Amaranthine Love { Rewriting }

Chapter 7

"Alice! You're finally joining us?" Ichijou turned into his cheerful self after he saw Alice walking down the stairs with her uniform on.

"Yeah," She's supposed to say another thing but held it within when she saw a glimpse of Kaname's figure among the crowd surrounding the Vice President.

"Did I miss something?" She asked after she scanned the entire lobby full of vampires. She caught some vampires staring straight at Aidou while there were those who deliberately avoided eye contact with her.

Ichijou laughed awkwardly. Shiki and Rima sighed while Kain just shifted his entire weight to his left leg.

"My grandfather just left and put everyone at the edge of their toes." He explained, somehow, he felt responsible for anything that transpired.

"Grandfather?"

"Ancient Ichio." It was Ruka who exposed Ichijou's lineage for him.

The 'O' sound left Alice's mouth. Half amused, half uninterested. She turned her gaze from Ruka to the man in concern who had long been staring at the floor.

"Well, whatever. You're far more trustworthy than that old wart." Alice said in a voice loud enough for Ichijou to hear clearly. She gave him a tap on his shoulder causing the latter to jump in surprise.

"You are you. There's no need to chain yourself with responsibilities that are not yours to begin with." She said before making her way towards the door.

"Where are you going?" It was Kaname in his authoritarian self.

"To the Headmaster." Alice kept her answer short and simple. Her hand touched the knob and felt someone's hostility prickling her neck.

"I am saving your ass from the Senate, Mr. President." She said without turning her head around to watch the astonished expressions of their classmates.

The door creaked, leaving a gap big enough for the woman to pass through. Kaname, however, was light on his feet. He grabbed Alice's arm and yanked her back towards his chest.

"I'm not letting you out without me." He hissed.

Alice sighed deeper than usual and turned around, glaring at him. "Then are you telling me that you are fine walking around with Zero?" She asked, suppressing that emotion boiling at the pit of her stomach.

Kaname's grip around her went loose which gave her the chance to yank her arm back and move a step away from him. "Then at least take Takuma with you or someone else." His voice sounded like he was pleading her to think about his suggestion for awhile.

"No. I can do this alone. I insist and Kaien-dono already approved it."

"What...?"

Without further ado, Alice left the premises and concealed her presence—a trait no ordinary vampires could easily execute.

❖ ❖ ❖ ☪ ❖ ❖ ❖

Dusk soon came not long after Alice left the Academy. In contrary to what she just said to Kaname, she was walking around the town all alone.
Garbed in a white dress and beige hooded cloak, she was able to conceal her identity as a student and slipped inside a tavern.

The establishment was filled with rowdy and merry-making music. The air was clouded with the smoke coming from pipes and cigars which reduced the visibility of the area.
'Hunters.' Her inner self took some notes of their location and conversation.

Alice weaved her way across the crowd while covering her precious nose every now and then. She stopped when she reached the bar and sat in one of the stools.