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Chapter 10~ Following
"Hey, Ariao?" I looked up at Hanabusa. "What are you planning to do from here?"
We had returned to the Moon Dorm just in time to meet the night class as they were leaving the gates. Both of us had met Kaname's eyes for a moment before the Pureblood turned and continued on. Takuma passed us next, a bit hesitantly, green eyes not meeting our gazes. Beyond that, no one else moved. They're waiting for us to follow in behind Kaname and Takuma! I realized, feeling a quick shiver course through me. Hanabusa gave me a quick concerned look, but I just shook my head and turned, falling in behind Takuma. With Hanabusa beside me, the rest of the night class fell in behind us.
"I don't know. I never actually anticipated them treating me as a Pureblood." I said softly, looking back at my notebook. I really wanted to be treated as a Songblood, like I had always considered myself. "Besides, I'm not even a full Pureblood. Only half."
"Half still means you have Pureblood blood in your veins." Akatsuki said from behind me. "And since you and Hanabusa are a couple now, we are to treat you as such."
"He's right, Lady Ariao. That's who we are as aristocrats." Ruka said from next to Akatsuki. I looked back at my notebook, not trusting myself to speak. Hanabusa placed a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.
Rankings…always rankings. Why can't we forget about them for once? I sighed, leaning into Hanabusa for a moment. But I knew it was futile to think that. Rankings were how order was kept among the vampires.
"It'll take a while to get used to." Kaname said, not looking up from the book he was reading. He turned a page adding, "After a while, you'll wonder how you did it any other way before."
"Easy for you to say." I said, meeting Kaname's gaze for a moment. "But as far as I'm concerned, I'm still only a commoner."
"It's not that easy." Takuma said lightly. "Now that you officially know about your father, we can't hide the fact that we're going to be keeping an eye on you…"
"So that's what's going on!" I jumped to my feet, furious. "You all still believe that Rido has a hold on me." Takuma looked away, not meeting my gaze. He wasn't the only one, the other night class students refused to meet my gaze for longer than a second, save for Hanabusa.
"Ariao, surely that's not what Ichijo meant." Hanabusa said, getting to his feet and pulling me closer. "I think he meant that since it's the duty of aristocrats to protect Purebloods, the rest of the students are going to be keeping an eye on both you and Kaname." Once again, it was Hanabusa that calmed me down.
I closed my eyes slowly for a moment before pulling back a bit and opening my eyes again. Only to tense up by what I saw outside. The moon itself had turned a flaming amber. "What…." I staggered away from Hanabusa and over to the window. That moon…It can't be true….
"Ariao, what's wrong?" Hanabusa came over, following my gaze to the moon.
"The moon…the fire….Everything's falling into place." I sank to my knees, trembling. Hanabusa's arms wrapped around me, holding me close.
"Everything will be alright." He whispered, tightening his grip on my shoulders.
I looked back at the woods behind me. Two vampires were soon at my side. "This is ridiculous. How can we find anything out here?" The first said, dark indigo eyes flashing for a moment.
"Just have faith, Sorin. We have to be almost there." The second said, pulling back his hood, longer red hair tied into a ponytail.
"Easy for you to say, Rhyl." Sorin replied, glancing at him.
"How about you both take it easy?" I snapped at them, tensing when I heard what sounded like footsteps behind us.
"Damn. They've tracked us already!" Rhyl cursed, pulling out a sword from under his cloak.
"Ariao…! Ariao, snap out of it!" I jumped to find Hanabusa still holding me. The whole night class was watching us with wide eyes.
"It seems that you have begun to remember who you really are." Everyone spun around to face the person who had just spoken. Looking over Hanabusa's shoulder, I saw two hooded figures, their beige cloaks hanging so that every part of them was hidden.
"We have been following you for a while now. Do you remember who we are?" One of them asked, lifting his head so that the light fell upon his dark indigo eyes.
"Do you know them?" Ruka asked, casting a quick glance at me, but I barely heard her. My gaze stayed with the two that stood before the whole night class like they had a right to be there.
"Lady Ariao?" The second asked, taking a hesitant step closer. Hanabusa pushed me behind him with a growl in his throat. I saw the one with indigo eyes tense and reach under his cloak, for what, I still wasn't sure, but I wasn't too keen to have a fight break out here. Jumping to my feet, I pushed between them.
"Stop! This is neither the place nor the time for a fight." I glanced over my shoulders at the one I was sure was called Sorin. The tension in the room became almost suffocating for a moment before everyone seemed to relax. Turning back to the two hooded vampires, I felt my own tension. "They're closing in on the academy aren't they?" I asked softly.
"I'm afraid so, Lady Ariao." Sorin replied, pulling back his hood and nodding for Rhyl to do the same. "And they've got us surrounded. There's no hope of running this time."