A/N: A HUGE thank you to all of you who've reviewed! I can't say how happy it makes me to find new reviews! I think I've been good about replying, but if I've skipped over one or two by accident, I'll say it here: thank you, thank you!!!!
--o--[Chapter Start]--o--
This was impossible. Freaking impossible. Who the hell would have thought that Kuran Yuuki would be able to pull off two decent grades in a row?! It was as improbable as winning the lottery, yet somehow she had managed to do it. Was this his divine punishment for tasting her blood?
So not only did he have to live with Yuuki's glowing accomplishment, but also with driving miles out of his way to hand deliver a single envelope to the most irritating creature in existence. And all of this had to be conducted without creating a single blip on Kaname-sama's radar.
Therefore, his mood wasn't exactly flowers and sunshine when he showed up at Yori's door.
"Aidou-senpai!" she exclaimed softly, eyes lighting up as they spotted the familiar shape of an envelope in his hand.
"Happy to see me?" he gave her a devlish smirk. "That's perfectly understandable, seeing as how a man of my appearance is standing in the doorway to your bedroom. Any girl would-"
"Are you coming in or what?" she asked dryly. Glancing at his hand, he realized she'd already taken the envelope and was holding the door open expectantly.
The grin fell into a scowl and he demanded, "Are you totally blind?"
"Apparently. Now, are we going to repeat what happened last time or are you going to come in and save yourself the trouble?"
"Tch," he brushed past her, mood plummeting even further.
"Good," she shut the door and moved to her spot on the bed, slitting the envelope open with a fingernail.
He watched her warily for a moment, half afraid she would give herself a paper cut by accident, but the envelope opened easily. He let out a mental sigh of relief, and sat gloomily on the other bed, switching on his full sulking power.
Aidou could sum up the whole experience with few words: it sucked. There was undoubtedly divine intervention involved, because there was no way that Yuuki could have done so well on her tests without it.
"It can't really be that bad, can it?" Yori's calm question broke through his thoughts. "You make it look like you're being tortured."
"I am," he muttered under his breath, then said in a voice she could hear, "This is one of the last things I'd like to be doing."
"Why?"
For a one worded question, it sure required a long response. One that he wasn't eager to give her. He opted for the highly edited version.
"It's boring. And if Kaname-sama finds out, I'm dead. Got it?" he glared.
"It's only boring because you make it that way," she pointed out. "If you put in a little effort, I'm sure you could find something to talk to me about."
"Why the hell would I want to talk to you?" he demanded.
She shrugged, "I don't know. I could be interesting."
"Interesting? A little human girl?" he stared at her in disbelief.
"Humans can be interesting, too, you know. Just because we don't enjoy sucking blood from people doesn't make us dull. In fact, I'd wager that a great deal of humans are more interesting than you. All you seem capable of is being rude and unpleasant," her eyes had hardened during those few sentences, her mouth pressing into a thin line.
"Do you ever smile?" he asked suddenly, angry in spite of himself at the expression she was showing. He didn't like it. It was too rigid, too uncompromising. If she would just smile, he was sure she'd be beautiful.
"I've been known to…" she returned, obviously a little puzzled by his question. "Why does that matter?"
"Just wondering," he answered, abruptly feeling ridiculous. Why did it matter? Why should he care if she smiled or not? He sighed. Clearly, the boredom was messing with his brain.
She watched him for a moment, then her eyes flicked back to the letter. He wondered if Yuuki had included something about him this time, too. Maybe she was telling Yori that he was a slave driver for making her get an 80 on a test. Maybe Yori would write back that he was, in her words, 'rude and unpleasant.'
I don't care, he thought firmly. I don't care what the hell she thinks about me.
Still, the more his mind dwelled on it, the more frustrated he got. She already obviously found him to be unattractive, and on top of that, it seemed she didn't like him for his personality either. Not that he'd really given her anything positive to go off of.
He took a deep breath, then, "I'm not really that bad, you know…"
Yori's eyebrows raised slightly, her eyes glittering with a touch of amusement, "I never said you were."
"Well, I mean I'm not just…rude and unpleasant…," he replied lamely. He didn't know what to say. The number of charming phrases that sprang to mind would undeniably only reinforce her beliefs of him.
"True. I'd also say that you're somewhat conceited," she answered serenely, keeping her eyes on the letter so as not to betray the gleam of laughter there.
Rage coursed through him, but he shoved it down. Getting mad would definitely promote his rude and unpleasant side. Instead, he forced himself to remain calm and tried a different tactic.
"I read Pride and Prejudice, too," he nodded towards the desk.
"It's a good book," she said simply.
"And?" he grit his teeth.
"And I liked it."
"Is that all you have to say?!" he burst out without meaning to, aggravation flooding through him.
"Yes."
He was going to kill her. He was going to leap over there and strangle her to death. She was positively maddening. Here he was, trying to make an effort to become interesting, for heaven's sake, and she was deflecting all of his attempts without mercy.
And then, just before he gave in to his violent thoughts, she set the letter down and actually smiled. It wasn't a vivid smile, only a small and amused one, but it was enough to erase the lines and angles of her previous expressions. It was enough to prove that he had been right. If she smiled, she was beautiful.
Definitely beautiful.
"My mother gave me that book," she told him, regaining her serious composure, though the hint of a smile remained,"it was her favorite to read to me. That's why I always keep it beside my bed. It's always been one of my favorites, too. I'm amazed you remembered that I had it."
"Why couldn't you just say that from the start?" he grumbled, though her smile had effectively mollified him.
"Because, watching your reaction was much more interesting," she chuckled and moved to get the paper to write her response.
"No doubt," he rolled his eyes.
"So this time it was geography?"
Her change of subject surprised him, but he nodded, saying, "She was falling behind in it."
"She said that she thought her brain would explode," Yori commented as she wrote.
"I wish it would have," he responded sullenly. "It would have saved me the trouble. She's trying to kill me, I swear."
"Really?" came the sarcastic reply.
"Sending me out with these secret letters, sitting in the front rooms of the mansion…it's all an evil plot…," he complained.
"Mansion? Yuuki said her house was big but…."
"Shit," he realized he'd just done exactly what he'd forbidden Yuuki to do. Give vital information away.
"W-" she began, but he cut her off.
"Pretend you didn't hear that," he swallowed, imagining Kaname's hand as it swept towards him to cleanly remove his head…
"Alright, I didn't hear it," she brushed his concern away casually. "These secrets are safe with me, Aidou-senpai. I wouldn't betray Yuuki."
"You would if someone like Kaname-sama wanted information from you," his voice was edged with warning.
"Maybe," she allowed. "Let me finish this and then you can be on your way."
"Fine," he lay back on the bed, wishing she'd hurry.
Though it was partially his fault for distracting her in the first place. But maybe she didn't think he was a total jerk now...? He mentally laughed at himself. What had he done so far to show that he wasn't? Nothing at all. Damn.
And why was he getting so worked up over this?
Damn again.
With nothing to do, there was nothing to keep his senses from going astray. He effortlessly picked up the delicious scent of Yori's blood. And since he seemed to be stuck on the subject, he could say that it was an interesting smell. An interesting and positively irresistab-
No way, his mind grinded to a halt.
There was no way that he was craving her blood. Absolutely not. The thought was absurd. What kind of sick bastard would that make him? Anyway, there were plenty of prettier girls than Yori. Though perhaps they weren't nearly as…interesting. Or as irritating, he reminded himself.
But…it was impossible to ignore that delicate flavor as it drifted from her pale skin. He clenched his fist. He was not going to bite Yuuki's friend. Instead, he bit his lip, drawing blood and enjoying the pain it caused.
I really am a sick, masochistic jerk, he thought.
It was all too long before she said the words, "Okay, finished."
He practically leapt up, taking the envelope from her hand without pause. He had to get out. A few tablets would do the trick, but until then, he needed to remove himself from her company.
"What's wrong?" she asked with concern.
"Nothing. Have a good night," he told her.
Her brow furrowed, and then her eyes widened subtly, "Oh."
"What? What does 'oh' mean?" he demanded, mood reverting to 'black' as his mind was assualted by her smell, leaving him little room to think.
"I did bring the crackers…," she offered uncertainly.
"I don't need those," he all but snarled, moving to the door. "Good night, Yori-chan."
"Good night…" she murmured, and he shut the door behind him, ignoring her concerned expression.
Damn it! Why did these things always, always happen to him? He pushed the envelope as far into his jacket pocket as it would go. He didn't need to be reminded of autumn and lavender as he drove. All he needed was to get back to the mansion, down a few tablets, and pretend that he had never left in the first place.
This was definitely, definitely a divine punishment. There was no other explanation.
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Yori shivered, hugging her arms around her for a moment. There had been no denying the faint crimson glow in Aidou's eyes before he had stormed out. It was all too keen a reminder of just what sort of being he was.
Vampire.
She shuddered again, and let her gaze fall to the papers sitting beside her. Another letter from Yuuki. Another letter for Zero. But what would he think of this one? She wondered if he'd even opened the last one. Or had it just been trash?
Letting out a small sigh, she placed the papers inside her dresser, piled between layers of clothing. It wasn't an especially ingenious hiding place, but under a mere cursory inspection, they would remain out of sight.
Now, all she could do was wait for morning. She prayed that he would take this letter. Even if just to throw it into some disused corner of his room. For Yuuki's sake, she prayed .
Take the letter tomorrow, Zero. Please take the letter.
Because she had a strange feeling that Yuuki was depending on it.
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Dirty sunlight filters feebly though the glass, giving the crumpled envelope on the floor a sickly halo of light.
On the bed, silver hair tousled, expression distorted with agony, a figure has at last fallen asleep, if merely for a scant few moments.
There is only silence, but through the unclean morning rays, his lips can be seen moving inaudibly with a single word.
"Yuuki."
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--o--[Chapter End]--o--
A/N: What do you think? What was that, you think you should review? I couldn't agree more! Do it right now! Lolol.