the bond in bloody roses

Night Twenty

"R-really?" I questioned, breathlessly. She grinned, and nodded.

"I'm really excited to dance with some of the Night students." I nodded slightly, and looked down at the table in front of me with excitement.

"Do...Do you have someone you like in there?" I questioned, my heart still jumping in my chest. The girl glanced at me with wide eyes, a blush on her face, but then she grinned, and nodded her head in enthusiasm.

"A few of them. It's really hard to chose just one, ya know. They're all so...So-"

"Amazing?" I joked with a slight laugh. She pursed her lips, and then nodded.

"Yeah. Ya know, I'd really like a dance with Akatsuki. I bet he's an amazing dancer." She sighed dreamily as she leaned forward, resting her chin in her hands as her blue-grey eyes got a far look in her eyes, and her other pale finger began to twirl the end of her short, curly, dark brown hair.

I felt an emotion I rarely felt go through me at that moment. Jealousy. I hadn't felt jealous over someone else in a really long time when it came to me liking someone. It was a strange emotion, and I didn't fully understand it. I tried my best to keep it under control.

I glanced at her as her daydreamy-like smile came across her face, and I had to force myself not to outright glare at the girl who had so far been really kind to me. I eyed her for a moment, examining her with an almost intense look for a second before nodding. I had to keep my jealousy in control.

"I bet he is." I replied dryly, looking forward with a pout. She looked at me with surprise, and then grinned slightly.

"Do you have anyone you'd like to dance with?" She boldly asked with a slight smirk as she leaned close to me. I blushed, and leaned away from her. I cleared my throat, and swiped my bangs from my forehead, and off to the side.

"No. Not really." I mumbled, looking down at the desk in front of me. The girl giggled, patting my back slightly. I grumbled slightly, happy that the teacher finally let us out of the classroom. I couldn't escape the nosy girl fast enough.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"Wow~! Today was so hard! How do ya think you did, Sakika?" I glanced at Yuki, and shrugged as we walked around the courtyard during our nightly patrol.

"I think I did alright. I studied like hell so...Yeah." Yuki nodded, balancing herself on the fountain. I glanced at her with a curious expression. She looked back at me with a grin.

"I'm actually pretty excited for this years Winter Ball. What do you think about it?" I shrugged slightly.

"I think it's gonna be fun." I replied a bit dryly, and then sat on the edge of the fountain with a sigh.

"Hey, are you ok?" I looked over at her, and smiled slightly.

"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm going to see what Zero is up to." I quickly stood up, straightening out my skirt, and then walked away from Yuki.

I walked around for what felt like the longest time, though in reality was probably no more than thirty minutes, when I found Zero. I was about to call out to him, but I stopped in my tracks. Zero looked like he was in pain, holding his neck slightly, hunched over. I felt my heart quicken, and my muscles tensed up. It was site I should have been used to seeing, but it was somehow different with a friend. Seeing a friend in this state was alot more...Different.

"Z...Zero?" I questioned, my hands gripping the front of my shirt, as if trying to calm my pounding heart."Zero, are you..Are you ok?" I questioned rather stupidly as I took another step forward.