Chapter Seven: Dance with me
"It's Saturday! Come on! I know you need to go shopping." Kiren opened the curtains and the sunlight hit my face like a baseball, making me wince and groan.
Kiren sighed, putting her hands on her hips before yanking my bedcovers off. "Serena! Get up!"
I eyeballed her. "This is about that dance, isn't it?"
"You need a dress. I've seen your closet."
"You invaded my closet?" I asked her, not believing my ears.
"You leave the door open all the time silly."
I groaned again, turning over in my bed without the covers and shoved my head under the pillow. "I'm not going."
"Why not? It'll be fun," she insisted.
"They always say that like it's gonna work," I mumbled.
"Ugh! You leave me no choice!" Kiren huffed, leaving the room and after five minutes she held up my journal. "If you don't get up, I will tear out the pages and give every page to a every student."
I'll be damned. She's actually threatening me.
"But it's nine in the morning," I grunted, curling up in fetal position and I heard her laugh.
"Early bird gets the worm!"
I sighed, cursing her cheerful morning personality and sat up. "But the early worm gets eaten."
She laughed again, patting my head. "You're funny in the morning."
"Glad you think so." I slowly made my way to the bathroom and started to brush my teeth at a painfully slow pace.
"Good! Now we can go get our dresses! Look, we even have permission to leave school boundaries!" She fluttered the permission slips in front of my face.
"I'm nawt goahn tew tah dabce," I said with my toothbrush in my mouth still, making her chuckle.
"Translation?"
I spat out the toothpaste. "I'm not going to-"
"Yes you are!" she interrupted, appearing at the doorway of the bathroom. "I already told Aidou-sempai and Ichijou-sempai you were going."
I froze and gawked at her in shock. "You did what?"
Kiren let out a childish giggle. "You should have seen their faces! They were excited!"
I frowned. "You lie. Why the hell would they care? And when did you get the chance to tell them anyway? And remember, Mr. Bunny still has a stick up his ass because of what happened the last time."
The more I scowled at her in disbelief the more she grinned like a Cheshire cat.
"What?"
"What's your favorite color?" she asked innocently.
I gave her an irritated glare. "We're not buying me a dress, Kiren."
"Fine! If you won't tell me then I'll just pick one out!" She huffed.
I made a strangling gesture with my hands in front of her face. "UGH! Why do you want me to go so bad?"
She pouted. " 'Cause I'd be lonely with you."
You've got to be kidding.
"You wouldn't leave me all by my lonesome with those Night Class students and those horrible fan girls, would you?" She gave me a puppy eye look, her hands together like she was praying.
I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure you can handle them."
Then she suddenly dropped to her knees and attached herself to my legs. "PLEASE! PLEASE COME WITH ME TO THE DANCE!"
"Down girl! Normal people sleep at this hour!" I winced, covering my ears as her voice echoed in my head, but she wouldn't stop. After an excruciating hour, making it in ten in the morning, I helplessly surrendered.
She squealed with happiness, springing up from her former position and grabbed my hands. "THANK YOU!"
She busied herself with 'housework', cleaning our room and placing everything back in its spot.
"So when do we leave?" I asked, sighing as I picked out my clothing for the day.
"As soon as I wake Yuuki up."
I turned to face her, confused. "Huh?"
She chuckled. "You didn't think we could go out of the academy's boundaries without the prefects, did you? They're coming too."
"Oh damn," I sighed.
Not that I mind Yuuki, but that other prefect was going to be bothersome since he was a guy.
A guy who will probably complain about how long it was taking.
A guy who will probably complain about the bags.
A guy who will see me in a dress.
The thought made me cringe.
VVVVVVV
"Come on, Serena! Come out! I want to see the dress on you!" Kiren pleaded but I was standing my ground.
"I am not. And that's final."
"It can't be that bad," said Yuuki.
I sighed, rubbing my face in annoyance and rolled my eyes.
"If you want I'll tell Zero to take a hike and meet us somewhere when we're done," she continued.
"No that would be rude," I told her. "But thanks."
Getting there had been easy. It was finding a good store that proved to be difficult. Kiren and I actually had the same taste in dresses so we agreed that most dresses were too revealing. Yuuki, on the other hand, liked the really feminine dresses. Glitter, sparkle, stars and hearts were her choices on dresses. Kiren had shrugged, saying that flash was not her style, but I had stared at Yuuki like she had lost her mind. I mean...wouldn't all that crap bother her? Make her itch? Or something?
But Yuuki picked out a blue dress that cut at her knees. It was decorated with a little bit of glitter on her chest and there were two black laces that formed into a heart on her side. I'll admit it was a gorgeous dress, but I would never wear it. She looked cute in it though.
After two hours, making it noon, meaning now I'm starving, we found an exquisite department store. Kiren had finished her shopping, having decided on a silk green dress that brought out her eyes. It was sleeveless and exposed her back. She looked like a Greek river goddess when she tried it on. The dress flowed with her body like a cascading waterfall, but cupped her breasts tightly and tugged them upward.
The dress I was currently wearing was actually picked out by Kiren. It was a black silk dress that had a deep v-shape plunge, showing only a bit of my chest in a graceful way rather than provocative. The bottom of the dress was laced with red ribbons and the ribbons tied together behind my back.
"Oh Serena, will you at least let me in?" Kiren pouted.
I quickly opened the door, letting only her peek in and a gasp escaped from her lips.
"It's beautiful!"
I rolled my eyes again and pulled her into the changing room. She looked me up and down, studying the dress with her keen feminine eye and smiled.
"Okay, now only one thing is missing."
"What?" I asked tiredly.
"A strapless bra. Your dress has a red bow at the middle of your back and then the top is like a halter-top. For the most part, your back is exposed like mine," she explained. "Do you know your size?"
I blushed, knowing that the male prefect was standing outside the door and probably heard every word.
Kiren lightly smacked herself on the forehead, realizing why I had reacted that way. "Sorry, totally forgot about him. Whisper it in my ears."
"Why? I can buy a bra by myself."
"Do you know how to convert American sizes to Japanese?" she asked curiously.
"Err…no…okay…it's…wait…" I sighed and made my voice louder so the male prefect could hear me. "Hey no offense man, but could you go…walk around for a bit."
I heard him smirk on the other side and heard his footsteps as he walked away. I blew out a breath of air and then whispered my size to Kiren.
Kiren blinked at first and then actually had the nerve to giggle. "Wow, I knew you were big, but not that big."
"You're lucky I love you," I grumbled as I felt heat rush to my face again. "Just go get me one please. Black."
"Well obviously black."
"Hey! Now that he's gone, can I see the dress too?" Yuuki questioned playfully from outside the door. "I wanna see!"
I opened the door all the way and immediately regretted it. The prefect had let out a long, loud squeal of delight and grabbed the ends of the dress.
"It's sooooo pretty!" Her eyes glittered and her grin became contagious.
"I know!" Kiren squealed back, grinning as well. "And she looks even more adorable when she blushes!"
"I'm surrounded by girly girls," I groaned but my comment went completely unnoticed as the two girls examined my dress.
"You hungry?" a male voice inquired and I looked up to see the other prefect standing close by, leaning against the wall.
I yelped out of surprise and embarrassment, slammed the door shut with a loud BANG and looked down at my feet.
HE SAW...HE JUST...HE...HE JUST SAW ME IN A DRESS!
Yuuki blinked, having a late reaction to the sound of the door slamming. "Was that Zero? Let me-"
She had the door only slightly ajar but it was quickly slammed shut when I shoved it again with more energy than the first time.
She giggled, noticing my panicked facial expression. "What's wrong? It's only Zero."
"She's right you know," Kiren smiled. "Besides, you need to get over it. Soon. Because everyone at the dance will see you in this dress."
"I haven't even bought it yet!" I squeaked in my defense and my eyes widened in horror when I realized the truth in her words.
The whole friggin' school was gonna see me!
I felt like melting into a puddle, this way no one could grab me or force me to go. I'd be a puddle. Puddles don't go to school dances. They just...lay there and be a puddle. Puddles can't move, can they?
Yuuki laughed, "Okay Serena, we'll let you change and pay for the dress. Meanwhile, Zero and I are going to go look for places to eat because we heard your stomach rumbling before you tried on the dress."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "You told me he was gone."
She blinked innocently. "Well he was gone, but you can't expect him to be gone for a long time. He's here with us you know."
"Yea, yea, to escort us," I grumbled, covering my chest with my shirt as I tried to put on my jeans. I was glad that on weekends the students could wear what they want because the skirts were driving me nuts. I only left the changing room when I made sure that both prefects were gone and went to pay. Kiren had yet to stop giggling.
"What's so funny?" I turned to her, annoyed that she found my blushing amusing.
"I was just imagining…how you would react once Aidou-sempai saw you at the party." She covered her mouth, at least trying to hide the fact that she was laughing.
"Oh yea." I felt light headed all of the sudden. "…that would…be a sight to see I guess. Ugh! Woman! Lets just go eat okay?"
She continued to laugh. "Yea, whatever you say."
Yuuki and…Zero was his name right? Were waiting for us outside the entrance to the store and I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes anymore, so I followed them by looking where their feet moved.
"We're gonna go get the drinks, okay? You two wait here," Yuuki stated calmly and took Kiren with her before I could open my mouth to reject.
I narrowed my eyes at the two, brainstorming their future deaths in my head and stiffened when I felt movement ahead of me. I took a chance and looked up to see Zero staring at me.
"Err...umm…well...hi?"
'Cause this isn't awkward.
"What did you want to eat?" he asked, his voice indifferent.
I tried to relax. "Uh…I…honestly don't know…what's safe?"
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "Safe?"
"I mean…God damn it," I swore in English and he continued to look around as if he found everything boring.
How could Yuuki just leave me like that? She knows that Kiren is my human dictionary!
And then to my surprise, I heard him chuckle and glanced at him to see him holding up a cup…of something.
"Try this," he said.
"What is it?" I ogled it, expecting it to be contaminated.
"You might not want to know the ingredients, but I can guarantee you it'll taste good," he promised.
Oh yea, 'cause that makes everything all the better...why don't I just check myself in a clinic?
I looked back and forth between him and the cup and gulped.
"Okay, but if I get sick, I'm kicking your ass."
He almost cracked a smile.
I took it from him, sipping it a little at a time and when I decided it was okay, I drank the whole thing. It was vegetable soup with some strips of beef. Nothing too fancy or strange.
I smiled at him in thanks. "Not bad."
He shrugged it off. Then came the awkward silence and I looked towards the sky and begged. Begged for those two to come back.
"So your name is Fontana Serena, correct?" he questioned out of the blue.
I eyed him. "What about it?"
He shrugged.
"Well what's your name, you didn't exactly introduce yourself."
"Kiryuu Zero," he stated.
"Zero is a weird name."
"And Fontana isn't?" he retorted.
"Yea but Zero is a number."
"Only in English."
"And in Spanish, Italian…probably German and French."
He raised his eyebrow at me again and stared. I, not being one to turn down a challenge, stared back.
Staring contest! I am not afraid of you silver haired beast!
"We're back!" Yuuki shouted, a big grin on her face and Zero looked away first.
Thank God.
She threw me a water bottle. "Come on, Kiren and I saw this neat place where we can eat."
I glared at her. "I thought you and Zero went off to look for a place to eat while I was paying."
"Yea…well, we didn't find anything, but Kiren did!"
I was suddenly suspicious that Yuuki had actually pulled Zero aside to talk about the dress.
VVVVVVVVVV
"OOOOH! Aren't you excited?" I heard Shizune exited her room with her posse. "Tonight's the dance!"
A few more girly shrieks and giggles sounded, and I glared at Kiren. Thanks to her I was going to spend the night with my ears echoing with their annoying voices. I exhaled, attempting to stay calm. The nerves in my body had me jittery and anxious. I impatiently tapped my foot as I waited for Kiren to finish her make up and put on her heels. I had prepared for the dance a few minutes before she did, which had been a mistake because that meant I had the time to pace around like a caged animal.
"Okay I'm done," Kiren grinned, snaking her arm around mine. "Let us go, darling!"
I shook my head, deciding that Yuuki had allowed her to drink something while they were out shopping for make up today.
"You look stupendous Serena," she whispered in my ear.
"You mean stupid."
She nudged me with her elbow. "No, I mean-"
"I know what you mean. I'm just giving you a hard time." I forced myself to smile and she tucked a stubborn, rebellious strand of red hair behind my ear.
"You're a queen."
"Queen of hideous red hair."
"Queen Elizabeth had red hair."
This time I really smiled. She was so stubborn! Must be my influence…
The dance wasn't what I expected it to be. Normally a school dance consisted of flashing multi-colored lights, a fake fog, balloons, decorative crap on the walls and people sticking with their cliques. This dance, however, was formal and it reminded me of an old fashioned ball. Everyone looked like they born out of royalty.
It made me fidget.
"Remember now Serena, you're my red haired queen," Kiren said to me softly, smiling at everyone who looked our way.
"If I am the queen, then what are you?"
"I'm your bodyguard," she grinned, winking at me.
I grinned back at her, realizing just how true that was. She wasn't just my bodyguard against the remarks of other people, but against my own self-criticism. She understood that I was my own enemy.
Kiren, you make me a nicer person.
The violins started and couples began taking over the dance floor. It didn't take too long for the fans to surround the Night Class students and I caught Yuuki sneaking off with… was that Mr. High-and-Mighty? She was sneaking off with him? I noticed Zero didn't look too happy about it either. He had his normal guardian attire, leaning against the wall with his arms folded over his chest and he gave off an annoyed aura. I watched as a female student with light brown hair approach him and start talking to him. I think her name was Shindou...
"Would you like to dance?" a male voice interrupted my thoughts.
Takuma bowed to me and had his hand held out. I gulped, looking at his hand and then at his face. As usual, he was smiling. Does this guy ever have a bad day?
Wow! It's hot in here!
"Uh…I...I don't…"
"She'd love to!" Kiren jumped in and gave me a slight push. "Go ahead Serena!"
I felt all my blood rush to my face and I stared at my feet as Takuma placed one hand on my waist and the other held my hand.
"Have you ever danced before?" he asked gently.
"Not really," I mumbled.
He chuckled. "Nervous?"
"You mean you can't tell?" I made a sour face at him.
He kept his smile. "You're not a bad dancer, Serena."
It's not the dancing I'm worried about.
I didn't reply but I allowed him to lead me and little by little, I relaxed.
"I sense that you don't like dances in general."
"Not really."
"Then why did you come?"
"I'll give you a hint. She's wearing green."
He flashed me a bright smile. "So you're here as her escort?"
"Something of the sorts. I didn't want to leave her with the gang of fans. Apparently they make her nervous."
He made a mocking, serious face. "Oh I can't blame her. They can be quite dangerous when they feel threatened."
"You mean if they think that you're stealing their man? Yea, I know that feeling. In fact, I should probably be watching my back right now." I looked over my shoulder, making him laugh full heartedly. "Oh you find this amusing but I'm serious! I've already been accused of being a thief once!"
He continued to laugh, leaning more into me so he could balance himself on his feet.
"Takuma…you might want to take a breather. You're turning red."
He opened one eye to peek at me in a teasing way. "Look who's talking. You're the one blushing."
"Yea, it's called embarrassment," I retorted.
"You're entertaining," he shrugged, "Different."
"I do try. Not hard though."
He smiled, spinning me at the end of the song and kneeled on the floor to kiss my hand. "Thank you for dancing with me."
I must have gone through all the hues of red and pink because I stopped breathing and managed to only say, "Yea, anytime."
He had stopped dancing right in front of Kiren as if he was dropping me off at home to my mother after a date, and then he walked away. My eyes followed him for a short time, watching him ask another girl to dance with him.
Kiren squealed, latching her arms around my arm. "Oh! That was the most adorable thing I've ever seen!"
Remembering that I needed air to live, I inhaled sharply. "If you say so."
She laughed. "He swept you off your feet, didn't he?"
I scowled. "No, as you can see my feet are still firmly planted on the floor."
"For now," she grinned.
I suddenly felt like I was being watched and turned around to see Mr. Bunny glaring at me. Once I caught him, he quickly looked away and grabbed one of his fans. He began to waltz with her and avoided eye contact with me.
"What's his problem?" I asked out loud.
Kiren blinked, pausing her momentarily excitement, and followed my gaze to Mr. Bunny. "Oh dear."
"What?" I snapped. "What does he want?"
"Well…I think…"
"WHAT?" I threw up my hands. "What's his problem this time?"
"You don't have to yell Serena, I'm standing right next to you," Kiren frowned, "...but I think he's jealous."
Her statement nearly made me fall on my face.
"Jealous? Jealous? Of what? What could he possibly be jealous of?" My temper was starting to show its ugly head. "He's the one who hangs all over other women! And now he's upset because I had one dance with someone else?"
Kiren stared at me calmly. "Serena…are you going to be all right?"
I seethed, balling my fists. "Oh, yea, just peachy."
"Serena?" She didn't sound convinced.
"I'm…going for a small walk," I muttered.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Kiren's concerned face studied me.
"No, sorry, no offense."
"None taken. Just be careful, okay?"
"Yeah."
I walked out of the ballroom before I had the chance to hit the stupid rabbit and headed towards one of the many gardens of the academy. Once the warm air hit me—it was May after all—I exhaled and counted to ten to calm down. Thankfully the garden was a little far from the dance so I wouldn't hear the joyful dancers and the ballroom music. I could barely see anything because it was a new moon and the only light outside came from the stars.
"Fontana Serena."
I whirled around to see Mr. Bunny standing behind me. I inwardly laughed, not believing my luck and glared at the heavens. Somebody up there really loves pissing me off.
"What now?" I snapped.
"I was…wondering if we could talk," he said slowly, choosing his words carefully.
I laughed mockingly. "You are talking."
He growled. "You know, you are the most insensitive…"
"If you came out here to insult me, then leave. You only want to talk because I kicked your ass, but honestly," I started advancing on him, getting in his face. Why not? He invades my bubble space all the time. "You have NO consideration to how other people feel because you feel like you shouldn't have to be! You degrade me for calling you a puppy, but you have called me fat, a bitch, insensitive and got into MY business about MY father and you had the nerve to BRING HIM UP! How the hell do you expect a person to accept you for who you are if you're like that?"
"You should talk! You insult people you don't even know!" He threw his hands in the air defensively. "You don't know Kaname-sama and you were already prepared to attack him."
"Yea, I'm working on that, but I accept the fact that I have my faults. However, YOU should be APOLOGIZING to ME," I snarled, but as I stared at his red, frustrated face I couldn't help but chuckle. Angry people amuse me. They just have that face that I could poke fun at. Especially since most of the time I have a mental image of a blow-up fish in my head.
"What's so funny?" He narrowed his eyes at me.
"I have to give you props," I sighed, feeling myself calm down and attempted to put the past behind me. He did some points after all. And I really didn't feel like attracting a crowd outside. Not when they were having so much fun inside.
"If I was a guy, I'd be gay," I said flatly.
My sudden change of topic surprised him and it took him a while to realize that I was trying to be friendly. Remember: Trying is the keyword.
He snorted. "Why would you be gay?"
" 'Cause if I ever met a girl like me I'd be tempted to kill her."
And I would too. No doubts there. I can only handle one of me, can you imagine two? Shit! No wonder Erica nearly beat me to death.
"Oh, trust me, I've given it consideration."
I playfully punched him as we started to walk back to the ballroom. "Ass."
"Bitch."
"Fag."
"Would you dance with this fag?" he asked out of the blue, appearing slightly nervous all of a sudden. We had stopped in front of the academy's entrance.
"No, I can't risk getting rabies," I jested.
"Like I'd bite you. You'd most likely be toxic." He narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.
"Oh I wasn't talking about you," I said as I caught the eyes of the rabid fans glaring at me and I pointed them out to him. "Sorry. I like living."
He followed my index finger, smirked, and waved at his fans. "Pfff. Please. They're more scared of you than you are of them."
"Well good," I grinned, watching his fans blush from being caught.
"So?"
"So what?" I questioned him obliviously.
"For crying out loud woman I just asked you to dance with me!"
"Sorry, memory slipped," I bantered. "And I don't dance."
He glared at me. "Yes you do. I just saw you with Takuma."
"Well if you saw that, then you must have seen how Kiren shoved me into his arms."
"Liar."
"No, seriously. I'm innocent. She shoved me," I stated.
"Kiren-chan? But she's so nice…and gentle…"
"Oh, she's faking it. She's actually really cruel."
"I can't see her being cruel." He glanced at Kiren, who was dancing with Takuma. "Oh, and it looks like she stole your date."
"He is NOT my date," I declared, watching her dance and grinned.
"What are you grinning at?" he asked suspiciously.
"Too bad I can't take a picture of this. It'd be perfect black mail for the future," I said.
"Why would you do that?"
"Black mail her? How do you think she got me to this dance?" I laughed humorlessly. "She threatened to take apart my journal and give it to the fans."
"Smart," he laughed, but once he caught my glare he changed his mind. "I mean, how unkind of her."
My eyes caught a glimpse of silver hair and immediately recognized it as Zero's hair.
"Would you excuse me? I have someone I need to go torture."
Mr. Bunny stared at me. "Torture? Who?"
I pointed at the gloomy looking prefect and the lively currents in Mr. Bunny's eyes froze.
"Oh."
"What?" I asked curiously.
"You should probably leave him alone," he acted standoffish.
I rolled my eyes and stood on my tiptoes to pat him on the head. "Aww, it's okay Mr. Bunny. Remember, you'll always be number one on my hit list. But right now I need to pester someone new. You know? Give you a break."
"You owe me a dance," he declared.
"I don't owe you diddly squat cross dresser," I giggled as I felt the heat from his glare.
"Cross dresser?"
Oh I do smell smoke now.
"Well, yea, you still own those pink panties don't you?"
And there's goes that red traffic light! I took off running before he could strangle me and I would have collided into the prefect if it weren't for his hand, which he had stretched out at the last minute.
"You really shouldn't run in heels," he asserted calmly.
"And you really should learn to be careful of where you put your hands," I told him since his hand nearly touched my chest and watched his cheeks tint with a little bit of pink, and then he shot me an annoyed glare.
"So who are you spying on this time? You've been standing there like a statue the entire night."
"If this is how Americans ask people to dance, my answer is no."
"Oh no, I don't dance. I was gonna-"
"Liar. You have already danced with Takuma."
I almost fell on my face. Did everyone watch me dance with him or something?
I exhaled loudly. "Oh shut up. Kiren shoved me damn it. Blame her."
His face was still as calm and aloof as ever, but his eyes held amusement. "Then what do you want? Assuming that you don't want to dance."
"Where did Mr. High-and-Mighty go off to?" I switched topic.
"I apologize but I know no one of that name."
"He left with the other prefect," I answered.
His eyes quickly narrowed on me and became serious. "Why would you want to know his whereabouts?"
"Curiosity. And don't say it killed the cat because I'm obviously not a cat."
"I wouldn't be able to tell you where he is anyway," he shrugged, becoming indifferent again.
I had already known that but it was a way to make him talk. I had seen the way his eyes stalked the prefect and the Night Class student.
"What's his deal anyway?"
Zero looked down. "What do you mean?"
"He walks like…he's superior to everyone."
He smirked. "You noticed that too."
AH! I have a reaction! Someone write down the date and time!
"You better return to Aidou before you make him antsy." Zero's eyes were now focused on the blonde.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Excuse me? Return to him? What am I? His dog?"
"No, but I know you owe him a dance. Whether you like to dance or not," he smirked.
My eyes landed on Mr. Bunny who was lingering around an orange haired Night Class student. "Ah, he'll be okay."
"You don't know him well enough then."
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, annoyed.
"It means that you don't know him."
"Be more specific."
Zero sighed. "Why are you over here, Fontana? To waste my time?"
I grinned. "You figured me out! How many brownie points do you want? Or would you rather have a sticker?"
It was his turn to lift an eyebrow and then he rolled his eyes. "Go away."
"Make me."
He turned to face me fully, giving me his darkest glare.
"Zero, I hope you do know, that you don't scare me," I told him, pinching his cheeks and stretched his cheeks out to make faces.
He whacked my hands away and frowned. "I don't see what he sees in you."
"Who sees what in me?"
"Never mind Fontana," he stated, walking away from me. I didn't bother to go after him, knowing that he was right. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to have to dance.
I sighed, turning around with my arms folded over my chest and my eyes located a familiar pink haired student in the corner of the ballroom. Kaede was sitting in a chair with her legs crossed, both of her arms were on the armrests and her head was tilted to her left. She was wearing a white dress with little pink flowers. It was a simple dress but she somehow made it look more elegant and significant. She smiled when our eyes met, lifting her index finger and motioned me to come to her.
I snorted, shaking my head at her. "You wish."
She shrugged, moving her eyes to Kiren and she grinned. Her grin sent goose bumps up my arms and I shuddered.
"Hey, you ready now?" Mr. Bunny's voice made me jump in surprise. I had been so caught up with Kaede and her creepiness that I hadn't even feel his hand gently touch my shoulder until he had spoken to me.
"Yea, as ready as I ever will be I suppose." I forced myself to smile.
"You make it seem like I'm forcing you to hop off a cliff," he scowled playfully, "Are you okay? You jumped."
"Yea, you just…surprised me. I wasn't paying attention."
He held out his hand to me and I took it with a small smile.
"Damn you have cold hands," he chuckled.
I smirked, shoving my thoughts of Kaede aside. "Yea, I'm a bit coldhearted."
"Nah, rough around the edges maybe, but you're all right."
I blushed and allowed him to lead me.
It was so odd dancing with him. There were moments where I felt tense and not able to breathe, and then there were moments where I felt completely limp in his arms. I blamed his intoxicating cologne for making me light headed and leaned against him. My head found a comfortable place between his head and shoulder and I laid it there.
I feel…sleepy…hmm...very sleepy indeed. Mr. Pillow?
But something was crawling up my back and it made my skin feel prickly. I lazily peeked over his shoulder, my eyes finding Kaede again. Her predator eyes stung me and I felt frozen on the spot.
"You okay?" he whispered in my ear, tickling it and I tilted my head to rub my ear against my shoulder. I nodded but didn't say anything, still watching little Miss Pinky with her dangerous eyes scanning the room.
"You stiffened all of a sudden though."
I smiled. "I'm fine, Aidou."
"It's Hanabusa," he corrected me.
"Yea, yea, whatever."
I swallowed nervously and calmed only after Kaede left the ballroom.
I better watch her closely in the future.
Ignorance isn't bliss.
Not when it can get you killed.
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV
"You like him. Just admit it you stubborn mule," Kiren grinned.
"I'll admit to nothing. We're friends, if that," I rolled my eyes.
We're friends when we're not trying to kill each other.
"Yea, but I saw how you guys danced."
"I think just about anyone who had eyes saw us," I stuck out my tongue playfully.
"Yes, but it was so romantic!" she squealed.
"I think you're the only one who thought it was romantic," I chuckled as she threw her pillow at my face. "Well, what about you and Takuma, hmmm? What's the story?"
She blushed a dark shade of red. "There is no story!"
"AH HUH! You blushed! There IS a story!" I declared, pointing an accusatory finger at her. "SPILL!"
"There is not!" She ducked under her covers as I chucked back her pillow. "We were just dancing!"
"Oh! But it was romantic!" I mocked her.
"Serena, you're not funny," she pouted.
"This coming from the person who shoved me."
"It was the only way to get you to dance!" she huffed.
"So when do I get the wedding invitations? I have a busy life you know, but Takuma seems to be a patient-" I dodged the flying literature book and laughed at her. "You're so violent."
"Hypocrite. And who said I'd invite you to my wedding? You'd most likely beat up my husband," she giggled. "You're worse than having a brother."
A knock sounded on our door and we looked at each other.
"We're probably being too loud," Kiren mumbled, getting up to answer the door and I followed right behind her.
Our dorm president stood with a frown on her face. "Ladies, it's going on two in the morning. Please keep your voices down."
Kiren flashed her a knowing smile. "Yes, sorry. Good night."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
That was my longest yet!
I apologize for spoiling it for those who haven't read the manga and didn't know Yuuki turned into a vampire. I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut about things...blah. Serena won't find out about the Vampires for a while...I mean, you have to build up before you get to the real fun, don'tcha?
BTW, does anyone know the actual name for the blow up fish? Like the one in Finding Nemo?
And I wanted to ask about the abilities of all the Vampires...if someone could please list off their abilities (Besides Shiki, Aidou and Kain...I know theirs...) that would be lovely!
Anyway! Thank you so much for reviewing! And I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.