Chapter 4 - Like manga.rtf

-- Chapter 4 - Like manga ( ch 23) --

Zero was at the kitchen sink, running water over the soiled dishes Yuuki had brought in earlier. He commended himself on having sufficient control earlier to place the plate of food he’d just prepared in front of Aido instead of merely dumping its contents on the tousled blond curls of the aristocratic vampire. He congratulated himself for not betraying the fact that he had in fact heard the tail end of the conversation between Yuuki and Aido.

Even if I’m betrayed. It’s okay.

You may not mind, Yuuki… but I do! he thought fiercely to himself. And I will kill anybody who betrays you… or even tries to…

Scowling, he grabbed the bottle of washing up liquid and squirted a generous amount of the green liquid into a bowl.

CRASH!

The empty plate slipped from Yuuki's fingers and shattered on the kitchen floor. She stared down at it, for a moment feeling like she was again ten years old and had just smashed yet another piece of crockery. Uh oh, what would Father say?

Yuuki bit her lip, shaking her head hard to clear that memory. For heaven’s sake, that was five years ago! Get a grip, she told herself.

Zero started when he heard the crash. He was so caught up in his thoughts, he hadn’t heard Yuuki walk into the kitchen. He glanced around to see her crouching down in front of the broken pieces of a plate on the floor, then turned back to the sink without comment. He had a pretty decent idea of what made her drop it even though dropping crockery wasn’t exactly a new hobby for Yuuki.

She was sure Zero had heard part if not all, of what was said. He’d smiled a little earlier back in the kitchen when he told her not to worry but when he came to the dining room after that, his expression was like a thundercloud as he set the plate of food down hard in front of Aido and stalked back to the kitchen without a word.

I can’t help but worry about Zero, she thought. Even though he doesn’t want me to… it’s just not fair! And I can’t believe what I just confessed what Kaname meant to me, and to Aido the playboy vampire, of all people...!

A flush rose in her cheeks, and she ducked her head, not wanting Zero to see. Quickly, she reached for the largest shard on the floor but miscalculated its distance from her hand. The jagged edge of the shard sliced open the tip of her left index finger.

Drops of blood welled up from the cut on Yuuki's finger and dripped onto the broken piece she had tried to pick up.

"Oww..."

Almost fascinated, Yuuki stared at another drop of blood welling up on her finger, forgetting for a moment there was a vampire just two feet away from her and another one outside in the living room...

Zero reached for the washing sponge by the sink only to drop it a second later. He heard her exclamation of pain almost the same time his sensitive nose picked up the scent of Yuuki’s blood. It tickled his vampire senses…

He swung around to face Yuuki, who was still staring at her cut finger.

“Don’t touch them anymore. Now…” he warned. Dammit, Yuuki, Aido was in the living room!

Yuuki looked up.

“Wait.”

She could tell he was hungry… starving in fact. He had thrown her out of his room yesterday when she tried to give him her blood to help his wounded leg to heal. He’d refused of course. She had even gone as far as to bite his neck with her small teeth. Fair’s fair, after all… it hadn’t worked.

“Just go.”

She had caught a glimpse of his pale face, set and resolute, before the door slammed in her face.

And that night, when he fought off the vampire sent by the Senior Council, she could see the effort it’d cost him, how he’d almost collapsed on his knees then. If Kaname and the other Night Class students hadn’t come to their aid…

Even now, glaring down at her, she could see the blood hue blossoming in his eyes and hear his quickened breathing. Holding his gaze, she got to her feet. Slowly, she held up her bleeding hand towards him.

Zero inhaled sharply, nostrils dilating at the scent of her sweet, sweet blood only inches away. His chest started heaving, he could feel his fangs starting to grow… Even though it made his senses reel, he stubbornly refused to look at her hand. Go away, Yuuki…

“Lick it.”

Her voice was soft, almost a whisper but he heard both words with startling clarity. They rang in his ears and echoed in his brain. His breath caught. Wordlessly he held her gaze a moment longer, then he reached out with his left hand. Even without looking, his long fingers closed unerringly over hers. He brought it up to his lips. Aido was forgotten.

Eyes closing in anticipation, fangs extending even further, he slipped her bleeding finger into his mouth, closing his lips around its base. Aaahhh… the sweetness of her blood… it was… maddening… His tongue swiped at her finger, licking it clean and he sucked gently on the cut before slowly removing it from his mouth, sliding it past his lips, one of his fangs grazing on the side of her finger. It was long… and the pointed ends were needle-sharp.

Ah… Zero’s… fangs… I felt it.

Watching him take her finger into his mouth, Yuuki blushed. And blushed harder when she felt his tongue glide over her finger. And squirmed when he closed his lips around her finger as he slid it out… That felt… she didn’t really know how to describe it, only it made her breath hitch and heartbeat speed up...

Zero’s fingers clenched suddenly on her hand, his breathing sounding laboured as he bent forward and clutched at his chest with his right hand, fingers curling tightly into the front of his sweater. I… can’t… he thought desperately.

“No. Don’t deny it.”

She spoke urgently. Even angrily. He glanced at her then, pain and need warring in his eyes. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised that she almost always… knew just what he was thinking.

“Only I know that Zero is starving…”

“Yuuki…” he gasped. Why did she always know so much about him? He grasped her cut hand with his right, pulling it closer to his face again, the cuff of her long sleeve getting in the way.

Yuuki knew she’d won. She kept her left hand limp in his grasp and her gaze steady on his, wishing she could absorb his pain.

His heart is “hurting”. Zero should smile, too she thought sadly.

Intertwining long lean fingers with her own slender ones, he brought her hand up even closer to his lips. Yuuki felt the quick puffs of his breath warm the sensitive skin on her wrist with the charmed bracelet adorning it. With his left hand, he slowly slid the cuff of her sleeve together with her bracelet further down her arm. She waited, hardly breathing.

She expected him to bite her then… it would be the first time she could actually see him ‘in action’ so to speak… after all, he’d always drunk from her neck before, that was physically impossible to witness first hand unless you used mirrors… she got sidetracked for a moment. Then she realised that Zero had hesitated, perhaps thinking the very same thing.

Could I let her see me do this? he wondered uneasily, looking down at her wrist. That was a mistake - the skin on Yuuki’s wrist was pale and almost translucent, a perfect background that showcased her delicate blue green veins with startling clarity. He could sense her pulse, practically feel it pumping fresh blood to her hand and fingers. He felt his fangs extend fully, and he drew another pained breath. I… want it… now…

Yuuki stopped breathing completely when she saw his lips pull back to reveal long pointed gleaming fangs. She stared transfixed as his fingers tightened even more on hers and his fangs sank into her wrist.

“Ugh!” It was a groan… of heartfelt relief as Zero started to suck the precious liquid into his parched mouth.

“Ow…” Yuuki squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as his fangs pierced her tender flesh and the dull pain traveled up her arm. Gosh, that really stung… I didn’t know my wrist is even more sensitive than my neck, she thought, mildly surprised.

Blood trickled slowly down her arm. She opened her eyes, noting the rivulets dripping over her bracelet as Zero drank. Then she glanced up at him. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down one lean cheek.

What does Zero mean to me? she wondered yet again. She could see the blood glow in his eyes and she knew she should be scared. But she wasn’t… because this was Zero, the boy she’d known for four years now, the one person who knew her inside out… he was a part of her…

Even as a thrill almost of apprehension traveled down her spine, she just could not look away. His gaze was so… intense… but unguarded. His expression was fierce… but vulnerable.

It was a fascinating study in contradiction, and one that held her attention and begged her to decipher its mystery. He looked like he was caught doing something he shouldn’t have… but at the same time, couldn’t stop himself either from going right ahead and doing it.

I shouldn’t want this… but I do… his look told her, almost daring her to say something. But she didn’t. She could see the anguish in his eyes. It arrested her. Hot tears pricked her eyes but she didn’t let them fall this time.

Unnoticed by them, Aido was leaning against the kitchen door jamb, arms folded loosely in front of him. He was highly affronted of course - didn’t that Cross girl just said she didn’t mind being betrayed by Kaname-sama?? How could she do this, and to him, of all people. He was also tempted - after all, he knew her blood was delicious. But most of all, he was surprised – does she really care for that upstart vampire hunter turned vampire, and… and…

“Humph!” He tossed his head impatiently, then swung around before they noticed his presence. “Such a nuisance. What was that.”

As he strode back to the living room, Aido found himself thinking of Kiriyu again. What the hell… He exhaled sharply, throwing both arms up in the air. “Why am I worried over him!? I’m worried about Kaname-sama.

As Aido threw himself on the sofa again, the scene he witnessed came unbidden to his mind again. He sighed. It was a good smell… Absolutely.

Zero felt the painful wound on his leg heal. He stopped drinking and tore his gaze away from hers, staring unseeingly at the wall but his lips were still closed on her wrist, tongue absently licking the puncture wounds. He still felt… like he’d been caught doing something naughty… even though what they did went somewhat beyond stealing cookies… or playing truant…

Yuuki blinked. Her arm was getting tired and her fingers, although still interlaced with Zero’s own warm ones, were cold and on pins and needles after being held up and deprived of oxygen rich blood. She was suddenly aware of her surroundings and realised the kitchen was… well, not a really appropriate place to do this sort of thing… I mean, the door wasn’t even closed! What was she thinking…!

Now that he’d stopped drinking, her fingers started tingling as they were replenished by blood circulation flowing unhindered again. She uttered a small gasp as Zero, who was now absently cleaning off any remaining blood on her hand, ran his tongue from her wrist, up her palm to the base of her index finger, making her shiver involuntarily. He paused, raising an eyebrow at her.

“What?” he asked. Innocently.

“Stop that!” she hissed, cheeks flushed, trying to pull her hand back but failing.

Zero smirked. Holding her hand a little more tightly, he brought it up to his mouth again and ran the tip of his tongue lightly on the same path – starting at her wrist, up her palm, to the base of her index finger but this time, continuing onto the oh-so-sensitive skin connecting her index and middle fingers.

“Ooohhh…” Yuuki shivered, closing her eyes for a moment.

“Like that, do you?” Zero murmured, a wicked glint in his amused eyes now.

Yuuki’s eyes snapped open. If looks could kill…

“Zero!” she hissed at him again, yanking on her arm. He resisted, exerting just the right amount of pressure to hold her hand captive in his without hurting her. “I haven’t quite finished cleaning up yet…” he told her lightly, almost… haughtily.

“Zero! Please… stop… t-that…” she said jerkily, closing her eyes and inhaling sharply between each word as he turned her palm over and lavished attention on her other fingers, taking each into his mouth in turn even though they were completely free of bloodstains to begin with. Taunting amethyst eyes looked down at her as he inserted each trembling finger into his mouth, sliding it past his lips and running his tongue down its length, taking care to draw his tongue slowly over the sensitive skin at its base before slowly releasing it from the wet warmth of his mouth, enjoying the sight of Yuuki squirming helplessly, eyes wide, small mouth parted in an oval of surprise.

“Ooohhh…” Yuuki moaned softly, almost to herself. She drew in a shaky breath.

Zero heard it and it created another hunger in him… but it wasn’t motivated by blood. A sudden urge to hear her breath hitching like that again, only he would cause it by other ways and means…

He pressed a soft kiss into the equally soft palm of her small hand, unable to resist touching his tongue to it before sliding it up to cup it against his cheek.

Touched beyond words, a silent tear slipped down Yuuki’s cheek. It brought Zero to his senses. Dammit, what was he thinking…!

He scowled and dropped her hand suddenly, all light heartedness gone from his face now. “This isn’t such a good idea…” he muttered, frowning.

Yuuki let her arm drop back at her side, resisting the urge to look at her tingling hand. She could feel his saliva drying on her still trembling fingers and the knowledge raised goose bumps on her arms.

How dare he… play with her feelings… like that? She swept the palm of her other hand over the telltale dampness on her cheek, swallowed hard and took a deep steadying breath.

“Well! I’m glad you finally realised that!” she informed him stormily, eyes sparking with temper. She swung around, wanting to head off to her bedroom to cool down and look for a band aid. She would deal with the fact that it hadn’t been completely… unpleasant… later. Much later.

“Yuuki – wait…!” Zero took two long strides forward, laying his palms on her shoulders, effectively stopping her in her tracks.

“What?” she bit out, not looking at him. Her shoulders were tense under his palms.

He swung her around easily to face him, causing auburn strands to swing lightly around her face, releasing its sweet fragrance. Releasing his grip on her shoulders, he slid both hands forward until his lower arms rested on her shoulders. He leant his forehead lightly against hers. “Thank you…” he said simply, completely serious this time.

Yuuki glared into his eyes, frowning as she tried her hardest to remain angry with him, only to have a smile reluctantly tilting her lips upwards only moments later. A rueful chuckle escaped him as he pulled her into his arms, resting his chin on her hair.

“Oh, Yuuki…” he sighed into her hair, feeling her arms move around him to hold him tighter. What am I going to do with you…?

They stood together in silence for long moments before he spoke again.

“Did you like me taking… it… from your wrist?” he asked quietly, almost uncertainly. Then, as she stood there stunned into silence – he’d never asked this one before!, he continued hesitantly “… or do you prefer… from your neck…?”

Yuuki pulled back to look at him. “Neck” she said. Decisively. Succinctly. There was a distinct look of warning in her brown eyes.

He looked back at her, still serious but with an amused glint in his eyes.

“That’s a shame” he murmured. “The flow in your wrist is less… certainly, but somehow more… rewarding…” he teased her.

He wasn’t disappointed. It was Yuuki who scowled this time as she jerked herself free from his embrace, spun around and practically ran off to her bedroom.

She completely missed the heartwarming sight of Zero looking at her with a tender smile on his lips, shaking his head slightly.

Well, he was left to clean up the broken plate as well as the dirty dishes now… but even as Zero crouched down to pick up the broken pieces of crockery, he felt it was worth it. Definitely worth it.

-- Chapter End --