AN: And then several years later, a new chapter pops up! O_O Say what?! I know, I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I wrote. I could tell you how crazy busy my life was but I'm not really going to try to make excuses because I already feel terrible. I'm working hard to finish this FF though (very very quickly) and to write others. Now that I'm out of university, I have much more time, and lately I've gotten back into the VK fandom, so I'm looking forward to writing with the loveable cast some more. Any new FF that I write, I think I will try to finish them before uploading, because wait times are evil. Maybe I'll do weekly chapter uploads or something.
I am truly, truly sorry to leave everyone hanging. I promise to finish. I already have a few chapters sorta written and some notes, so don't fear. It will be done.
Disclaimer: I do not own VK.
"A ball!" Yuuki exclaimed, eyes lighting up with childish delight.
Kaname's mouth creased into a faintly amused smile, "This is not a ball for our pleasure, Yuuki. You will be expected to demonstrate perfect behavior as not only a pureblood vampire, but also as my fiancé."
She puffed out her cheeks, eyes staring up at the other innocently, "But it seems like fun… I'll get to meet with everyone and go outside for a while."
"Which reminds me…," he regarded her coolly for a moment, then stated, "From the moment you step foot out of this door, you will be under constant scrutiny. So, I've asked Luca to instruct you. Think of these as princess lessons."
"Princess lessons?" Yuuki hesitated, caught between excitement and horror.
"Yes," Luca replied primly, choosing this moment to enter the room. "Every day after lunch, I'll teach you to act as a pureblood princess should."
Yuki held back a groan, trying not to imagine the horrors of yet another set of lessons taught by a pretentious noble vampire. One was bad enough, but two?! And when the second one happened to have held her in disdain for years because she was competing for Kaname-sama's attention and affections… The thought made her inwardly cringe. Given that Yuuki had now officially stolen away Luca's beloved Kaname-sama via the all-too-obvious engagement ring wrapped around her finger, there was little doubt that Luca would be sure to exact revenge in whatever ways she could.
"I have faith in your abilities," Kaname smiled vaguely at Luca, who stood a little straighter at this praise, eyes gleaming proudly.
"Thank you, Kaname-sama. I will see to it that Yuuki's performance at the ball doesn't disappoint you," the blonde gave a slight bow.
Kaname nodded, then turned to Yuuki. "Good luck. I'm sure you'll be stunning." He kissed her gently on the lips and excused himself politely, leaving the two women alone.
Yuuki shot a sidelong glance at the other vampire, half expecting to be greeted with a vicious glare. Instead, however, Luca's face was impassive as she surveyed her rival. After a moment, she said only, "I believe we shall begin with your entrance. I will descend from the stairs, so watch me carefully. I expect you to replicate what I do exactly."
For once, Yuuki would have preferred to spend the afternoon trudging her way through Aidou-senpai's lessons.
"I need you to act as a messenger. Please visit everyone on this list of addresses and make formal greetings from myself and my bride-to-be. Enjoin them to come to the ball, and assure them that I'll be happy to speak with them once there. I don't want to risk offending anyone, especially with Yuuki there. She will be an easy target for anyone with a grudge," Kaname explained, handing a small packet of paperwork across the desk to Aidou.
For the first time in his life, Aidou was furious with Kaname Kuran. His teeth ground together, steps punctuating his dark mood. Why was he always the one stuck running the trivial errands? He was so much better than that, and yet once menial labor had to be done, who did Kaname go to? It was infuriating. Okay, so maybe it was necessary, but someone else could have done it just as easily. And sure, the ball had the potential for so much more disaster this way but… But he wanted to spend the evening with Yori. He ran a hand through his hair in irritation. One simple human girl had reduced him to this. He should have hated her for it, but instead… Instead, by doing so, she had stripped him of all of his potential bitterness and resentment towards this fact.
At the very least, due to his superior intelligence, he had devised a plan of study for Yuuki that was nearly impossible for her to fail. Not to mention, he might have made the test a tad easier than usual, but still. So, despite the fact that he had to quickly drop off the letter and leave, he was at least seeing Yori a week before he usually did. Not to mention, there would be the next letter, too. Two weeks seemed agonizingly long, but logically speaking, it was not an especially large span of time.
Following the usual pattern, he knocked on Yori's dorm door, already anticipating the moment that she would open the door and smile at him. The moment when all of his anger, all of the pent up emotions he'd been harboring this past week, would be bleached away by the color of her persona. All of the insufferable thirst and the undeniable longing to see her would instantly become nothing more than the remembrance of the wind in the grass—something intangible that left no mark of its passage.
Still, he felt unsure, heart pounding heavily in his chest. When they'd last parted he'd…he touched his lips briefly at the memory. How would she respond to his action? What if she was angry? Or even worse, what if she specifically asked him to never do it again? His brow furrowed in preoccupation. It wasn't like him to be nervous about anything, but Yori rendered him helpless to previously alien emotions and thoughts.
The door drew his attention, slowly opening without its usual enthusiasm, and he felt his heart sink as he heard the murmured words, "Sorry, I was in the middle of-" The words fell off, reeling away as the surprise on her face knocked them out of her mouth. "Aidou-kun!" she exclaimed, clearly not expecting him, yet her expression instantly changed to something both warm and happy.
How could he forget? She wouldn't have been expecting him at this time. Not until next week, when the usual letter delivery occurred. "Yuuki had a short lesson this week," he explained, stepping inside.
There was a moment of exchanged glances and the shuffling of his feet as he shut the door, the awkwardness of the past letter exchange flitting past. Their eyes rose, clashed, fled, and then returned, embarrassed but determined to move past the memory.
"And she still did well? She's trying so hard," Yori took the letter he offered to her, moving so that he would have room to walk past.
"Well, the subject was art," he admitted with slight abashment.
She laughed, "No wonder."
His legs felt like lead. He wanted to continue the normal pattern, to sit on that unused bed and watch her as she read the letter, absorb each of her expressions and attempt to draw out new ones. Her eyes were so bright, now, sparkling in the lamplight at the thought of another letter, another visit. He wondered what her eyes looked like when he wasn't there, when the loneliness crept in and skulked in the corners. How could he tell her that she would have to wait even longer before she could have another chance to talk with someone?
She looked at him with a slight question in her eyes, and he knew she was wondering why he didn't sit down like always. He took a slight breath, inhaling the blend of scents that was uniquely hers, voice very quiet as he said, "I can't stay…tonight…"
She blinked, eyes flickering so quickly that he nearly missed it. "Oh," she answered, that single word holding a thousand sentences of meaning.
"I'm sorry, truly," he whispered. "I can't refuse a request from Kaname-sama."
Her eyes faced his, deep and remorseful, but also understanding. She smiled, "It's okay. I can't expect you to stay every time. What about the return letter to Yuuki, though?"
"I'll have to take it next time," his shoulders sank a little at the thought.
"Alright, then…"
"Yeah," he responded, rooted in place.
He didn't want to leave, not when he had only been there for a scant moment. But the tasks entrusted to him pressed in, increasing their pressure with every breath, and he knew he had to go. Still, he could not move, tangled by her scent and the depth of her eyes. The room was autumn and lavender, tinged with brown, and it would be like leaving the atmosphere to leave the room, to leave the oxygen he required to breathe.
Steadying himself, he forced himself to form the dreaded words. "Goodbye," he murmured, touching her cheek very softly. Her skin was soft, causing his fingertips to flower with warmth, and before she had a chance to respond, he was already out the door and down the hall. If he prolonged his departure for even a moment longer, who knew what he would do.
Outside, Aidou felt his willpower collapsing, and leaned against the wall of the dorm building, breaths coming sharp and painful to his lungs. The air was black with the memory of her scent, clogging his senses. His throat burned, burned for her, his veins felt dry and papery under his skin. Trembling, fangs cutting against his skin, he was overwhelmed by her presence, by her subtle and gentle scent. With a ragged gasp, he pushed away, fighting back the hunger that would never give him respite.
"Shit," he muttered, running a hand through his hair.
His fingers convulsed around the empty blood package in his jacket pocket.
"Just shit."
The door clicked shut behind Aidou with a soft sound that sent a brief twinge of pain rushing across her chest. For a moment, the room was utterly empty, completely barren in a way that it hadn't been before. There was just her, just her and the silence, now that Yuuki was gone. It had been that way for months now, and would continue to be that way for the rest of the school year, but she had never thought that she could feel loneliness so tangibly, so acutely... It had never bothered her before. But suddenly, with the click of that door, she felt the loneliness dig its claws in underneath her skin.
She took a breath, steadying herself. She still had a letter. She still could hear from Yuuki, even if she was unable to respond yet. She wasn't completely alone or cut off. And she hoped that within another week or two Aidou would return with another letter.
As she moved to sit on her bed and read the letter, her hand became distracted, touching her cheek as if to try and find some residual warmth there from his touch. She could still feel the lingering pressure of his fingers against her cheek. His touch was gentle, and warm… Completely at odds with what she would have expected from him, before she knew him.
Shaking herself mentally, she allowed herself to become engrossed in the letter. The words moved before her eyes, painting a picture of the days Yuuki was spending, so far away from her in that unknown place. Towards the end of the letter, her eyes found the response to the question that had been plaguing her. She hadn't felt confident about asking Yuuki in the first place. She feared she might already know the answer. Yet, she had asked despite herself. She wanted to confide in her closest friend, even if she was unsure of how Yuuki would respond once she knew who Yori was referring to.
When you can't stop thinking about somebody like that…the way I can't stop thinking about Zero or Kaname-sama…isn't that love? Aidou keeps saying he's going to give me a vocab test—maybe I need one! But, it sounds like you're in love. Have you actually found someone you like?! Who is it? Do I know him? You have to tell me all about it!
Yori stopped reading. The letter continued for half a page longer, but she could no longer process the words written there. Her heart was beating faster than normal, despite her immediate reaction to dismiss the words. Did Yuuki know what she was suggesting? Love? She barely knew him. At best it was just a crush. A little one. Inconsequential. She was just lonely. Yuuki always blew things out of proportion.
And yet… Her fingers touched her cheek, her forehead. They quivered slightly, afraid of the implications that Yuuki's words had planted. She couldn't be actually falling for the infamous "Idol-senpai." It was a trap every single Day Class girl had fallen into, with only two exceptions: herself and Yuuki. She wasn't about to let Yuuki take sole ownership of that claim. She was determined that she was not going to become infatuated with the most arrogant, vain member of the Night Class.
But she knew that wasn't really fair. Or even true. Now that she knew him better she could see the person he was beneath that. In fact, his more irritating traits hadn't really come out at all the last time he'd visited. Instead, he'd been…sweet, charming, clever…
She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling light-headed. Absolutely not. This wasn't happening to her. She wasn't falling for him. But, if she was telling the truth…she had never felt this way towards anyone before.
The room was shrinking a little in the empty silence that buzzed discordantly in her ears. She wanted to hear his voice. She wanted to look up and see him sitting on the other bed, quietly watching her and waiting for her to finish.
The words were a whisper, but even that whisper seemed frightening loud to her ears. It was too much like a confession.
"Come back…"
A/N: I know it's been forever, but…review? :D