The Trial of Hearts

Chapter 3: In Grips With Reality

“You rest up, Rukia,” André says, laying her on her bed and pulling the covers on her then turning away, “I’ll inform the police about what Chaz did.” Rukia looks up at him.
“What time…” she starts, “…should I let you out tonight?”
“Thirty minutes after midnight,” he answers, in a low almost whispering voice, “I’ll be back to normal by then.”
“That’s good. I’ll be glad when this whole thing passes,” she smiles, turning to the window, “…I want to thank you, André.”
“Hmm? For what?”
“For saving me a second time. Maybe it was fate that left me in that cavern to die, but if I didn’t go there in the first place I wouldn’t have met you.”
“…Fate was looking down on me that day also. You freed me that day and I’m grateful.” André turns to Rukia, leans over and kisses her cheek, “Now rest, Rukia.”
“Okay,” she yawns, closing her eyes and falling asleep. André quietly walks out and closes the door, ‘Rukia…please be strong for me tonight. I don’t want you to suffer…please be strong and don’t give in…’


André looked down at his dinner, moving it around with his fork. “Is something wrong, André?” Rukia asks, quietly as he looks up.
“Nothing’s wrong, Rukia,” he says, forcing a smile to appear on his face, “What ever gave you that idea?” Rukia stands up and walks over to him, staring deep into his eyes.
“Uh…Rukia?” he asks nervously, “What’s wrong?” She sits in his lap and hides her face on his neck. André sighs in relief, “You had me worried, Rukia. You should have said you wanted to cuddle.” He wraps his arms around her delicate shoulders and holds her closer, “I love you, Rukia. I would do anything to keep you here beside me, you know that.”
“Do you love me so much that you would die for me?” she whispers in his ear.
“Yes. I would risk my own life for you, dearest Rukia.” Rukia smiles at his words as she bites violently into André’s neck, lapping at the blood that flowed from her bite. André looks down at Rukia, “What…are you doing?” He sees fresh bite marks on her neck and gentle touches them as Rukia stares deeply into his eyes. “Who gave you those marks?” he asks, looking into her blood red eyes. “You did,” she smiles, licking her fangs, “You turned me, André.” …………


André quickly opens his eyes; the ceiling in Rukia’s closet greets him. ‘A dream?’ he thinks, ‘Or was it more of a nightmare?’ He sits up, licks his lips then stops. The faint taste of blood was noticeable…but whose? André reaches for the door as something stops him. Through the crack of the door, he could see the edge of a silver cross blocking his path. ‘Rukia must have sealed the door for the night…’he thinks, sitting against the far wall, ‘She’s very clever.’ Looking through the crack again, he sees Rukia sitting at the foot of her bed with a bandage around her neck. ‘Huh?’ André thinks, ‘How did that…’ He remembers that faint taste of blood on his lips. ‘Did I…?’
“André, are you awake?” she asks quietly.
“I am…what happened to your neck?” he asks.
“You don’t remember?…You bit me, tried to drain me of all my blood. I had no choice but to knock you out and seal you away early…”
“…Rukia…I…”
“No need to say anything, André. It’s not your fault.”
“Please forgive me, Rukia. I didn’t…”
“I said no need to say anything, André! I know.” André leans against the wall, ‘I thought I had more control over this…’
“If you want to know, it’s almost midnight. You’ve been in there since seven-thirty this evening,” Rukia sighs, sitting by the door, “You didn’t hurt me that badly, so cheer up.”
“Rukia…” he whispers with a tear down his face, “You’re so strong and brave now. Maybe you don’t need me anymore.”
“Don’t talk like that. You know I need you, André.”
“Alright. Are you planning on sitting by the door all night?”
“Yes.”
“Sometimes I worry about you, Rukia.” Rukia stands up and walks over to the window, looking up at the stars.
“Deep in the forest of dreams, we wander along hand in hand…” she begins to sing, “…following the lullaby of the moon. Brightest star, won’t you tell us so, how much farther we must go?
We wish to reach the land of peace, where there’s no war or such things.
Brightest star, won’t you tell us so, how much farther we must go?” André smiles softly, closing his eyes as Rukia continues singing.
“…Deep in the forest of dreams, we wander along happily. Following the lullaby of moon, we hope to be there very soon…”
“Mreow-mreow-mreow! Mreow-mreow-mreow! It’s time! It’s time!” buzzed her neko girl alarm clock. “Huh? 12:30 already?” she asks, turning off the alarm clock and walking over to the closet, “André, it’s time.” She removes the cross and unlocks the door, “Okay, you can come out now.” André slides the door open and smiles, “Thank you Rukia.”
“It was nothing really,” she says as André hugs her, takes off the bandage, and gently kisses her neck.
“You’re very affectionate tonight, André. Did you really miss me that much?” she smiles, hugging him back as André gently bites her neck, “You were…hungry?” Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that André’s eyes weren’t the same gentle, emerald green eyes she love staring into; his eyes were a dark red with no such emotion behind them. “…You lied…didn’t you?” she manage to say before being forced on her bed, “The danger hasn’t passed…has it?” André stops and looks at her, licking his lips. “Are you going to fight back, mortal?” he asks in a low voice, growling softly as Rukia glares up at him, “Such a cold look. I should change that.” André bents over and bites her again, sucking on the blood that pooled out; Rukia closes her eyes as pain shoot through her body. “I won’t…fight back…” she whispers, her arms falling to her sides, “I know…the real André is in there…somewhere…” Her head droops to the side as André lifts his head, grinning. “Mreow…” chimed the alarm clock as André looks around, as if coming out of a trance. He looks down at Rukia and the pool of blood that laid beside her neck as he realize what had just happened moments ago. With panic starting to stir in the pit of his stomach, he gets off of her stomach and cradles her in his arms. “Rukia?” he asks, gently shaking her, “Rukia?…please say something…anything…” He looks at the stain on her bed and around her neck, ‘How much did I drink…?’ Overcome with sadness, André makes a small cut on the side of his neck, just enough to draw blood, and puts Rukia’s mouth next to it. “Rukia…if you can hear me, please take some of my blood. Please…” he whispers crying softly, “I don’t want to lose you…” He closes his eyes as he feels someone sucking on his neck. André looks over to see Rukia gently sucking on his neck. “There you go, Rukia,” André smiles, “Take as much as you want, my dearest Rukia, and recover.”


‘When was the last time I saw Rukia cry? …I never saw her crying this bad, not even when she told Chaz off. Poor Rukia,’ the thoughts ran over and over in André’s head as he sits at the end of Rukia’s bed while Rukia laid sleeping at the other end, ‘She was crying the whole time she was drinking…Maybe I am too dangerous to be around her.’ Rukia begins to stir a little as André stands up and looks at her.
“Rukia…?” She opens her eyes slowly, looking at André and smiling.
“You were crying, André?” she asks softly, sitting up, “Why?” André turns his eyes to the floor, “Do you remember anything from last night?”
“A little. I just remember you biting me and forcing me on my bed. Nothing more.”
“I see.” Rukia leans forwards a little, “André, why won’t you look at me?” André turns away from her. Rukia kneels up on her bed and grabs André by the collar of his shirt, “Why won’t you look at me, André?! Did something happen last night to make you act like this?! I’m still the same girl that freed you!” André glares at her, “You are not the same girl whom I call ‘master’.”
“What in hell are you talking about, André?”
“Lick you lips and tell me what you taste.” Rukia lets go of him and licks her lips, “…Blood?”
“Please understand…”
“…André, why is there blood on my lips?”
“It’s was the only way to save you. You had to drink some of my blood to continuing living.”
“You forced me…?”
“I had no choice…you would have died.” Rukia quickly grabs a hand mirror and looks into it. Her eyes were still the same pale blue eyes; she grins to show two fangs in place of two normal canine teeth. Rukia hangs her head, trembling. “Rukia…”André whispers as she throws the mirror at André, breaking it on his cheek.
“How could you turn me like this?!” she yells at the top of her lungs, “I didn’t give you permission as your master to do this!” André wipes the blood from his cheek as Rukia stands up.
“Did you plan this all along, André?! Is this part of some sick joke?!” André glares coldly at Rukia as he grabs her wrists and pins her to the wall.
“Quiet!” he yells, squeezing her wrists and hanging his head as Rukia stares at him.
“…André, you’re hurting me…” she quietly says, as if scared to speak.
“I had no choice but to turn you. Don’t you understand? If I didn’t do what I did when I did, you would have died. How do you think I feel? I was the one who put you in this situation; it torn me up inside to think that I might have killed the one person whom I owe my very life. I didn’t want to lose you like I lost my mother and father years ago. You are all I have left, Rukia. I did it because… I love you,” André says, staring into her eyes with tears falling in rapid waterfalls down his face, “You are my entire world; the sole purpose for my existence in this world. To lose you would mean I failed at protecting you.” He lets go of her wrists, “I love you more than life itself.” Rukia looks up at André with tears falling down her face as well, “I’m sorry I yelled at you, André… I love you too. Could you forgive me?” André tenderly presses his lips against Rukia’s, “Of course, Rukia. I always will.” Rukia smiles as André kisses her again, holding her in his arms.
‘Rukia, I never meant to hurt you like this,’ raced André’s mind, ‘But soon, you’ll go through changes you won’t understand; when it does happen, I’ll be there for you to help you through it. I guess I wanted our lives to be like a fairy tale, but this is reality.’ André breaks the kiss and looks into Rukia’s eyes, smiling. Rukia stares back into André’s eyes until she feels a sharp pain in her stomach and doubles over in pain. “Rukia, what’s wrong?” André asks, holding her. “My…stomach,” she pants, “What’s happening? It feels like it’s being tied in knots…” André helps Rukia to her bed and sits her down, “It’s called a blood lust, an extreme thirst for blood.” Rukia looks up at him, “You mean…I’m in pain just because I’m thirsty?”
“Yes,” André answers, sitting next to her. Noticing how her eyes turned from icy blue to a ruby red, André unbuttons his collar and points to his neck, “I want you to take a bite right here.” Rukia sits up for a moments, licking her lips, before looking away quickly, “I can’t do that, André…”
“I insist. After all, it’s the same way you helped me the first time.” Rukia closes her eyes, trying to sort out just what is going on: she’s a vampire now, that much she understands. She’s hungry for blood, something else she understands…but accepting André’s blood? She couldn’t do it. Her conscience wouldn’t let her…although it did when she was completely unaware of it.
“I see…” André sighs, buttoning his collar and standing up, “You won’t drink from someone else.” “I’m sorry,” she squeaks, hanging her head. The pain in her stomach had settled down for a moment before kicking back in, causing her to howl in pain and grab her stomach. André walks over to Rukia’s closet, opens it and reaches into his messenger bag. “Here,” he says, tossing a bag of medical blood on the bed next to Rukia, “Drink that.” She looks over at the bag, “Where did you…”
“The blood bank. I suggest drinking it soon before you go crazy from the blood lust, attacking everyone in your path.” Rukia reaches for it and bites a small hole in it, drinking it. André faces the closet, ‘Rukia…what did I turn you into? You must be so torn up inside about all this.’ André turns his head slightly to look at Rukia to see her crying and putting the empty bag down. “Are you finished, Rukia?” André asks softly as she nods, wiping her eyes, “I’m so sorry that you have to suffer like I do now, Rukia…I never meant for any of this to happen to you.” Rukia wipes her lips, “…”
“Please forgive me…”
“Leave me alone…” Rukia whispers, staring into her hands as André bows and leaves. What happened to her? She was so independent before this happened…now she felt weak and vulnerable, the same way she always felt when she was with that egotistic Chaz. Why was all this happening to her, of all people? She just had to free a good-hearted vampire with a pretty face. This confused her to no end.
“Mreow-mreow-mreow! Mreow-mreow-mreow! Time for school! Time for school!” buzzed her alarm clock as Rukia tosses a pillow at it, breaking it. She couldn’t go back to school like this; what if she went crazy like André said? Would she attack her friends until her blood lust was satisfied? She hides her face in her pillow as André knocks on her door.
“Rukia, your lawyer is here to talk about your wedding arrangements,” he says softly as Rukia sits up. “Is it that time already?” she mumbles, opening the door, “Please tell me that you didn’t tell him that you’re my boyfriend?”
“I might have…” Rukia pokes André on the forehead, “ Goofball.”

“Miss Rukia, you realize that the 2-month period is almost over,” the lawyer says, looking over some paperwork, “Have you decided on who you’re going to be married?” “I thought that was obvious, Mr. Kurosaki,” Rukia says, crossing her legs, “André is the one I’ve chosen.”
“Oh, the young man who greeted me at the door. He seems…presentable.”
“That isn’t part of your job.”
“I was most certain that you would marry Sato.”
“…If you looked at the papers you’re holding, you’ll see that I’ve filed several legal suits against him.”
“Right, right. Attempted murder, domestic violence, attempted raped, and a restraining order. All four went through and are in effect.”
“So, all I have to do now is get a marriage license to André and the house will be mine?”
“The house and your father’s fortune will belong to you and your fiancée, Miss Rukia. Thank you for your time.” Mr. Kurosaki shakes her hand and heads towards the door as Rukia looks over at him.
“Mr. Kurosaki,” she says.
“Yes?”
“I would like to form a will of my own after the wedding.”
“Understood.” Mr. Kurosaki closes the door as Rukia sighs.
“How long were you there, André?” she asks, smiling as André walks up to her from the dining room and bowing.
“Not too long,” he answers, “Long enough to hear you say something about a will.” Rukia looks over at a wine glass half-filled with water , “Sometimes I wonder, what’s going to happen to me, especially now that I’m a vampire.” André walks behind her and hugs Rukia around her shoulder, “You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Huh?”
“You’re not a true vampire until you drink from someone else, Rukia.”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry. I know you’ll be able to do it when the time comes. This is just another obstacle that you’ll get by.” Rukia places her hands on André’s, “Thank you for that. I needed it.” André rubs his cheek against Rukia’s cheek as someone knocks on the door. André stands up, “I wonder who it is, this early in the morning.” He walks over to the door and looks through the peephole to see a familiar ball of spiky red and black hair. “It’s Chaz…” André growls as Rukia stands up. “Let me,” she says, walking up to André, “I want to handle this on my own. You go to the kitchen and just wait for me.”
“Be careful, Rukia,” he whispers, running to the kitchen as Rukia undo her robes a little, revealing some cleavage. She opens the door slightly, “Yes?” Chaz forces the door completely open, knocking Rukia over. “There you are, Rukia,” he says, smiling, “I’m so sorry about what I tried to do to you the other day.”
“Really,” she says, sarcastically, standing up.
“There was no reason to get the police involved.”
“Yes there was a reason. You attempted to rape me on school grounds. What part of ‘leave me the hell alone’ don’t you get?” Chaz glares coldly at Rukia, “Why are you acting so cold to me, Rukia? Is it because you’ve chosen your husband already?”
“What’s it to you?” Chaz walks up to Rukia, backing her into a wall, “I know you’ve chosen that freak of a boyfriend. I want to know why.”
“I don’t owe you a reason,” she says coldly, staring into Chaz’s eyes as he runs his hand down her stomach.
“You’re serious about him, aren’t you? Has he deflowered you yet?”
“That’s none of your business, pervert.”
“Did it hurt when he stuck it in?”
“We didn’t do anything.”
“You’re still pure, then?” he asks, running his hand under her robes and resting on her silk underwear, “You haven’t lost your innocence, yet you act as though you have. That makes me wonder…”
“Don’t hurt yourself thinking too hard,” she smiles, “You know you’re little brain can’t handle that much pressure.” Chaz forces two fingers into her, making Rukia gasp and tighten her body.
“Why are you waiting to lose your innocence, hmm?” he asks, twirling his fingers, “By the time someone you truly love wants to take it, you won’t have it anymore. The longer you wait, the more tainted it becomes.” Rukia clenches her teeth together, trying to block out the pain. “If your fruit cake boyfriend won’t take it,” Chaz grins, squeezing another finger inside, “then I will.”
“André understands if I’m ready for him to take it or not,” she hisses through her teeth, “You don’t get it.”
“Speaking of that fruit loop, where is he? Usually he’s here to protect you from me.”
“I don’t need him to save me now,” Rukia smiles, knocking Chaz’s hand away and kicking his in the knee, “I can save myself.” Chaz falls to the ground, holding his knee.
“Damn it, Rukia! What the hell did you hit me with? I think you broke my kneecap!” he yells as Rukia closes her robes and tie it. “All I did was kick you with the force of a two-year old, nothing more,” she smiles as Chaz looks up at her.
“Now I get it,” he says, struggling to his feet, “You’re a freak, just like him. That’s why you chose him. You’re a vampire. This is too perfect.” Rukia’s smile is quickly replaced with a frown, “If you so much as utter to anyone about that…”
“What’s wrong? Afraid you’ll lose your friends if they know you’re a blood sucking freak of nature?”
“…What do you want in return to keep this between us?” she asks whispering as Chaz stumbles over to her, pushing against the wall. Chaz presses his lips against Rukia’s while running his hands around her breasts. “I want your innocence, Rukia. I was in your life first,” he whispers in her ear, “If I don’t get it, I’ll talk.” Defeated, Rukia nods as Chaz kisses Rukia again, sliding his tongue down her throat, exploring the sweet taste of Rukia’s mouth. Chaz breaks the kiss and smiles at her, “I’ll be in touch.” Chaz turns and leaves, closing the door as Rukia slides to the ground and hangs her head, shaking a little. “André…” she whispers as he walks up to her and kneels, “What am I going to do…?” André stands up and turns away, “You made a deal with him; you have to keep it. No questions asked.” Rukia looks up at him, “André, why are you acting like this?”
“…”
“Please, André-chan…”
“Don’t ever call me that again.”
“W-what..?”
“Once you lose your innocence to him, the blood bond that’s between us will be broken; so there will be absolutely no reason for me to stay here with you.” Rukia stands up and hugs André’s arm, “No…please don’t leave me.”
“Let go, Rukia. I heard the whole conversation. By the tone of your voice, you still have feelings for him.”
“No, you don’t understand…I was panicking!”
“You weren’t panicking when he kissed you…” André says coldly, shaking Rukia off, “Did you enjoy having his tongue down your throat?” “I had to play along,” she cries, latching back on André’s arm, “He was going to tell everyone about me.”
“And you care more about what others think than our relationship?” Rukia hangs her head as she lets go, “I’m sorry. I thought I could handle my own problems…but I just made things worse.”
“It’s not your fault, Rukia,” André says, patting her on her head, “I’ll help you with this one, also.”
“…I’m so sorry…” André hugs her, “Don’t worry about it, Rukia. I would never leave your side, ever.” Rukia looks up at him, “Why did you act like you would?!”
“I just wanted to see how you would react. I won’t play with your emotions like that again.”
“You’re mean, André.”
“But what I said about our blood bond is true.”
“How can I still keep that bond with you…?”
“Don’t worry about that, Rukia. But first, we have to deal with Chaz…”