Chapter
2
“Hime-sama”
Seiren bowed calmly before the pureblood, who stud alone at the
window ledge, quietly watching the night-sky. She turned almost
gracefully to tell Seiren, once again, that she needn’t bow, nor
address her as 'princess'. “Forgive me.. Kuran-sama. But, I have
come to the end of my report” … “I thought that you should be
the first to know...”
* * *
Crimson eyes
slowly peeled open, only to be repelled again by a sudden, burning
sunlight,
“Kami.. what
did I say about opening the curtains in the morning?” She mumbled,
turning over onto her side, letting the cold of the wall hit her
forehead as she rested her face against the cool plaster. She didn't
need to open her eyes to see Kami smile; her voice always gave away
her emotions. “But it's such a beautiful day~!”, Natsume
listened, her eyes now slightly open but not looking at anything in
particular. She listened as Kami twirled towards the window,
breathing lightly as she opened it and a warm summer breeze fell in.
She was silent
for a moment as she watched the outside world, before she turned back
to Natsume, still smiling. “It's a Saturday, so I thought we'd go
into the town, you know?”.
Natsume grumbled.
The sun was already harsh to her immortal eyes, not to mention that
the current sun was in summer. It would be particularly unbearable.
She heard Kami
protest, but she barely listened.
“Please,
Natsume... it-it would... make me happy”.
Kami had her
attention now.
She was a sucker
for fulfilling Kami's human needs, whether that be by eating human
food, though it tasted stale and plain to her, or carrying out her
more intimate requests.
Letting the thin
bed sheets be pulled off her momentarily as Kami climbed into bed
beside her and held onto her back like a child, Natsume felt her
softer side begin to show through.
With a sudden
burst of energy, she pulled Kami by the arm on top of her; with a
defeated smile, she brushed her lips with a cold fingertip. “Let me
get a shower first..”.
* * *
The town was full
of other students from Cross Academy, but Natsume paid them no heed
as she let Kami pull her along through the streets. She had insisted
that she bring a parasol with them, but had, of course, not expanded
on as to why.
Her immortality
was a secret that even Kami could not be trusted with.
“It's strange,
don't you think? They're so selective about who is allowed to join
the Night Class...” Said Kami in between a dainty scoop of her
flavoured ice. Natsume looked up from hers; she'd barley touched it.
“I thought I told you, I don't like talking about them...”. Kami
pulled a face when she saw Natsume poking her dessert, boredom
slashed across her face. Leaning impatiently over the table, she
picked up the little plastic spoon, and began to feed Natsume the
cold treat, until she finally held up her hand, telling her to stop.
Silence replaced
their conversation.
…
“Natsume?”,
“Hm?”. Kami, though first confident in what she was going to say,
had become shy and nervous, barely plucking up the courage to finish
her sentence. In the end, Natsume did it for her.
“Let's walk. I
want to talk to you, Kami..”. At this, her eyes lit up.
Senpai-sama..
wants to talk to me about something important!
Natsume was
already stud, her parasol held up above her head, her hand held out
calmly waiting for Kami to take it, which she did, readily.
“W-where... are
we going, Natsume?”. She didn't reply. They were not going
anywhere, in particular. But now, she feared, they were lost.
Alone, she would
have easily been able to use the rooftops to navigate her way back,
but with Kami, that wasn't a risk she was willing to take.
She sighed,
irritated. Knowing that being able to get back, or, at least, if once
she'd told Kami what she came to discuss with her and she wanted to
run, was more important than what she had to say.
Making a final
decision mentally, she turned to Kami, and handed her her parasol.
The sun was now hidden behind a veil of clouds, which eased the light
heating sensation on her skin, but not entirely, she put both hands
onto her shoulders. “Wait here. I'm going to go find a way back.
You must promise me that you will wait here, and don't loose the
parasol. Understand, Kami?”. She looked for a moment in Natsume's
serious eyes, before smiling, and nodding, clutching the parasol
tightly, “I'll stay right here, until you come and get me...”,
Natsume gave a light smile at her innocence, before turning. She took
one last, careful scan of the area, and left.
Kami was alone.
* * *
The sky had sunk
from a calm blue, to uneasy streaks of red and orange, the summer air
cooling caused her to shiver. Kami clutched the parasol tightly,
though the chances of her loosing it were slim, she was very
protective of Natsume's things.
“She'll be back
very soon. She wouldn't leave me here, I know that” Kami did her
best to smile, but she found that she was beginning to doubt that
promise.
It had been early
afternoon when Natsume had left; she had no way of knowing what the
time was now...
“All alone, are
we?”. Kami gasped, the shock of the voice causing the parasol to
drop suddenly out of her hand.
Dropping into a
bow, she apologised quickly, falling to her knees to retrieve it from
the ground.
The figure said
nothing.
“I really am
very sorry, sir. I-I'm just a little lost, you see, and I am waiting
for-” a cold, slender hand felt its way onto her shoulder.
A smirk.
“You're very
warm...” the figure crouched down beside Kami, who's eyes were wide
with fear and confusion as he moved his hand over the jugular vein
along her neck, applying a light pressure to it with two chilled
fingers. She shivered under his grip, and squeezed her eyes shut as
she felt his sharp nails dig their way into her skin.
Warm blood
trickled.
The figure smiled
darkly, and took a long intake of breath through his nose, his eyes
closing and then reopening with a toothy grin.
“You're blood
has such an enticing smell.. but- what is this? You're taken by
another..”.
Kami's eyes
remained shut as she stuttered, “A-another?”. The figure began to
laugh deeply, as he dipped his fingers into the trail of blood that
now fell down her neck, bringing them to his mouth and licking his
fingertips slowly.
“P-please...
stop...”.
He laughed again,
this time grabbing a hold of her neck, forcing her to the floor as he
lay over her, his loose arm propping him up against the ground.
“Such a weak,
fragile human...”
His
eyes... a crimson red... a deep, lusting hunger for...
A flash appeared
in Kami's mind.
Natsume.
Crimson red eyes... they too were lusting for something...
His hands
entangled themselves in her hair as he laughed again, this time it
was loud, echoing against the tight, empty streets around them, as
his head plunged down towards her neck.
A
sharp pain... I have felt it before...
“Release the
girl, and perhaps I shall make your death a little less painful” a
voice called across the courtyard, the caller's shadow cast over the
two figures laying still on the ground.
Kami felt her
attacker's body tense as he looked up to the speaker. What she first
thought was fear from her attacker soon seemed to turn to amusement.
“Well well
well...” he said confidently, lifting himself up from the ground,
leaving Kami numb and weak from his attack, “If it isn't a little
pureblood's spy. I can smell that arrogant scent on you-” he was
barely able to finish his sentence, before the speaker knocked him
back across the courtyard in a dash of blood and breaking bones,
sending Kami's attacker hurtling against the wall of a far building.
When the dust had
cleared a little from the impact, Kami saw the man stagger to his
feet, before failing to have enough strength to stay upright, and
fall weakly back to the ground.
A pale hand came
into the girl's view, as she gasped at the sudden coldness of the
speaker's skin, who dragged her up to her feet.
“S-siren-senpai...
of the.. Night Class...?” weak from the attack and the days events,
Kami slumped, unconscious into the waiting arms of the vampire who
served the Kuran clan.
The bodyguard to
Lord Kaname sighed, as she lifted Kami up into her arms to carry her
back to the academy. Looking down to the girl in her arms, she
thought, “What would a rouge vampire want from a human as weak as
this?”.
A familiar scent
drifted through the air, causing her to turn her attention lighting
quick in the direction of the rooftop of the abandoned building,
against which the body of the ex-human vampire who had attacked this
little human that she held, lay.
Her expression
remained one of seriousness. She was here on business. Letting her
gaze remain on the building for what felt like a lifetime, she
finally turned her back to the roof, before jumping into the air with
the motionless body of Kami, using the rooftops as her pathway back
to Cross Academy.
Stepping out from
the shadow of the chimney she had hidden behind when Siren had turned
to face her direction, Natsume rested one hand on the bricks of the
structure that had once exhaled smoke, but now lay dormant. Her eyes
glowed a heavy crimson, and though her glare didn't show the full
extent of her anger that not only had a filthy ex-human dared touch
her Kami, but that now a pureblood spy was involved.
Never taking her
attention away from the retreating Siren, Natsume slammed her hand
that had rested against the chimney through the bricks, her eyes
squinting viciously in the direction of the Night Class vampire.
