"Friday! Its Friday, Friday, Friday~!" I sang happily as I strolled down the hall in my uniform.
"Your excited, aren't cha?" Spencer laughed.
"You betcha!" I smiled, and Hana skipped beside me.
"I wonder where Zero is." She said aloud.
"Me too." I looked around the classroom we entered and sat down. "Probably slept in from patrolling."
"Don't worry, I bet he's just tired." Hana reassured my sudden concern.
"Right…" I stared off as class began. The past few days Zero had started to avoid me. It might've been the fact that I'd been saved by Kaname.
I ran my thumb over my wrist tattoo and it faintly glowed teal, as if it'd been worn out of energy to brightly shine. Fifteen minutes into the lesson, Zero sauntered in late.
"Kiryu! Your late!" The teacher hissed. The vampire hunter merely sat down and ignored the lecture. I couldn't help but glance at him repeatedly. After the fourth time, his eyes suddenly looked back at me.
I cringed and turned my head, face burning up. Hana nudged me. "Are you okay, what's wrong?"
Spencer leaned down from his seat above us. "Yeah, you okay?" He whispered.
I nodded. "I'm fine." Truth was, I wanted to cry. His eyes were cold, distant, as if I'd done something to him. I swallowed down the huge lump of tears and tried to listen to the class.
Come lunchtime, I picked at my food, thinking deeply.
"Is your body on automatic, coz you look all daydreamy." Hana asked. I shook my head of my thoughts and looked up.
"What?" Spencer sighed.
"You've got it bad." They both waited. "Wow, your serious. You didn't make a remark."
"What are you talking about?" I rolled my eyes.
"It's a cycle, I say something perverted or stupid, you insult me, Hana agrees. There's a pattern to these things, ya know!" He explained.
"Sorry, its just…" I stopped.
"Your thinking about Zero." Hana declared, taking a bite of her rice ball.
"No!" I denied.
"You've gotta talk to him. You can't avoid your feelings for him forever. You need to remember, he's an idiot, he doesn't notice things easily when it comes to emotions. And if you don't tell him, he's gonna end up hurting you unintentionally." Hana continued.
"We hate seeing you all outer-space like this." Spencer said in a low voice.
"Before I can ever do that, I need the true answer to the question in my way." I told them before standing up. I walked through the halls, my legs taking me somewhere I didn't know.
I'd soon found myself at the roof, Zero looking down at the edge, aware of my presence.
"I-I thought I'd find you here." I stuttered. He didn't say anything, just kept his hands in his pockets, staring off.
"I…notice you don't talk to me much, and y-you avoid me. For days I've been wondering why. If it had been something I'd said or hadn't done. But something else has been bothering me too." I began.
"T-the night of the masquerade, when you found me, I told you I saw Kaname. I didn't just see him…I talked to Yuki." I finally admitted.
His eyes widened, but he didn't turn to me. "She said she was sorry. I didn't wanna tell you guys…mostly because I barely believed it myself. I kept thinking and thinking about if I was going crazy. I wanted to ask you something that I needed to know."
"Are you still in love with Yuki?" I boldly asked.
Silence surrounded us, the air blowing through my hair, which had grown since my return.
"It's true, isn't it?" At last, the tears I'd held down escaped. "After two months, you still have feelings for her. I can't wait forever because…"
"…Because I know you'll always love her more! You'll never let her go!" My eyes held anger. "I'm always going to be the one thrown to the side for her!"
"…I'm sorry." He finally spoke. "I hurt you in the process."
"I-I knew it for such a long time, the way you'd look at her. I couldn't fight it though, I just fell for it. When I left and everything happened, I thought I'd move on…but I can't!" I turned and tried to hide my face in my hands with shame.
He gently placed a hand on my shoulder, but I pulled away. "Just stay away from me. Why don't I just do you a favor and leave…"
I suddenly felt something within me rip, as if the bond that had tied us both together was slowly tearing. That same link from in the plains had just been cut in half, hanging by a single string.
"Come on, you have to get up!" Hana hollered, pulling my arm. I laid in my bed, wallowing in self-pity a bit. It was horribly selfish, but whoever had a problem with it, could quite frankly suck it for all I care. "It's been a day! You haven't talked, eaten, or gotten up!"
"Hana, don't dislocate her shoulder." Spencer reminded her. Hana let go of my limp limb and fell on her butt to the floor, her skinny jeans prepping as a shield.
"I'm sorry, Kizu-chan." Hana whispered, looking down. "I shouldn't have told you to talk to him."
"No, I'm glad you did." I told her. "I know the truth now. He only has room for Yuki…"
"I'll beat him up if you want me to. Stuff a used roller skate in his face." Spencer offered. I shook my head. "It could be a big stinky one."
"Well, Togaryu said we have training in 10, so ya gotta get up." Hana informed me. I rolled around and stood up, clothed in my loose black shirt, one sleeve falling off my shoulder and black capri's.
The second my feet landed on the cold wooden floor, my head exploded in pain. I put my hands at its side, feeling as if my skull was going to split open in two. Spencer held me up and I closed my eyes.
The only thing I could hear was a chain breaking in two, the last string between me and Zero destroyed. I lost consciousness.
"Kizuki? Kizu-chan, wake up!" Hana screamed. "We need to get her to Mr. Shigure!"
Zero stood in the corner surveying the conversation before suddenly passing out. "Zero?"
Togaryu and Cross rushed over to him.
I looked up at the tower, down on my knees. a light shot up from it's glowing form, an ominous dark red in place of its bright white.
"N-no! The tower, it can't…!" I rushed to it and placed my palm onto the metal surface. It burned me at the touch, and I pulled my hand back.
I hissed in anger and turned around to be greeted by Kirien. "Are you happy? You broke it, what more do you want?"
"I still want you." He pushed me with force to the tower, and my back was scorched. I screamed in agony. He just stepped over to me, his chest pressed to mine. When he placed a tentative hand on the tower, it didn't seem to react on him.
"I'm getting closer to you, Kizuki." He whispered into my ear. "Eventually, you won't be able to resist me."
I tried to speak, but I felt as if I was bound by invisible chains. What stood between us was a quick-moving scythe.
I looked at Yuki, still unable to move. Her eyes were determined and ordering. "Force him out!"
I couldn't reply, I couldn't do what she'd asked me. She grabbed my shoulders. "Kizuki! Kizuki, you have to fight it!"
"Set her down next to Zero!" Kaien demanded. Spencer did so and noticed the many Night Class vampires lining against the walls.
"What's going on?" Hana asked, watching Togaryu pull out black bandaging and wrapping it around Kizuki's hand and wrist, leaving the mark on her wrist uncovered for view. He left barely any room before doing the same with Zero's.
"Their bond was broken, someone ripped through Kizuki's wall of defense and took over her plains." Cross explained. "Without Zero to regulate her plains like before, she might never awaken, maybe him as well."
"A-are you serious?" Spencer's jaw dropped. "No! We're not losing her again! I may not have been here the first time, but this is wrong! She doesn't deserve this!"
"You think we don't know that?" Kain snapped.
"Why, why does it have to be like this?" Hana fought tears.
"Because she is what she is." Togaryu answered, sighing. "All we can do is hope."
"Hana, I need you to do something for me." Cross said. "You are excellent at hunter spells, correct?" She nodded.
Yuki blocked the sharp winds with her arms and scythe. "Kizuki, hurry!"
'I can't do it!' I wanted to tell her, but my lips remained still. I watched the battle with panic, wishing I could speak back to Yuki. My body suddenly just gave up, and began to fall to the side.
Hana stood above the unconscious couple. "Soul 1: Soul Thread! "
The ribbon-like bandaging sparked beautiful colors, holding their hands together as their fingers tangled together in their embrace. Kizuki's mark glowed teal, but glistened selective shades.
"C'mon Kizu-chan, you gotta live through this!" Hana and Spencer chanted.
Zero caught the limp body that was my own again. I felt myself fading to nothing, Kirien's grip on the plains strengthening.
Yuki swung her blade straight at Kirien, which he dodged by jumping into the air.
"Kizuki! Kizuki, wake up!" Zero called, shaking me. I imagined his calm, uncaring expression. He remained reserved even in a situation like this?
"Ex-human! Unhand the Teru!" Kirien commanded, charging toward Zero. I could feel my tattoo blaze iridescent teal. Before I could even think, I was standing face to face with Kirien.
My hand was raised, a clear force working as a shield against him. The words came out more dominative than I expected them to. "GET OUT!"
His figure instantly waned, soon becoming nothing. Fresh tears escaped my guard and I turned. I didn't look Zero in the eyes.
"Kizuki!" He pulled me into his clasp. I was surprised to see a touch of alarm in his face and…panic.
"Zero." Yuki's voice acknowledged, and I frowned. Zero silently gasped. From behind me, I felt a tinge of pain before blacking out.
"Is it over?" Hana asked.
"Yes, but even so, she's only got so long to live before she can't fight any longer."