• CHAPTER 22 - KEEP IN MIND

    Everybody suffers in different ways. It could be from death of a loved one, stress, love, or even self-control.

    "Kai, are you thirsty?" I asked him timidly as we headed home in Matsuda's car.

    The open planes of Hokkaido zipped by as we sped down the gravel road that was now covered in ice. Kai didn't drive any slower so I had a firm grip on everything once again, especially Kai's hand which I was surprised I was able to squeeze despite my cast.

    Kai pondered a moment, "No,"

    "Yes you are, I can tell," I pushed.

    "I'm fine,"

    "You haven't fed since before the Werewolf attacked us and that was days ago," I complained, surprised I wanted him to bite me.

    "You're still recovering," he sighed.

    "Just...," I blushed at my thought, "Just pretend you're giving me a hickey or something."

    As I expected, Kai roared with laughter. I was surprised at how much he had been laughing recently. Before I knew it, we were already pulled into the garage. Even though Kai refused to admit his thirst, he still turned me towards him and unbuttoned my coat. His icy lips kissed my neck several times. I tried to push him away gently.

    "Kai, not in Matsuda's car," I whispered.

    "I won't make a mess," he whispered back. His fangs caressed my neck and sunk in.

    I couldn't feel it. I was so used to the pain that it was numb to me. I gripped his sleeve and played with the spikes in his hair and waited for him to finish. I felt the blood trickle down my chest and Kai swabbed it up with his finger. It lasted several seconds and he pulled away and removed the blood remains from his mouth. He smiled at me coyly.

    "The only hickey a Vampire can leave is a flesh wound," he chuckled, turning me red once again.

    "Shut up, you're embarrassing,"

    "Answer me this," he started and I gave him my attention, "Have you ever considered dating a normal human boy?"

    I was distracted by his question, "Not really. I had been so caught up in school work that I didn't have the time or desire."

    "Would you want to now?"

    I was confused, "I, I don't understand,"

    Kai sighed and shook his head, "You're supposed to be living a normal life, Arisa. You're supposed to be dating humans, not a Vampire."

    "Technically we're not dating because you never asked me out," I pointed out, "And also, humans are...werid."

    Kai frowned at me but I continued, "Guys have never been interested in me anyways. I was just the target for easy humiliation." I leaned back on the car seat and looked out the windshield, "It was always Aya that got the boys' attention. She was outging, sociable, pretty, everything. She was like me, though, not very interested in boys. She dated a few but I guess Akatsuki was her first serious one.

    "I'm just a target, Kai. And even if I never did meet you, I still wouldn't be living a normal life. My blood is strange, I'm not treated normally by peers or anything and my parents were exorcists." I sighed. I wanted to hit myself for pretending to be a martyr.

    Kai's index finger brushed along my cheek and my temple and he stared at me as we sat in silence. The silence was deafening, I thought it wouldn't end.

    "Maybe once we get rid of this contract," he finally spoke up, "I could rid you of this world you've been sucked into."

    I glared at him, "Did you not just hear what I said?"

    "Of course I heard, but you'd be better off living your old life than this new life,"

    "Kai, you don't know how miserable I'd be," I complained.

    "I said it was a possibility, not that I'd be able to do it," he whispered. I didn't know if he intended for me to hear it or not.

    "It'd hurt me more than it would you," he spoke again.

    "Just don't say stuff like that, please," I pleaded.

    His hand moved to the back of my head and he pulled me closer to him, "I won't,"

    He pecked my lips a few times and we climbed out of the car and made our way to the front door. I didn't bother putting my coat back on since we were already back home. We walked in through the front doors and we both slipped off our shoes and I hung up my coat. We entered the living room and everybody but Kira was all conversing and laughing with each other. Kira wasn't downstairs. My attention was taken from me as I saw a large real Christmas tree in the corner of the room miraculously lit and finicky. The lights were lined up perfectly and the ornaments were evenly spaced out and the skirt at the bottom was layed down perfectly. It was all perfect.

    "You guys did this in the time that I was gone?" I managed to say.

    "It only took about five minutes," Takeuchi smiled.

    Jesus, it would have taken me five weeks. Matsuda made his way to the fireplace and looked around for a lighter.

    "Takeuchi, what did you do with the lighter?" Matsuda sighed and sounded as though he were accusing Takeuchi.

    "Uh, I think it's in the kitchen?"

    "Come help me look," Matsuda rolled his eyes and him and Takeuchi stepped into the kitchen.

    "So why is everybody sitting around here?" I asked as I stood by the coffee table.

    "We're just learning a little bit about each other," Akatsuki spoke up. I was surprised to find he was still there.

    Kai leaned down to my ear and whispered in it, "You might want to get that wound on your neck covered,"

    "It's barely bleeding. I'm fine." I whispered back.

    As I turned around to look over at the stairs, Kira was slowly making his way down. When he reached the bottom, he stared at me with a face full of pain. I smiled warmly at Kira, hoping the pain on his face would go away, but it only got worse. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, he never took his eyes off of me. Kai looked back at Kira and he stiffened up. I knew something was wrong at that point.

    "Um, hi, Kira," I tried to break up the tension in the air.

    It seemed with every breath I took made Kira seem worse. Kira's grip on the railing of the stairs tightened and ended up splintering the wood and snapping it. Everything was a blur after that.

    "s**t!" Kai shouted.

    Kai dove at me, bringing me down to the ground and I could have sworn a car collided with his back; it was Kira. I wasn't a hundred percent sure, though. I had hit my head on the leg of the couch when Kai brought me down. The coffee table had shattered from our weight when we landed on it. Kira bore his fangs and his blood red eyes pierced through me. He snarled and tried to pry Kai off of me, tried to make me his dinner. Kai held my head to his chest and held me protectively close. I heard shouting and chaos going on all around. Kira reached for me and one of his nails managed to cut into my cheek, only increasing his hunger. I thought it wouldn't end, whatever was going on, until Kira was pryed off of Kai by some helping hands.

    "Get him out of here!" Kai shouted once again.

    My eyes were blurring from the blow to my head, but the next thing I saw scared me more than when Kira dove at me. Takeuchi and Matsuda pinned Kira to the wall and Akatsuki held his gun up to Kira's neck.

    "Don't...shoot him," I gasped through short breaths.

    "Kai, get Arisa away from here!" Matsuda commanded Kai. I could hear him, Takeuchi, and Akatsuki struggling to hold Kira back.

    "I can't! Some of her ribs snapped again!" Kai shouted back, almost sounding panicked.

    So that was the pain that surged back into my sides. My ribs snapped from the pressure of the coffee table and Kai. Matsuda couldn't completely heal my ribs, only to the point where they were cracked. I thought I was losing breath from Kai holding me so tightly but it was from my ribs nearly puncturing my lungs. I gasped for air and rubbed my head as I tried to stay in consciousness. I could hear my heart racing as Orihime and Akatsuki made their way towards me. Kai rose himself onto his hands and knees above me and cupped his hand on my cheek.

    "Stay with me, Arisa, you'll be alright," Kai reassured.

    "What happened to Kira?" Akatsuki was infuriated.

    "I...I didn't think it'd happen again," Kai whispered to himself.

    "My arm hurts," I complained.

    "Her cast is split," Kai confirmed.

    I didn't know what came over me, but I knew I hit my head too hard and was losing my mind, "Kai, I'm hungry."

    "Let us fix you up first," he rubbed my cheek.

    "Just stay awake, Arisa," I heard Orihime's shaken voice.

    Kai whispered something to Orihime and she left upstairs as Matsuda rushed downstairs. He crouched down where Orihime was sitting earlier and he brushed my bangs around.

    "What's the damage?" he asked Kai.

    "She hit her head and I accidentally broke a couple of her ribs and her cast is split,"

    I was on the verge of closing my eyes, on the verge of losing consciousness, but I was afraid to. I didn't know what was going on and it was hard to process what had just happened. I stared at Matsuda in a daze.

    "Just a moment, Arisa, I'm going to fix your ribs again,"

    "I'm tired, I'm hungry," I was losing it.

    "I know you are, just hang on a moment," Matsuda soothed.

    My ribs snapped back into place just as fast as the whole incident with Kira started and stopped. I jerked around and moaned. I could feel the jagged glass wanting to cut into my skin and my eyes wanting to close on me. I was confused beyond belief. I still didn't understand what happened or what was going to happen. I didn't want to, but I went against Kai's orders and lost my consciousness.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I woke up from the pain that lodged in my sides with every breath. My ribs were broken again, right when they were almost done healing. My head throbbed as did my arm. I finally opened my eyes once I realized how heavily I was breathing. Sweat beads trickled down my face and I had been wrapped in four layers of blankets and placed on the couch. A cool washcloth flopped onto my head and four slender fingers glided across my cheek. I looked over and Kai was staring at me with a straight and apathetic face.

    "Kai?" I tried to sit up but he only had to push me back down gently with one hand, "Where's Kira? What happened to him?"

    His face turned somber, "He's...going through a tough time,"

    "What? What happened? Is it anything I can help with?"

    "If you help him, it will kill you," Kai said coldly.

    My eyebrows burrowed together, "I don't understand,"

    "Are you still hungry?" Kai was dodging my question, but I wanted an answer.

    "I want to know what's wrong with Kira," I demanded.

    He sighed and I knew it would be somewhat of a long story. I wiggled to free my arms and hands from the blanket cocoon I was wrapped in and folded my arms across my chest.

    "Half Vampires such as Kira go through phases from time to time where they have an uncontrollable craving," he started, "There's never a specific time, but usually it's too late before someone notices. The smallest drop of blood sets them off on a spree.

    "Since your wound from when I bit you wasn't covered, Kira saw the blood and went crazy. Nobody was aware of his sudden craving."

    "He's okay now, isn't he?" I asked Kai, hoping it was just a spur of the moment.

    Kai sighed and shook his head, "It's only the beginning. It'll go on for days or maybe even weeks and it will just get worse."

    "Where is he now?"

    "Quarantined in his room," he brushed my bangs around after removing the washcloth, "Arisa..."

    I stared at him, "What?" I whispered.

    "Now that Kira's slipped into his craving stage," he started ominously, "Don't ever get near him. Stay as far away from him as possible unless I'm with you. Don't draw your blood near him either. Cause if you do, he'll attack you." he said icily, "And he won't hold back."

    Shivers dictated my spine, despite the layers of blankets I was ambushed by. Kai slung his arm across my chest and held me close to him. He was truly panicked when Kira dove at me. My head throbbed more and my ribs were being crushed again. Kai pulled back.

    "I'm sorry,"

    "I'm alright, Kai. Just a scratch on the cheek."

    "And a blow to the head, snap to the ribs, and pain to the arm," he confirmed, "I tried to keep you from getting hurt, but that's all I did was hurt you."

    "Shut up, you did nothing wrong," I paused and sighed.

    "We'll try to keep Kira in his room until his craving is finished. If not, he'll be out in the city." his voice sounded regretful.

    I didn't know how many people Kira would attack, nor did I want to know. It would be nearly impossible for him to control his craving around me now since my blood is irresistable to so many Vampires, according to Kai. It was so hard for him to control his craving as it was. I was incredibly lucky Kai knocked me down in time, otherwise I'd probably have been maimed by Kira in an instant. Kai frowned at me.

    "It's true, isn't it?" I had forgotten about my hunger until the deafening roar from my stomach flooded the living room, "How long have I been out?"

    "A few hours,"

    "Can you get me something to eat?" what a stupid question. I knew for sure he wouldn't leave my side now.

    "No, but Akatsuki can,"

    It wasn't expected, but when Kai said Akatsuki's name, I fumed with anger. Akatsuki came into the room as if on cue. I glared at Akatsuki.

    "Arisa, what's wrong?" Kai asked me.

    I ignored him and continued to glare at Akatsuki, "You almost shot Kira!"

    "He almost killed you," Akatsuki probably expected this. That was probably why he replied so quickly.

    "That doesn't matter, Akatsuki! He was having a problem!"

    "What do you want to eat?" Akatsuki crossed his arms, wanting to end the conversation.

    "Just get her some soup," said Kai.

    Akatsuki turned and went into the kitchen. The whole incident made me forget about my alternative to being with Kai for sure. I wanted to ask him, but I knew that now wasn't the right time now that Kira was in the way.