Lady Vampire Knight (Vampire Knight Fanfiction)

Chapter 83: Blame

When I woke, it was bright. The patch on the bed next to me was warm, the only reminder that Ichiru hadn't been a dream.

So Shizuka is really dead.

~~~

The whole dorm bustled with silent activity as I made my way downstairs. Maria was nowhere to be found, and I wondered where she could have gone. Did she go back home after Shizuka died, seeing as there was no use for her here?

"Hey, Rima, do you know when Senri will be coming back?" Takuma's green eyes glittered as he spoke to the poker-faced girl, betraying no graveness or seriousness. In fact, I always found Takuma a bit strange, not because he acted strange, but because he seemed perfectly normal.

Every Night Class student in the dorm had some kind of quiet air surrounding him or her, which is partially why the Day Class differed to the Night Class, but Takuma was bright, cheerful, and completely...how do you put it?

Normal. Maybe that wasn't the word. More like, happy. Happy and normal.

"Senri said he'll be coming back today and tomorrow," Rima replied boredly. "He told me it didn't guarantee anything though, since you know what his Mum's like."

"Ahh," Takuma's face fell slightly, but it rose again almost immediately.

"Hey, Saki!" He caught sight of me lingering near them, unsure of what to do. "Kaname told me to tell you to come to the main building as soon as you could." The main building? What on earth for?

As I walked towards the familiar brick building, possibilities of why I had been summoned raced through my mind. Shizuka, Ichiru, Maria, they were the most prominent possibilities. No matter how much I tried to convince myself otherwise, I couldn't shake off the feeling that it was definitely related to Shizuka's death.

"Saki, you came." The headmaster was seated at his desk, hands clasped on the table in front of him. Kaname leaned against the wall on the side of the room, his arms folded, while his eyes roamed the room thoughtfully.

"Saki!" A small petite figure darted in to hug me. "I was worried you wouldn't come. Where's Ichiru?"

"Ichiru?" I repeated. "I haven't seen him since...last night."

"Oh," Maria looked up to me, her eyes round with worry. "He didn't come yesterday, so I went looking for him." That explained why she wasn't in the room last night.

"Well, I haven't seen him." It was the honest truth, but Maria looked downcast as I replied.

"He spends a lot of time with you now," she admitted. "So I was hoping you would know where he is."

"He'll turn up," I reassured the younger girl. "I'm sure he will." The certainty in my voice hid the doubt that I felt. Had Ichiru actually left? Why would he, after-

Guess you have to keep pulling away.

"So, about why you're here," Kaien interrupted Maria and I. "Maria, you have had your body possessed by Shizuka Hio. Saki, you were attacked by the same pureblood as well."

"Yes," Maria whispered, her head hanging down, silvery locks trailing towards the floor. "I didn't mean any harm."

"I'm sure you didn't," Kaien reassured the girl, not unkindly. "And I have no intention of reporting it to the council if it can be helped." Maria looked up in hope and relief at that.

"Thank you!" She had her arms wrapped around the ex-hunter. "I won't do any more bad things, I promise!"

"Awwwww!!!!" Kaien's calm demeanour disappeared instantly, as he returned Maria's hug. "Daddy will do anything for his precious daughter!~"

"She's not your daughter," I muttered under my breath, feeling more confused than annoyed by the headmaster's constant mood swings.

Kaname coughed slightly, his eyes sending a meaningful message to the ecstatic headmaster.

"Ah, yes," Kaien released Maria reluctantly, his eyes still dancing with happiness over his newfound 'daughter'. "So, about you, Saki, being atta-" He broke off as the door opened, letting in another guest.

"Ichi-" I stopped as Zero's hateful mauve eyes glared at me. It really annoyed me that the guy I liked, had a twin that I hated. At least they had different hairstyles, so I could tell them apart. Sort of. That method didn't help now though.

"Zeeeeeroooooo!~" the headmaster jumped out of his seat, lunging towards his foster son. "Come give Daddy a hug!~" I think he's still high after Maria hugged him.

"Get away," Zero growled, a hand pressed up against the headmaster's forehead, keeping him at bay. "Can't you act more decent?"

"But, Zero!" Kaien pouted, a woeful expression plastered on his face. "Daddy only wanted to give you a hug." I could have sworn I saw Zero's face twitch with annoyance.

"You're not a little kid anymore, headmaster."

"Call me Daddy!" Kaien returned to his seat, nevertheless.

"Sorry I'm - Oof!" Yuki appeared, her small frame crashing into Zero's leaner frame. Both prefects tumbled to the ground, while the rest of us became much more interested in the floorboards, than the tangle in front of us.

"Sorry, Zero," Yuki pulled herself up, patting down her skirt. "I didn't see you there." My mouth twitched at that. Who could miss a one metre eighty, silver-haired boy, standing right in front of them? Turns out Yuki can.

"It's okay," Zero muttered, picking himself up. "Are you hurt?" My mouth fell open at that. If I had crashed into him, he would have Bloody Rose at my forehead, snarling at me to turn into dust. What makes Yuki different?

She's not a bloodthirsty monster.

"Are you hurt, Yuki?" Kaname wrapped his arms around the small girl, ignoring Zero completely. "You should be more careful. You'll hurt yourself." Zero bridled at the sight before him, and I was sure he wanted to take Bloody Rose out at that point and shoot Kaname.

"What's this?" Maria whispered into my ear. I hadn't noticed her sidling up to me. "Are Kaname and Yuki together?"

"I think so," I replied not bothering to keep my voice down. "They seem pretty attached if you ask me." It was like someone dropped a pin. There was a silence in the room as Yuki, Kaien, Zero, and Maria processed what I just said. The only person not affected was Kaname, who stood there, an emotionless expression painted over his face.

"Uh," Kaien began awkwardly after about five minutes of silence. "So, about Shizuka."

"Oh, yes," I hastily nodded. "You were saying?" In the corner of my eye, I saw Kaname and Yuki break apart, situating themselves in a more casual position around the room.

"Unfortunately, the council had been alerted about Shizuka's appearance at the academy, and about her death," Kaien stopped, looking at Yuki and Zero. "I'm not sure if you know, but last night, Shizuka attacked Saki. However, a turn of events led to her death."

"Death?" Yuki repeated. "Who killed her?" Immediately everyone's eyes turned to me, and I backed away.

"I was the one that got attacked, remember," I scowled at them. "How could I kill her?"

"It wasn't Saki," Kaien agreed. "The determined culprit, was Ichiru." It was like glass shattered in my mind. Not Ichiru.

"It wasn't him, okay?!" I shouted out, slamming my palms down on the headmaster's desk. "I was there, I know who kil-"

"That's enough, Saki," Kaname interrupted me quietly. "The council's investigation has led to Ichiru being the culprit."

"You," I hissed, realising the truth. "You framed-" Snap. The blood bond between me and Kaname tensed, and my mouth clamped itself shut.

I glared at Kaname mutinously, still trying to force the words out of my mouth. Finally, I had to say something else.

"I'm going to my dorm." Stalking to the doorway, I paused briefly when I went past Kaname.

"Murderer," I muttered quietly, before walking out of the room.

Where was Ichiru? I half-expected him to turn up any second now, joining me as I walked towards the Moon Dorm. Maybe he was in hiding. The council was holding him to blame after all.