"What's your name? Yakki?"
I turned toward the person who spoke, she was a small girl with bright blue eyes and long brown hair.
"Er, my name is actually Miyako. What's yours?"
"Arisu," she said animatedly, her eyes seeming to sparkle like dew on grass. "Whatcha going to night school for Miyako?"
"Well I moved in with the Sakamaki brothers and they attend night school so I'm just adjusting to their lifestyle."
"Oh those boys," Arisu said with eyes the size of dinner plates. "I am so sorry - well I don't think Shu is so bad but the other five are creepy as hell. Luckily I'm only in here every so often because my grades are a little off or when the teachers check me for behavior, but I do see them around every time I am."
"They are a little unnerving-"
"Sh! Reiji incoming!"
I glanced surreptitiously over my shoulder. Sure enough, the black haired vampire's light red eyes eyes swept the room and rested upon me.
"Miyako," he greeted stiffly. "You don't have Calculus on your time tables."
"I do now," I stated coolly. "Pre-algebra was wrong so I had my marks sent to this school and they moved me up. I'm in Calculus, Advanced Chemistry, and Literature now."
"I see, well, keep up well enough and I won't have to punish you."
Arisu gave me an uncertain glance, but I kept my eyes calmly fixed on Reiji, "I'll get tutoring if I need it."
For the rest of the class period, Arisu was oddly quiet as if Reiji's presence sapped all the words from her energetic mind. My mind, however, was perfectly satisfied with running through the numbers to keep itself from the fact that Reiji scanned my work every ten minutes or so.
"Don't make such an idiotic mistake, Miyako, the limit does not exist there," he muttered under his breath.
"Actually it does," I said firmly. "The limit exists but the function is discontinuous there. The limits are equal from both the left and right, but do not equal the value of the point they approach."
Reiji fell silent for a few moments, scuffing out with his eraser. I didn't smile, but a slight smugness tingled in my belly. When class finished, Reiji left swiftly and without a single word.
"Well that was weird," Arisu muttered, watching Reiji's retreating back.
"He's just tough, that's all. Very strict about rules from what I can tell. At least I can rely on him for that."
"Rely on him?" Arisu scoffed, gathering her things into her satchel. "More like he's a hard ass who gets butthurt if he isn't right."
"Yeah, he's very uptight," I agreed, following Arisu out of the room. "But he likes to follow rules, which is more than I can say for the other brothers."
"Yikes, I'm so sorry you have to live with them."
"Well, it's not so bad," I lied, finding my way to the lunch room. "Do you have lunch now?"
"Of course I do," Arisu said happily. "Night school isn't as popular as day school, so obviously there aren't as many students. We can all have lunch at the same time!"
"Hm," I muttered, gazing around the cafeteria uncertainly. "Well, safety in numbers I guess."
"Sorry?"
"Nothing, let's sit over there. I'm going to take out my calc homework and get started."
"Oh come on, you've got to eat something!"
"I will, I packed a lunch before I came."
"Oh, but come on-"
"Hey, don't hate on my studying habits!"
"Oh fine," Arisu pouted and I lugged my calculus textbook onto the table beside my lunch box. "Studious little Miyako."
Arisu seemed content to chat at me while I nodded absently to her whimsical notions. Half of my attention wrapped around the homework, half listened to her. She seemed likable enough with her flamboyant hand gestures and excitable attitude.
"Jeez are you finished?" She asked as I closed my textbook.
"No, I've still got my apple to eat-"
"I meant the homework."
I laughed good-naturedly as I packed up and stood to exit the room, "I know what you meant, silly, and yes I did finish. It's quite simple. You should have done it with me."
"Eh," Arisu shrugged then froze up slightly as her eyes drifted to focus on something over my shoulder.
I turned to follow her gaze and found myself nose to nose with Subaru.
"Hey," I breathed out, surprised. "Is something wrong?"
"Does something have to be wrong for me to want to talk to you?"
"I'll see you later, Miyako!" Arisu called, she was halfway down the hall when I looked pleadingly for her.
"Sorry, Subaru. I can walk with you to your next class," I offered smoothly, turning back around to face him.
He had a pondering look to his eyes that I couldn't place, but he seemed calm enough.
"What did you want to talk to me about?"
"What classes do you have today?"
"Oh, er, Literature, Calculus, English, Free Period, and Music."
"Music?"
"Yes, chorus," I clarified. "What about you?"
"Doesn't matter."
"I'm interested."
Subaru shot me a sideways glance.
"I'm going to Biology next."
"Biology is my favorite science," I commented mildly.
"It's a hassle."
"Sometimes, but you should make the best of it."
"Don't tell me what to-"
"I was just suggesting what to do," I cut across him lightly, giving him a wary glance out of the corner of my eye.
Subaru grunted noncommittally and I let out a contented sigh. At least one of the brothers wasn't so horrible to appease.
"Here," I said gently and walked a few steps down a deserted, dead-end hallway. Gingerly, I extended my wrist to him where he stood, slightly confused in the main hallway. "Would you like some?"
Subaru seemed to contemplate for a moment but evidently couldn't resist. His fangs were a light prick in my arm, but I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth.
"Enough," he said finally, raising his red eyes to look into mine. "Let's get to class."
***
"Hey Sakamaki toy!" A girl jeered as I made my way to music class.
Is she talking to me?
I spared her a glance but regretted it, she and her friends snickered.
"Slut, you've been with all of them haven't you!"
"No," I said pointedly and stalked off.
Just one day and the rumors have started? Through night school? Well, it was a small student body. Stuff would circulate as fast as blood through the heart.
The music room was, thankfully, close by, but somehow completely empty. I rechecked my schedule. Room 126 - I was right. Where were my classmates?
"Hm," I sighed contemplatively.
There was no teacher present either.
"What are you doing here?" A voice asked from a sofa near the instrument lockers.
"Shuu!" I exclaimed, laying a hand over my jumping heart.
Take it easy there. Too much stress is bad. The thought almost made me snort. Of course I was stressed, I lived in a house of six vampires.
"Don't be so loud," he groaned.
"Sorry," I said quickly. "Why isn't there anyone here?"
"Everyone knows not to take a music class, the night school never has enough people for it."
"I wasn't told that."
"Idiot."
I rolled my eyes and chose a seat on the opposite end of the room. My heart was still pounding and a slight prick began to ache next to it.
"Please stop," I whispered to it, taking deep lungfuls of air.
"Stop what? "
"My heart is beating so fast, I wish it would stop."
"A fast heartbeat is a good thing," Shuu argued, sitting up and regarding me with those deep blue eyes. "But talking to your heart is a stupid habit. Come over here."
I grimaced but obliged. When I crouched beside him, his hand reached out and cuffed my shoulder, dragging me haphazardly over his lounging body.
"Shuu please don't!" I whimpered, clutching my chest. My nose was pressed into his, my breathing was heavy and labored; what the hell was going on?
"A fast beating heart indicates fear or excitement or arousal."
He pulled me over to him and exposed my neck with his other hand. When his fangs were just inches from my flesh, I saw the room burst with black spots.
"Heart... something wrong... please" I gasped feeling the faintness send my head reeling. "Ambulance..."
"Miyako?"
"Please..."
***
It was bright where I awoke.
"What the hell was that? You're a weak sliver of prey if you can't have your blood sucked more than once."
I blinked slightly, feeling heavy and sleepy all at once.
"Shuu?" I croaked.
I was propped on the couch in the music room, my head resting on the red cushion. Shuu sat at the edge of the couch near my waist, watching me with anxious eyes. When mine met his, me blinked and the worry melted off as if he'd been ashamed it had been there in the first place.
Anxious? Yes, he seemed anxious.
"I have a heart condition," I rasped, tasting iron in the back of my throat. "The heart inside me now is a transplanted one. It's not mine, so there may be complications. I should head to a hospital to make sure that everything is alright."
"But you're awake now, there's no need."
"But it may come back, there could be problems with it, something that could threaten my life."
"That's too troublesome," Shuu argued, crossing his arms and closing his eyes.
"The best things in life are worth troubling ourselves over," I whispered sitting up achingly. My nails clutched at my shirt as if they wanted to squeeze the lingering pain out of my heart. "I want to live, Shuu, I don't want to die."
Shuu let out a sigh, "Well, you're not supposed to die so..."
I gasped slightly as he swept me into his arms.
"Thank you," I said breathlessly, looping my arms around his neck.