Midnight Rose (Kaimaki vampire AU)

Chapter 25: Blood Lust or Love?

This story has officially hit 100 votes and 890+ reads! Thank you all so much for your support. I'm happy with how much those of you have loved it so far. I'm not joking when I say that I thought that it would blow up in my face, I thought that people wouldn't like it. I'm glad that I've been proven wrong. All your comments and votes mean a lot to me, more than you could possibly know.

Okay, I'm gonna stop rambling now. I've said enough.

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter.

"What?"

Kaito snapped his head up upon hearing what Maki had said. She knew? Maki sighed quietly as she glanced at him slightly. She didn't seem afraid or surprised about what Kaito had told her. Her eyes had a mixture of emotions. Regret, the need to take the weight off her shoulders and a little bit of gratitude had blended into a horrible mixture. Maki broke eye contact, looking ahead of her, staring at nothing in particular. It was clear that she was trying to think of something else to say. Kaito waited patiently.

"I lied about my amnesia. I didn't want to seem weak. Showing weakness is something that assassins should never do. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't suspicious of you the whole time." Maki explained, her body becoming more relaxed in Kaito's hold. Her hand slowly came up and landed on top of Kaito's hand that rested on her shoulder. "However, as I met you time and time again, there were a few hints that I'm sure that you weren't aware of. Especially when you asked about my arm. I just didn't know if you just wanted to be friends, or if you had other intentions. But, I'm actually glad that you've told me." Kaito felt like so much was taken off of his shoulders. The burdens on him were so heavy that he didn't notice how much until he heard those words. He was quite surprised at how forgiving Maki was towards him. He thought the worst case scenario would be that her turning against him. This wasn't something that he was prepared for. But he smiled, happy that this went well.

"Momota...we've been stuck like this for a while." Maki said, somewhat awkwardly. She didn't make a move to try to get away from his hold and held his hand a little tighter. "I don't know what you want to do. If you're going to hold me or take my blood, I'll accept your choice." Again, Kaito was quite surprised by what Maki had said. He didn't want to take her blood. He just felt like holding onto her longer. He wasn't sure what it was that made him feel like that. It felt right for him to hold her like this. Again, it felt nice. It just made Kaito feel like everything felt right for him for once. Even though he denied it earlier, he was starting to think that he truly loved her.

Kaito held Maki closer to him. He held her small body so close that he was sure that she could feel his heart beating against her back. It was beating so fast that he was sure that it was going a mile a minute. It was hard for him to focus on anything else all of a sudden. He could only focus on Maki. Maybe he did love her. Kaito leaned towards Maki. He had the sudden urge to kiss her on the cheek. He wanted to just continue gaining her trust. If he does love her, he'll have to go slowly, otherwise everything could go wrong. And if she doesn't love him in return, then he'll let her go. He had no right to cage her like a bird after all. His lips were so close to her now. However he felt something prick the inside of his mouth harshly. It was so harsh that he thought that the inside of his mouth was bleeding. 'No! No! Not now!' Kaito thought in a panic. His body went into a sudden rush. One minute he held Maki close, then the next he suddenly released her. He let go of her so fast that Maki wasn't prepared when she suddenly fell forwards. Kaito couldn't bring himself to apologise or see she was okay. He rapidly covered his mouth and dashed into the bathroom. He ignored Maki's concerned voice asking for him as he locked the door behind him.

Kaito didn't hesitate in looking in the mirror. He opened his mouth as wide as he could. His worst fear was realised. His fangs had extended completely. His body wasn't listening to him. It was actually trying to make him do the one thing that he didn't want to do. 'Go back in! I don't need you! I'm not taking her blood! I don't need it! I DON'T NEED IT!' Kaito begged silently, trying to force his fangs to retract. They were doing it, but it was so slow that Kaito felt like he was going insane.

"Momota? Are you okay?" Maki's voice suddenly asked as there was a quiet knock on the door. Kaito dashed to the door, breathing a sigh as he reminded himself that the door was locked.

"Yeah. I'm just-I just need to clean my shirts so I can wear them tomorrow." He said. It wasn't a full lie. His shirts were still in the sink, damp and still bloodstained. But it felt like such a terrible excuse, that he thought that Maki would break the door down. He might over exaggerating a bit, but he didn't doubt that it could happen.

"I can help. I've had to do it before." Maki offered, not sounding too convinced, as the handle moving slightly.

"No!" Kaito suddenly shouted. He faintly heard Maki flinching back. He couldn't blame her. Even he was scared at how authoritative his voice sounded. "I mean...you've been through enough already today. Just go get some sleep. I'll sleep when I'm ready." There was a silence that seemed to last for an eternity. Kaito held his breath and push against the door. He pressed his ear against it, trying to hear Maki. He couldn't hear anything.

"Okay..." Maki finally said, her voice sounding tired. Kaito let out a sigh of relief as he heard her quiet steps go to the bed. Back against the door, Kaito found himself sitting on the floor. How could everything go wrong so quick?! He thought that he had this under control. He thought that this whole thing had calmed down. How could this have happened?! Trying not to think about it, Kaito got up and continued to clean his shirts. But no matter how hard he tried to forget what happened, it remained fresh in his mind.

———————————————————————————

After what felt like forever, Kaito finally got the blood off of his shirts to the best of his ability. His fangs had also retracted completely. He loathed himself for that. He had calmed down, his vampiric urges gone for now. He was tempted to sleep in the bathroom the whole night, just in case he lost control again. But his body was heavy, all the fight in him made him feel like lead weights. He needed to sleep in a bed.

With great hesitation, Kaito finally limped out of the bathroom, ready to crawl into the bed. He was quite surprised seeing Maki sitting up, legs dangling over the side of the bed. She had his coat still draped over her shoulders. Her back was hunched slightly, her head dipped. Kaito walked over to her, ready to ask her why she wasn't sleeping. However, her eyes were closed and her face was completely relaxed. She actually fell asleep waiting for him to come back out.

After wondering how Maki was sleeping by sitting up without support, Kaito carefully supported her shoulders and head. He slowly pushed her down, guiding her head to the pillow. He gently lifted her legs so that her whole body was on the bed. Maki shifted a little, curling up slightly into his coat. She fell still easily. Kaito smiled tiredly as he brought the covers over her small body. Maki once again shifted, curling up even more, giving the illusion that her body was smaller than it actually was. Kaito watched her again, making sure that she truly was asleep. He took off the dressing gown, so he could be more comfortable as he slept. Then he slowly crawled into the other side of the bed, making sure to keep enough distance between himself and Maki as to not seem creepy. He turned over, turning his back to her. So much has happened tonight. All he wanted was to be with Maki. But now he's not sure if he was truly in love with her, or gone into a blood lust for her. He heard about blood lusts. It's when vampires become obsessed with only one blood source. It makes the vampire dangerous and unstable. Kaito didn't want to end up like that. 'What was I thinking? Why did I think that she would be mine after I had saved her?' He thought hopelessly, staring at the wall. He suddenly felt Maki move. Kaito closed his eyes, steadied his breathing and kept as still as he could. He didn't know if Maki was just moving in her sleep or she was actually awake. Either way, he didn't want to make it look like he was so troubled. Kaito almost gave his facade away when he felt something light, like butterfly wings, brush his cheek.

"Thank you..."

Kaito continued to remain still. Maki seemed to not move for a minute, but then she moved again to lie back down. Kaito waited another two minutes. When he was sure that Maki fell asleep again, he opened his eyes and gently touched his cheek where he felt that light touch. It took him that long to realise that she had kissed him. Being careful, Kaito slowly turned around. Maki was facing him this time. Her mouth was open a little to allow her to breathe silently. Her eyes were closed on her completely relaxed face. Her hand was curled in front of her, lightly clutching the pillow. 'Maybe...maybe I still have a chance.' Kaito thought, his hand automatically grabbing Maki's hand. He couldn't tell in the bad lighting, but he thought that he could see her subconsciously blushing. Smiling tiredly, and not sure how he did it in the first place, Kaito slowly brought himself to a blissful sleep.