01:49

I managed to find time to write a chapter. It's a lighter one, I almost made Zero too...lively. No kidding, I almost thought that he was becoming slightly ooc. As funny as it sounds, I wanted to picture Zero as president of the Association. That's the main reason why I set the story two years later, not just one. I thought that if he was 19, he should be old enough to be named pres. And I wanted to show him in a ''daily-life'' kind of moment. It's funny that they published that special chapter with Zero and the hunters not too long ago. And I also realized that my timeline is fucked up. Whatever, you get the big idea. It's in summer, almost the end of the school year. I'm introducing a OC that I just made up on the spot, so don't worry, she won't take much space in the fic.

Disclaimer: bablabla, characters don't belong to me.

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The sun was setting on a quiet Cross Academy. The students –no longer separated into Day and Night Class- had made their way to their dorms peacefully, no annoying behaviors to be noted. The girls were happily chit-chatting, what's with the end of the school year coming near, and the boys were just hanging around loosening up the tension after three whole hours of exams.

There had been a violent argument between two male students over some girl, but a small brown-haired girl, interrupting the petty fight, soon separated the two belligerents and held them away with her arms.

'' You two, stop that immediately if you don't want me to send you to the Chairman. You wouldn't want to get detention hours on the last day of school –in 2 days- would you? '', She said with an even voice, '' And Kiryuu-kun, you could have stopped them earlier, if only you moved from under that tree.''

''…''

She sighed and rolled her eyes. Pushing the boys apart, she let them walk away after a last warning and hurried the last groups of student loitering outside to go past the gate to their dorms. The prefect job had landed on her and she had accepted to take over Yuuki's role, but since the Night Class left, there wasn't much to do. The main role of the guardians was to protect a secret that wasn't here anymore. 2 years ago, after the incident that opened a whole new world to her human eyes, she had been one of the few allowed to keep her memories about the Night Class. About their true nature: vampires. But now, the only vampire left on school ground…

Was walking away.

'' Geez, Yuuki, hurry and come back to him already. He's even more of a sociopath. ''

True, Zero always had been as closed-up as a clam on everything concerning personal matters, sociability and feelings. He could only be pried open by her late roommate at that time. Now he was more guarded than Fort Knox. A sub-zero Fort Knox, mind you.

She walked quickly behind him, catching up as he walked to the school's gates. He wasn't walking fast either, just taking advantage of his long legs to get out before the brunette noticed.

'' You're planning on ditching me for night patrol? ''

He stopped walking right in front of the gates and grumbled an answer to her.

''Well?''

She crossed her arms and stared at his sullen back, waiting for an intelligible answer. She had all the time of the world and an incredible patience. She didn't have to wait too long.

'' I have work tonight. If you need help, ask the Chairman.'' He reformulated.

'' They make you work even though you're hurt?'' She asked, trying to get some reaction out of him.

He turned around reluctantly. He really didn't want to have a conversation with her because he was sure she was going to redirect it to his least favorite subject.

'' Sayori, it's been two days already. I'm…healed. And it's nothing of the sort, just a paperwork thing I have to take care of.'' He marked a hesitation on the word '' healed'', clearly not eager to start talking about his miraculous recuperation. He just hoped the prefect would stop prying in his business.

Yori perceived the uneasiness coming from the silver-haired guardian as he tensed slightly, getting ready to escape from her inquisition. His eyes weren't looking at her, just staring at the ground. She had a real talent in decoding people by the way they talked or moved. Yuuki was the easiest of course, every emotions showing up strongly in her eyes and her voice. Zero was harder, but once you understood that what he held the most precious in his heart was Yuuki, then it was pretty easy to understand him. And at this moment, he was especially shaken up, mostly because of Yuuki's wedding and the healing had probably something to do with her best friend…

She decided to let go this time. If it was between him and Yuuki, then she didn't have a say in this matter. Or she'll just have to bribe Yuuki with sweets next time she saw her.

'' I guess I'll be able to handle the task without the Chairman's helpful presence. See you tomorrow.'' She said quietly, turning around and walking toward her dorm.

If Zero was surprised that she had let go of him easily, he didn't show it. He just turned, unlocked the gates and pushed open the tall wooden door. The hinges protested loudly so he almost missed Yori adding with a smile:

'' Oh, and you owe me a pastry for leaving me patrolling alone.''

The gate closed behind him with a thud.


Two or three times per week for two years, people had watched this tall young man coming down from the path to Cross Academy- considered as one of the most classy school in the country where busy parents sent their young rich heirs to- and making his way through town. Most townspeople recognized him by the black school garb and red tie hanging loosely around his neck and by the unusual silver hair flashing in the dying light of the sun. This peculiar color attracted the gaze of the citizens and it was more than just flashy, but he never would think of dying his hair. It was a heritage from his bloodline; he would keep it that way even if it had been quite a bother when he tried to pass incognito. Some people actually recognized him and knew what he was: not an ordinary student, but a hunter. And a vampire one at that. His hair gave him away easily; every hunter knew that the only Kiryuu survivor was now the Association President and that he was a vampire.

Passer-byes watched the somber boy enter a café, irritation clear in his face. The Headquarters were quite a long way from the Academy by foot; he really didn't need a chore added to his list. And he wanted to get there as soon as possible; he had received a call from his secretary saying they had news about the incident.

The door opened with the chiming sound of bells, a cool wave of air conditioning and hot bread smell wafting over him as he entered the place full of young girls chit-chatting around their orders. The volume went down significantly at the arrival of the mysterious stranger. Some were here especially because they knew he came once in a while to command an order of croissants and cupcakes. They were ogling him from head to toes, practically swooning over his lean form clad in the uniform of the really uptight Cross Academy. Some student living on campus had informed one of the girls hanging around the café about his background: Adoptive son of the Chairman, top of the grades and a jock.

Past that point of non-return, the teenagers were fantasizing in their head. They knew he had a bad character – if all those glares meant to stop their stares and whispers were any clue- but they couldn't care less. With the Night Class gone, the young girls' hearts were desperately looking for some kind of hottie. The gorgeous silverette fitted easily in the category ''Smoking hot but off-limit'' of their list. So they just stared.

And stared some more.

Sometimes, one of them whispered to her friend and both turned red.

Then, they went back to just staring.

At this point, Zero was gritting his teeth in annoyance as he waited for his order at the cash register. Each time Sayori caught him as he tried to leave without her noticing, she ordered him to get her some pastries at the local café. And as time passed, there were more and more people when he came. Lots of female people, the giggling and blushing kind. He wasn't against making up for his absence with running an errand in town since she couldn't leave school grounds herself, but she could have chosen something else! Actually, he was sure that his fellow student knew exactly what happened when she sent him to get sweets.

The young woman behind the counter was trying hard not to play with the laces of the blue apron she was wearing, biting her lower lip with her front teeth as she observed the scene. She wanted to take a good look at the teen too, but his threatening looks were giving her goose bumps. Finally, a coworker brought her the order and she gave it to the young man. He almost snatched the brown paper bag and the cup from her hands, handed her the money for the 4 croissants and the black coffee, and turned to leave. Tucking the bundle under his arm and holding his coffee, he exited the restaurant quickly, feeling as though he would suffocate if he stayed any longer in this building.

Once this was done, he hurried down the streets to the Headquarters, taking sips from his drink as he went. He arrived at the gates of the Headquarters fifteen minutes later, the metal fence defending any non-tamed vampire from entering on the grounds. The two guards posted at the entrance glanced at his hair, unlocked the gates and let him in, accompanying their salutations to him with a little bow. Zero nodded once to them in acknowledgment and walked to the doors of the building, opening them and entering in the grand hall. The main hall was built in an arch, the gothic style of the building making it look like a cross between a cathedral and a big manor. The Headquarters were a two storey-high concrete construction but most of the installations were underground, where burnt the very heart of the organization. Passing through the main hall, the silver-haired teen couldn't help but overhear the gossips of the hunters hanging around on the balconies upstairs or see the wary looks of the others standing in the lobby. They were fewer than before but he was still rather uncomfortable with the situation. He had found more enemies than allies within the Association, the only thing restraining them from attacking him or make him resign from his functions was his strength. Like it or not, he was the boss here; his power and the fear it provoked prevented any further objections, unless he died of an early death. But accidents soon happened in the profession…

His office was the farthest one, at the other end of the building, on the second floor. It was in the middle of the hallway between the intelligence service section and the private section- the late president apartment- , the latter no longer used and would probably stay that way for a while. Opening the acajou doors, he only found his secretary and his shishou standing around a table where laid a map of the city and a laptop, along with various papers.

His master was slightly bent over as he read the map, his cowboy hat covering part of his face and his unique eye concentrated on one spot of the map.

The other person was his personal secretary. He didn't ask for one and was strongly opposed to it in the beginning- not wanting a stranger meddling in his things- but he came to see the benefices of having someone at the HA while in was in classes. Her name was Umeko; She was 18, a recruit who had proposed to work with him when most people didn't want to. At that time, he had difficulties getting accepted by the majority of the hunters; he had been recently named to his new post and there were a lot of contestations. Supposedly, the small brunette had tried to work on the field but found out that it wasn't her thing. She was more useful behind the front lines, as she often said.

'' Look who's here at last, took you long enough.'' Welcomed his master in a low rumble, a half-consumed cigarette between his lips.

'' Kiryuu-sama, I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen-'' answered his secretary at his silent questioning.

''Shishou, I already told you not to smoke in my office or the apartment. It smells like shit and I don't want my lungs to turn black. Or Umeko's.'' He said as he deposed his paper bag on the table, pushing aside some pile of papers and making space. Turning to the girl, he added: '' And stop with the –sama already, it's annoying.'' He saw her tense at the way he had replied, sensing the irritation piercing in his voice.

He sighed. Really, that errand annoyed the hell out of him, he was ready to bite the next person's head off. She just wasn't lucky to find him in one of his mood. He apologized, not meaning to be hard on her : '' Look, it's been one year, I said you can call me Zero if you like when we're not in public.''

Umeko nodded once. '' Okay, Zero-senpai.''

This honorific bothering him less, he turned to see his master extinguishing his cigarette butt in an ashtray. Zero pulled a wooden chair from under the table and sat in it, observing the map. Both standing by the table imitated him, sitting down on a chair; Umeko by his side and Yagari in front of him.

Yagari snatched the paper bag, looking in it. '' Hum, so this time it's croissants? Smells good.'' He commented while he took one off the bag. '' Still warm too.''

Zero stretched across the table and took back the pastries, glaring at the veteran hunter. '' Stop it, after all the trouble I went through just to get them, don't go and eat one. ''

'' Well, kiddo, what do you think my cigarette was for. Now you made me hungry, I think Sayori-chan can spare one of 'em.'' He replied, exchanging glares with his student.

Leaning her head on her hand, elbow on the table, Umeko was looking amusedly at their interaction. She knew Zero often came to the office with a bag of pastries, for a school friend. It was quite funny imagining the serious silver-haired man in a girl-full café. She chuckled lightly, catching Zero's attention.

''What are you laughing at? '' he asked, falling back on his chair backrest and folding his arms, his brows furrowing when he realized he was acting much too lively to his liking. He was mildly annoyied at his outburst, he didn't feel comfortable with the feeling of normality.

She snickered some more. If she didn't knew him as much, she would have betted that he was almost…pouting. Another quiet laughter racked through her slim body, she found it strangely charming coming from him. Adorable, even.

'' Heheh, nothing, sorry.'' , she calmed herself and retried, '' Um, I mean, why did you buy yourself a coffee, we have a coffee machine downstairs. I could have made you one if you wanted.''

Zero grumbled. '' Yeah, right, one of those sickeningly sweet coffees of yours. You always put like 2 cubes of sugars and 2 milk caps in them. Even those you call blacks could pass for hot chocolates.''

Changing the subject, he asked her : '' What are the news? Do we finally have some lead on that affair? The head of the intelligence service, Sakamoto-san, should have reported back this morning.''

Getting back on business-mode, the secretary answered in a professional voice. '' Exactly, Sakamoto-san came this morning and said they investigated the matter. They looked for any lead pointing toward a pureblood or nobilities, a school and female students acting weirdly. It wasn't hard to find out that Shirabuki Sarah enrolled one year ago in Dahlia Academy Girls' school. She's usually very extravagant so we didn't pay much attention to her before today. She's known to be quite a pompous lady, so we only put minor surveying on her and with the lack of resources and active hunters, we only ensured that she didn't break the law. Actually, we know that she made some ''friends'' but legally, she's safe. Can't do anything against her unless the bittens weren't consenting.''

Umeko paused, looking gloomily at the report she was reading- seemingly lost in some bitter memories from the past- before continuing.

'' We found out she bought some businesses- mostly pharmaceutical ones-went to school from times to times, regularly missing classes; it's pretty normal considering her past behavior. The intelligence service is still looking for any other suspicious activity, but purebloods were always acting in the shadows anyway. What surprised Sakamoto-san is that they found out that one of Kuran's old friend was now her appointed secretary. A certain Takuma Ichijo, I'm sure you know him, huh? The heir of the Ichijo working for that woman is worrying us, we don't know if such a influent vampire allying to her means she'll gain more support from the pro-council families. What do you think? ''

Yagari cleared his throat. '' Probably. She's slowly gaining power if she has the Ichijo's behind her. Their family is powerful in the human and vampire world, even with the patriarch now dead.''

Zero had tensed his hand around the border of the table at the mention of the Kuran's name. He didn't like how it was turning, the pureblood woman was getting more slaves to order around. '' Maybe that Takuma-sempai is working for Kuran. It wouldn't surprise me if he's staying around to spy on Shirabuki, he was one of his most loyal follower. ''

'' But even if he's still with Kuran, people looking at it from the outside see it as if the Ichijo's chose their leader. Now the pro-council will follow his lead and support that pureblooded woman.'' Added Yagari as he passed a hand in his hair in a gesture of frustration.

Umeko was squirming in her seat, uncomfortable with what she had to announce. Her movements caught both men's sight, interrupting their musing. They waited for her to say something.

'' Actually, I didn't call you just for that….'' She began, avoiding Zero's piercing amethyst eyes. '' You see, I also received a call this morning. The interlocutor was asking for you specifically. He said it was an urgency because otherwise, he would have preferred to avoid going to such measure. You have to call him back because he only agreed to tell me the big lines, it has to be kept a secret. He said that you would probably refuse, but that if you don't call back, he'll come over to your office. He seemed pretty serious.''

''Who was it? What for? '' Zero inquired, intrigued but not liking the worry coming out like waves from his secretary.

'' It was Kuran Kaname. Kuran Yuuki has been missing for 2 days already.''

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Author's note: Awww, I'm so tired. It's 2 am and I'm still typing on the laptop. Sorry for the lame cliffie, you could see it coming two miles away. Surprisingly, looks like Zero and Yori get along quite well. But no wonder, Yori is pro-zeki. She states in the fanbook that the person she hates is Kaname xD. That's why I quite like her. As for ''Umeko'', it means '' plum tree child''. My chinese name means '' plum tree'' so I just thought it was funny when I found this name in Wikipedia. (Plume tree was ''Ume'' but it didn't fit well, I think) I wanted a powerful name for a girl, but they were all boy names (sexists! ). The only one was ''Katana'', for a sword evidently. Forget it, it's too weird calling a girl that.