Rare (Vampire Knight)

Chapter 52

"Kaname will not be happy to see you," Akatsuki said with a solemn expression. He wasn't sure of the sudden change in Kaname, for he had turned into a man that he did not fully recognise. Though he didn't really know this part of Kaname that had suddenly surfaced, he was certain that the protection of Yuki and Charlotte were still big in his motives, even if he didn't make it seem like it recently. Akatsuki knew that Kaname would try and play the Apathetic Pureblood for the safety of Charlotte and Yuki, but he also knew that deep down, the man still cared greatly. He had to.

Charlotte beamed, "Oh, I know. I'm not particularly happy with him at the moment, so his feelings right now don't necessarily matter to me. I just need some answers." The smile on her face was almost sinister and it sent a chilling shiver down Akatsuki's spine. He wasn't sure if he was going to get in trouble for Charlotte tagging along, but he was sure that she'd take the blame and say that she hadn't given Akatsuki a choice (which, she really didn't, in truth). He knew that Charlotte would insist that her tagging along wasn't Akatsuki's fault - it was just within her nature to take the blame in the things that she was involved so as to not get another person hurt due to her own decisions.

Akatsuki narrowed his eyes at her as she had a familiar bounce in her step. She had radiated with a certain happiness and he found that odd when her father had just been murdered by the man that she had trusted the most. But, having known Charlotte practically his entire life, he wasn't all that surprised to see that she wasn't incapacitated with grief. Charlotte was one to bottle her feelings and pretend that she was fine; she'd never admit her sadness unless provoked in some way.

What he was surprised with, however, was that she wasn't wary of Kaname at all, that she wasn't stricken with revenge of any sort at all. But Charlotte had always valued her friends and her friendships, so Akatsuki supposed he shouldn't have been surprised at all.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking down at her with concern. He knew that Charlotte was a lot more reckless when she was shoving away her sadness.

"Absolutely peachy," she told him with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

There was a moment of silence as he looked down at her as she had looked away from him. He knew that she was excited to see Kaname after a couple of weeks, probably because she planned on punching him in the throat or something.

"How do you feel with Takuma being back?"

"Ecstatic!" She chirped, "Though, Sara's attached to him, so that's kind of annoying. I've been debating whether I should just end her in her sleep for days, but I kind of want to see the panic in her eyes as she realises that she's going to die." She furrowed her eyebrows at the thought. She didn't want to do Sara a favour and end her in her sleep where she'd go peacefully; Charlotte wanted the woman to feel the pain. She wanted Sara to know that she was dying and she wanted her to feel it.

Akatsuki was going to say something, but he shut his mouth immediately when Charlotte stopped walking and stared straight ahead at a man clad in a familiar black trench coat. The man stopped walking as well and slowly turned his head to look at the pair.

Charlotte's mind had been going over the very colourful things that she planned on saying to Kaname, but the moment that she saw him, her mind went blank and she froze in her spot. Stood a couple of metres in front of her was the man that murdered her father. Though she knew that there was a very specific and certain reason for his betrayal, she still felt a burning rage creeping into her, starting from her fingers.

There was a ghost of a smile on his face as Kaname change course and came approached Charlotte and Akatsuki, "I was just thinking about you, Charlie."

Unintentionally avoiding what she had intended to say, her mouth moved on its own accord, "I've been thinking about requesting to be called 'Lottie' instead of 'Charlie'. I mean, it is another nickname for 'Charlotte' and I kind of like the ring to it. Lottie. Llloootttiiiee. It rolls off the tongue quite nicely, I think."