Friday (11/14/XX) 11:04PM
I aimlessly spun the wand as I stared blankly into the night sky. I could feel a tingling sensation over my body as I stood within the moonlight for what seemed like a bittersweet eternity. Nights such as these were a blessing or hell for me. Strength surges through my veins, yet falling into its temptation would destroy me.
Turning my head to where Akio stood, I couldn't ignore the heavy feeling on my chest, imagining the worst for my friend. It took all of my willpower to stop myself from going after Akio, but I knew it was not my place to meddle. Brushing my stray hairs out of my eyes, I spun on my heels and teleported myself.
Upon stepping onto the campus, I saw the bustling crowd of students coming from the portal. Finding my way through the crowd, I snapped my fingers to change into my school uniform. The hall was filled with hushed whispers as people were huddled closely against the walls. As much as I tried to listen to their conversations, their gossip halted when they saw me staring. Their gazes suddenly shifted behind me in which I followed suit.
Kazu obediently walked beside Nikolas to their respective classrooms. Nikolas's sullen, dark transformation left me with even more horrible possibilities of what might have happened. As if unphased by his peers’ attention, Nikolas's gait was threatening.
Soon enough, word of a fight, or rather a battle, on-campus spread insanely quickly across the student body. It's not the first time a battle of this scale happened, but the thought of two vampires tearing each other apart was a thrill to hear for many. At the night's end, I decided to see what truly happened for myself.
"What?!" I heard someone yell as I quietly slid open the Healthroom's door.
I shook my head, instantly able to identify that low, monotone voice. “Geez, for someone so calm and collected, you can be so noisy.”
The two boys turned towards the curtain as I exhaled heavily.
Kazu gasped. “It’s Acchan’s friend!”
Nikolas frowned at me. “What are you doing here?”
I put my right hand on my hip. “Oh? Can’t I care about my friend’s friend now?” I pushed up my glasses with my pointer finger. “I heard people talking about the fight you got into with Zaros. Plus,” I stepped to the side to show the unconscious vampire on the bed next to Nikolas. “He’s not waking up for a while.”
The werewolf tilted his head. “Wait, I thought you went to school with Acchan?”
“I do.” I fixed my raven black bangs. “I also go to night school to master my magical skills.” I smiled at Nikolas who was giving me the most unphased stare. “He knew that.”
Kazu’s ears pointed up in surprise. “Niky, you knew that?!”
Nikolas raised a brow. “I see him around campus.”
“Enough about me. What’s more important is Akio.”Nikolas went quiet as I continued. “Akio is worried about you. You have to talk to him.”
“After what I did, he probably hates me.”
The corner of my eye twitched in a mix of irritation and uneasiness. I could already feel the lividness in my blood start to boil.
“Hates you enough to be thinking about you all the time?” I crossed his arms. “I’m with Akio for most of the school day, and you’re clearly on his mind all of the time. Because you’re avoiding him he’s probably going crazy.”
Nikolas scratched the back of his head. He asked timidly, “You think so?”
I took off my glasses and snapped my fingers, controlling a piece of fabric to clean the lens. “For being the heartthrob of Takuya High, you’re clueless about love.”
Nikolas took out a candied beetle from its wrapping and plopped it into his mouth. “I've only dated once.”
I facepalmed. “You’re HOPELESS.” I put my glasses back on. “Kazu is right, you need to pay for your consequences and talk to Akio.”
Nikolas grumbled. “Fine, I’ll go to school and talk to him.”
Kazu gasped. “Are you insane?! You can’t go on campus during the day.”
“Akio managed to go on campus,” said Nikolas.
“And he almost died that one day,” I argued.
Nikolas covered his mouth with his fist. “He didn’t die because of me.” His facial expression darkened. “But I did exactly what I didn’t want to do to him…” Nikolas muttered.
Kazu tilted his head and looked at me, but I hadn't an idea either. I took a mental note of his ominous words.
Nikolas pushed the blanket off of him. “What time is it?”
“School ended already, it’s six in the morning,” I said.
“Does day school start soon?”
I shook my head at Nikolas. “Today’s Saturday, so there’s no school.” My eyes widened. “Crap, I need to go.”
“Wait, why?” Kazu questioned as I gathered my belongings.
“We have a match in a few hours.”
“I’ll come with you,” Nikolas said while getting out of his bed.
“Nikolas, no,” I protested sternly, “You need to talk to him, but not right now. You need to rest.”
Nikolas gave a dark look at me, but I was unfazed. I twirled my finger, tucking the stubborn vampire back into bed. Before leaving the Nurse’s room, I took one glance at the unconscious vampire and fought the urge to kill him right then and there. My inner monologue told me otherwise and I exited the room as a pacifist.
-
Irritation and annoyance welled up in my chest. I was tempted to cast a curse on that damn vampire the moment I saw him outside of the soccer field. It especially pissed me off when he caught that soccer ball. Everywhere that man goes he somehow becomes the center of attention.
One of our teammates called out to Akio, asking him to join them for dinner. Sen followed the rest of the team out and called out to us. “Ryunosuke! Akio! Are you coming?” Sen hollered from the entrance.
The two of us nodded. “Hold on! I’m changing my clothes!” Akio replied.
I watched intently as Sen grinned and walked out with the others. I turned and saw Akio silently putting on his pants. I quickly moved my head in the other direction and caught sight of a tall figure standing in the doorway.
“Akio,” I called out. When I turned around he was no longer there. I faced the visitor and glared at him. “What are you doing here?” I fiercely asked.
“I need to talk to Akio.”
“You have the nerve to show your face today!” I complained, “Your appearance made him flustered the entire game! I know I told you to talk to him, but I didn’t mean right now!”
“When should I talk to him then?”
I swore under my breath. “Well," I said, "it seems like Akio isn’t here right now.”
He was silent. Every fiber of my being wanted to punch him as I looked at his face.
“Akio probably wouldn’t like to see you unexpectedly.”
There was another silence.
“He probably wouldn’t,” he muttered.
I tensed my jaw in annoyance. After listening to me berate him, the visitor slowly nodded in obedience. His footsteps were hesitant, but he eventually walked out of the locker room.
I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, attempting to calm myself. "Akio, he left."
A head of pink hair popped out from behind the lockers. I held my hand out to help him up. His hand was trembling uncontrollably. My brows furrowed looking at the shaken state he was in. I placed my hand on his left shoulder and my eyes were drawn to the band-aid on his neck. At that moment, I finally connected the dots.
I gasped. "I knew it."
Akio hurriedly put his school dress shirt on while I angrily mumbled to myself. I started to lose the last of my patience.
"Did it happen during the lunar eclipse?"
He slowly nodded.
My right eye twitched again before I pushed up my glasses. I could feel the blood in my veins curdling with rage. "I'm going to kick his ass."
I started to walk away, but Akio desperately grabbed onto the hem of my shirt. "Please don't!"
"If I had known he did that to you I would've killed him on the spot." I grabbed my wand out of my pocket.
The fucking audacity of him. I said to myself. A part of me was furious at Nikolas, but another was hating myself for not following Akio that night.
Akio let go of my shirt, gazing down. "I let him do it to me."
My eyes widened in surprise. I exhaled and put my hand to my forehead. "You gave him consent to bite you?!"
He brushed his hair with his fingers and nodded while staring at the ground.
"Why are you avoiding him then?" I questioned.
He shrugged. “The last time I was with him he rejected me when I tried to touch his-” he stuttered. I frowned in puzzlement as he continued to stumble on his words. “Um, he made a move on me, but when I tried to do the same he sent me-”
“He did WHAT now?” I clenched my fist around my wand. The situation was worse than I thought.
He raised his hands and started to vigorously shake his head. “N-no! Wait, Ryu, please listen! What I’m trying to say is, I don’t know if he truly likes me or sees me only as a human.”
I shut my eyes and lifted my hands in defeat. “I don’t want to meddle any more with the situation you’re in with Nikolas, so all I’m going to say is to talk to him.”
“That’s the thing, I don’t know HOW OR WHEN!”
I couldn't control my temper any longer.
“HE WAS JUST HERE, BUT YOU DECIDED TO HIDE! I EVEN COVERED FOR YOU!” I picked up my sports bag and pointed my wand at his face. “I’m done with this drama. If you want to fix this, YOU need to do it yourself.” I twirled the wand around my fingers with a serious look. “However, if he decides to lay a finger on you again, he’ll be hearing from me.”
Akio also grabbed his sports equipment and slowly nodded. I began to regret my sudden outburst and decided to recollect myself.
I softened my gaze. “C’mon, let’s go eat some yakiniku.” I beckoned him as I moved toward the entrance.
Akio gave me a weak smile and the two of us walked out of the locker room together.
Fucking vampires can go to hell. I deadpanned.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
