Grey Flower

"Life is Eternal. Love is Immortal."

Chapter Fifteen

"Come on, Shiki, it's almost time." Zero, notably sedated since the last time I had seen him, tugged my arm to regain my focus. Had I spaced out? How long had it been? I took a moment to examine myself carefully, dressed in black silks and red jewels, all except for my exposed abdomin. This had to be some kind of ceremonial outfit; but it was like nothing I had ever seen before. "Hey, aren't you listening?" He tugged on me again, harder this time. I snapped around to glare at him, letting as much venom as I could muster leak into my voice.

"Leave me alone, Kiryuu. I'm enjoying my final moments."

"Well, that's fine, but Kuran wants you up there now."

I let my eyes narrow into slits, and Zero mirrored the image. We stood like that for several minutes, almost waiting like poisonous snakes for the other to strike. Truthfully, if my hands hadn't been bound, I would have already made a jump at him. Or maybe to ensure my safety, I would have stayed still and waited even longer... I couldn't tell for certain what I would have done if I wasn't tied. I was certain, though, that I wanted to see Takuma, traitor or not. I wanted one last chance with him... to hold him... to kiss him... You know, all those cheesy things that people do with their lovers. Anyway, at the thought of him, my heart wrenched again, and I bit my lip. Focused so on Zero, his sour expression, and the desire to see my lover again, I didn't notice the sound of footsteps, light and graceful — very much noble; obviously a person who thought alot of himself, the way others did — approaching from behind, laying a firm hand on my shoulder. I started violently, whipping around to face Shirabuki Sara.

By light and graceful, thinking alot of himself, I meant I didn't consider that there were other people that I hated just as much as Kaname at that moment. There was no such thing as someone eviler than my very own cousin now. Except for her. Shirabuki Sara and Kuran Kaname, I decided then, had worked together to brainwash all these people into thinking that my sacrifice to bring back a hundred-thousand-year-old (or something like that) dead guy who might not even want to be awoken was a good idea; including Takuma, and the rest of the Night Class.

"Is he not cooperating, Kiryuu-kun?" she asked, her voice low, soft, and yet so dangerous that I shivered. Her voice was made of the very arctic winds that tore through these mountains. Zero's lavender eyes met her crimson eyes with an unspoken answer and she nodded in understanding. "As expected. I'll have to retrieve Kaname, if you will just hold this one for a moment." She began to turn, just as her words sunk into my mind and I snapped.

"This is wrong. You need to learn to stand up for yourself."

This one. This one had a name. I was Shiki Senri, just as much a noble vampire as any other member of the Night Class, and I was about to demand respect. Balling my bound fists together into a single, solid fist, I turned quickly to knock Shirabuki in the face with my new weapon. She cried out in pain; a short and surprized — rather than severely injured — yelp. There was a flurry of silver hair when Shirabuki hit the ground, and a long, deathly silence to follow. Everyone had turned to stare at me. Yeah. I had just done the ultimate taboo thing for a boy my age: I had hit a girl; of course, this was also the ultimate taboo thing for any vampire under Level A ranking. I had hit a Pureblood. This was probably the most illegal act that any one vampire could pull off, if said Pureblood would let it happen; then again, being a girl and all, I shouldn't have expected her to dodge. And I hadn't. The worst part was that when I looked up, I found Takuma standing there, staring at me in shock. He didn't say anything, and that was probably better because I most likely would have told him to stuff it somewhere the sun didn't shine and go to Hell...

And then I remembered... Heavensent was Hell. Hell frozen over. Hell on Earth. How ironic... only I could find Hell in Heaven.

Kaname came up behind Takuma and gripped his shoulder, making him jump slightly. I wondered then if it was within Pureblood nature to scare people all the time. He whispered something to my lover, who hung his head, balling both hands into fists. His whole body quivered only once before he stormed off in a rage.

"Do something for yourself for once. Don't just let people walk all over you."

I took a deep breath and looked over my shoulder at Zero, who seemed to be watching the scene without much interest. Yuuki had left quite some time ago to tend to some of Kaname's needs. Satisfied that Zero would keep his distance, I returned to Kaname. Nearly matching my earlier expression; Kaname seemed uninterested as Shirabuki was helped up and lead away.

"You know, cousin, that wasn't very nice," he finally told me in his dark lexus. I took another deep breath. "You know what the punishment for attacking a Pureblood is, don't you?"

"Punish me with anything, Kuran, I don't care. You're about to kill me anyway, so your threats don't concern me. You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment." I focused my attention to all the suppressed Pureblood power that I knew lay deep within me, shackled away in a long-lost part of the Shiki mind. It was there — my Will. I pressed hard toward it, trying to rub on it, to unleash it... But I couldn't I wasn't powerful enough. Defeated, I looked up to find Kaname smirking darkly. He knew. He could feel me trying to access Pureblood Will... On the inside, he was laughing. On the outside, he wore the most deadly facade I had ever seen on him. I knew that I wouldn't even have gotten as close as I did without the assistance of Kaname's blood from earlier... Why did everything come back to Kaname?

He broke eye contact to look at his watch, something I found very insulting. To me, this said that I wasn't enough trouble that he needed to watch my every move to see what I about to do next. "You've got another half hour before the ceremony, Shiki. The elevators have been shut down and locked up." He looked back up at me, placing his hand in his pocket with a dark smirk.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We're in a hole, Shiki. Run wherever you like, we will have you caught before the ceremony."

There was a strained silence. It was as if he... wanted me... no, as if he were letting me run away from all this. I was confused, and took a few steps forward, my eyes locked not on him anymore, but the space in the crowd just behind him, where Takuma had disappeared off to. Kaname made no move. He dropped his gaze to the ground and closed his eyes. Was this submission? No... He was just letting me off my tight chain... I had almost forgotten: I was the pet in this relationship. I picked up a quick step, moving up next to Kaname cautiously, just in case this was a trap. As suspected, Kaname opened his eyes and glanced over at me, piercing red gaze freezing me in my tracks. We only stared at eachother for a moment, his eyes daring me to take another step. My chest tightened, faced with the decision of taking off or staying put. I knew that if I ran when Kaname wanted me to choose to stay, he could catch me before I had made it three steps. But if I stayed... I wouldn't get to see Takuma again...

I made a quick decision to chance it, taking off toward the hole in the crowd before Kaname had time to turn his gaze down again. But I knew he had when I raced off, pushing people out of my way as I went. Where was Takuma? My mind called out for him... and there he was, as beautiful as ever... It seemed like my voice took an eternity to work; but I was happy when it did, and I let out the most painful-sounding call I had ever managed. He turned, and I knew that he knew how much I missed him already.

"Takuma!"