Shed, Slain, Shattered - A Vampire Knight Fanfiction

Chapter 6

"So my grandfather is putting on a soiree, I was wondering if you would like to come as my plus one. It would be good for you to make connections within the vampire community if you're planning on reintegrating."

Elise leaned her chin in her hand and stared at Ichijo. I do want to meet more vampires, but at the same time this sounds like a date. If I say no, I might hurt my chances of learning more about my parents, but if I say yes, I might be leading him on.

"My grandfather also will keep pestering me about girls if I don't bring someone with."

It's definitely a date. This is a negative. "I don't know if it's a good idea, Takuma. I'm still new to this whole vampire thing, I don't want to embarrass you in front of your grandpa."

"It's just one night, I promise it'll be fun." Elise sighed and shut her eyes.

"Fine. One night." Takuma looked back down at his paper.

"We have tomorrow off class. It starts at one, so we'll leave at midnight."

*

Elise sat down by the creek, her toes dipped in the water. I need to get better at saying no. She sighed and looked up at the sky. It was still a couple hours until dawn. The creek was just far enough away from the town to have almost no light pollution. The arm of the Milky Way winked at her, stretching across the sky with thousands of stars. She leaned back against the tree, shutting her eyes with a yawn. It's been a long week.

"Are you sober now?" she asked as she cracked one eye open and glanced to her right. Tōga stepped out from behind the tree and crossed his arms.

"How do you do that?"

"I can hear your heart beating from 15 meters away." He crinkled his nose up and leaned his shoulder against a nearby tree.

"How did you know it was me?"

"A hunch."

Yagari sighed and looked up at the sky. Elise rested her head against the tree, watching him out of the corner of her eye. He had changed and his hair was wet. A drop of water rolled from his hair down his neck. Turning away, Elise drank deeply from her water bottle.

"Thanks for... not kissing me." Elise shrugged and made no reply, still facing away from him. "Did you enjoy the play?" He moved closer and sat next to her on the branch. She shut her bottle.

"It was amazing. The Japanese translation lost a bit of nuance, but it all together was really well done. What did you think?"

"I don't really like theater. The dancing was awesome though, I couldn't look away." It was Elise's turn to crinkle up her nose. "I'm more of a book than a play person."

"Why did you lie?" He shrugged in response. Elise groaned and leaned against him, resting the back of her hand on her forehead. "You wound me!" He shook his head with a chuckle. Elise dropped her hand, but kept her head resting on his shoulder. He made no move to push her off, letting her stay there. She shut her eyes, feeling the warmth of his shoulder through his jacket.

After a few seconds, his arm moved to wrap around her shoulders, pulling her closer. He looked up at the sky, watching as clouds passed through, making stars appear and disappear. His shoulder stung where an old wound had healed wrong, but he let her stay there. Dark grey eyes blinked up at him, batting long eyelashes. Curls, black as the night, blew in the wind, contrasted against her pale skin. He looked back at her and met her gaze. Red lips lifted into a soft smile.

Before he knew what he was doing, Yagari had leaned in and captured those lips with his own. They were soft and cold, quickly warmed up by his. When he pulled away, Elise reached her hand up to touch her lips. His kiss was gentle, his lips chapped and dry. It tasted like cigarette smoke and pine. Embarrassed, she turned her head away from him. He flushed and looked away as well.