A/N: Aidou's starting to snap. O.O
--o--[Chapter Start]--o--
"Here's your damn letter," Aidou snapped, chucking it at her as he walked into the room.
The letter struck a surprised Yuuki directly on the forehead as she turned around from the desk she'd been studying at. Her mouth opened slightly, and then she blinked, simply picking the letter up from where it had fallen into her lap.
She looked at him with curiousity as he snatched her glass of water and downed it along with three or four tablets from the container in his pocket. She wasn't sure how many he'd swallowed, but she knew it was far more than he'd ever stuck in his mouth at one time. Aidou especially loathed the taste of the tablets, and usually had to be threatened by Kaname into taking them.
"Are you alright?" she asked, slightly worried.
"Fine. I'm just freakin' fine," he snarled harshly, slamming the now empty cup back onto the desk.
"If you were that thirsty, you should have pulled in somewhere for a drink," she said a bit crossly, peeved that he'd drank her water.
"Oh, I did, believe me," he laughed, a touch hysterically, and she really focused on him. His eyes were still tinged scarlet, even after so many tablets. "I got a freaking drink. And then I drove here and did it again," he gestured to her glass angrily.
She frowned, "Are you sick?"
"Sick? Sick?" he passed a hand in front of his eyes. "I think that's a good description."
He turned to walk out, but she stopped him, standing up from her chair, "Wait. Aidou-senpai….what's wrong? Really?"
"How the hell should I know?" he demanded, though the question was rhetorical. "I'm a damn genius but I don't freaking know anything."
"When did this start?" she approached him warily, wondering when Kaname would be home.
"Start? When did it start?" he whirled on her, eyes flashing. "It started when you sent me on your ridiculous errand! That's when it started! …Enjoy your letter," his voice was laced with sarcasm as he stormed from the room.
Yuuki stared after him, stunned. What had just happened? She'd seen Aidou in a variety of moods, few of them pleasant, but she had never seen one quite on this scale. And she had never seen him take tablets like they were candy before. Maybe there was a perfectly logical explanation in the letter from Yori.
She retreated to the desk and opened the envelope, slipping the crisp pages out with lithe hands. She loved the handwriting that belonged to Yori. It was neat, precise, and attractive. It was enjoyable to just look at the letters, even without processing the words they formed. But more than that, she loved the subtle scent that clung to those sheets. It was a scent that could never be copied, as unique and wonderful as Yori alone was.
Her heart felt a little lighter as she began to read the letter. Yori had a great deal of interesting things to report, from the Chairman dancing around the halls one morning and singing songs from musicals, to a short lived invasion by the boys into the girl's dorm one night. But it wasn't until towards the end of the letter that Yuuki's attention was truly caught.
Aidou-senpai was in a fizz again, as expected, to deliver your letter. It has come out that I am a dull human girl, apparently, and so his royal highness is suffocating from being caged with a peasant for a mere hour or two. This, and his firm belief that, should he be discovered, he will be beheaded. Thou thinkest that he is overdramatic much?
Still, I don't dislike him. He must be a good person, buried underneath all his childishness, for him to actually follow through with the letters. I don't think he minds as much as he'd like me to believe. He actually seems rather desperate to be on better terms with me. I'm taking this as a good sign. Right now, however, he's moping. I guess I shouldn't expect much more.
I did give your letter to Zero-kun. And I'll make sure he gets this one, too. There are rumors that he may be promoted to Council President soon, but I don't know if they're true. He won't say anything about the subject. I'll keep you posted.
Yuuki scanned over the words again. And again. But it was useless. The paper wouldn't divulge anything further to her than what was written. There was no word about how Zero had reacted, if he'd promised to read her letter, or if he'd offered to send one back. And there was nothing to explain Aidou's condition. Absolutely nothing.
Frustration welled up within her, but she forced it back. What good would it do? She'd have to write back to Yori and ask pointed questions, but it would be another two weeks before Aidou would even give her another test. For once, she longed for more school work.
Sighing, she disintegrated the paper with a flick of her fingers, leaving no trace behind. She'd become more accostumed to her vampiric powers now, but she still found them strange and disorienting. The human Yuuki would never have dreamed herself capable of such a thing.
The human Yuuki wouldn't have gotten into this situation, either, a small voice echoed in the back of her mind.
She brushed the words away. They only filled her with sorrow. In her mind, she knew the human Yuuki had never truly existed, but in her heart… The human Yuuki still occupied the majority of it, a faded and spectral presence.
Removing her own paper from the desk, she ran the questions she longed to ask through her head. How was Zero doing? Did he miss her at all? Did he ever think of her? But she couldn't say such things. Instead, she merely penned: How has Zero been lately? It was a pale version of the questions built up inside her, but she knew Yori would see through them and know her inner longing.
And then, beneath that single question, she wrote: Aidou seemed upset when he came home. He drank up all my water, too! That pig! Do you know what's going on with him? Did he say anything to you before he left?
She prayed that Yori would answer. Her words were all that Yuuki had left. Her words, and the faint, battered hope that someday she would be able to see that familiar, silver edged face again…
Her eyes shut, fingers trembling on the pen almost imperceptibly as she allowed her lips to silently form that forbidden word.
"Zero."
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Aidou slammed his fist against the wall, letting up only when he realized he would break right through it. Rage boiled in his veins. How dare that stupid, pathetic human do this to him! She was just an annoyance, a fragile spark of dying light destined to sputter out within a few short years. And yet, her blood was calling to him, clogging his nostrils, blinding his thoughts. He'd never smelled any blood as sweet, as perfect as hers.
Damn it! the thought crashed through him violently.
There was no way in hell that he was attracted to her blood. This sort of thing was not going to happen to him. He wouldn't allow it.
Oh but wait, that was right. He wasn't in hell yet. He was still on Earth.
Damned if he could tell the difference.
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Yori pursed her lips, clutching the letter more firmly in her hand. She wasn't going to back down. Zero was going to take the letter, whether he liked it or not. So she waited, hidden discreetly around the corner of the building he would be passing any moment now. An ambush was certain to work.
Yuuki would love this sort of thing, she thought wryly. It's like a secret mission.
She waited tensely. Zero was unlikely to be very happy at being confronted like this, and she really didn't want to face him while he was radiating waves of anger a mile long. But she would do it anyway, for Yuuki. Yuuki was the only one she'd do something like this for.
Her fingers fiddled with the upper corner of the envelope. What did Yuuki say to him? Yori always respected her friend's privacy, but she was still curious. Was it a simple letter, like the ones Yori received, or something more?
What did one vampire say to another? It sounded like a bad joke, but the sudden thought left her with a realization. Everyone she knew seemed to be a vampire. Everyone but her. Yuuki was a vampire, Aidou was a vampire…even Zero was a vampire.
Aidou. The name sent a shiver down her spine. Her memory flashed to those crimson eyes, glowing dangerously in the dim light of her dorm room. She could never think of Yuuki as a vampire like that, nor Zero. But Aidou was the definition of the word. He wasn't just a mythical creature, he was a deadly one, and he took no pains to hide it. Rather, he seemed to flaunt his genetic differences and purposely draw attention to the contrast between her and himself.
Her thoughts were cut off abruptly as she detected the swish of a jacket. Zero's footsteps created no sound, but the jacket was a dead give away to his presence. She took a deep breath, mentally preparing, and then leapt out from her cover. Zero jerked to a halt at her unexpected appearance, expression instantly changing from 'pissed' to 'extremely pissed,' all within a single second's span of time.
"What?" His eyes were murderous, locking onto the envelope, "Oh." And with that, he wrenched it from her hand and stalked off.
Yori blinked, startled. She glanced down at her hand, then back at Zero, who's form was growing ever smaller as he hurried to his next class. Then she rolled her eyes and let out a sigh of exasperation.
But at least he had taken the letter without a fight.
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If only he could chase her from his thoughts. Her name was always at the tip of his tongue, her face imprinted on the back of his eyelids. Every time he closed his eyes, he could see her. Smiling, crying, laughing…he could remember each and every expression with painfully vivid detail.
The envelope burned in his hand like acid. Beneath that flimsy layer of paper, he could detect her scent. It scorched through him, leaving him drained and breathless. If only he could see her face for one moment, just one, he was sure this agony would fade. He longed to reassure himself that Yuuki, the human Yuuki, still lived somewhere inside of the monster that had taken over.
The corner of his mouth moved up into a sneer. Monster. Just like him.
He flung the envelope away, where it hit the floor and skidded to a stop beside the first. A hollow laugh built inside him, one that he didn't give voice to. He and Yuuki…they were just a pair of monsters, now.
Curling up on the bed, he couldn't avert his eyes from those two unopened envelopes. A part of him wanted to open them, to read those long awaited words, to inhale her warm scent. But another part of him wanted to cast them into a fire, pretend they had never existed, and watch them burn until they were nothing more than scattered ashes.
His fist clenched slowly, nails puncturing the skin until blood slicked his palms. Thinking of her, his eyes blazed red, and there was nothing to quench the insatiable thirst.
He forced his eyes shut, trying to blank out his mind. Maybe, somewhere in the black of sleep, he could lose this pain, if only for a moment.
Maybe…
But he knew that maybe was as distant as the hope of ever seeing her again.
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--o--[Chapter End]--o--
A/N: If you press the review button, good things are sure to happen!