Lady Vampire Knight (Vampire Knight Fanfiction)

Chapter 70: Uncovered lies

"No," Ichiru surprised me. "You shouldn't say sorry. You didn't do anything wrong."

"You act like it," I surprised myself, at the snappy tone I spoke on. "You act as though I made a mistake, so you don't like me."

"No," Ichiru hastily tried to console me. "It's not that. The truth is, I've always found that I could understand you, and you could understand me."

"So you rejected me for that?" I was angry now, a flush beginning to rise in my cheeks. "I thought we could be friends in the least, but you seem to only want to keep me away. Why?" That question was a rhetorical one. I didn't want to know why. I just wanted to forget about him and move on.

Or so you say.

Ichiru looked crestfallen.

"How about we take a walk?" He suggested. "There's things I have to tell you."

And so it was that I found myself walking through the park with him. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, staring at the ground in front of him. I, in turn, stared straight ahead as I walked, trying to notice everything around me except Ichiru.

"You know that I am working with Shizuka," Ichiru finally said. Leaves crunched under our feet as we walked along the pathway. "She was the one who saved me and made me stronger." I was silent. What was I supposed to say?

"So I owe her my life," Ichiru continued. "I'm not a Level E, but Shizuka respects me for who I am. She doesn't pity me because I was the weaker twin. She tries to help me instead."

"I know she's more important to you than me," I replied. "But I was hoping we could at least be friends."

Liar.

"I know," Ichiru replied, as we turned left, into another path bordered with trees. "But it was hard for me. If I spent more time with you, I might get too attached. It was risky. If I became too attached, I wouldn't be as bound to Shizuka, and I owe her more than that."

"You're her lover," I stated bluntly, then sighed. "I'm sorry, I only gave you more problems. It was my fault. I was being selfish, not realising your problems."

"No," Ichiru stopped walking. He held out a hand to me. "It was both of us. I didn't just come here for forgiveness. I came because I wanted us to be at least friends."

At least friends.

Tentatively I took his offered hand.

"Ok," I forced a smile. "Friends."

----

"You two were gone for a while," Yagari commented, as we came into the kitchen. "What were you doing?" His eye rested on Ichiru sternly, scrutinizing both of us.

"Talking things through," Ichiru brushed off the question smoothly. "What were you two doing?"

"Same as you," Yagari growled in reply, while Mum went to find something in the cupboards. "Don't go cheeky on me."

"Fine by me," Ichiru shrugged. "I have to go now. Bye." With a wave, he left the kitchen, his footsteps fading out of the house, as the front door thudded shut behind him. 

"What were you two doing?" Yagari repeated, turning to me this time. 

"Nothing," I replied, reaching for a cup. "We were just talking about things."

"Hmph," was all Yagari said, as he lit a cigarette.

"Hey, put that thing out!" Mum appeared, hands on hips. "I won't have you filling the house with that awful smell."

"It doesn't smell bad," Yagari protested indignantly, but he snuffed out the cigarette anyway. "Anyway, I think your mother wants to tell you something, Saki."

"Really?" I turned to Mum, my head tilted to the side. Mum's face changed so suddenly, I realised that something serious was happening. Mum looked lost for words, and suddenly the cheery mood in the kitchen dropped to a grim, serious atmosphere.

"Saki," Mum began, in a serious tone. "There's something I have to tell you."

"I figured out that much," I tried to joke, but Mum didn't even smile. She sat down at the table, motioning for me to sit down as well.

"You might hate me, if I tell you this," Mum began. "But don't hate yourself."

"Just get to the point already." She was really beginning to scare me. Mum's hands clasped together so tightly, I could see her knuckles turning white.

"Saki, you know that you were bitten by a pureblood when you were six. But I fed you the blood so you were safe." 

"Yes," I nodded cautiously. "So?"

"Before that," Mum stared at the table. "You were bitten by Shizuka Hio. It happened when you were 5." 

It was like a plate shattered in my ears. I could hear everything all of a sudden, feeling so aware, but all I could think of was that I wasn't a Level C. I was a level D. A Level E even. After all these years, I was on the verge of insanity. Insanity.

"She came into the house when your father and I were out on an assignment. We left you with your grandma." Mum was still talking. "She bit you, but left enough blood in you for you to survive, but nobody knows why."

Why did she let me survive? She could have just let me die, so I wouldn't be under the false belief that I was a Level C.

"We saw her leaving the house, and tried to chase her, but she escaped. Your grandma was nowhere to be found, and when we looked, we found her tied up and gagged. She didn't want to kill anybody, it seemed."

Blood was roaring in my ears, and I couldn't breathe, couldn't think.

"We found you sleeping, with fang marks on your neck. We had no idea how you could have slept through that."

I slept through being bitten by a pureblood. What happened? What was wrong with me?

"You never remembered anything when we woke you up."

Why? How? Am I really on the verge of insanity?

"The association eventually came up with the theory that she erased your memories soon after biting you."

Memories. It wasn't fair that purebloods could have the power to control everything. They never let me remember. Why did both Kaname and Shizuka erase my memories? After all this time. I was just a living puppet in their hands.

"Saki? Are you alright?" There was a woody hardness against my face. My head must have fallen onto the table. It didn't matter. The darkness was soothing.

"Saki," Mum's voice kept repeating itself. "Saki. Saki." It was like one of those broken tape recorders, when they would repeat part of a phrase over and over again. Dampness and salt made my face slippery, as tears trickled out. So many tears.

Saki. It was the last thing I heard before I drifted into darkness.