WARNING: Mushy gross cliche vampire-love crap coming your way. Click the back button. Abort. Abort. Abort.

Vampire Knight © Hino Matsuri.

Was it a cruel fate that entangled their lives amongst the thorns and roses?

He strived for attention. And with his looks and talent, it wasn't hard. Just a smile here and there, and they'd be dropping at his feet. And yet this—this human girl didn't give him one proper glance.

He'd seen her before. Yuki Cross's friend. A straight-A student. Always leaving school and heading straight for the Girl's Dormitory; never there at sunset, the only time the Day-class had the chance see the Night-class. The day they first met was a simple coincidence.

Although he relished in the flattery and attention of the Day Class girls, they would always be people uncalled for. During one of these moments, she happened to be pushing through the crowd, trying to get back to the Sun Dorm. And when their shoulders bumped, ice blue eyes locked on to hazel, for a fraction of a second. Though they didn't speak a word to each other, that was the day that the petite human girl had piqued his interest by the way she had practically sauntered past his beauty not even stopping to spare him a second glance.

Since the first meeting, he couldn't help but feel the desire to learn more about her, one thing in particular. What was her name?

A most fragrant rose this late bloomer had become.

The second time they were able to speak, he couldn't help but get impatient.

With an irritated expression he flapped his arms up and down as he yelled, "ARGH! WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT? WHAT IS IT?"

"What is what?" she asked calmly, giving him a blank stare.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, he stopped waving his arms and jumping up and down, "YOUR NAME! WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"

"Sayori Wakaba. And yours?" The contrast in tone of voice between them was prominent—Sayori: soft and calm, and Hanabusa: strident and over the edge.

"Sayori Waka—" Repeating the name to himself, he interuppted himself after realising something. "YOU DON'T KNOW MY NAME?" He screamed incredulously in a volume so deafening, Yori had to squint to look at him as a gust of wind blew from the force of his voice.

"No, I'm afraid I don't know your name." She remained unperturbed by his boisterous demeanor as she wiped sprays of spit he had flecked onto her face.

Slapping his hand to his forehead, he let out another sigh. Feeling her serenity rubbing off on him, he toned down his voice and murmured, "Hanabusa Aidou, my name is Hanabusa Aidou."

The next time they had met wasn't in such a peaceful situation but more sinister and precarious. The school was in desperation, classes canceled, students ordered to stay inside.

Yori was gazing out the window, asking the same question every other Day Class student was asking. 'What's going on?' But there was something else that made her heart clench.

Yuuki, where are you?

The fair skin between her slender eyebrows creased as she frowned. It was then that she felt a bone-chilling breeze blow from the open window behind her, but it wasn't just the breeze that was unexpectedly disturbing. Someone or something was there. An animal? Spinning around she came face to face with a strangely handsome man, his cloak and the white curtains of the window billowed together, the wind growing stronger as he hopped off the window sill with unexpected grace.

"How do you do, Miss?" With his hands clasped together in front of him, he smiled at her. It wasn't a warm smile. It was more like the satisfied smile you'd see on a cat with a mouse struggling halfway down its throat. He continued, "We're in the middle of preparing a present for master whom we haven't seen in such a long time."

"... Who..." Yori stood rooted to the spot, her face turning ashen. What this man said didn't make any sense. Could he be trusted?

Noticing that she made no action to move away from him, the predator advanced forward, "Like I said a pres—" Before either the stranger or Yori could utter another word, a stake of ice pierced through the man's chest, killing him instantly. Yori put a hand to her mouth, feeling that if she didn't at that very moment, she would scream.

A familiar voice overlapped the pounding of blood in her ears, another gust of wind blowing from the window. "Yori-chan! Are you alright! Did he do anything to you!"

This was the second time someone had appeared from the window. This time, it was Yuuki squatting on the window sill, her dark hair flowing about her, with Aidou close behind. Did her hair grown longer? She looked different. Her whole prescence was different. "Yuuki—You...?"

He was ordered to take her to a safe place, but... WHERE IN THIS SCHOOL IS IT SAFE? Yori observed his striking face as veins started to pop up, a result of his frustration. "Aidou-sempai?" she called out uncertainly as he continued to roughly pull on her arm and hurriedly march to God knows where. Thinking of something that would catch his attention, she raised her voice a little, "Aidou-sempai... It hurts."

Her straight-forward statement snapped him out of his thinking bringing his striding to a halt. Knowing that Kaname would slap him if Yuuki's best friend was harmed, Aidou panicked, "WHAT HURTS?"

"My arm." Yori responded flatly, pointing at the red handprint closed around her wrist.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, he slightly loosened his firm clasp on her, and resumed to his fast paced run. "Aidou-sempai..." He's still not listening. "Aidou-sempai!"

Turning around without warning, he released her, "WHAT?"

Using the wall as a support, Yori put a hand to her chest, breathing heavily between each breath. "Too...fast... Please...slow...down..."

His hands slammed into the wall on either side of her, trapping her. "Instead of complaining, you should practically be offering me your blood for saving your life from that low-class," he said in a low voice.

Having a huge urge to shudder under the feel of his cold breath, she remained stock still as she looked straight ahead, as if trying to comprehend whether he was serious or not. He was waiting. Waiting for her reaction, that is, if she would react. If this girl was normal, she should show some sort of fear.

Finally, she uttered, "If it's in return for saving me, then maybe...just a little..." Feeling his eyes widen as her nimble fingers hovered over her collar, he managed to come up with several different theories as to how she could possibly consider letting a vampire drink her blood after a near life and death situation.

One button. When she was a baby her mother dropped her on her head.

Two buttons. She had a tendency to chew on the bars of her cot as a toddler—bars coated in lead paint.

Three buttons. She possessed neither of the following—fear, logic or perturbance.

Four bu—Enough! His large hands covered her own, "Stop it…"

He had only wanted a little reaction, just a little gasp, a shudder, a blush, anything but that blank expression she always showed him.

Feeling his oddly warm hands squeeze her own, she failed to give him an inquiring look when his icy questioning eyes seemed to penetrate and over-ride hers. "Wakaba... Perhaps, you're underestimating me? Do you really think... that I won't do anything?" Yori felt a tingle down her spine, he was towering over her, his hot breath thawing out her frigid skin. He was much too close. Blood was pounding in her ears again. This time, it wasn't from fear.

The Noble-Class vampire couldn't believe his eyes at her reaction. He casted doubt on whether or not it had been the dimness of the light but—

Colour had rose from the base of her neck to tint her ashen cheeks. She had blushed.

Letting out air from his nose as an inward chuckle, he uttered softly, "I really can't tell what you're thinking..." He started to let go of her petite hands, he needed to head back to where Yuuki Cross was. Kaname would not just slap him, but kill him if something happened to her.

The words that her mouth voiced next caused him to stop, the moment her gaze would drop from his never came. "What I'm thinking is, 'Will he do anything?' Something like that..." It was like getting four lifetimes of sentiment in two minutes. Instinctually, his hand reached out to hold the side of her head, drawing his face closer and closer, until his lips gently closed over hers, the only thing on his mind being the fact that he had made her blush. Not just the same blank face, but a pink blush.

Starting from a fresh bud, to a picturesque album of petals, a rose was a delicate thing. Once fully opened, once finally complete, bit by bit, they start to wither – while the evergreen remain forever green.

Listening to the rhythmic sound of the train's wheels rolling on the tracks, and the quiet muttering of Ruka and Kain (something about Kaname), Aidou clenched his fists. The day had finally blown over, the dawn finally broken, Rido defeated, Kaname and Yuuki safe, Sayori...unscathed. But as exuberant as the incident with her had left him, it didn't last the night. After replaying the moment over and over in his mind, he realised that it was a mistake.

She was a human. And he was not.

She would wilt away before his eyes, while he would continue to linger.

It would hurt her as much as it would hurt him.

He and his family would be shunned. Pacifism or not.

Those were the only reasons that clouded his mind and forced him to make sure that there was never a fourth or fifth 'next time'. He thought surely God would punish him for this obsession. And as he thought, He did, for there was a fourth encounter.

When she had stepped forward, he had stepped back.

"Is something wrong, Aidou-sempai?"

These feelings...

When she had reached out for his hand, she found herself grabbing nothing—he jerked his hand away.

A disheartened frown.

"Aidou-sempai?"

"Please refrain from touching me." Cold and unfeeling.

This desire—

Turning around, he faced his back to her so that she would not see his clenched jaw, his furrowed eyebrows, his frustration.

"Wai—"

"Don't come near me." Not the sliver of warmth evident.

—Should never have been.

Without another word and without a backward glance, he briskly stalked away to be engulfed by the shadows of the crisp night, leaving her behind.

Those captured by its beauty would have to be careful not to be pricked — for some roses have thorns.

A year had passed. He was staying in the Kuran Mansion, as Yuuki's personal tutor. He had made a deal with Yuuki that if she got 75% or more in her next exam, he'd smuggle her letter to Yori at Cross Academy discreetly without the knowledge of Kaname. Aidou had said nothing about delivering it personally in the dead of the night. He had wanted to see her. Just one more time. He just didn't expect her to be awake, tucked away in the corner of her room, watching him with listless eyes.

Sliding open the door that led from the landing to the room, he stepped inside, nearly jumping when he heard a steady heart beat start to race. "Why?" she cried softly, tears clinging to her long eyelashes. "It's not fair…" She couldn't take it. All of her feelings, passion and desires, that she had veiled for the past year were released.

All the longing.

All the frustration.

All the anger.

All the pain.

"Am I just a toy…! Just because I'm a human, do you think you can just play with me and then throw me away…!"

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

No…It wasn't like that…

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"Kissing me one day…then ignoring me the next…!"

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

He was tired of fighting against this craving, this desire.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"Why did you have to make me love you…!"

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

And this thirst wasn't just for her blood.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"I love you and you ju—"

Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

He couldn't take it anymore.

His lips crushed against hers, pressing her back to the bed. Her breath became ragged as his mouth moved against hers, as his tongue lashed against hers. Yori half-heartedly tried to break free from the iron grip that pinned her wrists beside her head. But it was no use. No matter how far she wanted to run from him, no matter how loud she wanted to scream at him, she couldn't rid herself of that pang of disappointment when he broke the kiss.

With a pained expression, he closed his eyes, "What are you trying to do to me?"

Instead of a response he heard her heart skip a beat as his nose brushed her own tenderly before moving towards her lower jaw. "What are you trying to do?"

Long fingers entwined themselves into her hair. After a quick intake of breath, she replied uncertainly, "Being selfish…?"

Suddenly he pulled back so that their faces an inch apart, icy blue orbs gazed at hazel ones noticing clear pearls clinging to thick eyelashes. "I'm sorry…" He hadn't expected her to behave like this. He didn't believe breaking off communication with her would hurt her as much as it did him. He didn't even think that she was capable of shedding tears. Not in front of him at least. He'd finally got a reaction full of feeling, but he hadn't been expecting the pain along with it.

Yori's small hands gripped the back of his head pulling him closer, so that their lips could meet once again. For a year, she had yearned for him – his hands combing through her hair, his warm breath tickling her face, his lips moving against hers, his penetrating azure gaze. To finally be able to indulge in it all, was euphoric.

It didn't matter.

Their future as a human and a vampire didn't matter. All that mattered was he loved her and she loved him. Issues to do with their differences would be solved at a later date, if ever solved, that is.

"I'm sorry…" He repeated, making her skin tingle as his lips skimmed from her jaw line to her neck. Burying his face in the crook of her neck he murmured softly, "I love you too…"

The blonde-haired vampire continued on his way back to the Kuran Mansion, tickled pink by his encounter with Yori, when he heard the crinkle of paper in his pocket.

Pulling out the crumpled piece of paper, he realised, "SHIT! I FORGOT TO GIVE HER YUKI CROSS' LETTER!"

It wasn't cruel fate, but the inevitable way of life.