Chapter Two

Zero Kiryu POV

Ichiru's fever still hasn't gone down so mother and father suggested that I take him outside. It's much colder outside but they said it would help keep his body temperature at a safe level. "Snow Ichiru, you love snow right?" I say gently as I take his gloved hand. We walk along a small path staring down at our footprints and I can't help but glance over at Ichiru's expression. He's weak but doesn't show it because he knows how I get. "I love the snow but I love Zero more." He pulls me into his arms and buries his face in my neck. I blush and wrap my arms tightly around him breathing in his scent. It's killing me.

"Ichiru! Zero!" I hear her call and I feel Ichiru's arms tighten even more. He's telling me something but I cannot understand. I know he's never going to come right out and say it and it makes me even more frustrated. "I'll always be at Zero's side." He whispers then pulls us towards the house. I'm taken aback by his soft words for a moment and it isn't long before there's a tightening in the pit of my stomach. I want to be there for him always, but I know I won't be able to.

"Feeling better Ichiru?" mother asks and the question burns in the back of my mind. He'll never feel better! I scream in my head and feel and impending migraine.

"Zero?" he's calling me because I probably look like I'm going to pass out. "Zero!" he's shouting now because I'm crying into his chest. I feel another pair of hands on me and I tense. Mother. I gently brush her hands off and sink to the floor with Ichiru still in my arms. He has begun crying now because he knows why I am. I fist his jacket and cry harder. I hear my mother's voice behind me. "Zero." She says it so sympathetically that I feel like throwing up. My father's at her side; I know because I hear him trying to comfort me. I start thinking about why he'd comfort me; then it clicked. Ichiru wasn't crying because of what was to come, he was crying because he knows how badly it's affecting me.

I'm standing before him. He looks the same; peaceful. I reach out to touch him but I can't. I curl my fingers into a fist and pull my hand to my chest. My mother's outside because she can't hold it in enough to sit still. My father's out with her and a few other family members. Tears aren't accumulating in my waterline-no; they're streaming down my expressionless face and falling onto the silk fabric Ichiru's resting on-I've shed enough tears to fill the ocean by now. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to be by your side forever." I say and bite back a sob-Ichiru needs to hear this and he needs to hear it clearly. Someone's hand reaches in and strokes his pale cheeks. They aren't red anymore. "I love you." My mother says in a high-pitched voice because she's trying her best to not cry. I don't look at her when I walk away because I know if I do I'll lose what little self-control I have left.

I don't stick around to watch him disappear into the earth; instead I stuff my hands in my pocket and sit kicking at the grass beneath my feet in the park a few buildings down from where Ichiru is (why did everything have to look unchanged)? I pull my hands out of my pockets and slam them against the wooden bench I'm sitting on. Pieces of wood stick to my skin from where the impact was made and tiny springs of blood appear on my hands. I watch my hands bleed not caring one bit that I could probably die from an infection (at least I would be with Ichiru sooner).

"I'm sorry for your loss."

I take my eyes off my hands and search the area for the owner of the voice. Just beyond me about a few feet into the trees to my left I see him. He's taller than I am and he's wearing a trench coat. His hair is cut like mine but his is a little more curled. I stay silent but mostly because I don't know what to say. He doesn't make a move to come near me, choosing to stay in the shadows. "Who are you?" I say because changing the subject was easier than falling into a puddle of tears in front of a stranger. He doesn't say anything and I'm too confused to care. I stare intently at his retreating figure until he's no longer there.

"Kuran Kaname."

The words carried by the wind through the trees catches my attention but not for long as tears once again cascade down my face.