Chapter 10- An Alluring Gentleness

I leave the dorm and head for the chairman's office, where we had decided to meet. As I rounf the corner, I see Zero leaning on the door of the building. He's looking down, so I get a good look at him before he sees me. He's wearing a green, blue and brown plaid shirt with black pants, looking casual and cool. I start thinking that I should go back and change to something simple when he turns and looks at me, he does a double-take, I force back a smile, looking down to hide the upturns of my lips and my heated face. I know that what I usually wear doesn't reveal much of my body and makes me look like a pre-schooler, but I know I look attractive and mature in what Mitsuki put on me. This thought gives me confidence and I smile at Zero as i reach his side.

'Hiya,' I say flirtatiously. What was that? Did I just flirt with him. His eyes widen slightly and I hear him audibly gulp.

'Y-Yuki you-'

'Yuki,' I hear the chairman call, I roll my eyes mentally and turn to look at him, perfect timing dad, I think. He's running towards me and takes a deep breath before talking. I still feel Zeros eyes still on me. When I look at him, he looks away a slight tint of color on his cheeks.

'I'm sorry Yuki, something came up,' the chairman wheezes, 'there's seems to be some problems with a day class student and their parents want to see me today, it's the only time they could meet me and I had no choice but to agree. But I'll prepare a big fat cake for you when you come back,' he looks at me expectantly. It hurts a little that he would be busy on my birthday, but I can't help the selfish feelings over-ride this notion. I'll be able to be alone with Zero. I smile at him.

'It's alright father, I understand. Ill be waiting for the cake though, it better be chocolate,' I say to him. He smiles and hugs me, I let him since he seems depressed.

After saying our good byes the chairman gives me his credit card, saying I could get all I wanted. I try and give it back but he runs away inside.

We start to walk down the pathway from the academy to town. I suddenly realize I have to walk with Zero through the woods with heels on for 10 minutes. Ugh, I was already having trouble walking in these heels, though I tried hard not to show it. We walked in silence half the way, I was careful not to trip. I didn't want to break the hells of these shoes, since they weren't mine. After a while I asked Zero to take a break, we make our way to a large fallen tree and sit on the trunk. I took off the shoes, there were already hurting my feet, soon blisters would form. Great. I take out a bandage from my purse and stick it against the areas that contacted the most friction against the shoes.

'Are you okay?' he asks, though he tries to hide it, I hear the concern heavy in his voice.

I nod, 'Yeah, it's just new to me,' I say, pointing at the shoes. He nods, frowning.

I frown at him and snap my fingers to his face. 'What did I say yesterday?' I ask him sternly. He looks confused, I sigh, 'Your supposed to smile today, now smile for me.' I give him a big smile with all my teeth and he lets out a chuckle.

'Yeah, how could I forget,' he says sarcastically.

I blush as I remember what exactly I had done when I asked him. I look away and suddenly notice the closeness of his body against mine. I could feel his leg against mine. If I moved, our hips would join. I started to perspire. Weird, since it wasn't exactly a hot day. We sit there for a few minutes, it feels like hours with my heart pounding and my stomach churning. Zero gets up and extends his hand to me, I smile up at him and take it, getting up. He lets go of my hand when I've gotten up. I can physically feel the loss of the contact, his touch leaving tingles in my hand. I want to hold his hand. But that was asking for too much, so I let my arms rest numbly at my side. We talk a little about what to do while in town, since I don't know, and can't concentrate with him so close, we just keep walking in serene silence. When we get there I tell him that we should eat first since I'm hungry. He leads me to a nice restaurant. We go inside getting a table for two. Our seats are beside the window, we sit across each other and order the lunch special. There aren't many people here so our silence seems even more defined. I lay back on my chair and stare at Zero sitting across me. This feels like a date, I think to myself while blushing and suddenly felt giddy, at the same time I realize that that could never be true. With my giddiness gone I look at Zero, he's looking out the window of the restaurant. I haven't seen him for a while so I just soak it up, locking it up in memory.

'Take a picture,' he says, 'it'll last longer.'

I blush, 'I wasn't staring,' I say, lying through my teeth.

He chuckles, 'Whatever you say.'

I look down, I couldn't risk another embarrassing moment like that again. I turn to him and try to start a conversation, but before I can, the waiter comes and sets our lunch in front of us. I almost drool at the food laid before me. I notice that the waiters not leaving, I look at him, he's looking at me and smiling. He's a good looking guy, maybe a few years older than me with wavy brown hair, a straight nose, a nice mouth and hazel eyes with eyelashes a girl would die for. I stare at him as he does the same to me. I smile and his smile widens, he looks at Zero

'You have a really pretty girlfriend,' he says. Zero doesn't turn to look at him. I see his hands clench and his jaw tighten. But I could have been imagining it.

'Wait- He's not, I mean- I'm not his girlfriend,' I stammer to the waiter.

His smiles widens, if that was possible, 'Oh yeah, then maybe you wouldn't mind giving me your number?'

I look at Zero as a habit of mine. I always seem to do that when I'm nervous, but I know this isn't a Level E or any other kind of vampire so he has no reason to protect me. I notice Zero's eyes turn hard. I wanted to tell him that I wasn't interested in that guy, I wanted to show him that there was no way I would ever be interested in anyone but him.

'I'm sorry, I can't,' I say, looking at the waiter and giving him an apologetic look. He frowns.

'Why not? Do you have a boyfriend?' he asks. Looking at Zero.

'No, that's not it,' I say, looking down, faking a blush, which wasn't really hard seeing as my face was already heated, and smiling lightly, acting shy and embarrassed, 'the thing is, I'm not attracted to men.'

The waiter gives me an odd look. Zero finally turns to look at me, his eyes confused, wondering where I was going with this. After a few seconds of silence I finally break it to him,

'I'm gay.'

I hear a burst of laughter come from Zero, we both turn to look at him. He tries to cover it up by coughing and taking a drink of water. It takes everything I have not to burst out let alone smile when the waiter looks back at me.

'Um, sorry about that,' he says. Scratching the back of his head before walking away, looking confused. I watch him leave, when I look back Zero's head lies on the table. I reach out and touch his head, he's shaking.

'Zero?' I ask, starting to panic.

He looks up with a straight face, and resumes his posture on the chair. He finally turns to me and after seeing my bewildered expression, he suddenly starts laughing. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but my heart completely melted. After a few minutes he laughter receeds.

'What was so funny?' I ask. I knew that was funny but I didn't know it would make him laugh that much.

'No, I was more relieved,' he says, looking at his food.

I was about to inquire into what he meant when he says,

'You know your gay if you're a guy right, your lesbian if you're a girl,' he says his eyes twikling.

I blush, 'Stop being such a smart alec,' I say, feeling light and giddy because I had made him laugh. He shrugs and points at my food.

'Eat.'

We walked around the rest of the day. I didn't really notice where we went, because every time I turned to Zero he would smile at me and all my senses would cloud. His mood had been considerably lifted. We went to the aquarium and looked at the animals. We then went to the park and had ice cream, we sat on a boat that took us on a spin around town. Towards the end of the evening, I noticed that people- when I say people I mostly mean guys- were staring at me a lot. I felt self conscious. Zero had walked a step or two ahead of me, I was about to catch up when someone took a hold of my wrist, I turn and see a two guys smirking at me.

'Hey baby, you alone?' they ask.

I try to twist my hand from theirs. Was fate testing me, i had never had this much attention from guys before. Why now? they hold tighter and I turn to call for Zero but I don't see him.

'Zero,' I call, my voice cracking.

'Who you calling? You wanna ditch 'em and come hang with us.'

I turn and shake my head at them, 'Please let me go, I have to go.'

'Aw, don't be like that,' one of them say, pulling my hand, 'you look lonely, how about we make you feel better.'

Before they can pull me, another hand rests on his, I look up and see Zero. His eyes blaze a striking shade of amethyst as well as black and red, and they're force is directed to the two guys. They look nervous and the guy lets go of my hand.

'Hey man,' one of them say, with both his arms raised as if in surrender, 'I thought she was alone.'

'Well she's not,' Zero takes my hand and pulls me away from them. His hold on my hand hurts and I tell him so. He loosens his grip but doesn't let go. I look down at our intertwined hands, he still doesn't let me go.

'That might happen again, I'm not letting you go now,' he tells me with his back to me. My heart thumps and my throat clogs. I can't help but imply those words to a billion other meanings.

We walk to a restaurant on a deserted street. We're quiet except for the occasional gestures and random topics. We sit in a secluded area and order our food. There is a hint of awkwardness but that could be easily mistaken by nerves. I constantly meet his eyes throughout dinner. I quickly avert them, feeling my heart thump. He's quiet but he would smile at times when I made a joke or a comment.

We leave the restaurant and as we start walking home after we're done. My hands feel numb and uncomfortable, I'm walking behind Zero and reach for his hand but stop myself. He would probably feel uncomfortable if I did that. Suddenly, I feel Zero gently takes my hand and hold them in his. My heart breaks at the gentleness with which he holds them, as if i could crack. My nerves are raging and my heart is thumping, I feel tense and slowly and gently I relax and come closer to his side, a small smile lighting my face. I try to capture this moment and put it in a jar. I feel so happy I'm afraid I might explode. We walk through the night, the street lamps and lights from houses lighting the town. When we get to the forest the moon and the stars are the only illuminations. As we walk all I feel is Zero's hand in mine, everything else, all my other senses are closed. We don't talk but the thumping of my heart seems to scream in my ear. Suddenly Zero turns to me.

'We should rest for a bit,' he says.

'Yeah,' I reply. We find a trunk and sit on it. He still holds onto my hand and there is little I can do without it. I just sit there and listen to his breathing and feel the warmth of his hands in mine. Before I can even think about what I'm doing, my head inclines and rests on his shoulder and I lean against him. He stiffens, I know I'm intruding on his personal space but I don't care if he pushes me away, these few seconds of contact are enough for me. He doesn't push me away, instead relaxes a bit. I take this time to take pleasure in the fact that I acually fit quite snuggly against him. It felt like a cacoon. We sit like that for a while, when I finally move away.

'We needed to get going,' I whisper to him. I feel more then see him nod. As we stand, I feel his eyes on me and I look at him. The moon is bright enough to display both of us when we're not hidden in shadows. He looks at my neck. Does he need blood?

'You wore it,' he whispers, his voice being carried through the wind. I look surprised and Zero hand comes up and rests on the pendent that lies atop the curve between my breast. I know he can feel my heart beating irregularly, his eyes meet mine. My breath comes out shaky. He traces the curve of my pendent, coming into contact with my skin and leaves burning trails. His eyes still on mine and I close them as I feel his hands slide along the necklace and comes to rest on the side of my neck. I remember when he had taken blood from me that night, how I had almost moaned with the pleasure of his lips on my neck and the sensation of him sucking my blood.

I bring my hand up and rest it on his, I open my eyes and we look at each other. He looks so beautiful. There is a vulnerability in his face that melts my heart. His leans towards me, I don't move. Is he going to kiss me? My mind blanks and I can't move. I close my eyes when I feel his breath on my face. He's so close. I can't control my body. I don't know what to do.

Suddenly, he jerks his face towards the side. I look the same direction. We both hear the snap of a twig at the same time. I start to think that maybe I've improved in my reflexes when it comes to danger since I noticed the sound at the same time as Zero did. Usually Zero senses danger before anyone else can even think about it. Then I understand that I wasn't getting better, at that moment Zero was so distracted that he hadn't noticed. I blushed when I thought of that distraction. Suddenly I hear it again. Zero stands up straight and moves his hands from my neck down to my arm. He pulls me behind him. I hear a sigh in the wind.

'Oh my, what a nice smell.'

I freeze. I see a figure emerge from between the trees. Zero moves to stand in front of me and reaches for the gun inside his jacket. The figure crouches and I gasp when I see the moonlight fall on it. It was a level E vampire. Its face was that of a monster, with fangs protruding from its mouth, all of them as sharp as knives. Its eyes were wild with the color of blood and its face was contorted with insanity. Zero reaches and takes hold of my hand, tightening his grip when I break into a fit of shivers. I reached my other hand up and clutched the back of his jacket as that night from 10 years ago invaded every inch of my mind. The fangs that were bared at me, not an inch from my neck. I had been so afraid. Zero knew how scared I was and took a step towards me. The vampire suddenly leaps at us, before Zero can get his gun out the vampire is before us. I can feel the shock in Zero's body as the vampire pushes him away, and before I can even breath his name, the breath is knocked out of me as I'm slammed into a tree. I close my eyes to the pain and tears come to my eyes, it takes a few seconds to catch my breath. I feel a tight grip take hold of my neck, I look up to see the color of blood in the vampires eyes. He grins at me, licking his lips. He takes my neck and slams me to the tree again, only this time with so much force that I cry out when my head slams against the bark. My breath is coming out in gasps, I might be hyperventilating. His grin widens. He brings his face closer to mine, moving his hand that was on my neck to my shoulder, imprisoning me. I shut my eyes as he manoeuvres his face to my neck. I whimper and tears fall out of my eyes.

'S-s-st-stop,' I gasp out between breaths.

'But you smell so good,' he says, and I feel the sharp needles of his teeth on my neck. I close my eyes tight. Suddenly I hear a loud bang of a gunshot and I feel the vampire fall limp against me, but it's gone in a second as Zero lifts him away and the vampire turns to ash and dust. I try to calm my breathing down and suddenly my legs give way and I slide down the length of the tree. Before I hit the ground, warm and strong arms enfold around me and I feel Zero hold me against his chest as I gasp and cry.

'Shh, its okay Yuki. He's gone Yuki. Its okay,' he tells me soothingly. I cling to him and listen to the steady beating of his heart, as my breath slows and finally all I'm doing is crying. I feel him hold me tight and whisper to me in a soothing voice that it was over and everything was alright now, until I stop crying completely and even after that. I lie against his chest, I might have fallen asleep but I don't know. I finally feel him move away and I pull back. I feel his eyes on me but I don't look up.

'I'm sorry Zero,' I whisper, my eyes still downcast, 'I was so scared.'

I can feel the tears coming again, but I hold them back. I see Zero reach up and smooth my hair. I smile and look up to let him know I'm okay. He leans forward and kisses my forehead so gently I almost cry. His gentleness brings tears at me, considering what just happened I appreciate it all the more.

We both get up and start walking. His hands hold mine.

'Thank you for saving my life Zero,' I say in a whisper. He turns his head and half-smiles at me.

We're quiet until we reach home. Zero turns to me.

'Why don't you clean up,' he tell me in a soft voice, 'we'll go to the chairman then.'

I suddenly feel a panic attack coming. Yori wasn't in the room and there was still a fair distance to walk to get to my dorms. As I debate what to do in my head, Zero looks at me with a concerned expression.

'Yuki?' he wonders outloud.

I look at him, 'I'm scared,' I whisper as if someone was there waiting to pounce on us. He nods at me and with my hand still in his, takes me to my dorm. I come to my room and invite him inside. I take another set of clothes and go to the bathroom. I look at the mirror, my eyes are puffy and my mascara is smudged around my eyes from crying, there is dirt on my face and hair and theres some dried blood on my neck from the place where the vampire had almost bitten me. Basically I look like I belong in an asylum. I sigh, I can't believe Zero saw me like this. I quickly take a shower and change into a plain blue dress with a white chunky belt. I apply some mascara and eyeliner and lipgloss before coming out again. I see Zero sitting on my bed reading the Rumi poetry Yori had lent me. Oh no. I became obsessed with it since she first recited some of the lines for me, but I hardly ever read the book. As my feelings for Zero grew I read the book more and more. When I saw him reading it, I became paranoid. Did he know I read it with the thought of him in my mind? He had always seen right through me so I wouldn't be surprised.

I suddenly noticed that he had different clothes on.

'You changed,' I stated. He looks up and for a few seconds just stares at me. I wonder if there's something weird on my face. I didn't think he heard what I said, but the next second he answers,

'Uhh, yeah I did.'

I smile at him, 'should we go?'