A/N: I do not own Vampire Knight but I do own this story as afan created work of fiction. This is a Zero and Yuuki fic in which it follows the Manga time line until a certain point. I hope you enjoy!
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Chapter One: The Truth
His pale amethyst eyes bore holes through my skin into my very soul. I was puzzled by his actions and the suddenness of his words left me speechless. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears, I couldn't think straight. I thought I knew him better than this but for his feelings to go entirely unnoticed must have been causing him so much pain. But his words awoke something inside of me that even though I had never realized it, it had been there all this time.
I felt my heartbeat return to normal and a sense of peace settle over me. I reached out to him and gently pulled him into a tight hug. "You are my everything and you always will be Zero."
A few days earlier...
"Man is Zero skipping again?" I sighed dramatically whilst wandering the grounds of Cross Academy on our daily night patrol. "He always leaves me with all the work."
"Good evening Yuuki."The sudden sound of Kaname's voice startled me, earning a slight laugh from the pureblood.
"Oh good evening Kaname. Are classes over for tonight?" I asked.
"Yes. I was on my way to see the headmaster to discuss some important business." His mahogany eyes held mine, his terrifying gaze sent a chill down my spine.
"Well I won't keep you. Have a nice evening Kaname-sama." I gave him a small smile and headed off in the opposite direction of the headmaster's office not giving him a chance to respond. All the while feeling his gaze follow me until I disappeared behind the corner of the main building where all the classes are held.
I was so focused getting as far away from Kaname that I didn't notice Zero standing on the other side of the corner that I ran smack dab into him; knocking us both over.
"Ugh. Get off. You're heavy." Zero muttered.
"Like you're one to talk. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been skipping out on you guardian duties." I emphasized my point by sticking my tongue out at him before moving off of him.
"Keep sticking that out and I'm gonna bite it off." He growled and bit the air in my direction. "What the hell were you running from anyway?"
"Nothing. I was looking for you."
"Then why did you look so scared." Zero's normally cold stare turned gentle and almost worried.
"Really, its nothing. You don't have to worry about it, okay?" I smiled an lifted my hand to ruffle his incredibly soft silver hair.
He caught my hand in his and held it gently to his cold cheek. "You don't want me to worry about you, Yuuki." The look in his eyes held so much sadness that I felt my heart breaking.
"Zero. . ."
His grip loosened and he dropped my hand, turning from me, he walked in the direction of his dorm; leaving me standing there chilled by the loss of his presence and confused with the reason for the look in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around myself, tried to shrug it off and headed for my own dorm.
Next Morning.
I awoke to the sound of birds chirping on the bare tree outside of my window. The reality that the term was over everyone would be leaving for the next few weeks brought a smile to my face. Maybe now I could get a full nights sleep. I stretched and dragged myself from my bed, the headmaster would have breakfast ready and boy was I hungry.
I met Zero on my way to the headmaster's building, the look that flashed across his face was unreadable before he quickly corrected it to his preferred expression of extreme boredom.
"Good Morning Zero." I chirped, suddenly nervous around him after his behavior last night.
"Morning." We walked silently to the headmaster's building together; he seemed unaffected by last night so it probably didn't mean anything. And then there was Kaname, the look in his eyes last night...sent chills down my spine and brought goosebumps across my skin. I never had a reason to be scared of him before. I mean he was the one who saved me all those years ago but lately the look in his eyes has chilled me down to the bone. His expression reminded me of how a wolf would gaze at a rabbit just before pouncing to devour it.
I shook the thought from my mind as we walked through the doors of the headmaster's building; I didn't want to make the headmaster question me like Zero was last night. "Good Morning Headmaster!" I called into the kitchen.
My overzealous headmaster poked his head around the corner with tears streaming from his eyes, "It's Father..."
The three of us ate breakfast quietly; the headmaster informed us that he would be leaving for the next few days for some errands, with nearly all the students away from campus, we should be able to handle things. I wandered into the hall near the headmaster's guest room. My mind wandering from the look in Kaname's eyes, to the expression on Zero's face last night, and it lingered on the missing pieces of my past.
I heard Zero's footfalls as he approached the spot where I stood, staring out the window. His silence was comforting as he stood there next to me, waiting for me to talk to him about what had been on my mind.
"I've got so much. All this time I've had you, Yori, the headmaster, and Kaname too. I thought that as long as I could be indispensable to you, be your only ally, that it wouldn't matter if I didn't have my own past." I let myself sneak a peek at Zero through my bangs; finding him watching me with that rare but gentle look in his eyes, I decided to continue. "You asked but I didn't really answer last night, I uh ran into Kaname last night while he was on his way to the headmaster. The look he gave me... Was the look of a starving wolf before he devours the unsuspecting rabbit."
Zero's eyes flashed angrily and in that moment I was glad that Kaname was far from campus. Seeing me startled he closed his eyes and took a deep breath; trying to keep his murderous gaze under control.
"I know that he had something to do with my missing past, but he's hiding it and somehow, I think the headmaster knows as well. Kaname said that he needed to discuss something important with the headmaster last night and now with him needing to run some urgent errands..."
"Yuuki. If you want to know then you should just ask them. At least the headmaster is a bad liar so you should probably ask him first." Zero's expression turned gentle, giving me a little smile before turning to leave. My heart ached as I watched him leave the building and head in the direction of his dorm room.
I wandered aimlessly through the campus for the rest of the day, not once running into another person. As the sun was setting I made my way back to the headmaster's quarters; I didn't want to stay in my dorm, it was far too empty; nearly everyone that was important to me was gone.
When I entered the section of the headmaster's quarters the most amazing of smells hit me, ginger pork stir fry; making me realize how hungry I was. I tip-toed into the kitchen to see who was cooking only to find Zero's back blocking my view of the stove.
"Dinner is almost ready, can you get some plates down for me?" I nodded silently and smiled, moving to the cupboard where they were kept. Finding them on the highest shelf, I silently cursed the headmaster for making me have to climb up onto the counter just to reach them.
I hastily grabbed two plates and looked back to make sure that I was clear to hop down. The room blurred and splotches of blood suddenly appeared on the plain white plates I was holding. I shrieked and threw the plates on the counter; the movement causing me to lose my balance and tumble backwards.
My heart stopped when I started falling, I was sure that I would hit the floor until I collided with a solid but much softer surface before reaching the floor. I spun around much too fast, making the room spin. I put my hands on my temples and willed the room to be still.
"If they were too high, you could have said something." Zero scoffed and stood. "Well those are broken, I'll get some... Hey are you okay?" He kneeled next to where I sat on the floor with my hands on my head.
I gave him my best smile and stood up, making vertigo kick in. "I'm just dizzy. I'm okay, I just moved too fast."
"Stupid. Don't move so fast next time." His playful smirk plastered on his face. "Just sit down. I'll finish up."
We ate in silence and Zero insisted on cleaning up, so I decided to take a bath. I soaked for a long while; thinking about the splotches of blood and the secrets that Kaname and the headmaster were keeping about me. A voice inside me told me what I already knew that I had to do. I would go look through the paperwork that the headmaster keeps to find some clues. Somehow I knew that I would.
After my bath I laid in bed for a while, trying to build up the courage to snoop through his things and if I could face the truth if I found it. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and ran to the headmaster's office before I could chicken out. I will not remain the child that is forgiven for not knowing anything.
I glanced at the clock in his office, it was barely 3am, no wonder I couldn't sleep. Walking over to his desk, each step made a sense of dread well up in the pit of my stomach. I dug through a couple of his drawers until I found a letter addressed to Kaien Cross, and from a woman named Juri.
My heart sank and tears clouded my vision as I read the letter that mentioned me by name only once but in my heart I knew that it was about me. I threw the letter onto the bare desk top and just cried.
The sun was just peeking over the horizon when Zero burst into the office with a panicked expression on his face. My red and puffy eyes followed him as he moved over to where I sat in the headmaster's chair and pulled me into a tight hug that pulled my mind away from the letter and focused on Zero. "Zero. What's wrong?"
"I'm so glad you're alive. I thought I had killed you..."
I put my hands on his cheeks and made him look me in the eye. "Zero, are you okay? "
"Yeah." His expression calmed and he closed his eyes; placing his hand over mine and leaning into the warmth of my hands. He sighed deeply, inhaling my scent, and opened his eyes, now finally seeing the tear stains on my cheeks and my puffy, red eyes. "Yuuki, why were you crying?"
I couldn't speak, I just clenched my eyes tightly shut as tears threatened to fall again and pointed a shaky finger at the letter.
"This...is from your mother... Protect my Yuuki... from that Monster Kuran?" Zero's eyes flashed with hatred and he handed me the letter. "Yuuki, I don't know what I am to on you but I swear that I will protect you from that Monster. No matter what it costs me."
His pale amethyst eyes bore holes through my skin into my very soul. I was puzzled by his actions and the suddenness of his words left me speechless. My heartbeat was pounding in my ears, I couldn't think straight. I thought I knew him better than this but for his feelings to go entirely unnoticed must have been causing him so much pain. But his words awoke something inside of me that even though I had never realized it, it had been there all this time.
I felt my heartbeat return to normal and a sense of peace settle over me. I reached out to him and gently pulled him into a tight hug. "You are my everything and you always will be Zero."