Bang!
My feet suddenly froze, nearly tripping me. The echo of the bullet resounded within my ears. And a scent of blood. Zero's blood.
Something was wrong. Very wrong.
I forced myself to run again, taking me a few minutes to reach the school pool. The smell of blood hit me, causing my throat to feel raw and painful. I brought the sleeves of my jacket over my nose, hoping it would lessen the smell of blood.
I finally take the few steps left to reach the pool. My legs began to feel heavy, fear of what I was about to see. That moment, I heard a voice. One that I haven't heard in a long time.
Master. It was Master's voice.
If Master is here, that means that Zero wasn't in terrible danger. Until I heard, 'Zero, even when you are craving blood…' I couldn't hear the rest. Zero was craving blood? He was becoming a vampire-like too quickly. He should have at least a good 3 years before he drops into Level E. The situation here is too good for Zero to fall to Level E.
The sound of the Chairman's loud voice jolted me back to the scene. 'Why has it turned into this! That's why I say I hate vampire hunters!' He pushed Master's gun back to him and tried to help Yuki and Zero out of the pool.
'Tsuki. Come out. The smell of blood is gone.' The sleeve fell back to my side as I took a deep breath of air. The smell wasn't gone, but it was faint enough for me to ignore it. I joined the others and noticed the traces of red in the water. The smell was getting stronger, I couldn't hide the fact that it was affecting me. The sleeve covered my nose but it was Yuki that alerted me. Her gasp and her stare at my eyes told me that my vampire side was coming out. Zero continued to clutch his wounded shoulder. I caught the Master and the Chairman's eye and took Yuki back to her room.
She was anxious for Zero, revealing to me that he couldn't take blood tablets. When we finally got to the door of her dorm room, I gave her a hug. We had all gotten close in the last couple of years. Especially Yuki and Zero. She looked after him when I wasn't there to watch him.
'He'll be fine. I'll make sure that he'll be okay. Don't worry about it.' Yuki nodded before silently entering her room. She whispered to me softly, 'You be careful too, okay?' I nodded. She couldn't help but worry. That was the kind of person she was.
I left the Sun Dorm and ran towards the Chairman's Office. As I ran, I tried to piece the events as Yuki told it. Zero, once again trying to act strong without my help. Even when we were younger, he would tell Ichiru what was wrong but he never told me everything. Ichiru would tell me as I spent more time with him.
Finally, I made it to the door of the Chairman's Office. My hand reached out for the door handle but stopped, and retreated. I held my hand close to my chest, wondering: do I have the right to go in? This was Zero's decision and I was going to respect that but that wouldn't stop me from listening. I leaned on the wall by the door and listened hard. The door wasn't as solid as first believed, or they were talking loudly. I could hear them.
'Zero, why didn't you tell me that your body couldn't take blood tablets. And Tsuki as well,' the Chairman asked. 'She is worried for you and Yuki is as well. I wished that you would open yourself more. Especially to Tsuki, since you two spent so much time together.' Zero grunted and said harshly, 'It's none of your business.'
'Is it because she isn't family by blood and only be name?', asked Master.
There was a long silence before he said no but I had known Zero long enough to know that he lied.
I felt shocked by his response. I had been part of the Kiryuu family since I was 4 and when he and Ichiru were 6. We grew up in the same house, train together and in his heart, I wasn't truly his family. My mind was in daze and all I knew was that I wanted to get away from Zero.
I ran from the door, not caring if my shoes made a loud noise against the tiled floor. My hands covered the tears that started falling down my face. I heard the door open and somebody calling my name but I didn't care. I just wanted to be far away from Zero. Had he never seen me as family? Were all the smiles and laughter and tears we shared together with or without Ichiru all fake?
Was the one person that I still regarded as family not family at all?
I kept running not watching where I was going. I felt the chilly night air as I ran onto the balcony. I climbed onto the roof of the building. It was difficult climbing up, my tears blurring my vision. I felt my hand reach for the next handhold and felt my fingers meet with the roughness of the bricks. But my hand slipped and never got to grip around the hand hold. I felt a fear as I began to fall backwards into empty space knowing that I would eventually hit the ground.
Still blinded by my tears and heart heavy from broken trust, I felt my body start to fall, wondering what would become of me.