Is it...? Could it be...? It is! A new chapter! XD I know I'm the slowest updater ever (maybe not exactly, but close.) If you yell at me for more to read (via the review or PM buttons,) I promise I'll move faster! I tend to lose track of my stories sometimes, but I usually come back to them with encouragement. I'm like some sort of confused dog...
Anyway, that aside, I'd like to say that I really appreciate that people come back and re-read my stories even when I haven't posted anything new yet. It makes me feel special. ^.^
The next night, Reina stopped in at a late-night café before continuing her drive up to Cross Academy. She ordered a chicken donburi bowl and ate sumptuously; partly because she knew that she was going to need all the physical energy and nutrients she could get for the task at hand, and partly because she was aware that tonight was going to be very trying, and she felt like treating herself beforehand. The atmosphere in the café was fortifying. It was past most humans' normal dining hours, so the room was void of other customers to ogle at her. She stayed as long as she possibly could, sipping her spiced tea and gazing interestedly at the decorated fans on the walls. She only left when a group of scruffy young men came tromping in. She paid her bill, slipped quietly out the back door, and blazed her car up the night road in a hurry. She might desire to spend as little time as possible in the Cross Academy night class, but it would be even more disagreeable if she arrived late and had to walk past everyone's staring eyes.
After a lightning fast uniform change, Reina coasted into her first class of the night and made a beeline for the back of the classroom, as she always did. She tried to look neither to the left nor the right, but she could not resist sneaking a suspicious glance toward Kaname Kuran and his fan club. The pureblood boy was gazing evenly back at her. Reina's eyes slid to Takuma, who was folding his hands together and looking concerned. For a moment, she wondered if he was truly worried that someone might try to incite violence against her; then she tossed the idea out of her mind. She could take anything that came her way, and she certainly didn't need someone like him fretting over her.
While the class lasted, Reina took notes on the instructor's topic, which was still the multitude of treaties which had been made and broken between vampires and vampire hunters over the years. It was taking the class forever to get through this unit, and Reina could sense the attention of the students wandering out the windows and slipping away down the halls. Her own attention span remained mostly internal, although every so often, much to her annoyance, it would wander away across campus, down a corridor she had never seen, to wherever Zero Kiryu was at that moment. She drew a long, meandering, black line through the center of her notebook paper, winding it around the letters and words of her notes like a maze, until it made it out the other side as the class ended. She was out of her seat and flying toward the door before the other students has finished trickling out. As she dodged her way through their distasteful, stiff bodies, a cold hand landed on her shoulder for a fraction of a second. "Reina-san, could I have a momen-"
She pulled away. "No," she stated flatly, not bothering to grace Kaname Kuran with a full response. She was highly annoyed when another white-clad body materialized in front of her as she tried to clear the doorway.
"Are you out of your mind?" Ruka Souen hissed maliciously. She was just as tall as Reina, but she seemed to be trying to glare down at her as if from an imperial height. The other vampires had stopped their usual post-class murmuring. Reina glimpsed the worried face of the instructor for a fraction of a second, but only that- she didn't slow her pace, instead veering sharply around Ruka and continuing her determined stride toward the stairs. Her mind was not on them, the vampires, the class, none of them- something was wrong. Up ahead, in the administration building, she could sense the red thing, heaving.
She heard Kaname's soft voice behind her; "Ruka," and thenTakuma; "Let's all go to class, yes?" The customary murmurings of the other students did not start up again. Reina did not look back.
It went against every instinct in her body to run toward the red presence, but Reina did it anyway. She darted along the sidewalks and was bounding up the stairs of the administration building in a matter of seconds, her natural defenses causing her claws to harden directly underneath her skin. She didn't bother being stealthy, instead slamming through the doors and sniffing raptly at the air. She didn't smell blood in the building. Her immediate fears allayed, Reina stood still for a moment and listened. She heard movements upstairs in the Headmaster's office- movements which sounded slow, soft-paced, and natural. He was up there, and he seemed to be all right. He probably didn't suspect a damn thing, human senses being as dull as they were. Reina's own senses, however, were vibrantly indicating that the creature with the red, unstable aura was right in front of her.
She started to walk forward toward the main stairway, and had almost made it there when a tall, lanky figure staggered into view from behind an open door. His clothes were loose and rumpled, and his silver hair was mussed. The shadows under his eyes were so deep that they seemed to be cutting into his face. His arms hung down at his sides like he didn't know what to do with them. His gaze was locked on her face. "You."
"Jesus Christ God almighty, what are you doing here?" Reina demanded angrily, holding her ground on the tile floor. "You're supposed to be in your room, not wandering around scaring the fuck out of me. I thought maybe the Headmaster-"
"No. No." The guttural denials barely came out as words. He was panting slightly, and his voice was painfully pressurized. "You….I know what you are."
"Yes, I know that." Reina told him sharply. "The Headmaster told me. I know what you are as well. Look, if you want to talk to me about it or something, we can discuss it after you've been stabilized. You shouldn't even be out here now…."
"You're a half-blood….vampire. I didn't even know….that your kind existed until two nights ago. I thought they were legends."
"It was a well-kept secret," Reina affirmed, pacing to the side of him. "Now, if you'll move, I really need to go on-"
"Your blood….is like theirs. The purebloods."
Reina wheeled around to face him fully. "It most certainly is not!" she growled, leveling her chin in his direction. "I'm going to forget you said that since you don't seem to be in your right mind at the moment, but you've got a lot of nerve! You just admitted that you haven't even known about the existence of 'my kind' for a week, and yet you go right ahead with making false assumptions about us. You don't know what half-bloods are. Also, in case you've forgotten, you're going to be drinking my blood if you want to stay sane, so you're the last person who has any right to say something so derogatory about it!"
Reina figured that she was probably wasting her rant; Zero seemed to be having trouble focusing on her. His eyes kept sliding around, and it was obvious that he was straining tremendously to hold himself together. There was a lot of pride in this one; she had to admit that she was impressed by his resolve. Even so, she stepped back warily as he lurched a step forward. "Don't come near me," she warned, sliding the points of her claws out of her fingertips. "I'm serious. You need to be stabilized before you do anything. Your sanity is being held together by glue stick and scotch tape right now."
"Why do you care?" he breathed raggedly, managing to meet her eyes; she was disturbed to see that his irises were rapidly darkening to a bloody red. "Why are you doing this?"
If the situation hadn't been so dire, Reina would have laughed. "You are too much," she stated bluntly, shaking her head. "At this point, you're way too far gone to be worrying about what's going on in my head. You don't have time to fuck around, Zero Kiryu. There's a life preserver in front of you; either grab it or drown, but don't float around agonizing about it. You're putting the efforts of everyone who cares about you to shame."
"Now, I'm going upstairs to see the Headmaster. You stay here until we're through. We're going to draw a pint of blood from my veins, and then I'm taking off. Come upstairs if you want to keep living. It's your choice. I know that that choice was taken away from you the first time around, and the life you have now isn't what you wanted. But no one's going to choose for you this time. It's all yours." Reina held her hands in front of her, palms out, as she moved carefully around him and started up the stairs, avoiding turning her back to him. A last-minute thought crossed her mind. "Of course, if you really want to kill the pureblood, Shizuka Hio….you know what to do."
Zero's body straightened and he grew very still, staring up at her in a moment of crystal-clear focus. Reina waited, somehow feeling that she should not break it. After a long second in which possibilities diverged and the footsteps of the Headmaster in his office above suddenly grew silent, the silver-haired boy laid his hand against the side of his neck and murmured, "Go," into the still air. Reina departed, leaving him standing at the bottom of the stairs, clutching his neck as though he had been freshly wounded there. She didn't know what that was about, but she was satisfied that she had done her extra bit to fulfill the Headmaster's wishes. Zero Kiryu would live. They just had to hurry.
Reina entered the Headmaster's office like a shot-put, and found him standing aimlessly over his desk. He looked surprised, if not greatly relieved to see her. "Reina! Come in! I wasn't expecting you until after your classes ended….."
"Got kicked out of my culture class a few days ago. Not going back." Reina told him shortly, crossing over to the cabinet and removing a clear, sterile pack from within. "Zero's downstairs."
"What- Zero? Right now? He's downstairs right now?" The Headmaster glanced toward the door in alarm as Reina bobbed her head. "Why did he leave his room? He knows he shouldn't…."
"He seemed to be waiting for me, but I have no idea what he actually wanted, if anything. He just said a bunch of weird stuff. He's losing his grip." The brown-haired girl flopped down into the Headmaster's chair and rolled up her uniform's sleeve. "We need to get this done right now. I told him to come up here as soon as we're through drawing my blood. Jesus Christ-" She looked toward the closed door, then glanced uncomfortably away again. "-I didn't know it was so bad."
Kaien Cross nodded in assent, closing his eyes briefly. "I wish I knew how to save him beyond merely suspending his descent into madness. I wish I could discover a way to return him to the way he was. Even though his family cannot be restored to him, at least he could be free and wholly himself. However, for now, this is the best we can do…." He sighed quietly. "Are you ready?"
"Yeah. Stick the needle in." Reina held out her arm for the sterile needle, squeezing her hand into a fist to make the bluish vein bulge outward more. "Don't bother with the antiseptic; I'm a half-blood vampire, for goodness sake. Nothing's going to infect me. Just do it quickly."
The blood ran through the tube and into the bag as though a dam had burst, allowing the water to rush out in full force. Reina leaned back in the padded chair and listened to the quiet howl of her blood escaping her body through the miniscule hole which had been torn in her arm. She breathed steadily. Kaien Cross knelt beside her and monitored the filling of the bag. Off-handedly, he commented, "So what's this about you getting thrown out of your culture class? I haven't heard anything about this."
"Let's just say that I come from an entirely different culture than the rest of the vampire students, and the cultures clashed." Reina kept her head leaned back and closed her eyes.
"I can speak with your instructor-"
"I don't want to go back to that class, anyway. I've got better things to do."
"Reina, as much as you refuse to believe it, it will serve you to learn about the vampire world from its inhabitants' own perspective. Someday you may wish to actively participate in that world."
"Why would I ever want to do that?"
Kaien Cross sighed. "You don't know very much about the history of your people, do you?"
"I know enough," Reina argued assertively, eyes still closed. "I just don't know how that history can be translated into my experiences today. Half-bloods are dying out, and soon we'll all be history."
"You don't know that."
Reina cracked open an eye and met the Headmaster's gaze. They stared at each other. "And you know differently?"
The blonde man sighed again. "Stick around, kid, and I may be able to find you some answers." He then ducked his head and busied himself with detaching the tube from her arm, placing the blood-filled bag onto the table beside her.
She opened her other eye. "Did you just call me 'kid?'"
"Anyway, I'd appreciate it if you would go on to your Ethics class now," the man stated with a half-smile, carrying on as if he hadn't heard her complaint. "You're probably thinking about ditching the rest of the night, but I think it would be beneficial if you remained on campus, just in case anything else comes up." Reina did not have to ask what he meant by that. She was aware that this was more of an experimental test than a certain success. What if Zero, for whatever reason, could not tolerate her blood? He would go insane- and how would that affect the Headmaster, the school? She thought about him waiting downstairs, near-mad with bloody thirst. They were almost out of time.
"I'd better go. You'll be all right here with him?"
"Yes, I'll be fine. I'll be observing him throughout the day tomorrow, and by nightfall, we should know whether or not it's been effective. If you could stop by my office about a half-hour before your first class, I'll brief you on how Zero's responding to your blood and what….that will mean." He faltered for a moment, and Reina glimpsed fear hiding behind his spectacles. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "No matter what happens, Reina, I can never thank you enough."
Reina brushed a lock of brown hair over her face like a shade. "It's not really a big deal. My body hardly misses the blood it's lost." This was true- she hadn't even lost half the amount she normally did during the monthly procedure for the blood tablets. She could hardly sense the absence of the pint. "Go and call Zero now. I'll see you tomorrow. I hope it works."
The half-blood girl decided to use the window, keen to avoid another strange encounter with the guardian downstairs. She slid the pane up and heaved herself out as soon as Kaien Cross left the room. The stars glittered above her as she arched her body through the air and fell gracefully to the ground, beginning to jog toward the classroom buildings once again. She felt a little bit weaker, but not much; she could already feel her heart pumping strongly within her, replenishing her blood supply. She would have to eat more food as soon as she got out of Ethics class- her body was wanting of nutrients. She wondered if the employees at the wayside café would find it odd if she came by again in the morning after stopping there the previous evening. Right now, she wanted muffins….
Reina didn't concentrate much in Ethics class as she drew pictures of muffins on the side of her notes. Once again, her thoughts kept wandering away from her, meandering over to the Headmaster's office where Zero Kiryu would right at this moment be drinking the blood which she had just given up. She wondered how her blood tasted. She wondered what her Ethics professor (she didn't remember his name,) would say about what she had just done. Right or wrong? And by whose standards- vampire or human? And what if she fell into neither category?
As soon as the class ended, Reina ghosted out the door, tossing her homework assignment onto the instructor's desk as she left. She began to root through her bag as she hurried along, searching for her cell phone so she could keep track of how much time she had to stop at the café before school. She had made it down three flights of stairs before she realized that she was being followed. She did not turn around, but she could sense five of the presences which she had learned to be suspiciously aware of over the past week. Takuma was the only one missing. If he had not warned her beforehand, she might have been uncertain of their intentions, but now she had no doubt. She understood perfectly. She kept walking. She pushed through the doors and made it outside, five ominous shadows dogging her own. Their vampiric aura was sleek, and they were not trying to conceal it from her. She passed by the windows of the administrative building, glancing pensively up at those of the Headmaster's office. She momentarily considered simply walking inside, where they could not follow her; she was not afraid of fighting them, but she did not want to jeopardize her true identity any further. She decided against it, however, and turned her shoulder to the familiar doors. This fight was going to happen at some point or other- she might as well get it over with now. Anyway, if she lured them far enough away from the Cross Academy buildings, she could defend herself without the rest of the Academy becoming aware. Even these foolish five would never know what hit them. The half-blood girl continued to keep her back to them as she walked, reaching up and pulling her brown hair out of its bun with deliberate slowness. From the top of her palate, a pair of bone-white fangs dropped down. They were almost there.
The clearing beside the empty building where she parked her car came into view. Reina could feel the silent presences closing in. As her feet skimmed the grassy edge of the treeline, she lifted up a thin white hand, placing the fingertips inside her mouth and pausing for a moment. She saw herself in her mind's eye, and her eyes were red. Her lips pursed, and her fangs clamped down over her hand, pooling a swell of blood into her mouth. She swallowed it and dropped her hand, letting the new blood drip down and become lost among the eaves of grasses. To her, she tasted normal. Metal and melted velvet. Reina stared blankly ahead as she turned around to face her pursuers, determined to finish it quickly. The last time this had happened, she had made a promise to herself. Whatever she might be, no one, vampire or human, was ever going to knock her off her course.
Zero wants YOU to review this chapter. XD