Vampire Knight (Kaname Kuran X OC X Senri)

Chapter 37

Out of everything why did Ri-chan mention that specific term? Could Takuma-nii have told him? Would he though...?

"Ai-chan! Are you alright?" Senri too rushed to her side and slowly slapped her back till she regained her composure.

"...No! My snack went down the wrong pipe. Thanks to you." Aiyora snapped.

He poured her a glass of water. Aiyora accepted, thanking him softly. It was after she was done draining the glass that he gathered her into his arms and gently rubbed her back.

The sandwich she was making, now sat on the counter top... left forgotten.

By far this was the most awkward embrace the half-siblings shared. Although they were tightly locked into each other's arms, it did nothing to change the fact that there was an invisible wall standing between them, which was successfully pushing them farther apart mentally.

*************************************************

Over the passing days Aiyora made quite a few attempts to get close to the Shiki heir. But it was all in vein.

It wasn't like he was disobeying her. As a matter of fact he was following her command word by word. However, somewhere down the lane he appeared lost, dazed and completely out of touch. For example— he would listen to her rant about her friends or talk about other things but his heart was far far away from those conversation.

At first Aiyora tried to ignore the obvious signs telling herself constantly she was over thinking for nothing. But days later came to realize that her earlier intuition was right— Senri was indeed distancing himself. Whether it was knowingly or unknowingly that was yet to be discovered.

Within days it got to a point where not just Aiyora, others were starting to take notice of it as well. Even Hanabusa once conversationally mentioned how weird Senri was behaving these days.

That's when alarm rang inside the younger pureblood's head. The person she cared about the most in this world was slipping out of her hand. And whoever thought that Kuran Aiyora would just sit tight and let the matter slide was wrong! Spectacularly wrong!

************************************************

Senri opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom with no clothes on; only a grey coloured towel wrapped around his hips. And a smaller towel hanging by his shoulder which he was using to dry his hair.

His pyjama-set was neatly folded and placed over the bed. Usually he dresses up right after stepping out of the bathroom. But today he made a little detour and walked across the room towards the dresser to brush his hair first. Senri was just about to put the brush on his hair when he caught a glimpse of another reflection in the mirror.

What is she doing here? The thought crossed his mind.

"Ai-chan...?"

She smiled, addressing him in an overly sweet voice. "...Ri-chan!"

Something was off about her. Senri noticed it immediately. Although he couldn't exactly point out what it was, but the bizarre gleam in those royal blue orbs confirmed his suspicion and made him taste his own bile in turn.

Her gaze, in that moment, eerily reminded Senri of his estranged father. A frightening shiver ran down his spine. But he tried to keep his fear concealed... for as long as possible.