Summary: In which an 8-year-old Yuuki throws a tantrum due to the Night Class's barging into the Chairman's house late at night. (Pre-storyline, before Night Class founding) KanaYuuki BroSis pairing
Disclaimer: Doesn't own Vampire Knight (because Matsuri Hino-sama owns it), but the whole concept of this fic is mine (I think).
As I Reminisce
In the Dead of Night
`DalisaY-17`
All the dust was annoying her. Really- didn't the Chairman know that she was almost allergic to it?! Yuuki coughed as she set down an old cardboard box that had made dust clouds around her. She opened it carefully, hoping that she'd find the photo album her father had told her about. She took a stack and laid it on the table. An old, leather-bound one fell to the floor, opening up in the process.
Curiosity taking over her, she stooped down to get it, only to freeze in place. Right in the middle of the page to the left was a picture of a scowling little girl clutching a teddy bear. She was surrounded by other kids- most of who were already in their adolescent years- that, though not laughing, obviously looked amused with something. Yuuki giggled at the sight.
This was taken on the night she first met the other students of the Night Class even before it was founded.
She was running towards the playground, the cold winter air clawing at her face-
A loud knock erupted from the hallway-
Children were running around, going down the slide, spinning on the merry-go-round-
Voices filled the air, breaking the silence. She squirmed under the covers-
Some of them looked up and called out to her, loud and crystal-clear-
Clattering of furniture- it woke her up.
Yuuki groggily rubbed her eyes. She glanced up at the wall clock across her room. It read half past one. She looked out the window. Darkness and starlight. A yawn escaped her lips, making her stretch.
The noises out in the hallway were getting louder. People? They definitely sounded human. It was ridiculous, though, for her father to have guests at this unholy hour.
Unless . . .
Slowly, silently, she crept out of bed. Under the black veil covering her room, she felt for the doorknob. She peeked out of the small crack of her now-open door. As light streamed into her room, she gasped at the sight before her.
She needn't think twice. She slammed the door shut before anyone else saw her, locking it with a small click.
"Kaname-sama, what was that?" Ruka inquired, glancing to her right. Everyone else, including Kaname, followed her gaze.
Yuuki's room.
Oh no.
"Um, well- wait here." He turned and strode to the oak door. He knocked thrice, then waited, yet no answer came from the other side.
"Yuuki, are you awake?" he asked, only to be greeted by silence. "Yuuki, I know you're there. Open the door."
"I'm trying to sleep!" was the muffled reply.
He frowned. "Yuuki, you're in front of the door. Now don't force me to pick the lock-"
"I'LL TELL DADDY THAT YOU DESTROYED THE DOORKNOB!!!!"
Kaname sighed. "I said I'll pick the lock, not destroy the doorkn-"
"I DON'T CARE!!!!"
Another sigh. "I'm coming i-"
The door opened the moment he placed his hand on the knob. On the other side was a sour-faced, eight-year-old girl, whose hand was on the handle. Her eyes were heavily lidded. Kaname smiled, stooping down to her level.
"What's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked as he smoothed her hair. Yuuki shook her head.
"I was having a really nice dream- then there were noises from the hallway." She pointed towards the general direction of the front door. "Someone knocked really loud, then there were people's voices. REALLY loud people's voices."
As she exaggerated in eight-year-old fashion, shuffling was heard from behind Kaname. Yuuki looked over his shoulder to see the vampires she saw a while ago, which, as she now looked, took the appearance of adolescent human children. All of them were glaring at a boy with messy blonde hair, who let out a muffled whine and muttered a small "sorry". One of them looked up- it was a girl with long, flowing hair and the demeanor of a young goddess. She gave her an odd look that strangely resembled disgust.
"Kaname-sama, who is this?" she asked, impatience in her tone. How dare this kid talk to Kaname-sama like that!
"She's the Chairman's daughter," Kaname simply replied, then turned back to the little girl. "Yuuki, say hi."
The said girl squinted, scrutinizing the sight of the bunch of vampires a few feet from her (the thought of her being so near to them almost made her shiver). She resolved by hiding behind Kaname, who was the only exception to her phobia of their kind.
"Oh-kay, never mind. You should go back to bed, Yuuki."
She looked up and made a face. "But I can't sleep anymore," she whined. "Besides, I can't find Mr. Snuggles. He's been missing since last night."
Kaname stared. "By Mr. Snuggles, you mean . . ."
He pointed to the couch, where the boy with messy hair who had (most likely) knocked furiously on the front door was playing with a fluffy, brown teddy bear with a dark green ribbon around its neck. Upon further inspection (rather, squinting), two of the girls, including the one who acted so hostile towards her, were cooing at the teddy bear.
HER teddy bear.
"It's so cute!" the one with long blonde hair squealed, sqeezing one of its paws.
"It looks so . . . goth," the other one in pigtails said, poking the strange, black embroidery on the teddy bear's ribbon.
That did it.
In a flash that didn't seem human at all, Yuuki was beside said boy, clutching the teddy bear close to her chest, exclaiming "THAT'S MINE!", and was already inching away from the group of vampires. She screamed when her back hit Kaname. He picked her up in his arms and sighed.
"C'mon, I'll get you to bed."
"NOOO!!" she whined, squirming against his grasp. There was absolutely no WAY she was going to sleep when there were vampires in the house that could break down her bedroom door anytime, regardless of Kaname being with them or not!
"Children, please keep it down! You'll rouse the neighborhood!"
Everyone looked up to see the chairman enter living room. The shock on his face made them sweat drop (save for that Ichijou guy, who was always smiling no matter what dilemma he was in). He left and was back in a flash, a camera in his hands.
"Alright, everyone huddle up by the sofa and smile~!"
Everyone (else that wasn't Kaname, Ichijou or Yuuki) fell anime-style on the floor.
Was this really the chairman of a prestigious boarding school that they would be attending one day?!
It wasn't after five minutes of debating that they agreed with Chairman Cross. All of them were by the sofa, and apparently only Ichijou found this amusing.
"Alright, everyone say che- Where's Seiren?"
As if on cue, someone knocked on the door.
"I'll get it," Kaname volunteered, almost too enthusiastically.
He ran down the hallway and opened the door a bit too fast to be considered normal. He smiled at the person on the other side.
"Hey."
After a muffled conversation from inside the room, Seiren gracefully stepped out and shut the door behind her quietly. Everyone else was staring at her in disbelief.
"I've got three younger siblings to deal with," she reasoned, as if reading their thoughts. "Who else should take responsibility but one of the older ones, especially if your older brother's too busy at the Council?"
Kaname smiled. "Thanks for the help. Yuuki's been restless lately."
The younger vampire side glanced at him. She closed her eyes, and added in a dead calm voice: "My mother told me that older siblings should care for their younger ones, regardless of whatever situations and conditions they are in at the moment."
At that, she walked away, heading to the chairman's office. Everyone else followed suit, leaving Kaname behind, all alone in the hallway. He sighed, a smile gracing his lips ever so slightly at what Seiren had said. He turned around to look back at Yuuki's bedroom door, his gaze distant.
"Yeah, I guess you're right, Seiren," he muttered, and then proceeded to join the others.
The picture was taken in her old room. Chairman Cross had insisted on it before the vampires had left them alone for the night- or morning, rather. Seiren had been so kind and sisterly to her that she agreed (almost grudgingly, annoyed at how the latter had been able to talk her into it). Besides Kaname, she had never met anyone so nice to her. And to think that she was the coldest member of the Night Class . . .
The old grandfather clock in the hallway stroke nine o'clock, making her look up in surprise. Had it been an hour already since she started searching?
Come to think of it, her father didn't even tell her which photo album that was.
Ah well, it didn't matter. She placed the leather-bound album back in the box and thought of bringing all of its contents to her father's room instead. He had become so forgetful lately.
Just then, something caught her eye- a little brown blob in the dim lighting of the stockroom. It was her teddy bear from before. It's arms were stretched out like usual, pleading her to give it a hug. Smiling, she headed to her father's room, thoughts of that night years ago filling her head.
Yuuki was so glad. Even after all these years, the past still managed to catch up with her, to remind her of the little things that started it all.
End
Author's Note:
I dedicate this fic to my friends at my old school, especially to Shantel, Happy Soap, and Disgaea Addict, and my friends at my school right now, which include Jyonrai, Mariabumby, and all of my other class and school buddies. I hope that little things like photos and trinkets can bring up the past once more, and that memories made each and every time will remind us of the things that have made us who we truly are today. Forget me not! ^_^
I might not be able to post in a while, since I'll be in a real writer's block state (and busy due to holiday activities), but, just so everyone knows, this is a drabble-oneshot collection, so there will be more posting to come. I hope you liked this! ^_^
Merry Christmas!
`DalisaY-17`© 2008