Chapter 7

Kaname was not in the mood to attend classes after he left Cross' home. Instead he returned to the Moon Dormitory and went to his quarters, which were much larger than the other rooms in the building. He was given the best of everything, including the view, which looked over the lake towards the school on one side, and towards the Sun dorms on the other. He could see the little building beside which was the headmaster's residence, though it was mostly blocked by trees. He stood staring out of the window, letting his awareness probe back to where he could feel the ex-human's aura. It was stronger than it had been when he'd left, and the very faint scent of Kaien Cross' blood on the breeze told him why.

There had been so much blood in the air tonight, it was a reminder that he had not fed from a live donor in some time. Kaname had been using the blood substitute tablets exclusively for many months. They were certainly capable of satisfying the need to drink blood, but they didn't have any of the body, the depth that could only be appreciated when drawing straight from the vein. The texture was too thin, and it didn't coat the mouth and throat the way the real thing did. However, it was a large part of how the vampires were able to participate in this little experiment of a school. Without them, there would be too many temptations for Kaname to trust his vampire Nobles around the innocent humans, who were completely unaware of their existence as anything other than fellow students. There would be incidents, and that would reflect badly on Cross' goal of uniting both races. The pureblood knew that he had to consume the tablets along with everyone else. If he did it, they would follow. Of course it was well within his capabilities to make them do as he wished, but the whole purpose of this experiment was for it to be their choice. That, and he did not care to use that ability. Forcing others to obey his whims seemed like a poor way to govern his group. He preferred that his allies be truly loyal to him, as he knew that they were now.

As the night stretched on Kaname found himself continuously honing in on the little flash of energy that belonged to the lavender-eyed boy who was so filled with defiance. He recalled the smell of his blood and how it had sent a streak of awareness through his senses, stirring him up. He hadn't felt that way in some time. He liked the challenge that Zero seemed to present. He wanted to get more rises out of him, as he had tonight.

Yuki returned to the house after completing her rounds on the school grounds. As the only member of the Disciplinary Committee (why was it called a 'committee' if there was only one person!?) it was her duty to ensure that there was no contact between the Day and Night class students except at designated school functions like dances. She had a room that she shared with Yori in the Sun Dorms, but she often spent time here as well, feeling guilty for leaving her adoptive father alone. He always made such a fuss over her, and she knew it made him happy when she spent the night here. She tucked a lock of her brown hair behind one ear, as she turned the doorknob and stepped inside. Her father greeted her with a huge hug, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a dramatic circle.

"Yuki! You came back!" He exclaimed as she tried to pry his smothering arms off. "We have an unexpected guest in the house, so I'm really glad you're here, he's about your age and I think he could use a friend. He's sleeping for now, but when he wakes up I was hoping you could show him around and maybe help him with a bath…"

"Help him?"

"Oh, well he's kind of injured, and even though he is healing, it will take some time before he can move around very easily. Kaname found him in the town. It will be just like having a big brother! Come to think of it I've always wanted a son…"

"I can help him," Yuki said, interrupting the headmaster's thoughts about how wonderful it would be to have a son of his own.

"Great, he's in the pink room, but I think you should let him sleep for a little longer. He's been through a lot. His name is Zero, by the way."

"Alright, I'm going to work on my homework, just come get me when it's a good time." Yuki knew full-well she wasn't going to actually do any homework, but she said it anyway, going up the stairs to her room. She smiled to herself. Her 'father' was always bringing home strays, trying to rescue or help others. It was a great quality, although he was pretty intensely overbearing and his fawning could be suffocating in large doses. And in small doses. She knew, however, that all of it came from a place of kindness, and she never wanted that to change about the man who had taken her in as a small child.

The 'pink' room was what they called the guest bedroom, because Cross had overdressed it in pink wallpaper, curtains, area rug and linens. It was just so… pink. There was no better way to describe it.

She was pretty curious about who the mystery guest was, but quickly forgot about it as she opened a math book to try and study for her worst course. She was just not cut out for school, and being the entire Disciplinary Committee by herself was distracting and exhausting, but someone had to do it. The human students of the Academy couldn't find out that they were actually going to school with vampires. Yuki had always known about them, so it was fine for her to have contact with them. Most of her contact had been with Kaname, but she knew the other's in his group as well, like Hanabusa and Akatsuki. She missed the time she used to spend with the tall, auburn-eyed pureblood. It had been less lately, and that made her sad, because she always felt very safe and happy when he was with her.

Her first memories were of Kaname rescuing her from a scary vampire who was going to kill her. She didn't know why she couldn't remember anything before that, but she couldn't. After that day she had lived with Cross, but she had a special place in her heart for Kaname and admired him greatly. He seemed to be busier in the past few years, and so was she, so they didn't see as much of one another as she would have liked. That had little effect on the way she felt. She could always approach him, talk to him, or give him a hug just because she felt like it. She crossed paths with him at least once a day, as she guided the night class safely through a sea of screaming hormonal teenagers who were desperate to get a little acknowledgement from any of its members. Why they didn't just stagger the class changeover to avoid this unnecessary chaos was beyond her. Maybe it had something to do with exposing the vampires to a bunch of humans so they got used to being close to them. Either way it gave Yuki an opportunity to see Kaname for a few moments every day. Sometimes he would pause on his walk between the dorm and the school and talk to her in front of everyone. This drove the masses of human students to jealous outbursts and made it very hard to keep them at bay. She often wished she had a little help with the task. It would make it less-time consuming, and maybe then she might know what some of this stuff in her math book was supposed to mean.

As it was she was pretty out of her element, and quickly lost interest, dozing off with her face on the book.

Zero slept for a few hours, and in that time the blood he'd ingested did a pretty good job of healing many of the smaller cuts, bruises and other injuries. The twisted ankle and gunshots would take a little longer to get back to normal, but as his eyes blinked slowly open he was aware of an acuity that seemed to affect all of his senses. The colours were deeper, edges sharper, and everything smelled very detailed and intricate. It was the heightened vampiric senses, he realized. They had only been really noticeable now, because he had finally fed on blood (without being severely injured immediately thereafter). For the past four years he had been living in a dulled world, sickened by starvation, but he hadn't known what he was missing because he had never allowed himself to feed. Now he was finally able to experience the difference, although he was still extremely weak.

He seriously needed to pee, and it drove him to try and get up to go to the bathroom. Drawing in a preparatory breath, he used his left hand to push himself up in the bed. He managed to do it, though his head swam for several seconds as he rose to a sitting position. He carefully put one leg, then the other over the side of the bed, scooting out from under the blanket that Cross had draped over him. He paused at the edge of the bed, resting and gathering his strength. He noticed how he was still covered in dried blood and realized that there was a man's black trench coat beneath the blanket. He knew immediately that it belonged to the vampire who had brought him here. Kaname's scent was all over it. Zero stuffed it under the blanket to try to get it out of the air, he hated how it made him think of those piercing dark eyes boring icily into him.

He tested his feet, putting one on the floor at a time. His ankle was very sore, but he was able to put a small amount of weight on it. He used the bed as a support, getting to his feet for the first time in days. He felt pretty unsteady, but his balance was good, and he was able to get to the door, limping slowly to avoid hurting his ankle. He opened it, looking around. The house smelled like fresh night air; he could see a window open at the end of the hall. Cross' energy was detectable somewhere above him and tried to be quiet in case people were sleeping.

Progressing slowly, Zero moved to each door nearby, hoping one was going to be a bathroom. He found it after a few tries and entered, closing the door behind himself. He stood over the toilet, letting out a sigh as he finally relieved the pressure in his bladder. He flushed and closed the toilet lid, sitting down on it. Just that short walk from the bedroom to here had been exhausting, and he was still covered in blood and not wearing any shoes. Thankfully there was a deep bathtub in the room. He went over to it and pulled off his soiled clothing carefully, still finding a lot of healing cuts and fading bruises. Cross had bandaged over his shirt it so he had to undo all the bandages to get the shirt off and only had one arm to work with. He wondered how long this would take to heal. It was already a fair bit better than it had been earlier in the evening, but the healing seemed to have slowed down considerably. Maybe he'd used up all the blood Cross had given him already. He certainly had no intention of drinking anymore of it. He could only stand so much self-loathing and he was topped up to the brim. The blood Cross had given him had come at a time when he was too weak to refuse, but the idea that he had intentionally bitten into human flesh and fed was revolting, even as thoughts of it stirred him in ways he was wholly uncomfortable with.

"That's the last time," Zero told himself firmly. He turned the knobs of the bathtub and it began to fill with hot water. He carefully slid into the tub, sinking down into the rising warmth. It quickly reddened as the crusts of blood all over him began to dissolve and melt from his pale skin. He thought about how he was basically taking a bath in Higashi's blood and felt bile crawl up his throat. It took a great deal of effort to subdue the urge to vomit. He actually stopped the water, unplugged the tub and let it drain away. When it was all gone he filled the tub again, pouring some body wash that he found close by into the water. It began to bubble up, forming soapy peaks all around him. It would be good to feel clean again, and the heat from the water was very soothing to his sore body. The bubbles smelled like vanilla, which was comforting to his beleaguered senses. He leaned back in the tub, his mind drifting. A few minutes later he was lost in thought. He wasn't paying attention and didn't hear the footsteps in the hallway, or the door pushing open.

Yuki woke with her face adhered to her math text by a puddle of her own drool. Blinking sleepily she looked over to the clock and realized that she'd been asleep for over an hour. She hadn't eaten dinner, and remembered what Cross had said about there being an injured boy her age named Zero in the house. Peeling her face from the book, she went downstairs and found the 'pink' room vacant. Across the hall she saw a light coming from beneath the bathroom door and peeked her head in, a wave of humid air enveloping her as she stepped inside. She immediately honed in on the figure laying in the tub. He appeared asleep, but as she pushed the door shut behind her a pair of violet eyes opened and locked on her.

"Hi, I'm Yuki. You must be Zero," she said cheerfully, not seeming to care that it was totally weird to walk in on someone taking a bath. Zero felt a blush leap to his cheeks. Sure he was used to people seeing him naked, but that was in a different context. He wasn't used to girls his own age just waltzing in on him.

"Hey…I'm not dressed! Get out!" He tried to raise his hands in a gesture to shoo her away and winced as fire leapt through his injured arm and shoulder. His arm dropped back into the water with a little splash and he grit his teeth together in pain.

"Oh I can't see anything through all those bubbles anyway. My… dad asked me to help you out, he said you were injured pretty badly. Is that blood in your hair?" The petite brown-eyed girl strode over to the edge of the tub and slid a lock of Zero's hair through her fingers. She inspected it and nodded. "Yep, that's blood, and it looks like your arm is hurt, so I'll help you get washed up." She grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squirted some into her hand.

"What are you doing?" the hunter asked, a little freaked out by Yuki's forwardness. Did this girl have no boundaries?

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to wash your hair, just relax."

Zero scooted away from her in the water. "I don't need any help."

"I think you do, judging by your wound."

Zero's protest died on his lips as the girl knelt at the edge of the tub and worked the shampoo into his hair. She added some water with her hands and massaged his scalp. It felt wonderful, and Zero's defenses lowered a little, his head relaxing into her hands as she worked the shampoo in. He felt awkward at being touched so intimately by this girl he barely knew. He'd received exclusively beatings or sexual contact for so long that his body didn't really know how to react. He just stayed very still, letting her fingers work in his hair. He ignored how nice she smelled, and the little pulse point at her delicate throat. He was suddenly very thankful for Cross' gift of blood. It was far easier to control himself this way.

"What happened to you?" Yuki asked, but Zero didn't answer her. Undeterred, she continued. "That's quite a scar on your throat, did you get bitten by a vampire?"

Zero jerked violently at that, sitting up straight and staring at Yuki in uncomfortable surprise "What?"

Yuki smiled. "I'm only kidding, don't be so serious! I'm almost done, try to relax."

Cautiously, Zero settled back against the tub, letting her continue scrubbing the blood from his hair. Did she know what he was? Maybe Cross had told her? Or was she just making a lucky guess? He struggled to understand and could not fully relax under her touch.

"You seem tense, am I hurting you?"

"N-no," Zero stammered, his cheeks colouring. "This is just… a little weird."

"No its not, you're hurt pretty bad, I'm just giving you a hand. Everyone needs some help once in a while, don't you think? Do you want me to stop?"

Zero sighed, "Its fine."

She told him to scoot forward and she tilted him back to rinse his hair out. As his head went down into the water Zero suddenly remembered the Client who had forced his head underwater in a bathtub almost exactly like this one. He tensed, his throat tightening as a flood of adrenaline rose, making his heart pound.

"No!" he yelled without warning, his eyes wild with fear. He twisted from Yuki's hands, shoving her roughly away from him. A wave of water splashed over her and the floor beside the tub.

She stumbled and fell back. Her arms flailed out, but not fast enough to restore her balance. She lost her footing and cracked her head on the tile floor. She let out a pained exclamation and rubbed her head where it had hit. A goose egg started to form, smarting sharply.

"Ow," Yuki said, slowly getting back up. She wiped water from her face in surprise, wondering what she'd done. Zero's violet eyes were a glittering whirl of emotions, looking kind of shell-shocked. She managed a smile, holding her arms up in a gesture of peace.

"Hey, Zero? Its ok…" she tried softly.

"I'm sorry," Zero apologized, feeling terrible. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, it's just a little bump, I'll be fine. Can we try that again?"

Hesitantly, Zero nodded, forcing himself to be still as she rinsed his hair. He felt his stomach flip-flopping the whole time, but he allowed her to dip him back again and carefully run her fingers through the silver strands until the suds were all rinsed away. She sat back, giving him a smile. "There, that's better."

"Thanks," Zero replied quietly, feeling very guilty for his overreaction. He avoided her gaze, looking instead at the bubbles floating atop the water.

"I'm going to grab you some clean clothes, stay here."

With that she left Zero alone. As soon as she was gone he let out a huge breath that he didn't realize he'd been holding. His skin felt all tingly and weird at being touched with such care. He had no coping strategy for this situation, no way of processing the unexpected kindness and physical contact. He was assaulted by a wave of memories from when he would take a bath with his little brother as kids. His mother would run her fingers through his hair, rinsing the soap out of it like Yuki had done. Zero squeezed his eyes shut at the thought, not prepared to relive tender moments just now.

She returned swiftly, with some fluffy towels, and a change of clothes for him.

"I'll be just outside, let me know if you need some help." She closed the door over and he heard her standing just outside of it, as promised. He pulled the plug and let the water drain away, taking with it all the remnants of Higashi's blood.

Zero struggled out of the tub and managed to dry himself off, inhaling the fresh scent of the towels and relishing in how different it was from the scratchy linens of the House. He pulled on the loose cotton pyjama pants Yuki had brought him, sliding the elastic band over his hips. The shirt was a tank top, which was good because it was easier to get his injured arm through the hole than a t-shirt would have been. Before leaving the room he went to his soiled clothes on the floor, fishing in the pants pocket for the little photo that was now his most valued possession (it was also pretty much his only possession). He retrieved it and stuffed it in his pocket, leaving his dirty clothes a heap on the floor. He limped to the door, opening it and feeling the breeze from the hall wash over his skin and make the little hairs on his arms stand up.

Yuki was absently rubbing the bump on her head when Zero exited the bathroom. She winced, seeing the angry red opening in his shoulder, and a partially healed one further down on his arm. She also noticed he was limping, favouring his left side. She was surprised at how tall he was, not knowing what to expect because most of him had been hidden by bubbles. Now that he was clean she could see that he had silver hair and very pale skin, and that he was lightly muscled all over. He was really attractive, she realized, a blush colouring her cheeks.

"Are you hungry?"

Zero blinked, nodding. "Yeah, I am." His response was punctuated by a growl from his stomach.

"Good, I was worried that he got to you already…" A funny look came over her face and Zero wondered what she was talking about.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing, it's just that Chairman Cross, er, my dad, likes to cook, but he is terrible at it and is always making people eat his weird recipes. I was worried he had tried to feed you something already. Guess you were lucky so far. C'mon, I'll fix you something to eat."

Yuki ushered Zero towards the kitchen, and he followed her slowly, sitting at the kitchen island as she put a pot of water on the stove.

She surveyed him thoughtfully as he sat there, looking at the countertop. It was like a raincloud hung over him; he had no joy, seemed broken somehow. He had strong shoulders, but they slumped forward. His eyes seemed to open to a soul that was suffering and sad, what on earth had happened to him?

"So, do you have a family?" She ventured, adding some vegetables to the boiling pot on the stove.

Zero locked eyes with the brown-haired girl, remembering the expression on his father's face right before Shizuka had torn his throat out and tossed him aside like a doll.

"They were killed," he said after a pause. He saw a guilty look on Yuki's face when she heard his answer.

"Oh… sorry." Yuki said, feeling bad that she had asked that. Maybe if she offered up some details about herself then Zero would feel more comfortable? "I don't know who my parents are… I have no memory from anything before I was five. But I was really lucky, because Kaname found me and protected me when I was in danger, and then he brought me here, to live with Chairman Cross. The Chairman treats me like I'm his daughter, and he's a kind man, even though he comes off as a little strange. He means well. And Kaname always stayed in my life as well. He's-"

"A vampire," Zero cut in, his mouth hardening into a thin line. He spit the word, unable to hide his dislike for the detestable creatures.

Yuki regarded Zero for a long, silent minute, her eyes serious. A little frown knit her brows together. She nodded slowly. "Yes, he is. How do you know about that?"

Zero realized he had put himself in a position of revealing more than he'd intended, but it was too late to take it back. He resigned himself to explaining a little bit to this girl. She seemed harmless, perhaps it would be ok to tell her a few things. Besides, something about the way she looked at him made him want to be honest with her. "One of them killed my family," he said slowly, having never actually told anyone that in all this time. It made Zero remember the night like it had just happened. His hand went absently to the mark on his neck, recalling the sound of his blood rushing into Shizuka's mouth, her hands gripping him close against her body. A twinge of discomfort worked its way through him. He made a fist, clenching it until his knuckles were white as he forced those thoughts from his mind.

Yuki tended to the food in the pot, wondering if Zero was going to say more, but it seemed he wasn't very forthcoming with personal details.

"That's really sad, I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories Zero," She offered carefully, wondering what had happened. "The vampires at this school are different, especially Kaname. He doesn't hurt people. It was a vampire that he saved me from when I was little. A scary Level E attacked me, and Kaname stopped it. He's always been open with me about what he is. I know I'm safe with him. I owe him my life."

Zero's immediate reaction was to retort by saying how wrong she was, but he swallowed his words, choosing not to comment. He was a stranger here, this was her home, not his own. The people here were being kind to him, and they just so happened to be friends with vampires. For the time being, he would keep his thoughts to himself.

"What are you cooking?" He asked instead.

Later that night, Zero was back in the room he had awoken in. Despite his exhaustion, he wasn't tired. He stared at the ceiling, his mind drifting over the things he'd talked about with Yuki. She'd made some ramen for them both, and sat down beside him at the kitchen island to eat. Their conversation had turned to Cross Academy. She had told him about her position as the sole member of the Disciplinary Committee, how the Day Class students went crazy every time the classes changed over, and about how gracious the vampires were over the whole matter. She painted them as sweet, innocent, kind-hearted people, not the perverse monsters Zero knew they were. He had really not wanted to continue that line of conversation. He was trying as hard as he could to be accepting, but the crap she was spouting was more than he could tolerate for the moment.

He'd finished his noodles as quickly as he could and told Yuki that he was tired, and needed to rest. She conceded and led him back to the pink guest room, telling him that she and Cross had rooms upstairs, and that he could come and find her if he needed anything. He'd thanked her for her help and for the food, and she'd left.

As the door shut, Zero felt some relief to be alone again. He'd had more conversation and stimulation in the last few hours than he was able to handle. Accustomed to always being told what to do and how to act, he wasn't used to talking about himself or being treated with such care. He definitely didn't miss his old life – obviously it had been horrendous – but he sort of missed the anonymity of it, the lack of any direct focus on himself. It was easy not to think about all the things that made him sad or angry when he was going through the motions as designated by someone else.

He shifted in the bed, the soft sheets tangled around his legs. The room was filled with strange scents and sounds, and moonlight streamed in at an unfamiliar angle, making everything look deep purple. He couldn't get comfortable. A restlessness had begun to fill him, he couldn't seem to turn off his brain. His hand touched on something with a rougher texture and he closed his fingers around it, pulling the wadded up trench coat from beneath some pillows. The smell of the pureblood vampire immediately filled his senses. An image of his serious brown eyes filled Zero's mind. That insolent asshole had made it very clear who was in charge around here. Zero felt blind fury bubbling beneath the surface as he remembered how the jerk had spoken to him, veritably daring him to slip up. Well, he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He hated all vampires, but something about that one in particular really got under his skin. It made him want to become much stronger, it gave him a drive to overcome his circumstances and regain his rightful place as a vampire hunter of the Kiryu clan. Suddenly his goal of avenging his family was blurred a little, and he was motivated by the desire to put Kuran in his place. He wanted to wipe away that overly calm look, teach him what it felt like to have no control. Then he'd see how tough he really was.