finally
Change of Heart - Chapter Two - For Disclaimer see Chapter One
Hope you'll like this one, for it took me quite a while to write it. ;-)
Introductions
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The next day began with blazing sunlight, a slightly sleepy breakfast with father -- and with a very moody Zero. The latter was not exactly unusual but the way he was acting, surely was.
Breakfast with father had been so far fine, with me eating in silence while he continued to tell me stories of the past -- but my gaze continued to travel to Zero's place, which remained empty. I looked at my watch and sighed, as it was yet too early to have any right to worry for it was usual for him to be late.
Then we could hear a loud creak, coming from the door. I turned around, just in time to see it being opened to reveal Zero slowly walking into the room, finally sitting down with a dull bump at his usual place. I almost expected the chair to give up under him because the poor thing had creaked so badly.
Strangely, I didn't say anything at first but kept watching him with an uneasy feeling in my belly. He blinked a few times against the bright light and sat still. His eyes were narrowed, downcast but giving intense attention to the single piece of toast before him. He then began coating it slowly with marmalade until its surface was completely covered but he showed no intention to start eating it any time soon. It went on and on for minutes, over and over again.
"Zero?" I asked finally because it was unnerving me: his silence and downcast behaviour.
He just grumbled in return, not looking up from his toast but neither took he a bite out of it.
"What's wrong?" I tried again, louder this time, suddenly worried about him for he looked like he was really bothered by something, and I couldn't let that go without saying a word because I couldn't stop thinking of the other times Zero had been behaving strangely -- neither have been fine. No, not fine at all.
"Nothing, I'm fine." He replied harshly and for a moment I could see his eyes, which were so clouded with emotion that they looked almost black in the bright morning light than the familiar silver. Zero seemed to have really no interest in eating breakfast: he hadn't touched his toast at all.
"My, you're grumpy today," I muttered and glared at him but he remained silent. He kept pretending to be eating breakfast. He was now biting and chewing on tiny bits and pieces for a long while until he suddenly raised his head again to face me just like he suddenly remembered that he wasn't alone.
"Sorry," Zero muttered, "had a bad night." He shrugged. "Couldn't sleep."
I reached out touching his cheek slightly but he didn't react at all. "What is wrong with you?" I wondered. Normally he would have jerked away from my touch if I tried to touch him in a situation like this -- but not now. I let go of him, sighing in defeat.
I went back to eating but I had lost my appetite for now.
"I wished he would learn to act a little more polite." I heard Father mutter to himself after having listened to us for a while. He did obviously not care if Zero could hear his words or not -- or may be he wanted him to hear them.
At this I looked up. "Zero, being polite?" I asked wryly. "You're being illusionary father, if you truly expect …" I trailed off, awaiting a poke or something from Zero but nothing came, which bothered me actually a lot more than Zero being moody.
"Maybe I am," Father said slowly and in a thoughtful manner while finishing his breakfast.
Time to go to class, I thought and my gaze went, once again back to Zero, who remained on his place.
"Zero?" I asked loudly, "It's time for class, you coming?"
Nothing, so I tried again and gained a slow nod after a few minutes.
"Go to class Yuki." He said with a shrug. "I'll see you later."
I accepted it with a shrug. What could I've done else? So, I finished breakfast and went to class. I arrived in time and after a short break when Marie arrived a few minutes late accompanied by our teacher's glare, class went by in a blur.
After class was finished I was left alone with Yori and Marie. Zero, strangely, hadn't been in class and I couldn't help but thinking about why he hadn't been there. I mean he had been so moody during breakfast and I was worried. Why was he skipping class? I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes for moment, thinking about what happened a few days ago.
"Was he still thinking about that woman?" I wondered, thinking about Shizuka Hio. No, I concluded it didn't feel that way. When he had been thinking about her he had been all thoughtful and kind of compliant to anything happening around which in turn wasn't very like him. I heard footsteps and opened my eyes to see Yori and Marie walking up to me.
So, now we three stood just a few feet away from the main gate and I think Marie had just been looking out of one of the windows on the left side and because she couldn't hide the curious expression on her face. I guess it's easy to forget how exceptional the buildings and the park really were
"So, how did you get transferred here?" Yori eyed Marie curiously because we hadn't been able to really talk in class. Marie turned around at this and gave us a slightly guarded look but smiled after a moment of hesitation.
"How did I end up here?" Marie replied slowly biting her lip. "Um, just say that I didn't fit in and … ah … needed some time to think."
"Boy trouble?" Yori added slowly after having taken a long look on the uneasy way Marie was tilting her head. I noticed that little knowing smile on Yori's lips, which I knew so well; oh, yes, Yori was a lot more perceptive than most people thought her to be.
"Not, exactly," she blocked and her eyes became clouded with emotion; she was certainly not comfortable with this but then she shook her head and smiled shyly at us.
"Which means there is a boy involved somehow, isn't it?" Yori replied with a dry smile but then nodded after seeing the way Marie narrowed her eyes at her. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't pry."
Oh, yes, I could understand Yori, because in a way she was right: most personal trouble we girls have can be led back to a boy, which was common knowledge, wasn't it? I couldn't help but smile too, thinking about how crazy nearly all day class girls acted whenever a boy from Night Class was around.
"Not me of course," I thought but then blushed because my mind had drifted to Kaname-senpai and then to Zero, which was new, and back and forth -- it made me dizzy, so confusing. "Oh, yeah, you're not like them, Yuki, no? No, not at all!" I taunted myself silently until the images vanished and I was finally able to follow what Yori and Marie were saying again.
I fidgeted with my skirt because of the sudden uneasy silence because none of us was saying a single word; they were staring at the floor, too, I noticed.
"Yori, Marie," I said slowly. "You both okay?"
"It's okay, I understand." Marie replied, her lips curving up a little.
"Really, I got here because my professor, my prior professor, he had just known … that I wanted to see the world, to travel I mean, and so my friends thought that this was a great idea for me to come here. I think … he knew your headmaster, too. Um … I think he is my headmaster, too, isn't he?" She explained and broke out into a fit of laughter and looked slightly embarrassed.
"He surely is Marie," I replied grinning. "It's an interesting thought of them knowing each other, but in a way it's logical, isn't it?"
"Yes, I think it would. Cross Academy is a pretty well-known school down here, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is here in Japan. " Yori grinned softly then gave her another curios look but her eyes held a questionable look as if asking for permission. "Um, if I'm allowed to say … you speak Japanese well, for an American teenager, I mean."
"I learned it from a friend," Marie explained, looking now much calmer. "He knows quite a bit about Japan." I suppose she was thinking about this friend of hers, the one, who taught her Japanese. Maybe it was the one, who brought her here, this Logan-san. He had been speaking Japanese very fluently and had hardly sounded like a foreigner at all.
"But you aren't quite comfortable with parts of it, aren't you?" I asked, remembering the way she had been asking me to leave honorifics out with her yesterday.
"No, you're right but I guess that's more a cultural thing." She replied after a moment of silence then frowned, suddenly as if thinking about something completely else.
"Yuki, Yori, why are the other girls acting this … hyper?" Her gaze told me that she was completely obvious to what was happening around her. No, Marie had no idea about what happened every day at class change.
"It's about Night Class, Marie. Well, students in Night Class are all elite students, who do look very attractive and the girls are just excited that class change is only a few hours away. I'll show you later what I mean," I explained, "but please stay at the side please? I don't want you to being over run by them … and you do have to go back to your dorm with the other day class students, of course."
"The rules, right?" She nodded.
"Yep."
"That's it?" Marie looked at Yori and me with a wide unbelieving expression. "That's very strange. They're behaving as if these night class students were pop stars or something."
"Or something." Yori shrugged and grinned slyly. "Well, some of them behave certainly like they think they were pop stars." Well, that would be most definitely Aido and Kain or also known as Idol-senpai and Wild-senpai. I took another curious glance at Marie, wondering how she would react to our Idol-senpai.
"We have algebra next, haven't we?" Marie looked at her schedule, frowning slightly. "That's upstairs, isn't it?"
"Um, yes, Marie, time to go." I gestured towards my watch and motioned her to follow me.
Class went well as I managed to stay mostly awake and got no detention; but Zero wasn't in class again. Where was he? It wasn't usual for him to skip classes like this. So, well, I got only one remark from our teacher but I was worried and I wasn't very focused on the lessons he gave us to do; my thoughts were elsewhere.
I went slowly outside, walking towards Moon Dormitory to do my prefect duty like every evening. I was intentional slow as I was looking out for Zero, hoping to get a glimpse of him somewhere but it was to no avail, no Zero to be seen.
"Um, Yuki?" I turned around to see Yori behind me, standing in the main gate with one hand at the door. Yori had told me earlier that she was too tired today to endure all the screaming fan-girls during class change and wanted to go early to bed for a change. She had been already on her way back to her room, so, why was she here now?
"Yes, Yori?"
Yori had turned her head to me, frowning slightly. "Where is Zero?"
"I don't know Yori." I shook my head. "He was still there at breakfast."
"Um, I tell you if I see him." She grinned. "Ehem, Yuki? It's almost time."
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot. Thank you for reminding me." I looked at my watch; Yori was right there was not much time left.
"It's okay. See you tomorrow." She said and left for our dorm. I watched her leaving until I saw her entering the building safely. I fell into a little trot and headed down the path until I reached Moon Dormitory gate, which was still closed. I sighed in relief seeing as I was yet in time.
I looked at my watch again; there were only a few minutes left until class change but again, no trace of Zero to be seen. "Where are you?" I paced slowly and fidget uneasily with my bracelet to finally sigh in relief when I spotted his silver head coming from the riding grounds.
"Sorry," he said in a hoarse voice because his breath was going sluggish. He had been obviously in a hurry as his clothes looked rumbled and his hair messy.
"Zero," I replied. "Where have you been? First you have been grumpy all morning and didn't show up to class all day." Now, I must have glared at him because he looked suddenly very guilty. What was going on? Why did you skip classes today? It was like I couldn't decide if I should feel curious, worried or angry, so maybe it was all three of them.
"Um, I was out, riding. I was riding." He explained finally. Yeah, I could smell it, I thought. He definitely smelled like Lily, so this was not a lie but I felt there was more behind it. I gave his eyes a critical look-over and sighed in relief. They were looking normal and I couldn't see any hint of red visible. So, it wasn't about that but something was definitely off, cause he looked kind of flustered.
"Riding?" I repeated. "And what about your grades? What about your prefect duty?" I sighed. No, I couldn't handle all those silly girls all by myself. I'll try sure, but I'm pretty sure they'll just run me over again. I needed Zero here, so he could scare them away. Oh, all right, I'm always nagging Zero to be nicer to them, but in truth I was glad he was there; glad that he was there to back me up.
"Well, I'm here now." He muttered an almost-apology. "I had to think about someo… something."
"What?" I gasped in surprise. "He almost said someone, hadn't he? And was he really blushing?" I wondered while staring at him. Yes, his cheeks looked positively flushed.
"Um, Yuki I think we're needed." He gestured towards the waiting day class girls.
I know he did that on purpose, changing topic, but he was right as I could see them coming. Yes, it was time, time to do our job. "Yes, let's go."
Later I noticed during this class change, that Marie seemed to be one of the few day class girls, who didn't outright fawn about our night class boys. Actually, I think she was kind of pleased that there were other's who took all the interest of her fellow classmates.
"These are they?" Marie stood at the side, trying hard to stay out of our way since she didn't wanted to be overrun by the other day class girls, these fan-girls. It was loud, like always and I saw Marie wincing once or twice because of all the 'KYAH's.
"These are the night class students?" She pointed out.
"Yep," I replied and got a brief glimpse at them, enough to recognize Ichijo, Shiki and Ruka but had to turn around because the girls behind me had seen them, too.
"Stay away!" I yelled as I noted some girls trying to get around Zero and me. Zero turned his glare towards them and they stopped suddenly in there actions, retreating. Strange, I mean that Zero's glare had such an effect on them. Me? I am lucky if I don't get overrun. I guess this was something he's really good at. I gave him a wry smile, which he returned with a slight shake of his head.
"Here they come," I thought as I heard the fan-girls getting louder. Oh, it was rather obvious; it couldn't be any one but Aido and Kain.
"Good morning girls," Aido greeted them, like every day, grinning his trademark grin and giving a light bow to them while Kain just smiled like usual.
"Idol-senpai, he looks so gorgeous, doesn't he?" I heard one girl whisper to her friend between fits of giggles.
"Look there's Wild-senpai!" Another girl whispered rather loudly.
"Wild-senpai!" "Idol-senpai!" They screamed loudly, all at once, as it seemed and I had to hold my ears; they were really loud tonight.
"Oh, yes, he does. Look, there's Idol-senpai alone." She said in a slightly louder voice and ushered her friend along. They stayed not alone, of course; other girls were following quickly.
I could guess what they had in mind and shook my head. "Stop! It's time for you to go back to Sun Dormitory." I moved between them and Aido, ignoring my uneasy feelings about being so close to him. "Aargh!" I panted trying to push them back with my arms, trying to keep them away from Aido. Why does this happen always to me?
"You … stay … away!" I yelled at the fan-girls, but it was hopeless and I was surely going deaf with all these screams from them. I felt sweat running from front head but I was unable to wipe it away cause I was busy trying to keep them away with all I had. "Um." I tried to shove them back but it was pretty senseless, they just kept going.
"Hmm, Yuki-chan do you know how cute you're looking … right now?" Aido asked from behind and patted me on the shoulder, wonderful, just what I needed right now.
There I had crazy fan-girls in front of me and Aido-senpai thought of flirting with me, again. And the fan-girls, they only became wilder and their screams louder after seeing him doing this. "Zero," I muttered, "Where was he when I need him?" I looked around but he too was busy right now. He was guiding a dozen of day class girls back to Sun Dorm, just great!
"You'll need some help, Yuki?" Marie asked me with a grin on her lips but I could see that she, too, wasn't quite sure how to handle this. I guess she didn't have to deal with crazy fan-girls every day.
"Yeah, would be nice," I said between clenched teeth but I was glad for her offer, seeing as two were better than one.
"You," Marie said, "do what she said and go back to your dorm!" Then she did, what I can only describe as a fair imitation of her friend's, Logan-san's, growl. It worked and the girls backed away, sure not so fast as when they were facing Zero but they were no longer threatening to overrun me.
"So, now, do what we said and return to Sun Dormitory." I added and, wonder over wonder, they did what I said. They were retreating back the way they had come, back to Sun Dorm.
"Thanks Marie," I said to her. "Where did you learn that?"
"Yes, I'd like that to know, too. This was very impressive." Um, yeah, Aido had to meddle with us, of course.
I sighed. "Aido-senpai," I said, knowing that there was no way around this. "This is my new friend Marie-san." "Marie, this is Hanabusa Aido."
I gave Marie a short nod, trying to warn her to be careful around Aido. I looked around and noticed that the other night class students must be already in class for I had seen them briefly leaving for the main building. Though, I wondered briefly why Kaname-senpai hadn't been among them this evening.
"Aido-senpai," I said and took a careful step back, turning around to face him. "I haven't seen Kaname-senpai. I hope he is fine, isn't he?
"Yeah, he is." Aido said wryly then shrugged and turned his attention back to Marie. He eyed her with a curious expression in on his face.
"So, you're this transfer student I heard of, aren't you?" He gave her the full boost of his smile, which would've got most day class girls drooling about him.
"Yeah, I'm this student." Marie said with a strange expression, which looked like a mixture of curiosity and dislike but other than that she didn't bat an eye at Aido.
Aido blinked, once, twice, his expression going from curious to surprised. It was obvious that he hadn't expected a reaction like this but in a blink his smile was back and he looked very interested.
Oh, well, good time to interrupt.
"Aido-senpai?"
"Yes, Yuki-chan?" He smiled dangerously.
"Shouldn't you be in class, too?"
"Yes, he should, shouldn't he, Yuki? Marie added, giving me a knowing look. Seems, that Marie had been dealing with guys like Aido before, playboys not vampires.
He didn't react at first. No, instead his smile turned even wider. "Marie, that's an interesting name." He said smoothly and right in front of Marie. Oh, Aido-senpai, not again!
Marie snorted. "It's nothing special, really."
"But this certainly is," he replied while fiddling with the white bang of her hair.
"Stop that, Aido-senpai," Marie grumbled and again, she sounded very like this Logan-san.
"What should I stop?" He whispered into her ear. Damn, Aido, you're going too far. Why does he always has to be such a --?
"This," Marie snapped and pulled her hair from his hand. "I don't like you people touching me." Her answer coursed Aido to pout and doing some melodramatically gesture of his. I guess Idol-senpai wasn't used to get such reactions to his infamous charm but on the other side he seemed to be not really discouraged as I could see a mischievous glint forming in his eyes.
Why does it always come to this?
Click. I swirled around to see Zero standing behind us. He pointed his Bloody Rose gun at Aido, very much like he had done before. Strange, Zero has a habit of coming just in time when things go really awry. I smiled briefly.
"You're better obeying her, Aido-senpai," he said softly but his eyes were anything but soft. They held his usual, glacial glare and more than a slight hint of threat. Oh, I know Zero. Aido had to better obey him -- or he would shoot. I hoped Aido would see reason because I wasn't sure if I would be fast enough this time. I didn't want for anybody to get hurt.
"Aargh." Aido stared wide-eyed at Zero and his gun. I guess he remembered what happened last time when Zero had pointed his gun at him but somehow I doubt Zero had to shoot this time. Aido swallowed and sighed finally.
"All right, I'll go to class" He said with raised hands and a quick look to his watch. "I'm already late anyway." He added with a sudden frown on his handsome face. Oh, I guess his teacher wouldn't be too happy about him being late to class for I'm sure that he does it at least too often for the teacher not to be annoyed with him.
Zero kept staring behind Aido until he could see him enter the main building. Finally he shed his gun back into its holster and turned around to us.
"Thank you." I sighed in relief, happy to have brought this class change behind me like any other before. More important: I brought it behind me without something happening to the day class girls or exposing Night Class' secret.
"You all right?" He asked me then.
I nodded. "Yes, you came at the right time Zero."
"Hey, I'm supposed to do that, Yuki." He smirked slightly, which was second to his real smile but I guess this would do -- and it was worlds apart from his grumpy-ness this morning.
"Yes, I guess you are." I smiled back, happy that he was finally back and I hadn't to do patrol alone.
"So, that's why." I heard her saying behind me. I turned around.
"What?"
"Well, that's why you haven't been staring at me, Yuki. I mean the first time we met." She looked down, moving from one leg to the other. She felt obviously shy about this. I gave her a smile to encourage her to keep talking.
"Staring, Marie? Why should I do that?" I asked and my gaze followed her gaze towards Zero and where night class students had came from earlier, Moon Dorm.
"It's him and them you know, Yuki." She explained behind me and fiddled with her bang of white hair. "These night class students, they're really outstanding I mean. They look rather unique, you know -- good looking, too." She tipped against her white bang of hair. "And this doesn't look so out of place here."
"Zero … and Night Class?" I muttered, noting that Marie was right; they were outstanding. Heck, Zero was even beautiful, when smiling. Whoa, have I'd just thought of Zero being beautiful? Yep, I have. Oh, well he wasn't smiling right now but neither was he frowning like usual.
"You, know I'm not so outstanding here." Marie explained, tipping at her strand of white hair.
"Oh!" I replied, finally getting what she meant. "Your previous school wasn't like this?"
"Um, nah. It was different, and … well, we didn't have to wear an uniform."
"No school uniform, really?"
"Yep, and it's good thing." She replied and giggled a little. "It'll be a little hard on most kids there. But I guess some would look really great in uniform even greatly uncomfortable."
"Like this friend of yours?"
"Oh, Logan, yes. He's not a student but I guess he wouldn't wear one anyway." She explained and grinned amused about that thought and I had to agree with her -- it was difficult to imagine that man in any uniform.
"Hmm, teacher then?" I could hardly imagine that man as a teacher as well. "What kind of topic would a man like that be teaching?" I wondered, for he hadn't looked exactly like a teacher to me.
"Yep, self-defence." Marie said with a wide grin on her lips.
"Um, I think I'm happy not to attend your school then, Marie." I swallowed, thinking of that bulk of a man. I guess even Yagari-sensei would have respect for him, but then I didn't really know Yagari-sensei, too. Maybe he would see it only as a challenge.
"Yuki?" I turned around, to see Zero standing behind me. "It's time for our patrol."
"Oh, yes it is." I agreed seeing as we were alone.
"You'll have to return to Sun Dorm, too." I said seriously.
"Yes, I know." She agreed but yet I could see curiosity lurking in her eyes.
"Yuki?"
"Yes?" I replied, wondering what she was up to.
"I don't like… like them." Marie fingered her white strand of hair absentmindedly. "And I don't like him touching me."
"Who?"
"Night Class, I mean, and this Aido guy. They look a little too perfect for my taste." She said with a wry grin. "Besides I don't like guys like him, playboys." She snorted in obvious disgust at that.
I couldn't help but stare at her for long while. "Who was this Marie?" I thought. "And not liking Aido-senpai at all after her first meeting? No, I certainly hadn't expected that, although I was more than a little nervous around Aido but that was because I knew what he truly was.
I walked her to Sun Dorm, smiled one last time and followed Zero towards main building were our classrooms were. It turned out to be a calm night, as did the nights afterwards. Things seemed to go their normal way and everything should have gone well, but --
Well, it was until we got the next two new students. This time they were two boys, also Day Class, Katashi and Takeshi Mori. Yagari-sensei said they were from hunter stock. Just like Zero, only much weaker. He sounded slightly worried and I think I could understand him.
Seriously, putting vampire hunter children on a school, which also had vampires attending, that was asking for trouble but father insisted of accepting these two. Once, again I had to shake my head, true I agreed with father's dream of peace for it was mine too but we should not overdo things and most of all not too fast.
Gladly, the boys kept their distance to Night Class and didn't even attend class change.
And Zero? He just got along nicely with these two boys. It was ironic in a way; there was he, a vampire, going along with vampire hunters. Oh, but they didn't know Zero's secret and Takeshi and Katashi weren't full hunters, yet. They seemed also too weak to sense vampires the way Zero did, which was fortunate for him.
Actually, I think it was that Zero felt kind of stupefied by the way they were looking up to him, the last Kiryu.
I mean; if I understood it correctly, the Kiryu clan had been legendary among hunters. At least that's what father said. I hadn't liked the way it made Zero blind to their faults and I had a very bad feeling about these two boys but I put it away as me overreacting.
It was really funny in a way, knowing what I knew about Zero and them being clueless. So clueless that I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing out loud about the way they were acting around Zero because they were acting very much like fan-girls around Night Class, well, minus the screaming.
Luckily, I could feel him starting to become annoyed with their behaviour, which showed in the slight twitch of his eyes when they were pestering him with questions about vampires and especially his family. Yeah, right like that, whenever they were too curious his eyes began to twitch first, then narrow to tiny slits for a moment before he finally glared at them and told them to shut up, which they did -- but they kept coming back.
Something, I could not quite understand, truth to be told.
TBC
Thank you for reading!
Miarath
