So, I just realised that after a couple of chapters, I gave up on giving them chapter names - do you guys prefer chapter names or not? Or do you not care? :P
Okay, I'll let you get the story.
~~~
When I opened my eyes again, the room looked the same. Dark-lit, with the lights turned off. The only difference was that the bed opposite me was empty. Getting up slowly, I clambered onto my knees, shivering slightly at the cooler temperature outside the sheets. Sitting on the bed, I glanced around the room, checking for Zero.
His bed was rumpled and messy, but definitely empty. The bathroom door was wide open, and from the limited view I had of its inside, it was empty.
Unless Zero had gone and plastered himself on the mirror, of course.
Shuffling off the side of the bed, I let myself stretch, yawning slightly. It had been a comfortable bed, and a good sleep. Now what to do?
Get dressed, habit told me. Picking up my bag, I delved inside to pull out all the clothes I had brought with me. Along with my grimy clothes from yesterday (wrapped in a plastic bag I had found in the bathroom), there were two pairs of jeans and a t-shirt, and some underwear. A very extensive wardrobe.
Randomly picking up a pair of jeans, I tugged them on, underneath the dress I was wearing. Stripping off the dress next, and tossing it on the bed, I reached for the shirt.
Click. The sound of the door opening made me freeze, and I heard an unmistakable voice swear out loud before the door slammed shut again.
Oh.
Immediately jolted into action, I threw on the rest of my clothes in a hurry. Picking up my bag, I stuffed the other clothes inside roughly, wanting nothing but to flee from the headquarters and get away from the embarrassment.
Just as I rushed to the door, the door opened suddenly, hitting me hard in the face. The impact knocked me backwards, and sent me reeling.
Looking up, I met Zero's pale purple ones with a glare. My face throbbed with pain, particularly the nose and forehead.
"I thought you left," I snapped, feeling angry at myself for being such a nonsensical person. Getting all flustered just because some guy saw my back and then tried to run away in shame.
"I didn't," Zero muttered, holding a phone to my face. "Phone for you."
"Huh?" The thought of someone calling me replaced my anger with surprise. Taking the phone, I held it to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Saki?" The voice was deep and reminded me of gravel.
"Yagari?"
"Only one," he replied briefly. "Are you still at the association?"
"Yeah," I replied, sneaking a glance at Zero who was leaning against the doorway, looking uninterested.
"I'll pick you up," Yagari decided, and I heard the rustle of movement as Yagari began to do something. "Meet me outside the headquarters."
"Ok," I responded, with nothing else to say. Without another word, the phone clicked and began beeping.
No goodbye, huh?
~
As Zero tossed me over his shoulder once again, I couldn't help but think that it was a very effective method of deterring vampires from entering the association, if they were going to have to be picked up by a grumpy hunter.
Something clicked, as I remembered something else that happened.
"That time when Kaname came, how did he get in here?" I blurted out, remembering when Kaname had turned up outside Kaien's office, the night Yagari and I returned from investigating Shina's disappearance.
"What are you talking about?" Zero set me down on my feet, sounding disinterested. That was right, Zero hadn't been there, had he?
"Nothing," I turned to face the Association's large fence, half-expecting Yagari to appear. "It's nothing."
Zero made no response, but I heard his footsteps fade away as he left. What a conversation.
By the time Yagari had arrived, I was almost asleep on my feet again, out of boredom.
"Get in," he leaned out of the window of the white van he sat in. "The traffic was bad." He added, as a way of explanation, not that it really helped now.
"Okay," I mumbled, simply relieved he was finally here, to the point I almost fell down. What time was it now? Did he even live that far away?
"So you got the briefcase back," Yagari commented as the van began meandering into the traffic. "Kaien was looking at it earlier."
"Earlier?" Right after me and Zero got the case back, it had been probably about 4 o'clock by the time all the excitement had actually died down. Did he even sleep?
"He has grit for an old guy," Yagari replied without humour. The hunter sounded distracted, as he constantly glanced out the window. Maybe it was the traffic.
"Where do you and...Shina, live now?" I hated myself as soon as the words came out. Trying to avoid anything that could upset Yagari only sent me right into the void of insensitivity. Oh, how wonderful it is to be me.
"It's not too far from the association," Yagari replied, seemingly unaffected. He leaned back against his seat as the van slowed down with the traffic. "Hopefully you'll like it."
"Yeah," I mumbled, not sure what to say now, in case I said something else that would send him over the edge.
An air of silence and awkwardness grew.
And grew.
And grew.
And gr- let's break it.
"How were the past two years?" The traffic began to ease up slightly, and the van lurched forward.
"Usual," Yagari was expressionless as always. "Cross Academy was shut down, after all the attacks and everything. Kaien's hoping to rebuild it someday, though."
"Kaien's the president of the association now, though, right?" I scrambled desperately for something to say before silence fell again.
"Right now," Yagari agreed. "But Adrianna doing most of the work." He sounded slightly disapproving.
~~
I peered at the one-storey house sitting in front of me. It looked homely enough. Not exactly what one would call the home of a vampire hunter who was lethal enough to take down hundreds of vampires, but rather, a family kind of home. A bright orange brick house, with clean lines of white cement visible. There was a small porch at the front, walled off on one side by a garage jutting out of one side of the house to show off the metal sliding door that probably hid a car inside.
"Here's the key," Yagari handed over a key that glinted dully in the light of the setting sun - the sky glowed with its rich rays. Even though the trip hadn't taken that long, I had barely realised how late it was when I'd woken up. What time was it?
"I have to drop something off now," Yagari pushed down the handbrake. "I'll be back soon. Don't lose the key - it's your copy now."
"Thanks," I pushed open the heavy door, easing off the van gingerly as the past hour of inactivity caught up with me. "See you later."
"See you later," Yagari responded, waiting until I had closed the door before the van backed out of the driveway. Yagari didn't wave as he left, rather just ignored me as I stood there.
What was I expecting?
As he drove down the street, I turned around to walk up to the front door.
The house was dark when I walked in, but I hardly noticed nor cared. It wasn't like I couldn't see in the dark anyway.
Closing the door behind me, I felt more like a stranger exploring the house rather than a new resident. The living room, I assumed, taking in the sofa and TV, was directly on my left, through an archway, and a wall was on my right. Further on, I could see three more doors on various sides of the hallway. The hallway ended in another archway, and I thought I could see a kitchen bench peeking out.
The first door I opened, on my right, was a bathroom. Not interested in shower cubicles or a toilet, I closed it almost immediately.
The second door led to a bedroom. A door on the right side of the room led to the bathroom, I guessed, considering it was next door to the bathroom. Looking at its modern furnishing and large bed in the middle, I assumed it was Yagari's and Shina's room.
Shina.
Why did I call her Shina, now?
Why not mum?
She's not my mum.
How cruel. You started it. You ran off two years ago and gave her nothing but trouble. If anything, be grateful she hasn't killed you on sight. Look at all the trouble you've caused Yagari as well. He married Shina, but they hardly had a happy marriage with the fact that you were missing constantly ripping them apart.
Selfish brat. Why are you so self-centred? Just moping over your dead boyfriend and not realising you still had people who cared about you.
In fact, was he even a boyfriend? You met for a few months, he was infatuated with a pureblood vampire and there you are, the level C vampire trying to nab him.
Were those my thoughts or something else?
It was like a rush of confusion, horror, guilt, despair, fear and desolation. What only made it worse was how calm I was. Inside, my head was filled with a cacophony of emotions, but the house was silent, I wasn't moving and the world was still turning.
What have I done? Why have I only just realised it now?
Was it mum's fault she went to the enemy or mine?
Moving without thinking, I opened the third door in the hallway, and when I saw what was inside, tears finally fell.
It was my room. Exactly as it had been before, despite the different house. Everything was still in place, as though I had only left that morning.
Even though I left two years ago.
I buried my face in my hands as tears and sobs began to shake from me. Stumbling into the room, I sat on the floor, shutting the door and leaning against it. I didn't want to touch anything. I couldn't go back to how it was before. Not after what my selfishness had led to.
Did I even deserve to live a happy life anymore?
~~~
Ok, I daresay I kind of screwed up this chapter. I only just realised myself how stupid Saki's actions had been, two years ago, and I wanted to portray the guilt and regret she felt, after thinking it through. It's kinda only added more twist to the complication, and now the story is going to deal with an overemotional teenage girl as well (I'll try my best to sort it out later :))
It's been a long time since I updated (a bit over a month) and I know I keep promising to update more, and I genuinely plan to, but real life becomes a pain and erases all my promises. SoI won't make any promises, but I seriously hope I can update more now ^^
Thank you very much for reading, and I would appreciate it TONS if you guys voted and commented ^^
~Evil_Incubator