AN: I'm deeply, deeply sorry for the long delay, but really the end of the tourist season is always tough on us agents, and for some reason it seemed even tougher this year, and what with it and a whole assortment of RL complications I found myself so drained that I simply lacked any stamina to write anything creative, and I'm afraid it included not only fiction but also reviews or even answering the PMs - just anything that needed at least a trifle mental effort. I think (I hope) I'm finally recovering, and I will gradually work my way through all my "debts", and hope that you can kindly forgive my awfully belated answers, reviews etc.

About this chapter specifically - I really planned two more parts to it, but Yori and Aidou have just gone and stolen the whole chapter, which I'm afraid turned out awfully sappy, but well... and Senri, Takuma and Kaname-sama will have to wait till the next installment (that is after I also get to continuing From This Day Forward and A Peculiarly Pureblood Problem - poor darlings that also were left unattended for way too long).

Disclaimer stands as usual.

Granted this was a rather fangirly kind of thought, but that's that – it was the first thought that sort of blanked out Sayori's mind with an acute disappointment as soon as she entered the kitchen, much as she berated herself for the irrational wanting to see him again – after all, by the time that he returned from the Sun Dorms she was already asleep…

…and the fact that you woke up covered with what distinctly looks like the coat he has been wearing is just too cute…

Oh, no… cute!.. That wasn't a word from the sensible and pragmatic Sayori Wakaba's vocabulary either, not a word she would've even considered using before today... especially, not in regards of the fangirls' beloved Idol…

And still it was the fact – she was unaccountably touched by his thoughtfulness when she found out it was his coat that made her feel all warm and cozy, while she slept… even if most likely it was nothing more than a gentlemanly gesture on the blonde's part… Sayori has already learned that good manners seemed to be inbred in the noble vampires – one only needed to converse with Takuma Ichijou to understand as much, or, well, in its almost suffocating form – with Kaname-senpai…

With a marked relief her thoughts switched off Hanabusa Aidou and onto the two that she had left in the main room of the cabin. Kaname-senpai… did he really think that she would be taken in by his little act?.. She could have still been naive (…and prejudiced…) enough to almost fall for it by the lake, but definitely not now… not after she sat for two hours beside the gloomy vampire hunter watching the pureblood shiver in unrelenting fever, not after she spoon-fed her own blood into his unconsciously half-opened mouth… And while a part of her (the one that was all too used to masking her own feelings) silently acknowledged Kaname's efforts to assure her of his "returned health", the other knew that such pretense was definitely not good for him in his still weakened and volatile state and was positively itching to remove herself from the room, so that he could relax in the presence of his trusted companion…

Funny, wasn't it? Sayori could still remember herself – less than a week ago – coolly commenting to Yuuki on how her friend's Night Class 'lover' (and all his entourage) just 'gave her the creeps'. And here she was worrying about the same very person's wellbeing, even though she now knew that he was in truth an altogether different and menacing species – a vampire – quite enough to justify her earlier 'creeps'…

But it was the effect of the last two days, she guessed, - changing one's perspectives and priorities in a dramatic fashion, shaking the Academy and everyone within it in such a way that opened up the hidden sides of most unlikely persons…

Aidou… no, Hanabusa… for one…

"Would you care to sit already?" the languid though slightly irritated voice startled her right when she was going to start on yet another circle of berating herself for once again veering towards the thoughts of the blonde vampire. "It's very tiring, you know, to watch you standing there like something Aidou-san has frozen up…"

The – oh so timely – mention of exactly the subject of her recent musings made her flush uncomfortably, and that in turn fueled a surge of her own irritation, so that when she turned towards whoever it was jibing her from the corner she was prepared to scold him most rigorously, but… it was just plain impossible to stay angry on someone who gazed at you so innocently out of the pair of cloudy blue-grey eyes.

So instead – Sayori simply did as she was told, seating herself gingerly on the very edge of the corner couch, seeing as all the farther part of it was taken by the reclining vampire, lazily sprawled in what was – as she had to admit despite himself – quite a picturesque display, almost worthy of one of his staged photographs that adored the front pages of fashion magazines she had seen occasionally in her female dorm-mates' post.

Live and close Shiki-senpai looked younger and not so mysterious as those pictures implied – maybe because of a half-eaten pocky sticking out of his mouth, yet she still deemed it necessary to stay a little on the wary side for now – after all Hanabusa had firmly insisted that she should beware of any and all vampires, not excluding even those from the Academy's Night Class.

Hanabusa… how come he is not here when Kaname-senpai was so sure that he would be?..

"Eh… Shiki-senpai?.." she started cautiously, not sure if the maroon-haired vampire who seemed totally absorbed with his pocky would even hear her question, "Do you by any chance know, where Aidou-senpai may be?"

For a moment or two it seemed that she indeed was going to be ignored, but then the blue-grey gaze once again swerved into her direction, serious and almost – for whatever reason – concerned, and the pocky came out of his mouth to be put carefully on an empty saucer.

"Somewhere outside, I presume… Brooding away…"

The answer was rather… predictable, she guessed, as the blonde was not here nor, obviously, in the other room, and yet… Her eyes lowered of their own volition to where the folded coat lay neatly upon her knees.

"Don't worry about him getting cold," the vampire continued with an uncanny perceptiveness, "out of all of us Aidou-san is the most… intimate with the low temperatures… and he'll get back in soon enough… I think… just needs some time alone to settle his nerves…"

"Settle his nerves…" Sayori repeated rather dumbly, once again feeling as if there was some hidden layer to the unfolding events, something she wasn't aware of, or possibly, something that had transpired while she was asleep. Come to think of it – Kaname and Ichijou-senpai had also looked unhappily preoccupied earlier, but then she supposed it was because of Moon Dorm leader's condition…

She looked questioningly to the only source of information available to her at the moment, who seemed to be silently contemplating something, the serious expression making him suddenly look more mature than she had thought possible.

"Well, I suppose it's o'key if you read it too," Shiki said finally, "Cain-san said it was ultimately for anyone already involved … and seeing as you are here now… you obviously are…" he pushed the crumpled paper that lay on the table into her direction, "Here. Read for yourself… Ask if you do not understand something…"

Almost reluctantly Sayori took the note and squinted to read the hastily scribbled words. Cain-senpai's handwriting was not the best understandable ever, but Yori had great experience after deciphering Yuuki's messages and even – the few times Sayori came down with a flu – lecture transcriptions, and after that, believe me – reading any other handwriting was easy enough.

It was the essence of the note that was more difficult to come to terms with, and she frowned over the uneven lines, not completely able to bring herself to believe in what was written. Kaname-senpai… killed the entire Council?.. No, of course, Hanabusa had explained her about the Council of Elders and its role for the vampire community, and yesterday, during their vigil by Kaname's bed, one of the reluctant comments uttered by Yagari-sensei as a result of her probing revealed that it was the Council of Elders together with some bad sheep in the Hunter Association that were behind the fateful attack. But… she didn't know what stunned her more – the… the killing itself… though after seeing the shambles of formerly peaceful Academy and the extent of wounds that some of its defendants suffered - the idea of punishing those who were responsible for it all didn't seem as shocking as it would've been but a day ago. Or was it the fact that Kaname-senpai carried out this judgment alone – using those awesome pureblood powers that everybody talked about, perhaps? And still it was way to abstract for her – she just couldn't imagine the calm, reserved and always so excruciatingly polite youth facing a roomful of… Elders, for God's sake!.. and somehow killing them all…

And now… Her brow furrowed further as she read the remainder of the note.

"Are they going to judge him for it?"

"Judge?" Shiki chuckled as if he found the idea extremely funny, but there was little mirth in his eyes when he looked in her face, "Nobody would dare to judge a pureblood… However they may pronounce him mad and murderous, and then the entire vampire community would turn on him – no holds barred – to either kill him or put him into confinement…" he sighed, idly pushing the pocky around the saucer with the tip of his finger, "and in view of Kaname-sama's strength it would be more sensible to expect the former…"

Despite herself Sayori gasped in an utterly un-composed manner.

"But he is helpless right now!"

"Don't say that!" the blue-grey eyes darkened to a dark cloudy tone reminiscent of a brewing storm, "A pureblood can not be helpless!" He seemed to catch himself though, sagging back into his languid pose, and when he continued after a moment, his voice once again was even and strangely resigned. "And Kaname-sama is not helpless, while we are still here to protect him… even though it may mean so awfully little in the end…"

Sayori looked down on the note, biting her lip… the world that seemed so simple but a few days ago had somehow irrevocably shifted into a cruel and not a little frightening place… and her role in it and whatever she could do to influence the events was… well, as insignificant as ever…

And yet – she couldn't but smile, hearing this near exact repetition of what Hanabusa had told but a few hours earlier. Truly, Kuran-senpai was lucky to have such loyal... friends… She was almost sure that both Shiki and Aidou would claim that it was only the loyalty due to him as a pureblood and their Dorm Leader, but she was not buying this, no… Their reaction was just too adamant, too immediate - showing better than any words ever could that they cared, and deeply…

Aidou… Sayori's eyes returned to the paper that she just read – latching onto the words that she had sort of skipped over during her earlier reading.

"'Lord Aidou' here… is he?.."

"Our Aidou-san's father, yes…"

"Oh…" Sayori felt momentarily bereft of words… His own father was among those who joined the opposite force… Poor Aidou-san… Poor Hanabusa… no wonder he wanted to go out to be alone for a while… And yet she knew just how alone he must be feeling right now… how very alone and cold – just as she had felt for so long – 'ice queen' Sayori… frozen stiff…

It seemed like she had barely blinked and next time she was aware – she was already standing with her hand on the door knob and someone's warm and gentle hands disentangled Hanabusa's coat from her limp hands draping it lightly over her shoulders…

"Keep it on you, at least for while you're searching for him… it's truly freezing outside… and if you want an advice – Aidou-san's temper is volatile at the best of times… make sure you approach him from where he can see it is you…"

***

Despite Shiki-senpai's predictions it wasn't hard to find Hanabusa, for he hadn't wandered far. In fact she saw him as soon as she rounded the corner – sitting on the front steps of the porch, concentrated on something a few meters in front of him to the point she doubted he was even aware of her presence…

The… uh… something (at first she thought uneasily that it could be some kind of intruder – frozen over by the young vampire's powers)… turned out to be an intricately carved life-size ice sculpture, and even as she watched she could see the miniscule chinks of ice crack away or melt and smooth over as Hanabusa perfected the finer details of the face that already looked remarkably as an older version of himself.

Cautiously, Sayori came another couple of steps closer, hoping that her advance would be eventually noted without breaking the young vampire's concentration too much, but never could she have expected a reaction like this – an instant spring-up, the blonde head violently whipping into her direction and the upper part of the sculpture cracking loudly and sliding down in five large chunks.

"Oh... Duh!.. Look what you've done!.." The whole slight frame of the vampire seemed to positively tremble with rage, causing a marked drop in an already fairly freezing temperature. "And just when I was so very nearly done!.."

"I… I'm sorry…" she stuttered out, trying to make her tone as placatory as possible. "You… have a great talent… It was… very lifelike…"

A shuddering sigh escaped from the blonde's lips as his anger subsided and he sagged limply back onto the steps.

"What did you want anyway?" he asked tiredly.

In a mute answer Sayori shrugged out of his coat, the wind merrily attacking her through one less layer of clothing.

"I… thank you for lending me this…"

Ah… 'lending' was such a lame word, really… what she wanted to say was 'thank you for caring'… well, maybe… but even thinking about it made her cheeks heat with embarrassment, really it sounded… it sounded… and it seemed so wrong to feel that way right now, when the young vampire had much weightier problems on his mind…

Yet it were those problems exactly, or maybe - that he looked so dejected… sitting there, with the newly acquired coat loosely hanging over the hunched shoulders – no attempt done even to close the flapping lapels… that she couldn't just leave him like this and return to the warmth of the cabin without saying… well, something… however little need he might have for her comfort… just because she knew all too well how much a parental betrayal hurt…

"Hanabusa…" she felt him tense under the feather-light touch of her hand upon his shoulder. "What… what were you going to do with that statue… once you finished it?"

There was a longish pause and for a moment she wondered if he would think her question too presumptuous and wouldn't answer at all, but it was at exactly that moment that he finally chuckled – the sound raspy and cynical and utterly devoid of merriment, "Why… smash it into a thousand pieces… what else?"

"Well, it is smashed…" she pointed out something that was really self-evident, her fingers tightening just a little on his shoulder and he sighed and put his hand into the blonde hair in a gesture she was all too familiar with by now.

"Yeah, so it is… Yori-chan?" the young vampire's hand closed over hers, leading her from her position somewhat behind him to where he could look up at her from eyes much too mature and troubled for one Hanabusa Aidou, the incorrigible brat… and yet she thought she could see a kind of tortured amusement splashing somewhere at the very bottom of them, "could you stay with me here… for a little while?"

Frankly speaking, Sayori was shivering in her thin and short overcoat, had been – ever since the removal of an extra-layer that Hanabusa's coat provided, besides – her wrist tingled oh so very strangely under the press of the vampire's cool fingers, and she didn't quite know what to make out of this sensation… and yet…

"Alright…" She braced herself for the cold-cold step that her backside was about to come in contact with… only to find the firm and gentle hands taking hold of her waist to pull her slightly to the side and right on top of Hanabusa's knees.

"The step's too cold…" he muttered softly and apologetically from behind her back. "Here…" the blonde let go of her waist for barely a second – only to bring the lapels of his coat to cover her sides as well, wrapping them together in a tight cocoon of weatherproof fabric, "it will be warmer like this…"

Well, it was true – even through her coat she could feel the soft warmth sifting through from his body… or maybe it had to do with a hot flush she felt rising up on her own cheeks… it was… so improper – to sit like this… and for a moment or so she fought the beautifully relaxing feeling – keeping her back all tense and prim and as far as possible from his chest…

Her efforts didn't go unnoticed as she heard the vampire behind her back sigh and turn his head to the side, resting his temple against Sayori's nape, and his voice when he spoke carried a trace of bitterness, "Oh, duh, Yori-chan… no need to feel so tense… I won't bite you…"

He probably meant it as much as a reassurance as a rebuke, but to Sayori's ears his words sounded too much as a cruel reminder of something that transpired all those ages ago – just the morning of this same day…

***

"No, damn… I won't drink her blood!.. Waah…" The adamantly hissed denial ended with a howl of pain as the burnt tissues protested to his attempt to sit up. In a blur of movement – too quick for Sayori's eyes to catch fully - Cain disappeared from her side to reappear – seemingly in an instant – by his cousin, helping him to slowly lower himself back to the infirmary bed.

"You need it, Hanabusa! You stubborn oaf, you must be in one hell of a pain, and the girl offered!.."

"Damn. It. Akatsuki!!! I told you I won't bite her!.. Get her out of here… please, cuz… I can't stand it anymore…"

And she could still see the hidden impatience behind Cain-senpai's apologetic smile…

"I'm sorry, Wakaba-san, but you'd better… eh… go for a walk or something…"

***

The remembered humiliation made her cringe, and it took an enormous effort to keep her own bitterness down, as she whispered almost as an apology, "I… am not afraid of that, Aidou-senpai… Hanabusa… You must find my blood quite… disgusting, don't you… you've made clear as much…"

Ah… what was with her really? If the vampires found her blood undesirable it was actually a good thing, wasn't it? Then why did the fact that this particular vampire wouldn't drink it even as a desperately needed medicine perturb her so much?

Lost in this awkward self-analysis, Sayori almost jumped when the object of her thoughts almost choked, or at least that is what his stunned little laugh sounded like.

"Wha… What on the Earth could make you think so, Yori-chan?"

Oh really! Did he need to ask? She felt something – not quite anger, not quite resentment rearing up in her at the audacity of the man - asking so obliviously after he, himself… after…

"Back in the infirmary…" she blurted out despite the decision to not go on further down this humiliating lane, "you were pretty adamant about not drinking my freely offered blood under any circumstances… not even in the state you were in then."

"Oh…" It sounded like a startled groan, and the blonde hair tickled her nape once again as the vampire bumped his forehead (quite forcibly) into her shoulder. "Oh… duh… just brilliant, Hanabusa!.. But I couldn't imagine that she will take it like that!"

Darn her feeble heart but even midst the fit of humiliated resentment this habit of his – of mumbling out his thoughts quite audibly when he was distressed – was just too adorable… as was the way he nuzzled his temple against her nape – quite like her mother's cat, when she tried to ingratiate herself to her owners before meowing for a treat…

"Yori-chan…"

…as was the timbre of his voice – uncertain, yet, for once, serious and sincere – when he spoke again…

"I… wish I knew myself why I rejected your offer, Yori-chan… was hardly coherent back then… didn't want you there at all – to see me like this… uh… now that was disgusting… didn't want to scare you… or maybe… oh, duh… wished you offered it to me, not to any pitiful half-charred creature in my state…"

It was hard to make sense out of the inconsistent little blurts of words, half-muffled in the fabric of her collar, but something in that last bit that she'd caught really made her wonder… for indeed, she wouldn't have minded giving her blood to anyone, who needed it that badly… (Didn't mind giving it to Kaname-senpai, did she?)… whether through a proper transfusion system, drained out by syringe, or even through an ordinary cut, much like Yagari-sensei had done in his haste… but offering someone else to bite her…

As fast as Luca had been moving, while bringing her to the infirmary, Sayori couldn't but notice a vampire sharing blood with his lightly wounded comrade on the windowsill of the school corridor – with the Day Class safely kept behind the closed doors they apparently saw little point in maintaining secrecy… Not that it shocked her, but the pose seemed just so intimate – what with the lips of the one, who was drinking, pressed firmly a little above the other's collarbone – much like a kiss… Could she really allow someone to do that to her?.. And yet she had not hesitated a moment before offering it to Hanabusa…

"Whatever the reasons, Yori-chan, it wasn't that I didn't want it… because I did…" His nose pressed into her hair beside the ear and he seemed to inhale deeply – the air current, passing by her neck, sending ticklish sensation right down her spine, that wasn't at all unpleasant… in fact, it almost made her whimper in response… Was he going to bite her now? If it was indeed so, Sayori found herself curiously unafraid… but instead - the very next words that she heard sounded flat with a resigned finality. "It's all water under the bridge though… Then was then and now is now…" For a moment his arms around her midriff tightened in a possessive embrace, yet the very next second he was standing up already, putting her down on her own feet – which felt entirely too wobbly right now. "Walk with me, Yori-chan…"

She ought to have been already used to his fast changing moods, but even then - this particular swing was abrupt enough to leave Sayori disconcerted and vaguely hurt – as if the blood drinking itself was some kind of promise that he had made her – only to break it over and over again… besides… (It wasn't as if she was thinking of it all along, you see… more like – that she was trying so hard to avoid looking at him right now, and that's how her gaze ended up on the cabin instead, and that in turn brought back to her memory the whole situation and all…)

"I… well, of course… but weren't you… eh… guarding Kaname-senpai or something?.."

He shrugged and the slight movement made her eyes shift back towards the young vampire only to see that he too was looking back at the cabin thoughtfully, one hand habitually buried in the disarray of blond locks.

"With all the factions they will be prone to quarrel over the best course of action… and also without the Council to prepare a plan… I'd say we should be safe for tonight. And Shiki and Ichijou together can deal with a few stray Es… Anyway, I will return soon enough… Well," Hanabusa finally turned towards her – blue eyes still partially averted, still not meeting hers squarely and a guarded expression belying the friendliness of proffered hand, "are you coming or what?"

It seemed somewhat surreal to be going hand in hand with him down the same very path that they hastily climbed but a day ago… almost like retracing her own steps or going back in time to the moment when all the madness had just gone loose in the Academy, and she could easily imagine how they would find the grounds immaculate once again - without a sign of carnage and burned ruins, everything that had come to pass since then - nothing but a bad dream…

Unlike their previous walk, Hanabusa was not hurrying forward, dragging her behind himself as a balloon on a string. In fact he seemed intent on maintaining such a sedate pace that at times it was actually he, who was lagging behind, remote and silent himself and not prodding her to talk either – which was another obvious difference from their earlier walk – and instead of enjoying this peaceful break from their usually intense discussions, Sayori found the silence unnerving… more so, because she couldn't quite put a finger on an actual source of her growing anxiety…

It didn't come to her until they passed the turn to the lake and then – bang! – his last words shone as a warning light in her head and she stopped in her track, determined to not make another step until she was brought up straight regarding his plans.

"Aidou-senpai…" the suspicion made her tone rather acerbic, and the obvious step back from the first name terms was meant to show him that she wouldn't be satisfied with some evasive answer. "You told earlier that 'you would return soon'. Does it mean that you plan to leave me over at the Sun Dorms?"

A little curt nod was all the answer she got, the blue eyes avoiding hers studiously and the hand tugging on her own with a sudden impatience. But no, she was not done asking yet.

"With the rest of the Day Class?"

Another tug must have shown him beyond doubt that she wasn't intending to budge from this spot unless he speaks, and so he dropped her hand – making her strangely desolate upon the loss of this last point of contact – and answered in that same flat – resigned and determined voice,"The hunters will escort you all to the town, come the morning… you'll probably be already at home before the end of the day…"

She didn't know what hurt her more – the fact that he obviously decided it all behind her back… (Was he even planning to tell her about that before they reached the dormitories?)… or that he apparently was thinking her to be deaf or just so dumb that she wouldn't be able to figure the rest of it after the conversation that Yagari-sensei and he had been having not two steps removed from her in the kitchen…

"Will they also wipe out my memory before that?" she asked icily, which was really no wonder – she felt like her whole insides were freezing rapidly into a huge lump of ice, almost as if he used his powers on her instead of just… what?.. betraying her trust?

"It is for your own safety…"

Now that was too much… Her eyes stung something awful, small hands clenching and unclenching in complete fury.

"And you… you… wouldn't even consider asking me first?! What if I do not want to forget everything?.. About vampires… and Yuuki… and Kaname-senpai… and this whole day… and… you?.." She fought her best to maintain at least a semblance of composure, but still her voice broke somewhere between a sob and a hardly ladylike shriek, "What right do you have to decide it without asking?!"

She felt her legs buckling, her whole frame hunching forward to fall on her knees and dissolve into a disaster of helpless sobs… but before it happened – well, in an instance it seemed – Sayori found herself caught up in a warm and sure embrace, her face pressed flush into a cashmere vest, the lapels of Hanabusa's coat closing once again around her shoulders and his hand running soothing circles upon her back…

"Yori-chan… Yori-chan…" his voice resounded in his breast as unsteady and broken as her own, hoarse as if the previous flatness had shattered into a multitude of sharp splinters over his vocal chords, "please, don't cry… Do you think I want you to forget?.. Ah… But you do not know what we are up against now… with Kaname-sama thus… incapacitated… it is little hope we have… and I do not want to… I can not allow for you to get hurt…" He put his chin on top of her head, bringing her even closer into himself, as if he too needed this contact to compose himself. "Please… do not fight me now… leave me this little while to indulge in a fantasy of what could've been…o'key?"

Wordlessly she nodded, knowing that he was bound to feel the tiny movement, what with her enveloped by him entirely like that… and after a while, when the last hiccups subsided – put her smaller hand back into his only slightly larger one – to lead her down the path…

He kept silent as they went between the shadowy trees, and now Sayori was deeply grateful for continuous quiet – for it gave her the time to think over what she needed to do when they arrived – find Yagari-sensei… surely the master-hunter would listen to her request to leave her memories intact?.. or maybe Yuuki… find Yuuki and stick by her side, which would be the safest place for her as long as she intended to remain here… and Yuuki, for one, would undoubtedly understand just how she felt…