/ / Chapter Six: Not a Sin to Dream / /
Disclaimer/Notes: Lol, when writing this, I couldn't help imagining Yori as a protective older-sister type. I can totally bet that if Yuuki ever actually settles with one of the guys in Vampire Knight, Yori will be all over them to make sure that they deserve Yuuki.
"Nice place you have here," Yori said dryly as they trekked down the twelfth staircase.
"Not much farther," Yuuki told her. "And...he's asleep right now."
"That's all right. I'm a patient person."
Another staircase, then two more, but at last, they arrived on the one where Yuuki and Zero were camping out. Yuuki had been right; he was still fast asleep. Yori walked up to him, the sounds of her footsteps intentionally muted—nearly inaudible. She knelt down next to him, resting her elbows on her knees and her face into her outstretched hands, and stared for several moments. Then, shrugging, she sat back. "Odd," she said.
"Odd?" echoed Yuuki.
Yori seemed to think her assessment needed no further explanation. "And...is that your sweater under his head?"
Unable to stem a soft laugh, Yuuki nodded.
"He looks pretty tired," Yori observed. "How many staircases did you climb before this?"
Yuuki had actually lost count, and told Yori as much. The girl nodded. "He's determined, at least," she said. She looked at Yuuki, and after several moments, observed, "You're really worried about him."
"...Yeah."
"How long do you think he'll sleep?"
Yuuki played with her fingers, and sneaked a glance at Zero's face. "For a long time, I hope. He needs it. I have the feeling he hasn't slept much for the past few days." Then she realized that she couldn't have Yori waiting for him all day. "Umm..." she began.
As if reading her thoughts, Yori said, "I'll give him an hour or so. If he likes, he can go back to sleep when I'm done."
Yuuki laughed at her friend's straightforwardness. So typical of Yori.
It didn't actually take an hour. Zero woke up and frantically looked around upon seeing the sweater folded beneath his head. He sat up, though it was easy to see that the movement took effort, and glared at Yori. His eyes flicked momentarily to Yuuki with a question. "Who's she?"
Yuuki didn't have time to answer. Yori spoke before she could. "That's not very nice. You should directly address the person you're inquiring about."
"Who are you?" Zero rephrased tersely.
"I am Sayori Wakaba. I may or may not let you call me Yori. And you?"
He didn't seem inclined to offer his name to her. After a long pause and an intense scrutiny of her, he said. "Zero. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here on Yuuki's invitation. If you'd like to eat, you'll tolerate me for a little bit."
Zero looked pale at the mention of food. "I actually wouldn't," he told her. "But I'll tolerate you." There was a long pause. "How do you... know Yuuki? You're not a noble."
"Formally, I am her servant," Yori said. "Informally and more truthfully, I am her friend. How do you know Yuuki?"
"I met her when she came down to train," Zero said.
A split-second pause. "You're lying."
His expression pleaded with her to let this one question go. She gave him a slight nod, not giving in, but saving the question for later. "And do you have any dishonorable intentions concerning Yuuki?" she asked.
Zero blinked. "Are you serious?"
"Sorry, I couldn't help it," Yori said. "But the question still stands."
"You're odd," Zero said in place of a reply.
This time it was Yuuki who laughed. "I'm glad you both have the same opinion of one another."
Zero's gaze didn't waver. Yori looked at him, reading his expression, and said to Yuuki, "Would you go up and make sure that no one is around, Yuuki?" she said, and though it was an alltogether illogical request, Yuuki nodded and left.
As soon as she was gone, Yori turned to Zero. "Tell me what you're doing. I've heard a lot about you in the last few hours, and none of it has been good. You have until Yuuki gets back to convince me not to turn you in."
Zero didn't panic, nor did he seem in any hurry to explain himself. "I want to keep Yuuki safe," he said. "The Royal Guard and a whole bunch of other jerks are after me because they think I'm dangerous, and are determined to immediately exterminate me."
"And are you?"
"Dangerous?" Zero asked, but he didn't answer directly. "Yuuki would be in danger if she came with me, which she seems intent on doing. I might have to ask you to keep her from doing that."
Yori was silent for a long time, then stood. At the very same moment, Yuuki walked back down the stairs, saying breathlessly that there was no one anywhere near this place.
Yori smiled at Yuuki, walking to greet her, and then said, "I will bring food and blankets down here as soon as I can do so without being seen. I'll also bring you a change of clothes, Yuuki, and anything else I can think of."
Yuuki smiled widely. "So you trust Zero?"
Yori shifted her gaze toward said person, then replied kindly to Yuuki, "I don't mistrust him." She stepped past Yuuki and started up the stairs. "Back soon," she promised.
Zero fell asleep before she came back, which was partially a good thing, since Yori encouraged her friend to change out of the dirt-soiled dress as soon as possible. Yori had brought a jug of water, several tins of soup, and some fruit, which she hoped would last a while, and had used two folded blankets to hide all the provisions in. She laid them on the ground once everything had been shaken from them, including some washcloths and bandages. Immediately, Yuuki took one of the blankets up and unfolded it, draping it around Zero, who had fallen asleep sitting against the wall.
"I have to head back, Yuuki," Yori said apologetically. "Kaname is going mad looking for you. When do you plan to return?"
Guilt sliced into Yuuki at the thought of the concern she was undoubtedly causing Kaname. "I... don't know. If I do, do you think Kaname will let me out of his sight for long enough to let me come back here?"
Yori's expression was enough of an answer. "But the longer you wait to come back, the less likely that he'll be lenient on Zero here."
Yuuki's lips pursed. "I can't leave him alone like this."
"You know I'd tend to him, Yuuki. I'm not exactly besotted with the boy, but I wouldn't leave him to starve or die."
Yuuki's gaze begged for understanding. "I know, Yori. I trust you. But ... I can't..."
Yori smiled. "Don't worry about it, Yuuki. I know you, and as crazy as it seems to me, I'll let you stay here. I need to go before I'm missed." She started toward the staircase, then stopped. "Good luck. And ... if you need to get a message to me, leave a note at the exit to this place. I'll find it. Check there every once in a while, too. I'll leave something there if I have anything to say." And Yori departed, her footsteps echoing back loudly.
Glancing over at Zero's sleeping form, Yuuki frowned to realize that he was shaking. She shook out the second blanket and wrapped it around him, but it made little difference. She gently nudged him until he opened his eyes. "Zero... you should lay down," she said softly. She used the first blanket to fold out on top of the damp stones, and wrapped the second around him when he laid down. He continued to shake.
"Are you cold?" she whispered.
He closed his eyes tightly, gripping the blankets against himself. "I don't know," he replied, barely audible. "Tired..."
"Sleep, then." Before she realized what she was doing, Yuuki threaded her fingers through his hair, gently tracing over the soft strands on the top of his head, and humming a tune she could no longer remember the words to. She continued rustling her fingers through the silver strands until she heard the shallow breaths of sleep. His face was damp with sweat when Yuuki reached to wipe strands of hair away from his eyes, and his skin was warm against her fingertips.
Yuuki used the jug of water to wet one of the cloths Yori had brought, and wiped Zero's face, leaving the cloth folded over his eyes when she was done with it.
Yuuki chewed her lip as reality set in, and steeled herself for a sleepless night. Zero's wounds would need checked and cleaned, and Yuuki had almost no experience with things like that. She didn't dare call for a doctor, because the whole city was on watch for Zero. It wasn't fair, not when he hadn't asked for any of this. Wouldn't they all be happy, then, if Zero died in here. Yuuki rubbed her eyes furiously to keep tears from forming.
She couldn't do this. She didn't know the first thing about what he was going through, or what she could do to help.
But she had to do what she could. Yuuki steeled herself and pulled back the blanket, biting back guilt when he shuddered. "Shh," she said, though she knew he couldn't hear her. "I'm just going to see if your bandages are still clean."
She lifted the shirt he wore, disappointed to see that the bandages Yagari wrapped had already been soiled with blood. Most of it was dry—probably from when Zero had pushed himself so hard earlier—but there still seemed to be a slow ooze leaking out from the bandages. Yuuki tried not to look at the angry red marks or the blue and purple bruising that covered most of Zero's abdomen.
As bad as it looked, time would heal it all.
But time was the problem.
Unable to face changing the bandages on her own, Yuuki pulled the blanket over him once more, and rested next to him on the cold stones.
And in his sleep, brokenly, he whispered her name. "Yuuki..."
"Right here," she whispered. She sought out his warm hand from beneath the blankets.
Against the odds, she fell asleep next to him, her fingers twined in his.
"Yuuki."
Go away, you're interfering with my dream.
"Yuuuuuki..."
Stop it. That tickles.
"Wow, you sure can sleep," drawled a tired voice by her ear.
Oh crap, she was sleeping!
Which must have been a no-brainer, but Yuuki wasn't known for her brains in the morning. Not that she was particularly intelligent even in the evenings.
"I can't believe I fell a—" Yuuki jerked upright, looking around. It took a moment to realize that she was warm. Also, she had somehow made it onto the blankets last night. Which, of course, meant that Zero had moved elsewhere. "Zero?" she asked tentatively, trying to get her eyes adjusted to the characteristic dimness in this place.
He spoke from her left side, a smile in his voice. "You've been asleep so long, I was starting to think you were dead."
"Sorry," she said. "Are you—?"
"I'm fine." He sounded slightly embarrassed. "I'm really sorry. It's usually worst on the first night, after ... umm ... yeah. Sorry if I freaked you out or said anything stupid."
He'd said her name. Did he consider her name stupid? Perhaps; since he seemed to think the rest of her was stupid. "What about your wounds?"
Zero shrugged. "I changed the bandages. It's fine for now. And..." he looked in the opposite direction for a moment. "Umm... thanks."
Yuuki blinked. "For what?"
"I don't know," Zero said quickly. "Whatever."
Yuuki smiled, feeling her good mood return with the morning and a full night's sleep. "You're welcome. Shall I make breakfast? Our options are plentiful; we can have either fruit or soup. Any particular preference?"
"Soup," Zero said after a moment's pause. "I'm not very hungry."
In the course of pulling a tin of soup from the pile of provisions Yori had brought, Yuuki reached out her hand and felt Zero's forehead. He frowned, raising his eyebrows, but took her assessment without comment.
"Much better," she said, nodding decisively and pulling her hand away. "You should really eat some fruit. It's delicious." She tossed him a pear, just in case. "There's no stove, so the soup is cold."
They ate in silence, and it somehow felt normal to Yuuki, like maybe eating cold food with fugitives in sewer tunnels was something she did every day.
"I wish we could go out today. You probably haven't seen the city this high up. I counted on the way back down, and this place where we are now is one of the higher residential districts. When all this rolls over, you have to come with me one of these days."
Zero laughed. "And do what, shop and eat ice cream?"
But they both knew that this wasn't going to roll over easily, and even if it did, that "one day" would probably never come. But it was all right. It wasn't a sin to dream.
"I'm going to go check the exit," Yuuki said. "Yori said she'd leave a note there if anything happened."
Zero stood. "I'll come with you, then."
Yuuki shook her head. It was refreshing how easy it was to say no to him. "You can't be seen. If I am, at the very least, we'll keep them guessing which floor you're on."
Zero pointed to a grate that the water flowed through, probably to a place further into whatever level of the city they were on. "The bars there are damaged. If it comes to that, I can go through there and find a manhole that leads up into the city. It wouldn't be too hard to escape from there."
Yuuki nodded. "I'll be back soon," she said.
He looked after her as if he wanted to say something, but offered her a heart-breakingly soft smile, finally whispering, "Be safe."
She took the steps quickly, feeling an odd sense of unease creeping into her mind. She found herself looking back and jumping at shadows more than ever. Even though she told herself that she was just being paranoid, since, after all, this was her first time in the company of someone hunted by the law, she still couldn't completely erase her fear. She made it to the exit and found a dirty piece of paper stuck to the wall backwards. Yori had left a note.
Pulling it off the wall, Yuuki scanned the frantically written words.
Yuuki. Meet me in the corridor overlooking the courtyard as soon as you get this note. It's an emergency.
She had signed her name in a hasty scrawl. Yuuki found Yori's choice of meeting place odd, but it was true that there was rarely any traffic in that section of the castle.
Yuuki looked backwards, wondering if she should tell Zero where she was going. Again, she decided against it. He didn't need to be seen. He'd surely do something impulsive if she told him.
Yuuki climbed out of the tunnel and into the entrance to the servants' quarters, finding the halls echoingly empty, which suited her purposes just fine. She exited through the only door that connected the servants' level to the top, and continued through the silent halls until she finally arrived in the corridor. The sky was overcast today, with deep steel gray clouds advancing ominously—violently crashing together with a resounding silence.
It would not only rain today. It would pour.
The garden looked hauntingly lonely in the barely present light of the washed-out sun, and an involuntary shudder rippled through Yuuki. Even the brightest flowers were washed with the dead gray illumination. She wondered what was happening that had made Yori so desperate to meet.
Rubbing her hands together, Yuuki stood in the darkness and waited for Yori's telltale footsteps.
But when a voice spoke gently from somewhere near her, it was not Yori.
It was Kaname, his deep maroon eyes filled with an exquisite sadness.
She whispered his name and stepped back, but he reached out a hand to hold hers.
And when he spoke, the warmth drained from her body.
"I'm sorry, Yuuki," he said. "I'm so sorry."
Yuuki felt inexplicable tears pricking her eyes as her mind raced a hundred miles an hour to comprehend what was going on. "What is it?" she asked.
"I had to see you."
"Where's Yori?"
He said what should have already been apparent to her. "Yori didn't leave that note, Yuuki..." His voice was soft in a way that reminded her of the gentleness of someone who held a fragile object that might shatter at any moment. "I had to do this. I hope you will understand one day."
Her heart froze in her chest. And she already knew, but she had to ask. "Had to do what?"
Kaname's gaze was solid and sure, but apologetic. "As of this moment, Zero Kiryuu is being arrested," he said. "He will be executed for treason."
Notes: Umm... the devil made me do it? I promise I'll have the next chapter up as soon as possible. And I promise that Kaname is not going to be any sort of villain in this story. Anyway, thankfully, things will be getting back to the action soon enough. I hope to give all the minor characters a role in this story at some point. (crosses fingers) Please Review?
