Chapter 10

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing.

The next day….

Vincent woke up around 9 in the morning, after going to sleep after Kaname left, at 4 in the morning.

Sitting up, he yawned widely as he ran a hand through his mess of black hair, blinking sleepy crimson eyes. They flicked over to the clock, noting the time. 5 hours of sleep… Yet, I'm not tired. Flopping back down, he buried his head into the pillow, shutting his eyes to hopefully get some more sleep.

After a good 5 minute so of remaining wide awake, he shot back up, grumbling quietly to himself. I'm awake now anyways…

Throwing back the covers, he slipped out of bed, dressed in only the loose sleeping pajamas he had found last night in his drawers. Along with that, when he want to go hang up his uniform, he had found a few more hanging up neatly in the closet, some normal clothes neatly folded and put onto the shelf underneath the hanging clothes.

Dumbfounded, the only thing he could come up with was that after attaining his measurements, Cross had had them sent here for times when he wasn't going to wear his uniform. And he didn't have to wear it all the time, right? He hoped not; white was notoriously easy to get dirty.

Maybe I'll go for a quick walk, and then try to get some more sleep… Nodding his head, he decided to do just that, stripping out of his sleeping pants and laying them on the bed, and pulling out a pair of jeans, and a black and white shirt out of his closet. He mentally thanked Kaien for having some clothes provided.

There were also a few pairs of comfortable shoes on the floor of the closet, which he quickly slipped on after getting dressed, not bothering to tie the laces, simply tucking them into the shoe, next to his feet. Brushing his hair out of his face, he stood up straight, grabbing his room key from the night stand where he had placed it last night.

He opened the door to the halls quietly, looking around to see if anyone was up. The dorms remained quiet, however, and Vincent quietly eased his way out of the room, making sure to close the door without a sound.

Sneaking down the halls, He passed by one of the windows, giving it a quick glance before stopping, and going aback a step to go to it and take a closer look. His thin eyebrows drew together in confusion as he looked to the scene going on outside of the walls.

Why were there so many Day Class girls gathered outside the gate? From what he understood, they all came in the evening, when the classes began. So why…? He shook his head as the yells from the girls just barely filtered into his ears, just loud enough to be heard, yet easy enough to ignore.

Valentine… the fangirls will have a heyday with that tomorrow…

Ruka's words came back to him, and he felt… something stir in the back of his brain, his eyes opened wide at the feeling, and he shut them, straining to grasp ahold of it.

Valentine… St… St. Valentine's day!

Vinnie!

He jerked a bit, his eyes flying open as the name came unbidden into his mind, spoken by a voice he didn't recognize. It was a female's voice, one he didn't know. Vinnie? What the…?

He didn't know anyone who called him that nickname. And God forbid they did. It was so stupid…

Still, he pushed the thought away, a small smile forming on his lips. St. Valentine's day. It was something he remembered, and that small step made him happy, even if it wasn't really worth making a big deal over. And how ironic that his last name was Valentine.

A whistle broke Vincent from his thoughts, and he turned his attention back to the window once more, shocked when he saw Yuuki standing on the wall above the large gate. What was she doing up there…?

Seeing and hearing the fangirls now, Vincent was starting to have second thoughts about taking a walk. What if they broke down the gates while he was outside…?

Remembering yesterday, he gave a little shudder. If Zero hadn't been there to stop them…

Zero. The one person besides him who possessed an odd eye color. Well, and hair, now that he thought about it. It made him feel better, knowing that he wasn't the only one.

Not really thinking about where he was going, lost in his thoughts as he was, he started to walk, making his way slowly down the stairs, and out the doors, ignoring the guard as he did so.

Zero… was truly a unique person, at least in looks. He didn't know him well enough to say anything about his personality. But, he seemed gruff on the outside- A small grin flashed across Vincent's face as he recalled how he heard Zero yelling at some of the Day Class girls as Vincent left- yet, Zero, for all his bluster, never threatened any of the girls.

And he had stopped the fangirls from trampling on him, even though it was made clear a few minutes later that he disliked the Night Class- Kaname especially. There had been some sort of animosity between the two, and it confused Vincent.

Of course, he was new here, and there was probably some older rivalry or something between the two.

Still… Zero Kiriyuu was someone Vincent would like to get to know better. There seemed to be an interesting, kind person hidden under his cold exterior, and Vincent was innately curious about it.

He stopped suddenly as he came face to face with the wall, not even realizing he had walked into it. Scowling at the wall, his look soon morphed into one of thoughtfulness as he appraised it. By now, the screaming had died down, and he listened closely- there was no sound of anyone outside of the gates.

Which meant that it was safe. Stepping forward, he examined the cracks in between each brick, a look of calculation blooming on his face.

Well, he had wanted a walk, hadn't he? And all the Day Class would be in class- they wouldn't be expecting a Night Class student to be outside, would they? No, they wouldn't. And the wall wasn't that high, and he wanted to explore the grounds a bit more- he wasn't tired, and it was a nice day out, actually.

He was still human, after all- he had missed the sun, even though the darkness of the night and the quietness that came along with it appealed to him greatly. He wanted to feel the warmth on his face, see the grounds highlighted by the sun's rays.

Getting closer to the wall, he lifted a leg up to carefully fit the toe of his shoe into a crack, suddenly glad that the soles were rubber and textured, not simply smooth like those of his uniform.

Reaching up, he secured both hands into a space, and with a deep breath hauled himself up, using the momentum and his upper arm strength to hoist himself upwards, surprised when he found it wasn't really that hard. He continued climbing, until he finally was at the top.

Pulling himself over, Vincent dropped to the ground, landing on the balls of his feet, much like a cat. Straightening up, he lifted his head, brushing his hair out of his eyes. "That wasn't so… hard…" He trailed off as he saw Yuuki and Zero standing by the wall, staring at him. Shit.

Yuuki was the first to break the silence. "Vincent- kun? What- Did you scale that wall all by yourself?" And what was the Night Class student doing out here?

He blinked. Of all the things he had been expecting Yuuki to say, that had not been it. "Yes…?"

He could feel Zero's piercing gaze on him, but he did his best to ignore it. "What are you doing out here? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"Well, yes, but… I woke up, and decided to take a walk. After all the girls seemed like they were gone, I decided to scale the wall, and take a chance to explore the grounds while the girls were in class." His eyebrows furrowed. "Is there a rule against that? Because I'm honestly not sure." Yuuki was really a nice person, and he didn't want to cause any trouble, especially not something that would get reported back to Kaien. The man had been far to kind to Vincent for him to want to trouble the man.

It was Yuuki's turn to blink, confounded. "I'm… not sure. We've never had a Night Class student out of their dorms during the day- they're usually sleeping."

"Or something else."

This caught Yuuki's attention, along with Zero's- although the silver- haired prefect gave no indication. Instead, he was thinking about what he had discovered earlier the past evening, out in the woods. "What do you mean, Vincent- kun?"

He shrugged, relaxing now that Yuuki and Zero didn't seem to care that he was out of the dorms. "I was walking to the entrance of the dorms with Senri and Rima, when a remark was made about Aido being a bear in the evening. Hanabusa was coming down the hall as it was said, and in return, said something about not being able to be perky like Takuma was in the evenings, although judging by the sounds coming from their room earlier that morning, didn't think that he would be so perky when he woke up." Vincent shrugged. "I didn't understand what they were talking about."

Yuuki was blushing by the time he had finished, and Zero was secretly amused. Was Vincent really that innocent…?

"But, I couldn't sleep, so I came out here." Vincent glanced around, as if he were looking for something. "So why were all the girls gathered out here this early? It's my understanding that they come at dusk, not the morning."

"Oh, that!" Yuuki smiled sheepishly, while Zero narrowed his eyes into a glare at the thought. "It's St. Valentine's day today!" As she uttered the words, a speculative look came into her eye, and she regarded Vincent with the look. "Hey- Valentine's your last name, isn't it?" She giggled at the thought- the fangirls were going to go nuts over his name.

The one girl he had accepted the rose from was already spreading the tale of how the new Night Class student had accepted her gift, and had not only bothered to learn her name, but addressed her by her first name instead of her surname. She had overheard the talking in the dorms last night, after all the girls had finally went back to their building.

Vincent nodded, resigned to the fact that he shared the same last name as the patron saint of love, and it was the saint's honor day. "Yes; Ruka mentioned something about it earlier, but I didn't understand what she was talking about until just before I came out here, when I finally recalled what day it was." He said it casually, so that anyone how didn't know about his loss of memory, like Yuuki, would simply assume that he had forgotten the day.

Zero knew better though, but didn't reveal the fact that he did.

But they couldn't linger here talking. They had to go see the Chairman, and then get to class. "Yuuki." He nodded his head to the main building where the Chairman's office was, indicating they needed to go.

"Oh! Yeah! Sorry, Vincent- kun, but we need to go." She smiled brightly. "Unlike you vampires, we have class during the day!" It was said teasingly, but Vincent saw Zero tense slightly at her words. Yuuki was fishing for answers, and it made Zero nervous.

"Vampires, huh? So would that make me a daywalker, since I'm not holed up in the building?" He said it lightly, but his attention was focused on the now- tense Zero.

Yuuki shook her head. "Daywalker? What do you mean? I thought that you were a-" She was cut off by Zero's stern voice. The girl was attempting to be sneaky, trying to find out if Vincent really was a vampire or not. If he wasn't, however, her question would raise some unwanted questions.

"Yuuki. We need to go." There was some hidden warning behind his words, and Vincent didn't know what.

She turned to Zero, and after a moment, nodded. "Alright. We have to go." She turned to Vincent, giving him a warm smile before waving. "See you tonight, Vincent- kun!"

She started walking along the path, away from him. Zero lingered for a moment longer. "Stay out of sight of the windows of the classrooms, and you should be fine. Unless, of course," Zero raised an eyebrow, "you want to have a mob of Day Class girls after you."

Vincent couldn't help a slight shudder at the thought. "What is their problem anyway? I don't see what's so special about the Night Class… " Vincent muttered to himself, before raising his voice. "Alright. Thank you, Zero- kun."

Zero didn't say anything more, simply gave him a short nod and sauntered away, hands tucked into his pockets. Did Vincent really not see what made the Day Class go nuts over the white- uniformed students? The Night Class are all highly accomplished, beautiful people…. Cross's past words, said many times to him reverberated in his mind.

Vincent wasn't a vampire, though, yet he was as beautiful as the rest of them. He shook his head, confounded. Did I really just think that Vincent was beautiful?

Zero glanced back, skimming his eyes over Vincent's figure that was still standing on the bridge. Even from this distance, he could see the odd crimson eyes, almost glowing due to the bright morning sun reflecting off of them. Yeah, he could see where Vincent could be considered beautiful, just like all the vampires. He hated the bloodsuckers, but he could see their appeal.

Vincent watched Zero go, secretly admiring the way the sunlight glinted off his silver hair, making it almost glow in the light. His eyes caught a flash of black on the part of Zero's neck that was exposed, and he squinted a bit, trying to see what it was. His eyes widened as he realized it was a tattoo.

He smiled a bit to himself at it. Looks like we have another thing in common.

Shaking his head, he glanced around, taking in the scenery. It was a beautiful day out, really, with the sun shining, and only a few clouds in the distance. The water underneath the bridge was sparkling, and Vincent could see a few slashes of white in the distance, signifying the fish were jumping.

Zero and Yuuki were already out of sight, and grinning to himself, he started running down the bridge, glad that no one was there to witness his sudden lack of control.

Just for a while, he decided, he'd let himself forget about forgetting, and let go of his worries about never regaining his past memories. The day was too beautiful to have such deep worries. Maybe he'd go see the gardens he saw earlier last evening; the flowers and trees looked very inviting.

Kaname's eyes narrowed as he watched Vincent sneak out of the Moon Dorms, seeing the ravenette strolling towards the gates. He saw Vincent give a quick look around, and then start to scale the wall of the gate, pulling himself up and over the high wall with ease.

He must either be stronger than his build implies… Kaname thought, that or… his strength isn't purely human.

He observed the boy outside for a while longer, seeing him drop down gracefully, and stand up perfectly fine, although the fall should have at least jarred him a little bit. Yuuki and Kiriyuu were standing by the gate, he noticed, and he watched as they lingered, obviously having a conversation with Vincent.

For some reason, the thought of Kiriyuu, or even Yuuki, getting to spend time with Vincent while he was stuck inside here… It rankled him.

Gritting his teeth, he clenched his fist as he saw Vincent's head turn towards Kiriyuu's, watching him, even as the prefect stared out into the distance. He growled, before stopping as he realized what he was doing.

Was he getting… no! He was not getting jealous! Purebloods- especially of the Kuran line didn't allow themselves to feel such petty emotions when regarding a human. Their own mates, yes, but not a random human. Even one you feel an attraction to…

Besides, he had Yuuki! He loved Yuuki; loved the way his heart beat a little faster every time he saw her.

So why… why was he finally able to relax from his tense stance when Yuuki and Zero left Vincent to go to their own class? They weren't his rivals! He had no interest in Vincent besides finding out what he was, and why he was here. Baring his teeth, he turned away, upset at himself. This was atrocious!

Still…

He couldn't help turning back once more to the window, finding Vincent once more, seeing him tilt his head back. Kaname could imagine a serene, lovely smile on Vincent's face as he took in the sunlight.

The ravenette slowly lowered his head, glancing about for a second before breaking into a run, his black hair waving gently as he ran gracefully, at an almost unnatural speed. Humans didn't run that fast- Kaname knew this from experience.

He turned his attention away from the window, rubbing his temple as he walked to his desk, and took a sip from the wine glass filled with red liquid from his desk. He leaned against the wood table as he thought. The blood tablets were working quite well for the Night Class- he hadn't felt the urge to feed since they had been created.

Not until you smelled Vincent, that is…

He resisted the sudden overwhelming urge to smack himself in the face. I really need to get control over my thoughts…

Setting his glass down, he threw one last glance back at the window, where a certain black haired figure was no longer able to be seen. There were so many things off about the boy named Vincent Valentine, so many things that made him want to learn more about the ravenette that was slowly taking over his thoughts.

Scowling, he pushed away from the desk, crossing over to the door, and stepping out into the hall. He wasn't tired as of yet, and being a pureblood, he needed slightly less sleep than the nobles and lesser classes of vampires.

The mystery that the boy brought with him was plaguing his mind, preventing him from getting any real sleep anyway- perhaps the library would at least provide him with a start to unraveling the mystery.

Yawning, Yuuki stretched her hands above her head, attempting to force some oxygen to her brain to wake her up. Dropping her arms, she gave a small smile. "Aaah! Only one more lesson after this!" And then…

The rest of the words went unspoken, but everyone knew what was after classes. It was creating a thick tension, and the girls throughout the Day Class were giggling, getting excited and whispering among themselves.

"Everyone's getting restless," Yori, Yuuki's best friend noted. She was a calm, peaceful girl, and usually was very quiet, although she became more talkative when it came to Yuuki. She was one of the few girls that wasn't intimidated by Zero, mainly due to the fact that she wasn't one of the many who waited outside the Moon Dorms each evening, aggravating him.

The girls in the seats above them were giggling, chatting and whispering nervously among themselves. "Who are you going to give yours to?" "I don't know yet!" "Look at the ribbon on this one!" "Do you think he'll like it?"

Ignoring the chattering, Yuuki turned to her friend. "Aren't you giving chocolates to anyone, Yori?"

The blonde girl shook her head, an unbothered expression on her face. "Nah, I can't be bothered."

This didn't really surprise Yuuki; her best friend, after all, didn't really care about things like these. "Not even for the Night Class?"

"To be honest, I prefer the Day Class to the Night Class anyway." Hm. Yori really was different; practically all the students in the Day Class had a thing for the Night Class students. It would appear Yori was one of the few who didn't.

"What about you?" she enquired of Yuuki.

"Uh, I'm not either." She forgot about the ribbon that was sticking out of their jacket pocked, and Yori being who she was, she of course noticed it.

"I can see the ribbon, Yuuki." Her tone was matter- of- fact, and Yuuki adopted an are-you-kidding-me-look.

Curse Yori and her innate observational skills. "Well…the truth is… I had to buy it from a shop. When I tried to make it myself, it was a complete disaster. It's so humiliating. I'm the only one in class who's that lame." Which was true. She cringed as she thought about the numerous accidents that had occurred in the short time she had taken over the kitchen. She knew better now to just leave the cooking to Kaien and Zero.

"So," Yori asked, "Who are you giving it to? I mean, it's obviously not for the guy glaring daggers behind us…"

Which was of course, Zero. All day long, he'd had to endure the annoying chatter of the girls twittering about St. Valentine's day, and which of the Night Class students they were going to give chocolate to. It made him want to snort. It's not like chocolate would win their affections.

Speaking of Valentines… The girls behind him had been gushing about a certain Night Class student with that last name all class. It annoyed him for some reason other than it usually did, when he couldn't stand the thought of some filthy bloodsucking beasts be praised. Vincent wasn't a vampire, though, so why did it annoy him that some random Day Class girls were gushing over him?

"Oh, Rozu- chan! You're so lucky to have gotten to speak with him!"

"I know… he was so handsome…"

"Lucky! I didn't get a good look at him! Tell us about the new student!"

"Oh, he was so perfect! I mean, his eyes… they were this really gorgeous crimson- you'd have to see it to believe it! You'd think they were creepy, like some sort of monster, but on him, they were seriously beautiful."

"And he asked for your name, I heard! Not even Idol- sempai does that, and he's extremely friendly!"

A snort. "I think he's an obnoxious show- off. Valentine- sempai is more refined, and he seems kinder. You should have seen him with the rose- it was so cute! And I think he's much better looking than the other Night Class students!"

"Psh- he's too pretty. Wild is so much more manly."

"But he's so cold- like ice. He doesn't have much of a personality. He's going to ignore you again this evening, just like he does every Valentine's Day- watch. Besides- Valentine- sempai is like a breath of fresh air. He blushed when I gave him the rose."

"No way!"

"It's true! It was so sweet! And the way he looked up at me through his bangs- Hah! It was such an adorable, sexy look!"

"You sound seriously infatuated, Rozu- chan."

"Maybe I am! He's just so different than the other Night Class students… In looks and personality. I mean, long hair doesn't work for a lot of guys, but on him? Ooh, I just want to run my fingers through it!"

"Are you going to give him your chocolate?"

"Yeah- I spent so much time on it! I wonder if he'll remember my name…"

After his, Zero, tired of listening, tuned them out. But he had to admit- the girl was right about one thing. Vincent was different from the rest of the Night Class students. "You're a prefect for crying out loud! Are you seriously going to give them to him?!"

"Uh…"

Vincent was rather harried-looking when he met the other Night Class students in the front room. He had fallen asleep under a tree, and had woken up to see the sun was well past the noon point- it was starting to get into the late afternoon.

With a jolt, he had shot up, and made his way through the gardens, and raced back across the bridge, noticing some girls already heading out from the Sun Dorms. Luckily, he was too far away to be seen, and as he ran down the bridge, he prayed that no one would see him, and if they did, they wouldn't recognize him, as he was out of uniform.

When he had reached the wall, he had quickly scaled it, and before he dropped down to the other side, had seen a gleam of sliver in the distance, followed by a shorter, brown haired figure. The Disciplinary Committee was already making their way to the gates, and Vincent could only assume it was because of the special occasion.

Still, he had hit the ground on the other side, already running, and had raced into the dorms, up to his room, and thrown on his uniform, alarmed when the clock said it was 6:30. As a result of being rushed, his hair looked slightly messy- he hadn't had time for more than a few sweeps of the brush through the locks- and his jacket and vest weren't buttoned all the way up, and he had forgone the tie.

It didn't matter, though, because he came to a skidding halt in the front room, surprised when he saw everyone, even Kaname there. He peeked at the clock on the wall- he was only a minute or two late.

He breathed out a sigh of relief, and made a mental note not to fall asleep in the garden anymore- he didn't think his heart could handle it. Although, he found it odd that after all the running, he felt just as he did before, with no trace of exhaustion. He hadn't even broken a sweat.

He glanced around the room- Aido looked extremely excited, and Kain was watching him with an indifferent expression. Well, nothing new there. Ruka looked… bored, there was really no other word for it, with a slight trace of disgust on her features. Senri was sucking unconcernedly on a lollipop at Rima's side, while Kaname waited by the door with Takuma. "Vincent. We were afraid that you weren't going to make it."

He gave a smile. "No I…uh, overslept, and was a bit late."

"Actually, Vincent- kun, you're right on time!" Takuma piped in. "Oh, and you decided to go for a more rakish look today! It suits you!"

It does indeed. Kaname eyed the boy in front of him carefully. The few buttons left undone exposed the smooth hollow of his throat, and his ruffled hair made it seem as though he had just rolled out of bed. It was a very, very good look, one that Kaname appreciated to the fullest.

"Wha-?" Vincent shook his head. "Rakish?"

Takuma just smiled and shook his head, giving a sideways glance towards Kaname, who was still staring at the boy. As I thought… "Never mind. We better go, though- Aido looks like he's about ready to claw the door down in his eagerness."

The blonde was waiting by the door, excitement and anticipation evident in his features and body. "Comeoncomeoncomeon! The girls are most likely missing my devastating smile right now, and waiting to shower me with chocolates!"

Kain sighed, shaking his head. "You're pathetic, cousin."

Aido ignored him, however, and just stood by the door, occasionally glancing back as if to say, are you coming?

"I suppose we should go. Wouldn't want to be late, would we?" Kaname said smoothly, crossing he room to the door, and opening it. Aido shot out, no doubt running for the gates. The rest of the Night Class followed, with Vincent being the last one out, followed by Kaname.

"Vincent."

He stopped as he heard his name said by Kaname in his smooth, low voice. "Yes?

"Walk with me again."