CHAPTER SEVEN

The Supernovas

"What the – what are you doing, Hanabusa?" Akatsuki groaned as he forced his eyes open. It was bright outside, yet his cousin was there pulling on his tie as he rummaged through the mess on his bed. The side of the room that he occupied was once covered in trash, that were disturbingly mementos of Kaname, was now covered in a books – text books, compilations of essays, anthologies and literature – and finally, he pulled out a Grade 11 Principles of Functions. Akatsuki rubbed his eyes, wondering why he kept that book when Hanabusa had finished learning that several years ago.

"I have to tutor -"

Immediately this caught the cousin's attention and Akatsuki sat up straighter, slowly and tiredly but up nonetheless. "Whatever it is you're pulling," he said carefully, "you should stop."

Hanabusa's face paled for a moment and then he laughed, falsely shy as he touched his tousled blond hair. "What makes you think I'm pulling anything?"

Akatsuki narrowed his amber eyes. "It's that Misane girl, isn't it? Don't you remember what Kaname said what will happen the next time you -"

"But I'm not doing anything!" he cried out and started towards the door. "Why do you think that -"

" - You're leaving at two in the afternoon when we don't have classes for five more hours just because you need to volunteer?" Akatsuki asked rhetorically and Hanabusa flinched, hearing the obvious suspicion that went along with that statement. But how could he possibly explain that he enjoyed this girl's company just because she made him forget the vampire world he had grown up in? Made him forget that he was the heir to the Aidou name, that he was Kuran Kaname's right hand man, that in several years – maybe months, even – he would be thrust into the centre of vampire affairs?

This one human girl could ramble on about her stupid stars and constellations and he would not hear a single word of it but somehow, she captured his attention all at once. It didn't make any sense but he was willing to just go with it. And he couldn't say any of this because in theory, it sounded ridiculous and he couldn't even imagine how awful it would sound out loud. So instead, he said, "That sounds about right" before he left faster than another word could be spoken.

Unsurprisingly he had to sneak his way into the main buildings, seeing that it was also the time most of the students were leaving their final classes. He scaled walls, cut corners, hid behind pillars and walls before he arrived at the Sun Dormitory. And in the exact same way she drew his attention a day ago, he found a pebble and tossed it up at where her room was – and it wasn't very hard to find it. He knew that she would have the most secluded room with a view, and he could just imagine the telescope that would be cracked through that window space in that colourless room.

The window rattled as it opened, and she looked out of it, her long hair falling past her shoulders. And before she had the mind to look down, she squinted from the light and her face twisted up before she shook her head and looked down, seeing a familiar light silhouette amidst the already bright surroundings.

"Oh God, it's you," he heard her say and she was about to close the window before -

"Wait, Kaede!"

Her annoyance won and she opened the window again. "What did I say about that?" she exclaimed and then remembering where she was, she lowered her voice. "And what is this, Romeo and Juliet? Get out of here -"

"I climbed down for you, and I think you should exchange the same courtesy!"

"No!"

"Kaaaaede~"

"Shut up!" She groaned but there wasn't a feeling of settlement the way she dipped back into her room, and in seconds, he saw the girl jogging out with that same hoodie covering her. She frowned when she saw him. "Was one of the parts missing?" she asked reluctantly, hands buried deep in the pockets. Her eyes seemed more green than brown these days, although he still detected hints of it – making it more gold and amber, than ivy. Had it always been like that, or had he just grown keener to her physical appearance? He wasn't completely sure but he didn't exactly like the way his throat dried up and tightened. He was just thankful that her hair concealed her neck, her sleeves well past her wrist. "Well?" she prompted.

"Do you know what time is this?"

"Time for you to get a watch," she said but despite the flat tone, a smile played at her mouth as if this was some sort of inside joke. He just stared.

"No, it's actually type for math," he said. In a split second, he realized that he hadn't been smiling lately – so cue the boyish grin. Her own smile slipped and she took a step back...before running back into the dorm. "Hey!" he shouted, chasing after her but she was already ahead of him and slammed the door behind her. He was prepared to smash it down...until he heard a wave of giggles and a chorus of sing-song high pitches crying out his name.

"Idol, it's idol!"

He groaned.

You won this round, Kaede.

xx-x-xx

"So this is her, hm?" Kuran Kaname's garnet coloured eyes gazed expressionlessly at the girl asleep in front of him despite the library setting that Takuma had pointed him towards. The blond, excited Ichijou was behind him now, along with Ruka who was staring at her with puzzlement.

"She's a bit plain," she commented, not taking care with her volume to not wake her up. The human girl's nose wrinkled slightly and she tilted her head to the other side but otherwise remained asleep. He suspected she had been asleep some time late enough that the caretakers of the campus didn't bother watching over – only assuming that she was of the Night class. Her head was rested on her arms, her neck exposed as her hair fell over one side of her shoulder. His eyes flickered at the slender curve of the neck and then back behind him.

"You don't think he's foolish enough to do anything again, right?" Ruka asked, eager to get an acknowledgement out of Kaname but he remained stoic. There were no bite marks, no lingering scent of Hanabusa on her and he had nothing to worry for. And even if Aidou had some human plaything, as long as he didn't drink her blood – Kaname didn't see a valid reason why he should be involved. He began leaving the library, the two closely behind him.

"He got slapped last time," Takuma murmured, oblivious to the fact of how degrading that may be and brought up the topic with ease. Ruka's face twisted up. Even if she wasn't blindingly loyal to Hanabusa the way Akatsuki was, she didn't relish in any serious harm done to her cousin – only minor things. Repercussions against him by hands of Kaname nerved her, although a part of her knew that Hanabusa needed that reminder sometimes. Even if it was Kaname's way to keep him in check and save him from harsher punishments by the Council.

"That's a no then," she snapped, wanting to gear the subject towards something else. She walked closer to Kaname, although she did not touch him. "Shall I -"

She stopped when she saw Akatsuki standing in front of them, leaning against a window sill with his arms crossed and an inscrutable expression on his face. Kaname's eyes slid towards him but he continued on his way with not so much as a nod but a polite lingering glance whereas Takuma grinned, sparkles galore before he turned and left as well. It was only Ruka that hesitated, that stopped. "Don't you have class?" she asked coolly.

"And don't you have better things to do than involve yourself in Hanabusa's business?"

Instead of flinching, her light eyes narrowed. "You know it's not that black and white. With everything happening in the senate, we need to prove that -"

"Yes, I know. I've heard it a thousand times." She knew that if times were less serious, he would roll his eyes but those caramel coloured eyes of his were flat and hard. "That the Senate wants to disband the Night Class because it is making no progress, and that any event would mean Kaname's word would be put at stake and this whole charade would be dismantled, but there are other opportunities you would have to be close to Kaname without the Night Class whereas -"

"Whereas what?" She dared him to continue. Too fast this conversation became serious and Akatsuki didn't seem to notice it himself until Ruka stopped him. He tore his gaze away but she didn't stop there, infuriated that she would even bring up her affections towards the pureblood in such trivial matters like this. "Whereas Hanabusa won't find other flimsy human girls to capture his interest for few seconds?"

Akatsuki's face shifted again and he stood up straighter. He seemed to want to say something, opening his mouth but he changed his mind. With just the slightest shake of his head, he left her.

And although she wasn't the only one curious about Hanabusa's curiosity towards a simple human, she was the only one out of the two of them that did not seem to know that Hanabusa had a reasonable explanation for everything he did.

xx-x-xx

They were like fine strands of silk beneath his fingers, he realized. Strands and locks of a dark red that slipped easily between his fingers despite the slight wave.

Hanabusa's glacier coloured eyes – constantly shifting between greens and blues – examined the girl left behind in the library. He heard that the Dorm President and the Vice both dropped by, along with his cousin and wondered what they did, or why they paid him such attention. They never did before, not until he made a mistake – and he had done nothing wrong. Yet. But seeing her asleep, seeing her still and hearing her soft breathing drew him in. And slowly, ever so slowly, his lips parted and mouth opened wider, his fangs growing until -

No.

He stopped short of her neck and shut his mouth, shut his eyes too. He stayed closed to her, enough to feel her warmth, to hear her breathing, to hear her heartbeat. His fist was so tight he was sure that his nails left crescents in his hands but he needed that control. Slowly, he leaned back and stared at her.

He wanted to drink her blood, to feel the warmth of the liquid in his mouth and feel satisfied – truly satisfied – and bury his hands in her hair, hold her close and see her hazel eyes flutter close as she -

And he was getting distracted.

Before he could regret his choice, he kicked her chair.

And she shot up, almost falling over before she looked at him wildly, eyes huge and breathing raced. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demanded in a harsh whisper and then she looked around and realized it was completely dark around her. She deflated. "Oh."

"So you ditch your tutor, but come and study anyways?"

"There was nothing else to do," she said quickly and realizing her confession, she paused before she sighed. She shook her hair between her fingers, looking up at him through a single winced eye tiredly. "What time is it?"

"A little before ten," he told her.

"Great," she said as she began gathering her things, "just great. Got nothing done but more nap times."

"I offered -"

"Mhm," she cut him off but seeing that he had nothing better to do, he pulled out a chair and sat on it, leaning towards her and opening up the text book to where she kept a piece of loose leaf paper. "I'll help you," he said quietly despite the fact no one else is there. She stared at him and slowly, she drew closer to him, her eyes never leaving his. He wondered if she knew how her eyes looked, how the colours practically disappear and blend together in the moonlight and all he could see was the dark pupil with the slightest pale gold behind. Slowly and softer than he could ever imagine, she said:

"But I want to sleep."

His eye twitched and then he stood up, done with this human girl who annoyed him to no end. "Fine, whatever," he called out over his shoulder, not minding his volume as he flung his arm in the air. "Good luck failing in life!" he added before he allowed the door slamming behind him – not missing the sound of her bright laughter behind him, following him even when he was back in the hallway...

And face to face with Kuran Kaname.

"Kaname," he said, careful to add the respectful -sama but he ignored him, his eyes flickered past Hanabusa and at the library.

"Don't do anything you'll regret," he said lightly, his eyes smiling and despite his serious intent, he gave him a deceiving...and yet, a genuine smile. He left the aristocrat vampire with shivers down his back.

"God, he's scary," Hanabusa muttered. No one but Kaname had that effect on him – that eagerness for approval but that bitterness all at once.

And then he blinked.

And then Hanabusa laughed.

Everyone, but Kaname – the pure blood vampire, feared by all – and Kaede, the girl known to no one but him.

I am in such a writer's rut (not a block, I don't believe in that) where I am not happy with anything I write. But gotta dish out something once in a while. Plus March break is over so here it is! I hope you enjoyed and as always, reviews would be lovely :)

P.S. What do you guys thing of another Kaname/OC or Zero/OC fanfic? I have way too many time on my hands, so if it's something you're interested in - do spare a line or two :)