Well, This Bloody Sucks

Not The Time To Die

"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?"

My ears pique at the sound of faint singing coming from the second floor of the mansion...

"Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme."

I follow the serene voice up the stairs...

"Remember me to one who lives there."

Seeing Kanato on the balcony makes me realise that he's the one singing...

"She once was a true love of mine."

I join him on the last line, reminiscing the fact on the time that I used to sing this song for my mother.

He turns and we stare at each other for a moment before he stares into the distance again.

"You know the song?" He asks me.

"It's one of my favourites." I answer, as I slowly make my way towards him.

"It's a lovely night isn't it?"

I stare towards the sky seeing the faint slither of a new moon. Clouds faintly become thin giving the night sky a mysterious atmosphere.

"It's pretty. But Kanato?"

"Yes?"

"Immortal or not, you're going to at least scrape your knee or something if you fall off of the balcony." I state.

He chuckles in amusement. "Thank you for your concern, Eliza; I'll be fine. You should probably be worrying about yourself."

My cheeks heat up a little bit as I realise that he's talking about my injured hand. I bandaged it from my incident with Reiji, and masked it as an accident in the kitchen in case anyone at school asked me what happened.

"I'll be fine. And I trust that you'll be as well if you say you are. But I'm not going to join you up there anytime soon." I say, as I choose to lean against the balcony rather than sit on it.

"It's nice of you to be concerned. It's kind of cute." Kanato remarks, causing me to be a little surprised.

"You think that I'm cute?" I ask him.

"To the point where it's almost funny."

"Thank you. I think?" I cross my eyebrows in confusion. "Are you sure you're going to be ok over there?"

"Did you know, when you talk like that it makes you seem self-righteous and arrogant?"

"Geez. Do you know how much trouble I'll get my arse in if you end up killing yourself? Just trying to survive over here." I complain to him. It's the truth though. I'll probably end up dead if he hurts himself whilst I'm at the scene.

"Do you want me to come down that badly, Eliza?" He turns to me.

"I would like that if you don't mind." I answer truthfully.

"Then come over here and give me a kiss." He requests and then turns away. "If you can't bring yourself to do that, then I'd rather that you'd leave me alone."

I stand there speechless at his appeal. For a moment I stand there debating whether or not I should accept his offer, before he suddenly bursts into fits of laughter.

"You actually took me seriously! You really are hopeless aren't you? I've almost forgotten how stupid you mortals can be sometimes!" He says in-between his sounds of glee.

Despite the fact that I should be pretty angry that I got tricked super easily, I take a sigh of relief over the fact that I get to keep my first kiss. And before any of you start yelling at me by the fact that Ayato kissed me in the swimming pool, I don't count that. That was simply mouth to mouth.

"Well, I suppose that I'll get down now." Kanato says after his laughing fit.

"Really?" I ask in disbelief.

"Yes, really." He stands on the narrow balcony and swerves around to confidently face me.

"Goodbye, cruel world."

Like an elegant angel, he spreads out his hands and lets gravity do its job.

THUMP.

I don't even blink at the sudden sound. That's how much shock I've just experienced.

A lovely young woman lays in her bed. Smiling with no regrets as she knows that her daughter would be taken care of. She closes her eyes and surrenders willingly to eternal rest.

I shake myself out of my memories and hurry down to where Kanato fell.

Bloody hell. Lord please don't let me be the witness of a suicide.

Seeing Kanato lying almost peacefully, I poke him with my toe.

"Are you alive or dead?"

His eyes suddenly open widely. "You can be really annoying sometimes. Did you really think that a fall from the second floor would do much damage to someone like me?" he asks as he sits up. I sit down next to him to be at eye level.

"I only wish I could die as conveniently as that. It must be very nice." He says almost sadly.

I laugh scornfully at the irony. "Any human you ever feast on would say the exact opposite, Kanato. Being human, knowing that someday you'll end up six feet under and forgotten, is a constant fear, for all of those like me. You, you can end your life whenever you're finally ready; the question is, do you really think that the time is now?"

He stands up and gives me an odd look.

"You say some pretty insightful things Eliza, for a mortal."

"You say some pretty strange things Kanato, for a vampire. Not that I should know particularly well."

I reply with a small smile.

He chuckles at my comment. "I think that I'll take you somewhere special today. Teddy and I are quite fond of this particular place so I'll show it to you. Do you wish to come?" He invites me.

"It beats homework." I say as I stand up. "Lead the way."