• CHAPTER 11 - NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT

    Confessions are never an easy thing. Most of the time, they result in bad circumstances. Other times, it could make anybody so incredibly happy. I seem to always get the bad end of the wishbone and get stuck with a bad outcome. Some confessions can just never be held back.

    After a few minutes, I was able to get over my confession and almost forget about how much of a fool I felt. I couldn't believe I just up and said it. I was so humiliated when he just pushed me away and left the room, saying nothing more that "Is that so?". He's probably heard better confessions before. I was probably just another mockery in his eyes, an embarrassment. I finally stood up and opened the opaque, crimson, velvet curtains and tied the rope around them. I didn't care if the sunlight came in, Kai wouldn't be in the bedroom again, so why not?

    "It keeps going from bad to worse for you, Arisa," I whispered to myself under my breath.

    Karma seemed to follow me everywhere. It always ended me up with the worst combinations. For example; I was a huge klutz and I was trapped in a house with two Vampires. One p***k of my finger that would draw even the smallest drop of blood and I was food. I turned my attention as I heard knocking at the bedroom door.

    "Arisa, are you going to finish your food?" it was Matsuda. He sounded cool but his voice showed a hint of concern.

    "No. I'm full, thank you." I had lost my appetite from crying a lot.

    I thought Matsuda had gone away, but instead he opened the door and allowed himself in. He stared at me with such a concerned face, "Are you okay, Arisa?"

    I took a deep breath and released it slowly, "Yeah. It didn't go as planned, but I'm fine."

    "I'm sorry, Arisa. Kai left again without saying anything."

    "Going to feed again?"

    "Actually, no," Matsuda's voice seemed somewhat surprised, "I was in his head for a brief moment when he left and he kept thinking about what he's going to say to you,"

    I laughed half-heartedly, "Probably going to throw it in my face,"

    "I highly doubt that, Arisa. Kai's a good kid."

    I knew he was, I really knew that. I'd just give him time so we can both put ourselves together. I knew Kai would never intentionally hurt me, although it sounds kind of selfish. He just doesn't seem like that kind of guy once you really get to know him.

    I nodded and smiled at Matsuda who smiled back, "Okay, Matsuda, I understand. I'll give him more time."

    Matsuda pat my head, "Take care of yourself,"

    Matsuda exited the room with envious grace. I sighed and sat on the bed and fiddled with my fingers. I realized that I wasn't feeling so upset anymore now that I've been talking to Matsuda. He's just that kind of person who you could tell anything, even your worst flaws, and he wouldn't change his opinion about you. I don't know if it's because he's an Angel, or if he's just respectful by choice.

    So I sat on the bed, waiting for Kai to come back with whatever he was going to say, positive or not.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    .:{{Kai's Perspective}}:.

    I held my next victim by the shoulders and pinned her against a brick wall in an alley, her back towards me. She was hyperventilating and kept pleading me to let her go. I squeezed her shoulders and hissed in her ear.

    "Be quiet,"

    She wouldn't silence herself. I brushed her hair away from her neck and inhaled deeply, taking up the familiar aroma I once admired, but not much anymore. She continued to struggle and squirm but I only gripped her tighter and pressed her against the wall harder. I didn't want to repeat myself. She started swinging her fists every which way. I opened my mouth and bore my fangs, ready to penetrate my next meal. My fangs barely pricked her skin and as soon as a single drop of blood reached my tongue, I withdrew, allowing her freedom. She hit my chest repeated times, crying and shaken and picked up her handbag and ran away. I was lucky I chose a dark part of an alley so she wouldn't get my description and turn me in to the police. I wiped off a drop of blood from my lips and licked it off.

    "Not so appealing anymore," I noted to myself in disgust.

    Normal human blood just didn't seem very good anymore since I had a taste of Arisa's. It had been a few days since I had last fed from her and I haven't fed off of anything since. I tell Matsuda I'm out feeding, but I'm only lying. I needed to clear my head. Arisa's confession was a lot to take in. I didn't intend for that to happen, and I only threw it in her face and left. I had never felt so much guilt in just a couple of days.

    I couldn't handle it anymore. I took out my cell phone and speed-dialed Takeuchi's number and let it ring a few times until he picked up, "What's uuup?!"

    Of course, hyperactive as ever, "Hey, Takeuchi,"

    "Where are you?"

    "I'm in the city...feeding,"

    "Found any lucky predators yet?"

    "Hey, don't joke about that," he always found a way to piss me off about feeding.

    "Hey, I'm just kidding. So what's the call for?"

    "Um...how's Arisa doing?"

    Takeuchi went silent for a moment, "She's been in the bedroom for a while, like, a couple of days. She seems upset. Did you two get into a fight?"

    I wouldn't call it a "fight" but just a little conflict, "No. I was just wondering."

    "Whatever you did you her, you might want to kiss and make...out," and he hung up on me. He was lucky he did otherwise I'd cause him to go deaf. He's the one thing that can set me off at the smallest of words.

    "Smart-a**,"

    I left the alley and made my way to the direction of my car. As I passed the police station, I glanced in through the window and saw the girl who I was about to attack. She was still crying and was calling her parents while an officer was trying to console her. I could hear her and her mother talking over the phone, saying when they'll be there, don't leave the building, tell the police everything, etc., etc. She probably thought I was a rapist or something. I quickly made my way to my car and left the city. For the first time, I was getting pissed that I was starting to loathe the taste of normal blood. Vampire blood was pretty good, but they can actually fight you off of them. But Arisa's...I sighed at the thought. Sure she was my Blood Bride, but I wouldn't want to take advantage of her.

    It was sunset and the sunlight suppressant pills were wearing off. My hands were starting to sting a little when the weakened sun struck them. Yeah, this was another thing that I hated about being a Vampire. We actually do burn in the sun. Not turn into ash, but just get severely burned and it doesn't kill us unless we're put out for every single lasting minute of sun from dawn to dusk. The sun was starting to hurt too much so I pulled over and turned off the car and tucked my hands into the shadows in the car and flipped the sun visor down. I checked the clock on the dashboard and sighed; it was about 3 hours until Arisa had to go to work. I'd take her anyways.

    I reclinced my seat and started thinking about what I could say to her. I...I really did like her...a lot. Right now, it'd be hard to imagine being without her. I'm too used to having her around. If it wasn't for that contract we wouldn't be having this problem. I couldn't kill her parents...and I sure as Hell couldn't kill her. I wished there was a loophole to this, or maybe even some kind of compromise, but I couldn't find any. I gripped my seat and allowed my nails to dig into the cushion. I'd sew it up later, but I had way too much on my mind to care about it. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't want to kill her. I didn't want to bring any harm or misery to her ever.

    I had...never felt so dedicated to a human before.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    "Kai, you missed dinner!" Kira shouted at me when I entered the house. I was still unsure about him around Arisa, but hey, he's my big brother, we're close.

    "I'm not hungry,"

    "We made onigiris specially for you,"

    "...Okay I'll eat," I couldn't say "no" to onigiris (rice balls). I'd die without them.

    Maybe it'd be better if I ate. I can't think well on an empty stomach, so I'll buy both me and Arisa some more time. As I was eating, Orihime made her way to the table and placed herself across from me. I kept my head down and concentrated on my food but I could feel her staring at me. I was started to get annoyed.

    "Okay, what do you want?" I snarled.

    "Nothing. Just watching you."

    It's not like she could really see me. I know it's cruel to say, but it's true. She hadn't always been blind, but it's too long of a story.

    "Yeah, whatever," I felt like being rude; I hated it when people interrupted me from my onigiri-consumptions.

    "Sure, Kai. Keep being rude like that and you'll be cooking your own meals."

    "Like I would have any problem with that. I'm 176 years old--technically--so yeah, I'm pretty sure I've learned more than enough about cooking."

    "But you're too lazy,"

    She got me on that one. Yeah, I'm lazy at times, so that's why Kira's around. I chuckled quietly to myself. Orihime's eyes never left me.

    "Okay, Orihime, you're starting to creep me out. What do you want?"

    "I'm just trying to figure out what you and Arisa are arguing about,"

    I paused, "We're not arguing. We're just...having some complications." I didn't know what to call it.

    "Arisa wants to talk to you. She keeps asking if you've come back, and here you are."

    It was no surprise Arisa was expecting me. I was expecting to talk to her anyways, you get the story. I threw my dish into the dishwasher and headed to the stairs. Kira approached me and slapped me on the back with a retarded grin on his face.

    "How's my favorite little brother?"

    "I wouldn't call myself 'little' anymore,"

    "Why not?"

    "We're nearly 200 years old, Kira,"

    "It doesn't matter. You're still younger than me, so no matter how old we are, you're always 'little'." I groaned and got onto the stairs but Kira grabbed my shirt, "I asked how you were doing, Kai!"
    I rolled my eyes, "Fine," I jerked his hand off of my shirt and he left laughing. For being as old as he is and about 9 months older than me, he sure is immature for his age. Of course...on my good days, I'm not any better.

    I reached the door to the room that was once my bedroom. I didn't know whose it was anymore. My stuff was still in there, but Arisa slept in it. I held onto the doorknob with one hand and held my other fist up, ready to knock on the door. Maybe she was taking a nap? Was I disturbing her from anything? I shook my head. She couldn't possibly be asleep before work. Just get this figured out, Kai, I thought to myself. I decided to skip the knocking and just get into the room. She was lying on her stomach on the bed, facing the door and was doing homework. She didn't even bother to look up before she spoke.

    "I'm okay, Kira. I'm not hungry."

    Kira? He was probably checking up on her a lot. I shut the door stealthily and continued to stand in the doorway and stare at her. I stood for several minutes until she finally looked up. She gaped and dropped her pencil. We stared at each other for another few minutes. Arisa quickly came back to her senses and picked up her stuff as I made my way towards her. She stood up and straightened out her shirt as if she were embarrassed. She looked down.

    "Um, hi," she whispered under her breath.

    "Hey,"

    She looked humiliated, thinking I didn't care about what she said. Her face showed a little tint of pink and she scratched her head in the silence, "You're back...?"

    I only nodded at her question and tucked my hands in my pant pockets. It was an awkward moment. I didn't know what to explain to her, but I could tell she had a million things to say.

    "Listen, Kai, I'm--"

    I pressed my index finger against her lips, "Shh...,"

    She ignored my shush, "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you or made you angry. I just wanted to let you know how I felt."

    "I know,"

    "I think that actually I feel more embarrassed than you because you don't feel the same way,"

    "I never said I was embarrassed. Just shocked." she sighed and I slid my finger up and played around with some of her bangs. Her hair was damp, so she must have just gotten out of the bath. That reminded me, "I've got to take you to work in a couple of hours,"

    She nodded. I didn't know how taking a bath related to dropping somebody off at work, but okay. Arisa sighed deeply, still humiliated. I lightly grabbed her chin and leaned in, inhaling her aroma. It smelled engaging and provocative. I tilted my head slightly and kissed her jaw. I could feel her stiffen under my touch but I didn't fret. I continued to lightly peck her jaw on both sides and removed my hand from her chin and lightly gripped her shoulder. I made my way to her neck, unaware of how much harder I was pressing my lips against her neck. I removed my other hand from my pocket and quickly wrapped it around Arisa's waist and pulled her close. I brushed my lips against her jaw and her ear and she gripped my sleeves.

    "You're...not angry?"

    I ignored her and sat her down on the bed and leaned over and continued my ambition. She kept herself from falling backwards as my mouth made its way to the corner of hers. I opened my eyes slowly and stared into the deep purple eyes I had grown accustomed to.

    "May I?"

    She still kept her gaze away from mine and she closed her eyes and sighed in acceptance. I kissed her slowly, not wanting to start things too fast. She subtly pulled me a little closer to her and entwined her fingers in my hair. She was kissing me harder, but it was only human that she would get carried away, so I continued with my own pace. Little did I know, I eventually ended up getting a little carried away myself. It was starting to intensify and I knew I could end up hurting Arisa unintentionally. I broke away from her for a brief second.

    "Hang on,"

    She had control this time. She continued to kiss me and I just went along with it. After a brief moment, I started uncontrollably kissing her and then her jaw and neck again. She was losing her breath and kept her fingers in my hair and her other arm wrapped beneath my shoulders. I leaned her back farther, still supporting her with my one arm around her waist. I licked her neck multiple times, being consumed my my Vampire instincts. I wanted to stop myself, but it was too late already. I penetrated her neck, as if cutting through butter, and she only winced and gripped me tighter. Her thermal blood surged from the new wound, into my mouth, and down my throat, calming burn that had been eating away at my throat for days. I could feel the blood trickle out of my mouth and down my chin. I continued my bidding, gripping her tighter and pushing her down onto the bed.

    I held her incredibly close but I couldn't hear her losing her breath. The only thing audible to my ears was the sound of my taking of her blood. Every swig of blood calmed the burn more and more. Even when the burn was completely gone, I didn't stop feeding. Her blood was much too provocative. She wasn't even trying to stop me. I finally had the guts to tear away from her blood and look down at her. She coughed a couple of times after my grasp loosened on her.

    "Arisa, were you--?"

    "I'm fine, Kai. I just got a little out of breath."

    She closed her eyes and her fingers fondled with my hair and I continued to stare at her. Her breathing steadied and she looked so calm, like she was daydreaming. I slowly lowered myself and kissed her forehead and kept myself at that spot as she opened her eyes slowly. I felt her eyelashes brush my chin.

    "So you're not embarrassed?" she sounded like a shy little girl. It was cute, I'd admit that.

    I smiled at my thought and closed my eyes, "Not at all,"

    There was an incredibly long moment of silence before she spoke again, "What are we going to do about the contract?"

    I flinched at the thought and pulled away from her forehead and looked at her dead in the eye, "I don't know. I'm trying everything in my power to stop it."

    A speck of blood dripped from my chin and landed on her cheek. She flinched a little and started looking nauseous. I leaned in and licked off the blood, stared at her again, and played with her bangs once again. She smiled weakly.

    "Thank you," she was thankful I removed the blood from her face, but she didn't feel any more comfortable staring at me with blood remnants still on my chin. I quickly wiped it off along with a little smudge I left on Arisa's forehead.

    "I'm going to find a way to stop it, just trust me,"

    Arisa smiled and nodded, "I know you will. I trust you."

    "But...if you do end up...dying...," I couldn't stand to say that to her, "I won't forgive myself,"

    Her face saddened, "It won't be your fault, Kai,"

    "I'm supposed to protect you,"

    "And you will. I also need to protect myself, you know."

    "Arisa, you're--," she cut me off by pressing her finger against my mouth.

    "I'm not giving up," she smiled confidently and it also showed in her eyes, "not without a fight,"