Chapter 4

I woke up to the blinding streams of summer midday that shone into my room through the half opened window. Shielding my eyes from the sudden brightness, I rubbed my eyes lazily and sat up, only to find that I was no longer on the sofa in Takuma's arms but on a comfy bed covered with a soft velvet blanket around me. On the stand table next to my bed, I noticed a tall wineglass full of water with a box of blood tablets beside it. I leaned in towards the glass, noticing a small white piece of paper taped to the glass. I realized it was from Takuma, with his small neat writing. The note he wrote wished me a great first day, and I smiled as I read it. Tossing the velvet blanket aside, I stretched my arms and yawned as I let the bright sun warm up my body. With deft movements, I dropped a blood tablet into the wineglass, walked over to the wardrobe and pulled out my white uniform, throwing them on as I let my blue nightdress dropped on the ground. Seeing my pairs of katanas, I strapped them to the side of my waist as well, thinking that I might be in need of them later. After that I picked up my cardigan which I draped on the back of chair, put it on, and stood in front of the full-length antique mirror and arranged my hair into a princess-like bouffant style with a rose hair clip, with the ends curled upward; I smiled with satisfaction when I perfected it.

After I finished dressing up, I walked back to the bed and picked up the wineglass. I gave it a little swirl and walked calmly towards the window with the glass pinioned between my hands. The white laced curtain undulated by the soft ruffles of the twilit breeze, rippled like the waves of deep calm sea. Carefully setting the glass on the window sill, I reached out to push the half-opened window a little further, feeling the faint crispy warmth as it washed over me and poured into the room. Leaning against the window sill, I looked out the window, noticing small, entrancing clouds that etched against the azure sky; the thick clouds tore off in various places as grand columns of sunlight thrust through, enfolding the campus area. I could even hear some cheerful birds chirping on a small stand of trees nearby.

Slumping back onto the sofa where Takuma and I had sat last night, I buried my face in the pillow that still bore his scent, remembering the memories of cheery laughter shared just a few hours ago; that thought made me blush slightly. Then I heard a light knock on my door, followed by Takuma's voice. I lifted my head as the door opened and Takuma poked his head into the room.

"Just want to know if you're ready to go." Takuma smiled as he walked toward me. He placed his hands over my hair and stroked my locks tenderly.

"Yup." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, resting my arms on my knees and nodded slightly at Takuma. "I am all ready to go." I smiled and slowly got up from the sofa, reaching for Takuma's hands and took his. I felt the familiar feeling of warmth and serenity penetrated through his hands that tightly squeezed my fingers - the very hands that always made me felt secure whenever I held onto them.

As he escorted me out the room and down the swirling staircase into the crowded common room, I scanned the crowd and recognized some of them whom I had met from the innumerable annual balls or social dinners which Ichiou-sama had taken me to.

Akatsuki waved at me when he spotted me with Takuma and I waved back at him as I cleaved my way through the crowd toward the sofa where he and Hanabusa were sitting. A strawberry-blonde hair girl was sitting beside them drinking earl grey tea, and across from them were a reddish-brown hair boy and a girl with orange-colored hair styled in pig-tails, both of them were munching on Pocky sticks. The reddish-brown hair boy seemed to recognize me from our previous encounter on the annual ball, and passed me a box of Pocky sticks when I sat down beside him. I gave him a smile and thanked him as I took the box from him.

Out of the blue, I noticed a strange aura was floating in the air, and the crowd quieted down all of a sudden. I saw everybody including Kain and Takuma, has turned their heads towards the staircase. I swirled around in my seat and gasped a little when I saw Kuran Kaname walked down the staircase with Seiren following closely behind.

"Hello, Kaname." I shot him a weak smile before I stood up to greet him. "It has been a while."

"Hello, Rei." He replied with his usual gracious smile, as decorous as always. "It's nice to see that you have arrived safety." Then he gestured at Takuma, who was walking toward us.

"Takuma, lead Rei to the night class and help her make some new friends," He decided, and then turned to me. "After class I will take you to the headmaster's office."

Looking into Kaname's inscrutable maroon gaze, a feeling of uneasiness began to float up from the bottom of my heart.