Vampire Knight

Guilty Temptations

Chapter Eight: The Realization

"Z-Zero-kun, you're hurting me," I avoided his solemn stare and tried to get his hand off my shoulder.

He didn't take it off, though. "What happened?"

I cringed, hating myself for admitting the truth, but Zero would eventually find a way to figure it out. He's a smart boy, isn't he? "Alright!" I yelped. "So I sucked someone's blood. I couldn't help it! It was right there, and—" I jerked my shoulder away from him, turning to face the chopping board on the counter full of half-cut vegetables. I breathed, "I'm sorry if I broke any vampire rules or whatever."

Zero sighed, not reacting the way I expected. "It was obvious you sucked someone's blood. But who?"

I picked up the knife, and began to slowly chop the onion in front of me. "A… Aidou… senpai," I muttered quickly, hoping he didn't catch that.

I heard him lean against the table behind me and he said, stunned, "You got blood out of Aidou-senpai? I… thought you hated him!" He gave me a slightly disgusted look.

"What!? Well, yeah, sure, I didn't like him, but his blood was so…" I pressed my lips together before admitting the rest of that sentence. I started another argument. "…Why do you even care?"

"I can't worry about what you're doing?" Zero gave me an obvious look. "You're my friend; I have a right to be worried about what you do with your life."

Friends… huh?

I suddenly felt something poke my eye a million times, and I shut my eyes and felt the moisture level rise under my eyelids. "Ow," I whimpered, rubbing my eyes in an attempt to take away that pain, but it only made it worse.

"Hey, you okay?" Zero stood straight, reaching out to me.

"Agh," I whined. I opened my eyes a little bit, and laughed quietly. "It's the onion. I-I'll uhm… You okay, doing this on your own? I need to get away from the vegetables for a bit."

"Uh, sure. I'll do the rest of the cooking," Zero mumbled, quickly turning off the heat under the hot soup.

I nodded, washing my hands quickly before using them to cover my eyes again. I left the kitchen, almost bumping into Yuki, and I apologized before she smiled and went inside the room where Zero was.

"Oi," I heard Aidou's voice call nearby.

I turned, lifting my head from my palms. "Aidou-senpai?"

"Where's the rest of my meal?" He asked with a bored face, staring at me uncomfortably.

"U-Uh, Zero-kun's cooking it still," I replied, wiping my cheeks and looking over at the four empty meals. "Though I don't think there's going to be enough."

He rolled his eyes. "Huh. The guy doesn't know my appetite. Who knows how hungry I'll still be once he gives me the second round."

I stifled my chuckle and took a seat across from him. He asked, "What's wrong?"

"Oh!" I realized he'd caught me crying. "It was nothing big; I'm weak against onions."

"Onions? You cried over a bit of onions?" Aidou snorted, "What a sissy."

I frowned, crossing my arms over one another. "I am not a sissy! I just cry a lot when I'm around those vegetables."

"Whatever you say. Hey, Shiori-chan, I heard your conversation with Kiryuu back there…" He mumbled, looking around the room in an innocent manner.

"You were eavesdropping?" I wasn't really that surprised. He seemed the type to be meddling with other people's lives. "What did you hear?"

He shrugged. "I wish I could've seen his face when you told him you sucked my blood."

"How'd you hear from so far away? Did Yuki-san hear too?" I questioned him.

"Hello," His hand waved at me. "I'm a vampire. With powers. I can hear a few things from far away. I don't think little Yuki heard your conversation with the Albino."

"You think he's one too?" I smiled.

He gave me a blank look. "Wha--?"

"Oh, never mind," I shook my head. "So you'll be staying at the dorms for the whole break?"

He lifted his shoulders and nodded. "I guess. I don't have anything much to do."

"Yes you do," I answered. "You have to find me a job."

Aidou's expression told me he'd just remembered he still had that task to complete. "Oh. Right. Yeah. Uh… Is there any job that you'd want?"

"I have a dream," I mumbled. "But I'll never get a job for it."

"Dancing?" He asked, examining his nails without looking gay. Which is a skill, in my opinion.

I looked up at him. "How'd you know?"

"The way you danced that first time I met you wasn't something an amateur would know," Aidou shrugged. "You just seemed really into it."

"Well, I've always wanted to become a dancer. When I saw those television programs with people dancing it made me wish that I could do the same thing," I explained, embarrassed of telling him my desire.

"So you want a dancing job, huh?" He wondered.

I nodded quickly, smiling at him. "If you could, please? I never found any job that accepted my work-experience. I'd always be rejected from the local dance studio."

"Hmm?" Aidou looked as if he knew exactly where to find me a job. "Studio, huh?"

The following day, Aidou burst into my bedroom without knocking. I groaned, covering my eyes from the light coming through the door of my room. Aidou shook me lightly, and he was grinning from ear to ear. "Shiori-chan! I got you a job!"

I tried to open my eyes at him. "Eh? Can't you wait until tonight? I'm so tired right now…" I complained.

He shook me even more. "Nope! Your interview is in half an hour, so unless you want to say goodbye to your dream, you have to wake up and get ready now!"

I grumbled angrily, "Why couldn't you reschedule the interview for tonight!? God!" You can tell I didn't like to be woken up. I lifted the duvet over my head, covering my sight from him.

"Sorry, sorry. But I mean, c'mon! It's just for today!" He smiled.

I peeked at my alarm clock in a gap under my blanket at the side of my bed. "It's the middle of the day!" I whined. "That's when it's the brightest!"

"Bring an umbrella," He rolled his eyes, now flipping the blanket open. I curled myself into a ball in order to keep myself warm and squeezed my eyes shut.

I heard Aidou smirk smugly. "…Or do you want me to dress you myself?"

My eyes opened immediately, and I pushed him away out the door. "Alright! I'll get ready! Please, don't say perverted stuff like that again!"

He laughed, throwing his head back dramatically and I locked him out. I considered falling back asleep, but once I woke up, I didn't think I could return to dreamland, because I was apparently 'putting my dream on the line'. So I fetched out some clothes from my wardrobe, and took a shower and got dressed within ten minutes. That's some record timing right there.

I opened the door again, and found Aidou leaning against the wall, waiting for me whilst looking at his watch. He glanced up at me and grabbed my arm. "Hurry up! We only have 20 minutes left!"

Aidou began to drag me down the stairs and I yelped, "Umbrella! Umbrella!"

He stopped in his tracks, and looked around in the room and found a small, compact umbrella lying on the sofa. He took it and threw it at me. Aidou took me outside and I tried to open the item with one hand (looking pretty ridiculous, might I add). I succeeded, and placed it over my head, letting myself recover from the short exposure of the sun. I sighed, slightly annoyed about having to go out with Aidou, but he smiled, as if he liked doing this.

As Aidou's head was turned towards me, he wasn't watching where he was going, and bumped into a Day Class student. One that wasn't a fan of his. "Ah. Kiryuu," Aidou mumbled as he looked at him.

Zero's eyes trailed to where Aidou's hand was holding my arm, and he asked, "Where do you think you two are going?"

I covered myself with the umbrella, hiding my face from his. "We're going out to an interview," I murmured.

"What interview?" He asked.

"For a job," I bluntly replied. "We won't take long, so you don't have to worry so much."

"You realize Night Class students aren't supposed to be out at this time?" He placed his hand in his pocket.

"Aw, c'mon, Kiryuu~," Aidou beamed. "Just this once! Let Shiori-chan have her dream come true!"

I hit him lightly on the shoulder, for telling Zero that I had a dream. It wasn't something I wanted Zero to know, honestly. "Aidou-senpai!" I whispered strictly.

"Oh, you don't want Zero to know?" He raised an eyebrow as Zero did. "Why not?"

Zero slightly nodded, with a small frown coming upon his face. "Yeah. Why don't you want me to know what this dream of yours is?"

I shrugged, cringing slightly. "I don't wan to be teased about it, that's all."

"Why would I want to tease you about your goal?" Zero gave me a bewildered look.

I saw Aidou look over at his watch and his eyes widened. "Crap! Sorry, Kiryuu, but we really have to go now," He turned to me. "We've only got 10 minutes left!"

My head lifted, and I gasped. "Oh, uhm," I glanced up at Zero, and averted my gaze. "We have to go." I repeated what Aidou said before running towards the town.

I exited the small office and stared at the waiting Aidou. He looked up at me, and stood up. We were at the local dance studio, like I told him before, and he asked me quickly, "So, what happened? Did you get the job?"

I pressed my lips together before smiling gratefully, jumping with joy on the spot. "I got the job! I got the job as a dance teacher!"

And subconsciously, I wrapped my arms around his body and grinned, thanking him in the process. "Thank you! Thank you so much! I don't know how you did it, but thank you!"

Aidou was taken aback, and I realized my sudden gesture. "Oh, I'm sorry!" I quickly tried to step back, but instead of distancing me from him, Aidou snaked his arm around my neck gently, and pulled me towards him. My eyes widened, and I couldn't help but blush. "A-Aidou…senpai?"

He breathed lightly against my hair, letting me go and smirking. "You better make use of this new job of yours."

I nodded, not really smiling. I felt like panicking. "A-Ahm, yeah. I'll do my best."


That evening, we began our classes in the usual way, with the screaming fan girls and fan boys, Yuki and Zero trying to keep the Day Class in order. But I'd spotted someone in the crowd, someone I hadn't seen in a while.

It was the man who'd loved my mother; Ichiru.

I gasped loudly, my heart almost skipping a beat. Ichiru smiled at me, and I stepped forward to him, making a few Day Class students a little uncomfortable with my stare. The students in front of me moved out of my path, letting me make my way towards Ichiru. I gulped and murmured, "Y-You… What are you doing here?"

He still smiled nonetheless, and I felt various people's eyes on my back. "You look as beautiful as your mother did," He took my hand gently, but I snatched it back.

"Just because my mother was comfortable around you, doesn't mean that I would be too," I cringed, holding my hand to my chest. "I don't know why you're here, Ichiru-san, but please, don't treat me like you did to my mother," I mumbled, hoping he wasn't too offended by my sudden rudeness. Ichiru said nothing, so I headed back to Ruka's side, and began to walk towards my classes. I now ask myself WHY THE HELL DID I SAY THAT TO HIM!? YOU COULD BE A LITTLE MORE POLITE, SHIORI! REALLY!

Later on that night, we were given our break, and Kaname left the classroom, and I peered outside the window to spot him standing by the fountain. I saw Yuki approach him, looking hesitant. They both began to talk, and suddenly, Kaname had hugged her, embracing her tightly. I couldn't help but be curious as to what they were talking about, so I snuck out without anyone spotting me, and hid a few meters away from them, still being able to hear them properly. No doubt Kaname sensed I was there, but he didn't say a word about me.

"Become my lover, Yuki," Kaname mumbled, wrapping his arms around her sweetly.

I saw Yuki react quickly, pushing him away. "I told you I did not want to stray from the topic!" She argued angrily. And they began to talk about something that confused me, something about Yuki's past.

"Yuki, if you really want to know, you will do as I say," Kaname ordered.

Geez, someone's getting a little full with his power. Yuki surrendered, letting Kaname embrace her again. Kaname looked up, and mumbled, "Could you please not look at me with that unnerving stare?"

At first, I thought he was scolding me for spying on them, but then again, I wasn't giving him any stare. Well, I was, but not so much angry. Okay, so I was a little peeved when he ordered Yuki around, but he wasn't looking in my direction. He was looking at Zero, who was a few meters behind the couple like I was.

His stare was, I'll admit, a little scary. Zero looked like he was trying to hide his furious emotion from the pair in front of him. Kaname's arm gripped tighter on Yuki, and he said smugly, "From today onwards, I too, shall protect Yuki, but as a lover."

Zero grimaced, glared immensely at the Night Dorm President, and I hit myself in the chest for being so stupidly blind.

Zero loved Yuki.

So I was left wondering where I fit into his life.

And then I thought, why did I even care?

OSSU~! Thanks for reading again, you wonderful people, you 8D So I request a few more reviews, PLEASE! I would very much appreciate what you think about my (not-so-great) work! So please, if you could take a few seconds to write a small (or long 8D) review, I'll be VERY happy! THANK YOU ~!