chicken hungrily. Zero made the best roast chicken, I could only live off it if possible.

"Mana, perhaps we should consider moving to a larger place."

"You think?"

"And perhaps somewhere further out from the city, where there aren't so many busybody tourists."

I paused to think. I had no objections to our current living conditions.

"Whereabouts exactly?" I asked.

"Anywhere but here."

We heard the door slam upstairs and listened to the couple argue loudly above us.

"I've learnt enough Italian to know where that conversation is going to go," Zero huffed and I smiled.

"Well how about somewhere else other than Paris?" I suggested "Like in the south by the coast?"

"That's quite far away," Zero frowned.

"We could always browse through places where we could rent," I shrugged.

"What about Calais?"

"Nah, you wanted to stay away from tourists didn't you?"

"Like there aren't any in the south?"

"In Calais they're travelling and they're grumpy."

Zero smirked as he reached over to carve some more roast chicken off.

"Would we have enough to move down south?"

"I've been saving up a lot and I could earn a bit more there considering that nearly every rich bigwig in Paris has one of my paintings."

"Then how about Marseilles?"

"I think Nice would be better."

"Tch. Fine, you'll do the browsing then."

"But I don't think we should move before going to Yuki's wedding."

Zero hesitated as I leaned over to pluck the wishbone out of the chicken.

"We're going?"

I looked up at him and found myself frowning at him.

"I'd rather not but I would like to see Yuki."

Zero sighed softly as he propped his elbow on the table and leaned against his fist.

"When is the date?"

"Oh, I think they've decided on a summer wedding so in about nine months. I'll double check the date."

Zero still didn't seem happy and I rolled my eye.

"She's my sister, Zero."

"I don't like the idea of you being around him."

"Please don't start this again, Zero. We'll only be there for a week or two."

Zero pursed his lips as I held the wishbone over to him. I batted my eye as he took the other side and we broke it. I tilted my head as he had the larger piece.

"What did you wish for?" I asked curiously as he placed the bone down.

"It won't come true if I told you," he said as he stood up "You're on clean up duty."

"I know," I pouted as he grabbed the tin foil to cover the chicken leftovers.

Later that evening we were taking a walk by the River Seine and happened across a man selling padlocks. To my surprise, Zero bought one. I don't know what my face was showing as we crossed one of the bridges and Zero wrote our names on the lock. I must have been blushing because he was smirking down at me.

"Shall we?"

I pouted but let him pull me to one side of the bridge to fasten the lock onto one of the grilles. It was more challenging to find a place to put it but there it was. Mana and Zero written in Latin letters on one side and Kanji on the other. I was turned around and Zero got down on his knees. My heart stopped.

"Mana, it doesn't have to be right away but I would like to ask."

He pulled out a small box and opened it.

"Will you marry me?"

I probably screamed 'YES' loud enough for it to reach Japan because Zero was smirking so widely afterwards. My cheeks were burning as onlookers applauded and he slid the ring onto my finger. I buried my face in his chest as we stood there embraced, kind of feeling awkward.

"Small ceremony."

"Agreed."

"I would like to have the wedding in Japan."

Zero hesitated and I pulled away to look up at him.

"Something about having the wedding under the trees when they're blossoming is appealing to me."

"…"

I tilted my head before realising.

"Oh, never mind," I ducked my head.

Blossom was probably the last thing Zero wanted to think about. I dropped my head back onto his chest as he stroked my hair.

"I still would like an outdoor wedding."

"Of course."

We stayed silent for the rest of the evening, going back home once the sun had completely set.

"Mana! Zero!"

Zero, the bastard, pulled me in front of him so Yuki and Kaien hugged me tightly first.

"Can't breathe…"

"It's been too long, you need to visit more often," Kaien looked really upset.

"We were so worried when you disappeared, why didn't you leave a note?!"

"Sorry," I wheezed as I reached into my pocket "Yuki, here."

Yuki pulled away before Kaien to take the envelope from me. She opened it and blinked.

"Money?"

"I needed it for the train fare to get back home," I breathed in as Kaien finally released me "Sorry."

Yuki smiled, tilting her head at me.

"As long as you're safe."

She squeezed my hand as Kaien began his futile attempt to hug Zero.

"Could we talk?"

I could tell what she wanted to talk about. I followed her upstairs to her room as Kaien began chatting away excitedly to Zero. I stared at the dress on the mannequin in alarm.

"That's a long train."

"Goes with the veil nicely, don't you think?"

I glanced at the tiara with the long veil.

"Blimey."

"Mana…"

I turned to Yuki as she sat on the bed and I sat next to her. Her smile dropped a little.

"Why did you turn Kaname-nii-sama down?"

I huffed, closing my eye.

"Yuki, I never loved him and I never will."

"Then why did you say yes to us swapping places that time?"

"Because I thought you and Zero were becoming an item," I leaned back in thought "Kaname was so accepting of that fact that he decided that it would be OK for me to marry him instead."

"You could have said no."

"And potentially see you and Zero be lovey dovey everywhere? I know it wasn't the smartest of decisions but Zero did only have eyes for you back then."

Yuki fell silent as she glanced down.

"You would have been the luckiest girl in the world."

"I am now."

I raised my left hand and Yuki stared at the engagement ring.

"Zero proposed, we're going to plan our wedding after moving out of Paris."

"Mana that's so wonderful!" Yuki shrieked as we joined hands and began bouncing on the bed "Oh my gosh, when did this happen?!"

"Oh, last year, I wanted to tell you face to face instead of through letters."

"Mana, I'm so happy for you!"

And the conversation dissolved into happy shrieks and chattering.

I was on my way to the room Zero and I were staying in when I found it. That painting that I had submitted which started my painting career. I couldn't stop staring at it. I could remember all the comments the others in the gallery said as I stood there, looking shifty as hell, looking up at the scrappy piece of work. It still looks crappy, the sky was way too pink for it to be anything good. But I still lost myself, wishing I could run across that field and into the sunset.

"Mana."

Damn! I hesitated as Kaname had entered the corridor from my left and took it as a cue to get out of there.

"Mana, wait."

And I waited. I listened as his footsteps approached me and he stopped behind me.

"It's a beautiful view."

I glanced up at the painting and shrugged.

"It could be better."

Silence fell between us.

"You're engaged."

"Yes."

"Can you afford it?"

"It won't be an expensive wedding."

I turned on my heel to confront him head on.

"We're fine, there's no use in trying to talk me out of this. You're engaged yourself, your wedding is in under a week."

He stayed silent as I turned away from him.

"Just move on."

I stormed off.

Zero passed away a thousand years later. We had three children, two daughters and a son. His death really shattered me because I couldn't remember anything else but crying after he passed away. I even contemplated suicide but the children and grandchildren managed to convince me out of it. But it wasn't fair. I wouldn't die of old age. It hurt to see him gradually getting older and I just stuck looking like I was in my early twenties. Zero never slowed down in vampire hunting though. Even on his death bed, he wanted to up and continue running the Association, despite letting our son take over. He wanted to be buried with his family so we had moved over to Japan a century prior.

It's been a week since the funeral and I was still at the graveyard. I rarely moved away from his grave, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to pass on to the next life with the chance to be with Zero again. I tossed a blood pill into my mouth and swallowed it bitterly. That was the last one in the bottle. I stared at the Kiryu gravestones, remembering how tricky it had been to get a plot to bury Zero in next to them. Most people were going for being buried in trees or getting cremated nowadays and it certainly was expensive to have him buried. But it was alright, I still had money left to support me for a few more years at least. I had stopped painting traditionally for a few centuries now, people were into digital works now. I didn't enjoy drawing or painting digitally, painting traditionally was more fun. Being perched on the stool whilst letting the paintbrush dance on the canvas, it was more appealing.

I rose from the bench, wiping the rain off my forehead and walked closer to the gravestone. I was soaked to the bone as I stood there, looking down at his gravestone.

"You must be disappointed in me," I sighed "I'm sorry, Zero. But I just can't make myself leave. I miss you."

My eye was most likely completely dried up by now. No more tears because there wasn't any left.

"Ryou even threatened to have someone escort me out. It was very much empty, he knew I'd most likely send anyone to their own graves if they tried."

I felt my bottom lip wobble again.

"Why did you leave me behind? It felt like you left too quickly, it's not fair that I didn't even register that you were so old. I'm sorry…"

I closed my eye as my shoulders began shaking with my dry sobs.

"I can't live without you. Let me join you."

I nibbled down on my lip to stop me from crying loudly like a baby.

"I'm sorry…"

The rain stopped a little too suddenly and it was then I realised I wasn't alone. An arm wrapped itself around my shoulders and I opened my eye resignedly to see Kaname there with an umbrella over the two of us. I suppressed my anger.

"What do you want?"

"Would you still like a spring wedding?"

God damn it!

"Is this really the right time to bring that up, Nii-san?"

I couldn't help the bitterness in that. He didn't reply, just pulled me closer and pressed his lips to the top of my head. Kaname and Yuki divorced after their eldest took the throne. Yuki works at Cross Academy, continuing bridging the gap between vampires and humans.

"I don't want to live anymore."

"I understand that, but don't leave."

Kaname brought me into a tighter embrace.

"Let me love you."

I clenched my fists as I glared into space.

"Don't waste away, you deserve better."

But I want to waste away. I want to stay here until I'm nothing but little crystals. I want to have it end at Zero's side. I want to join him so badly… My legs moved on their own accord as Kaname pressed his hand to my back and began walking me out of the graveyard. I dug my heels at the gates but Kaname was stronger, taking my hand and pulling me away, away from Zero.

"I don't want to…"

"Mana…"

We stopped at a limousine and he opened the door for me. I didn't move to get in so he gently pushed me in, getting in after and closing the door. We began moving as Kaname took my coat off and began using the towels beside him to dry my head.

"Your bun is falling out."

"Don't touch it!"

I grabbed his wrists as he tried to pull it out.

"No, don't, please," I begged.

"Mana, you need to let go."

"No, no…don't make me…"

It was the only thing Zero left behind. Kaname was much stronger, I hadn't really been taking care of myself so I was as useful as a candle on a dark stormy night. I collapsed into his lap as he pulled the bun out and let my hair fall loose.

"It must have been heavy."

I didn't say anything. He began drying it out, his thumb circling around the back of my head.

"I've got an art room set up for you."

"…"

"We've just missed the blossom season so we can wait until next year."

"…"

"It'll just be a small ceremony, don't worry about that."

Stupid bastard.

"Take my blood, Mana."

I curled up, facing away from him, my right side facing up so I wouldn't have to look up at him.

"Mana."

"No…"

My throat began burning with the bloodlust as I smelt the first few droplets of blood.

"No fair…"

"Mana…"

I couldn't control myself. I sat up and sunk my fangs into his neck. He held me steady as I drank and nearly choked on the influx of feelings that flooded in. I pulled away quickly. Kaname's hands came to hold my face as he pulled me forward. I pressed my hands against his chest and froze up, squeezing my eye shut as our noses bumped. I tried to push away as he lingered. I desperately wished that he wouldn't press further but he did. His lips were over mine and I beat my feeble fists into his chest. Once the kiss was broken, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

"What should we have for dinner?"

I didn't answer, just buried my face into his shoulder and began my self-hatred.

"It's Sunday, perhaps a roast?"

Don't you dare.

"Does chicken sound alright?"

Oh he went there.

"Not hungry."

"You need to eat."

"Don't want to."

"…I'll have the servants prepare something."

I stayed silent as he hugged me tighter, rocking me back and forth. I found myself closing my eye and falling asleep, wanting to dream forever and never wake up to the horrid reality.