Sorry this is both sort of late and really short. I have excuses, though! For the lateness, I didn't actually wake up until like three hours ago. The shortness is because I thought I'd had the chapter nearly finished before I found a huge plot hole/error thing that would have made writing the next chapter spotty at best. So I'm only posting the first half of the chapter. The next half should be out either later today or sometime tomorrow.
to guest leia, that hug-attack training thing you mentioned has merit, I'll give you that. I can't really say whether I'll use it, but the idea isn't half bad and does sort of fall in line with Yuuki's personality. And, canonically Zero has at least some cooking ability, which he had to have gotten somewhere. I'm planning to use that as a bonding experience between he and Yuuki, and to remedy Yuuki's current inability to cook. Your assessment of her personality is pretty spot on, though.
About those errors and paragraph concerns? I'm trying. This is mostly the way I've been taught and when I type on my phone, I sort of rely on the little red line for errors in the moment. And besides that, I'm personally prone to run-on sentences. I do my best to write concisely, and I struggle sometimes. And besides that, at least half of my editing for this site relies on what I hear when I listen to them via the audio play over.
to the guest who mentioned Zero and Coexistence and Vampires all in the same review, there's a hint of my plan about that near the end of this chapter! I hope you catch it. It doesn't come from Yuuki, I can tell you that much.
pendora59, thanks! I had to use google translate to understand your reviews since I flunked out of french, but it was nice to have my efforts rewarded with your nice words!
I hope to hear from you all again! Reviews are really encouraging, and so I want many of them! Even if you're only reviewing to point out an error I've made in one of my chapters! Don't forget to favorite and follow!
"Family meeting!" Cross calls, entering the living room. Zero looks up from his math workbook before looking back down, shifting his legs slightly from where they're curled close to his chest. Yuuki trots into the room with the cup of cocoa and her own math book, having been getting the cocoa to drink while she did her own homework with Zero.
"Meeting…?" Yuuki murmurs, walking ahead and setting her mug and book onto the coffee table.
"As you both know, I'm the chairman here. I've decided to found the 'Night Class' here, starting next year!" He says importantly, one finger lifted to point upwards.
"Night class?" Yuuki parrots with uncertainty. "You mean, like a night school for advanced or behind students?" She'd heard of something similar from overhearing students gossiping during classes, but she hadn't expected anything like that to come into effect in Cross Academy.
"No, no!" Cross tuts, wagging a finger at her. ""Night Class" is "Night Class"!" Yuuki tilts her head in confusion at his non-answer, shifting on her feet and giving Cross her full attention. Seeing that, he continues, "we'll probably say the building of the Night School is for advanced people, but it won't be for advanced people nor will it be a university."
"Then… what's the point of a night class?"
"Studying through the night, of course! We'll be making them do really advanced things, so there won't be any age limit, but that won't be the true purpose of the night class." Yuuki and Zero both twitch as a presence enters the room, familiar to one and unsettling to another. The hairs on the back of Zero's neck stand on end as Yuuki turns to look at the doorway as a figure comes into view.
"The night class will exist for the purpose of "peaceful coexistence of vampire and humans", and educating young vampires to be… "moderate"." Kaname seems to have gotten even taller, and Yuuki feels the familiar pout brewing just beneath the surface but moves past that, voicing her confusion just as Cross acknowledges him.
"Kaname-kun, you've come."
"Kaname-nii?" Off to Yuuki's left, Zero pushes into a stand and shifts his weight to stand directly next to Yuuki, his eyes wide and slightly glazed. There's a heavy feeling in the air coming from Kaname, and Yuuki isn't quite sure what to think of it, but as it grows, she can smell his scent moving as though he's circling the area physically. Flowers long since bloomed and beginning to wilt, the faint scent of blood, and a little bit of ozone. There's also the scent she cannot explain that is simply Kaname.
"I just came in," he responds to Cross before his gaze turns in her direction, and subsequently Zeros as well. "Good evening, Yuuki."
"Ah, good evening…" Yuuki jolts slightly at the acknowledgement but then trails off.
"...Kaname Kuran," Zero murmurs in a blank voice that Yuuki hasn't heard from him in over a month. Her eyes drift over to give him a concerned look, but she's ignored as Zero's eyes lurch into life and he spins on heel, rushing into Cross, grabbing onto the front of his shirt. "This is ridiculous! It's impossible that the vampires will really want to live together with humans! You know how many of them have attacked people, how many bloody events have been covered up!"
"I want to end things like that. Because I lost someone, too, Kiryuu-kun."
"Just because of that, you have the right to allow the beasts free among a flock of sheep?!" Zero demands, seeming angrily frantic.
"Cross… you've already decided, haven't you?" Yuuki asks as Kaname walks to stand closer. Contrarily, the closer he moves, the lighter his scent and the lighter the pressure. Zero releases Cross, taking a step away, his face darkening into a chilling deadpan.
"You have nothing to worry about, either of you," Cross tells them seriously. "He… Kuran-kun will be in the Night Class. With him there, the other vampires will be obedient. And, thanks to him, many have agreed to come and attend." Yuuki glances upwards to see Kaname's calm visage, and can't help the small feeling in her chest about him having to stand alone against an unknown number of vampires. It hurts, just a little, to think of him possibly spreading himself too thin because of Cross' dream. She keeps quiet, though. Kaname has agreed, and it isn't like she controls his actions. Saying anything wouldn't do anything but make him placate her, which would make her feel better but defeat the purpose of telling him that she is worried for him.
"But if he betrays your ideal, that's the end," Zero reminds Cross in a growl, glaring into Cross' eyes for a moment. Not seeing any caution or acknowledgment of the danger, Zero's face darkens further and he spins on heel, storming away and out of the room. Yuuki glances between the two remaining males in the room before speaking.
"I'll go after him," she says quietly before trotting out of the room, closing the door behind her. She doesn't get far, though, as Zero had stopped just to the side of the doors. He grabs her quickly, pressing a palm to her mouth and gesturing for her to listen. After a slight hesitation, she does so.
"I'm really happy that you've agreed to my pacifism," Cross says, his voice distorted to the two listeners.
"Yes…" Kaname murmurs, reaching down to pick up the workbook that Yuuki had abandoned on the coffee table, then flipping through it. There's math, and then there's small notes for other things, like words she intended to look up, or small drawings on the borders of pages or encircling certain questions. "I really do wish it'd come true. Besides that, I'm under restriction, now. I need someone who can be my free body, or a less monitored place to stay. There's one thing I'm worried about, but… there's no need for you to worry." Kaname's presence gets heavy once more, the door between he and the two eavesdroppers doing little to lessen its effects.
"I'll play the role of "queen bee" for sure."
Sensing the imminent end of the conversation, Yuuki begins to bodily press Zero down the hallway, back toward their rooms. Once they're a sufficient distance that they won't be casually overheard, Zero removes his hand from over her mouth. Yuuki waits until they're in Zero's room before asking the question that had been plaguing her for awhile. She'd previously been almost afraid to ask.
"Zero, do you really see all vampires as irredeemable beasts?"
"They crave blood, and will do whatever they feel necessary to get it. They're beasts. Monsters in human guise," he tells her matter-of-factly.
"Even vampires in control of themselves? Or who would never attack a person?" She presses, before a thought occurs to her. "Have you met many vampires? How can you be so certain of their nature?"
"It's been proven. If any vampire can control themselves, why has coexistence never been successful? Why is there a vampire hunter association?"
"That's for the vampires that have gone mad, though. That's not all vampires," she argues before an idea starts to bloom in her mind. "If it was proven that vampires can control themselves, would you stop seeing the many as the few?" There's a reckless sort of determination swelling up in her chest, almost choking in its intensity.
"Listen to me!" The mostly ignored whisper in her head insists. Yuuki has a feeling its meant to be addressed to Zero and doesn't even twitch. The whispering isn't common, exactly, but she's past the point of being twitchy about it.
"And how would you do that?" Zero asks warily. Yuuki's face drops into a moue of thought, her plan spinning, unfurling to possible consequences, good and bad.
"If I went to the vampires that Kaname-nii will bring with a kind of wound, and they did not attack, would you acknowledge that not all vampires are beasts who live only for blood?"
"No way!" Zero snaps, face twisting angrily, warring between incomprehension and anger. "That idea is completely stupid and dangerous! No way will I agree to anything like that! What if you get killed, huh?!" He demands, looking increasingly sick and pained.
"It wouldn't be that big of a wound," Yuuki persists. "I would have Artemis with me, and I'm sure Kaname-nii would not leave me alone for very long, besides!"
"No! You're crazy!" Zero refuses. "If I catch you trying to do something like that, I'll tell both the Chairman and your precious "Kaname-nii"!" He looks a little green at adding the suffix to Kaname's name, and Yuuki would be amused if she wasn't so indignant. He's threatening to tattle on me? She thinks in disbelief before huffing a little and swirling out of the room, making her way back to where Cross and Kaname should still be, hoping that Kaname hadn't already left.