His Only Princess: Chapter 1
First days were always the most difficult.
Today was no exception. It was her first day back to class, back to the room she and many others had been stowed away in as a battle raged outdoors. She sat on her bed, mulling over the fact that, not only was she was alone at the school now, but her best friend was gone. Gone. It was such a hateful word, one that left a sting in the depth of her heart, the part which she had taken with her, apparently. Yuuki. It may have been a year, but she still missed her, and wished so desperately for her to return, if not only her safety. No one was aware as to where Kaname had vanished to with her, not even the stragglers from the disbanded Night Class. But, they were gone now, too. And a few of the Day Class students had even left, having been pulled out due to their parents believing the school was "structurally dangerous." If only they knew the truth.
"Sayori-san?"
Yori's head snapped up, having been pulled from her reverie, only to meet the eyes of one of her classmates. She couldn't remember her name, so she just tilted her head in question.
The girl tugged at one of her ebony braids, giving Yori a concerned look.
"Class starts in five minutes. Aren't you coming?"
That was when she noticed she wasn't even dressed yet, still clad in her white nightdress. Heat bloomed across her face and she waved a hand in dismissal to the other.
"Yes, I am. Ah, could you tell the teacher I'll be a little late?"
"Mm, of course," she smiled and turned on her heel, braids flying behind her, and disappeared down the hall, closing their dorm door after her. Correction: her dorm door. It was, in fact, only her that occupied the small room, now.
No need in dwelling on that now. Yori sighed and rose from her bed to begin getting ready for the un-doubtfully long day ahead of her.
"Alright, everyone. Please, answer the following questions and turn them in before the end of class."
They had a new ethics teacher, Kaito Takamiya. Some students had met him briefly before, and gossip was that he was the new target of the Day Class girls affection, since the Night Class was no longer around. Not that they knew anything about that. Their minds had been wiped clean, like a chalkboard at the end of a school day. Now, school felt more like school instead of some kind of huge fan-base. It was a relief to Yori, and she was certain it had to be for Zero, too. No longer did he have to stand guard at their gates, holding off the hormonal herds of girls ready to stampede. Those gates were pretty much all that remained, though. The battle between Rido, Yuuki and Zero had taken a toll on the structure, cracking open the walls until it collapsed under the damage, ending in a pile of rubble and dust. Chairman Cross had once mentioned something about having the dormitories reconstructed, but it was only a brief thought, and so far no work had been performed. Besides, who would live in that building, anyways? The Night Class would more than likely not want to return, or if they did, only a few probably would be able to. And what did the Chairman expect? For Kaname to bring Yuuki and himself out of hiding and return to the very place that almost destroyed her? It was very unlikely.
Yori leaned on her hand, her chin cradled by her palm, and allowed her gaze to wander to the window, not focusing on her work at all, which was an unusual thing for her. She had been told bits and pieces of information as the year had progressed, and was now able to fit some things into the giant puzzle that was now her world, one where vampires existed. She figured she was lucky enough that they had allowed her to keep her memories-how else could she bear with her best friend being not being here if she didn't know what really happened?-but she also decided it best not to tread potentially dangerous waters and ask any questions. She only waited, the information finding its own way to her.
Winter was fast approaching, bringing with it the dawn of a new year, as well as some very painful memories. She thought about the countless snow fights she and Yuuki had had after the first snowfall, staying up all night, telling stories in front of the fireplace, exchanging gifts at the New Year. It really wasn't fair, not fair at all.
"Wakaba-kun?"
A sharp poke against her arm almost made her fall out of her seat, and she was met with the disgruntled face of Mr. Takamiya.
"Were you planning on doing your assignment any time soon?" The irritation at her misbehavior was evident, but there was also a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Really, why was such a young man allowed to be a teacher?
Yori bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Takamiya-sensei," she apologized briefly and turned to her work. She heard him scoff and he tapped his ruler-what he had used to poke her-against her head.
"There's less than ten minutes left in class, Wakaba. Take that with you as homework, and, here. Take this, too."
It was a copy of the paper she already had.
"Takamiya-sensei, I-,"
"It's for Kiryuu. Seeing as how he so gratefully decided to not join us today, he'll need someone to give him his work. You two are close, aren't you? Make sure he gets it for me, would you?" Takamiya winked at her before walking back down to his desk.
When the bell rang for the end of class, Yori stuffed her things in her brown shoulder bag, ready to leave, when someone made her halt.
"Wakaba, could I speak to you for a moment?"
She turned and saw Mr. Takamiya sitting at his desk, his chin perched on the steeple he formed with his fingers. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she approached him.
"Are you, by any chance, Zero's girlfriend?"
She probably would have laughed at the absurdity of that question at any other time.
"Eh?" she was floored by his boldness, barely taking notice of how he called Zero by his first name instead of his last, and without an honorific attached to boot. "N-no! We're only...friends," she sounded so unsure of herself as she spoke, because she was. She really couldn't try to say they were friends, because they weren't. They had barely even spoken. "Actually, a friend of a friend to each other." That sounded more correct.
Mr. Takamiya seemed to think over her words for a moment, humming thoughtfully before he stood. Yori stepped back from him.
"Sorry, I've crossed my boundaries. I apologize for being too forward, Wakaba-kun." He turned his back on her. "You may leave now."
Yori nodded, not really caring that he couldn't see, and all but ran out of the classroom.
"Hm, a friend of a friend? How odd," Takamiya crossed over to the window, dragging his long fingers down the slightly frosted glass, leaving trails in their wake. "If that's the case, then why in the world are you hanging around her so much, Zero?"
Panting for breath, Yori finally stopped, doubling over with her hands on her knees in front of the door to her room. She had made a beeline from the classroom to the girl's dormitory, not stopping for anything. A stitch attacked her side mercilessly, and she gripped at it tightly with her hand while trying to steady her breathing. Once she got a hold of herself some, she stepped out of the hallway and into her room so as to avoid any wandering students. Most of them were at the extra-curricular activities at this time of the day, or supplementary class if assigned them, so the dorm was practically empty. Throwing her bag down on her bed, she followed it in suit, flopping down on her back and closing her eyes.
"Are you, by any chance, Zero's girlfriend?"
She shook her head vigorously, causing her hair to splay out messily.
"What kind of question was that anyways?" she groaned quietly, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Her neck felt stiff from the tension and stress of the day and the forming of a headache poked around behind her eyes.
And then she remembered the task she had been assigned with. Giving Zero his work from class.
"Shoot!" she yelled, turning over and burying her face in her pillow. She had completely forgotten to try and find him after Mr. Takamiya had confronted her like that. And he'd certainly be angry tomorrow if he found out she hadn't delivered his work. Jerking up at almost break-neck speed, she rose to her feet after the dizzy spell her movements caused had passed, grabbed her bag and rushed back outside.
She had been searching the grounds for some time now, and still there had been no trace of Zero anywhere. She even went as far as asking students returning from their activities if they had happened to bump into him, but she should have also known better. Zero was really good at avoiding people if he didn't want to be bothered, and most of the students avoided him anyways, always saying he was scary.
The temperature began to get colder as the sun dropped below the horizon, and a tremor raced up her spine, making her wish she had grabbed her coat before running out like a maniac. Her breath came out in white puffs as she huffed and trudged around, and she rubbed her arms with her hands in an attempt to give her body some warmth. The first snowfall hadn't come yet, but the ground was covered in frost, the grass crunching beneath her boots as she walked. Other than that and the sounds of her shivering breath, it was silent on the Cross Academy grounds. A new curfew had been instilled after the incident, since rogue vampires had made their way onto the campus in order to prey upon the students and deliver them as a "gift" to their master, and now, students were required to be in their dormitory by seven thirty. Yori wasn't sure of the time, but judging by how dark it was getting, it couldn't be too far off from her breaking curfew.
"Darn it, where is he?"
Just as she finished speaking, her voice dying in the cold winds, a twig snapped behind her. She froze, body becoming tense as terror coursed through her. Too afraid to look behind her and knowing she could never outrun something if it were to chase her, she stayed rooted to her spot, lowering her head and trying to calm her erratic heart, waiting for the worse to come. But, as she continued to stand there, everything remained the same. Nothing jumped out from behind her and tried to bite her; as a matter of fact, nothing happened at all. She didn't even hear a noise behind her. If it was a vampire, surely it would have done something by now.
Cautiously, she turned her head a fraction to see if anything was behind her. That was when she caught a flash of silver in her peripheral vision.
Zero?
"Zero-kun!" she exclaimed in relief, whirling around to face the young man. He stood a good ten feet from her, his arms crossed and his typical bored look on his face. She placed her hand over her heart, willing it back to a normal rate, not noticing how Zero's eyes followed the movement before focusing at the ground directly before him, a minuet crimson color tinging his eyes.
"Wakaba, what are you doing out here?" His throat ached slightly, and him speaking did nothing to pacify the pain. If he was honest with himself, he was so hungry. It had been close to a month since he had properly fed, and the blood tablets the Chairman provided him could only help so much.
Yori steeled herself and took a step towards him. He shifted uncomfortably as she neared him, forcing himself to hold his breath for as long as he could handle.
"Takamiya-sensei wanted me to give you your homework," she unbuckled her bag and pulled out a single sheet of paper, waving it in front of him. He snatched it from her, glaring daggers at her.
"That's all?" He hissed through his teeth, keeping his eyes trained on hers. He saw her cringe a little at the tone he had adopted, but did nothing to take it back. "Go back inside, Wakaba. You'll get sick." He turned his back on her, expecting her to scurry off like the rest of them did when they were in his presence. No one could handle being near him without wanting to have a nervous breakdown, no one except the Chairman, sometimes, and...her.
Obviously, he had her pegged wrong from the get-go.
"Zero-kun, are you...alright?"
He scoffed at the stupidity of her question, and his teeth ground together so hard he was sure they'd break if they weren't so strong. Of course he wasn't okay. He'd never be okay again.
"Inside, Wakaba!" He ordered, storming away from the petite girl who only seemed to have concern for him. She could save it. He didn't need, or want, anyone's pity.
Slightly wounded from the way he spoke to her, Yori made her way back to her dorm. Turning her head to glance over her shoulder, she barely caught a glimpse of Zero's back as he vanished into the night.
"You're not the only one who lost her. She was my best friend, too," she whispered to herself.
TADA! I got it up with two hours to spare until 2013. There's Chapter 1 :) Not too much happened, but it's set the stage for bigger events, so to speak.
Obviously, Yori isn't aware that Zero is a vampire yet, but she does know he's a vampire hunter. What did you guys think? Too fast or slow? Let me know what you thought :) {rxr} I'll have the update dates on my profile, so keep an eye out for those. I'll try to keep a very small amount of time between the updates, though.
Until Chapter 2!
-IdleScribe