Does Happiness Have A Name?
Vampire Knight oneshot
Zero centered
How could someone who was in his life so briefly...make such a large impact on him?
It was chaotic around him. Nurses running past him, carelessly bumping past him as they ran into the surgical room...several doctors yelling about something...medical nonsense that he had no knowledge on whatsoever...
He stood there in the busy hospital hallway and blankly stared at the glaring red sign that read 'Emergency Room.'
Was he supposed to feel something at a time like this...?
"Quick! We need to get her into the sterile environment!"
He barely had any time to move out of the way as a group of nurses and doctors burst through the double doors, rushing past him with a gurney.
His lilac colored eyes barely caught a glimpse of the person lying on top of the gurney, but he knew who it was...unfortunately.
A slight inhale, followed by the parting of his pale lips, he reached out - trying to call out to the girl that was lying on the bed, but he faltered.
He didn't even know her name.
She never bothered to tell him and he never bothered to ask her what it was. Perhaps they were all trivial at the time they met, but now...her name seemed to be the only thing that was important to him.
The group of nurses and doctors, along with the girl lying on the gurney disappeared from sight when they turned a corner. She was gone...
In a state of blank numbness, he blinked as he fell back against the clean white wall. He stared up at the ceiling of the hospital and found himself to be frowning the more he thought about her unknown name.
Why...why didn't he get her name? Ever?
It frustrated him greatly, but he didn't show it outwardly.
"You should be more expressive, Zero. It's not good to bottle things up inside."
That's right...she knew his name, but he didn't know hers. What an unfair trade...
"It's nice to look cool, but sometimes you don't need to...you know? Life's too short. You'll regret it someday - how you didn't express yourself."
He buried his face in his hand and slowly ran his fingers through his silvery gray hair in distress. Emotions were starting to bubble up inside of him...
"Eh? Are you leaving, Zero?" Yuuki asked him, holding her long parfait spoon.
"I told you before...I don't like these sort of things," he grumbled, in truth unamused with how the waitresses were eyeing him.
"That's a shame..." Yori muttered in that soft quiet voice she always spoke in. "I never took Zero for someone that hated sweet things. In any case, I promise I'll take good care of Yuuki until we finish up eating."
"Yori!" the brunette piped up, embarrassed.
Zero didn't say anything as he left the small cafe. As soon as he stepped outside, he let out a soft sigh of relief. Definitely felt much more freeing out here than back inside.
He looked up at the gray overcast skies and gloomily shoved his hands into the pockets of his dark gray pants.
It was one of the few days of the year when Cross Academy let its students out into the neighboring town. While Zero had no problem spending that free time with Yuuki and Yori in their little cafe, he had a problem with the stares he got from the waitresses that seemed to be infatuated with Aidou. It just made him wonder if he was indeed the same as the very vampires he sought to hate.
He walked on aimlessly, not really pinpointing a particular location as his destination. As he walked past the local hospital, something caught his eye.
There was a small yard, a playground, right beside the main hospital ward. There was a small swing set, clearly made for the younger patients, but it surprised him to see a young girl, around the same age as him swinging herself on one of the swings.
He stared at her, not really noticing that he was. It wasn't until she finally stopped and looked over at him, did he realize he was actually staring.
All she did was wave. That was it - just a small, innocent wave followed with a warm smile.
Zero didn't exactly know why he went over to her, but he did, slowly.
She was in nothing, but her hospital robes. It was chilly outside and she looked rather sickly, but her smile didn't seem to fade.
"Are you okay?" she asked him as soon as he got within hearing range of her.
"Isn't that supposed to be my line? You're this sick, but you're out here in the cold...playing on the swings."
All she did was giggle. "I didn't even realize I was sick." As soon as she said that, she let out a soft cough.
"Why aren't there nurses taking care of you?"
She flashed him a toothy grin and let out another cough. "It's not that hard to leave my room without their knowledge. You'd think they would wise up by now." She went into a fit of weak, dry coughing.
Zero sighed and took off his heavy, tan colored jacket. He draped it over her small shoulders and she quickly thanked him.
"Looks like I've been out here for a while. So...! What's your name?"
"Zero."
"Hmm, that's a strange name."
He skeptically raised an eyebrow at her as he took a seat on the low swing beside her, finding it awkward to be standing looking down at her.
"Ah, don't worry! It's strange in a good way!" she exclaimed. "I meant to say unique!"
She reached up around her to grab at the chains that held the swings up. Zero noticed just how sickly pale her skin was and how thin her arms were. Her short hair was a pure white, but it wasn't natural. Based on how bristly and thin it looked, he knew that her original hair probably lost its color due to whatever illness she had.
"Life's too short, Zero," she suddenly told him.
"Huh?"
She faced him and for once he got a clear view of her shimmering purple eyes. It looked as thought they were the only healthy looking part of her...that and her smile.
"You shouldn't walk around with a frown like that. It scares people."
Zero narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't scare people," he lied.
The girl pouted her lips off to the side and reached up. Zero blinked in surprise when she placed both of her index fingers on either corner of his mouth and pushed them upwards, making him "smile."
"See! You have a nice smile! Now if you could only soften up that gaze, you'll be getting the ladies in no time!"
Turning a slight pink in the cheeks, Zero shot back, "I'm not trying to get-!"
"You should be more expressive, Zero. It's not good to bottle things up inside." She smiled brightly at him. "See? You're very cute when you blush like that!"
Embarrassed with how this girl knew no limits when interacting with him, Zero blushed harder and resorted to just staying silent, for fear that she might uncover something else if he spoke.
"It's nice to look cool, but sometimes you don't need to...you know? Life's too short. You'll regret it someday - how you didn't express yourself."
"I doubt it," Zero grumbled under his breath.
She laughed wholeheartedly, even though he said nothing funny.
It was odd at how time seemed to fly by as they continued talking with each other. Moreover, Zero was surprised at himself at how easily he opened up to her. He told her he attends Cross Academy, she tells him that she's always wanted to go there; he tells her that he has no immediate family, she tells him that her parents have given up on her; she asks about the tattoo on his neck, he responds with a simple answer which makes her assume he's a fashion deviant.
The conversation went on and on, jumping from topic to topic, ending with discussions and discussions.
It was already growing dark and cold with nightfall quickly approaching.
Zero found it strange on how no one bothered to come out for her. Did the nurses simply give up on her as well?
"You should go back inside," he told her, standing up.
"Yeah, you're right." She gently waved him off when he offered to help her stand up. "It's fine," she responded, "I'm not completely helpless. Not yet." She grinned widely again.
He saw her remove his jacket, but he told her to keep it.
"I'll come by tomorrow to get it."
"Really?" She seemed excited by the fact that they would meet again. "I can't wait! You'd better show up! I think we were just getting to the good part of our conversation!"
"...Huh?"
"You just have an air of mystery around you! I want to find that out!"
"Wouldn't that be considered nosy?"
"Yeah, but didn't it feel good for you to let it all go?" She smiled up at him again, that warm smile. "You told me about somethings about your past, but that alone made you look really happy. You look uplifted."
Zero stared at her as if she were crazy, not really sure if what she was saying had any truth to them.
He felt her reach up and ruffle up his hair. "What...?"
She grinned and told him, "smile! Express yourself! It's only one life you have got to live with! You should make the most out of it! When you come by tomorrow, you had better be smiling!"
That was the last thing she said to him.
And now...
Zero sat there on the floor, against the wall with his head held in his hand for the longest period of time. Many people passed him by, not really giving a care in the world to him.
Finally, he raised his head and stood up. He couldn't just sit there. He had to find out what happened. He needed to find out her-
Quickly he found the nearest receptionist at her desk. "Excuse me," he asked, "the girl that just went into the sterile room...what is her name?"
The receptionist looked at him as if he had a rare skin disease. "No one has been into that sterile room this whole day, sir."
Zero blinked before he pressed on. "A group of doctors just rushed her in there, maybe at a few hours at the most!"
"Sir, no one has been inside that room today."
"Then do you know a girl with white hair? Purple eyes? She's very sick from what I could tell-"
"No I'm sorry. We don't have that many terminally ill patients here that look like that."
Seeing as how he was starting to attract attention from the other staff members at the hospital, Zero dismissed it and kindly thanked the receptionist before leaving the desk.
He stared down at the clean floors, wondering what had happened. What exactly-? Surely it couldn't have been a dream...
"When you come by tomorrow..." he muttered softly.
"...you had better be smiling!"
He heard her voice, but he didn't see her. Zero looked around, but only saw other patients and nurses. The girl he met yesterday was no where to be seen.
Finally, Zero cracked a small smile, realizing who he had met and spoken to this whole time.
A small, fragile hand took his and a familiar face smiled up at him. It was her. She giggled and commented with a light airy voice,
"You look great with that."
A/N I've been writing ambiguous things for a while now...
Anyways, for those confused souls, the girl that Zero had been talking to wasn't really a "ghost." You could say...she's like a part of himself that he abandoned, the happy part of himself. That's why she kept telling him to smile. That's also why she was "sick and fragile." Mainly because I feel like Zero's lost that happy, innocent part of himself because of what happened in his life. Everything that happened can be opened for interpretation.
In any case, I had fun writing this. I've recently embarked on writing lots of oneshots just to be able to write about different characters and their personalities.
Hopefully you guys enjoyed this. Zero's one of my favorite anime characters ever, so hopefully I did him justice :)
Please leave a review! I'd love to hear feedback!