Do you think I should combine this chapter with the previous to make it the whole chapter, or simply leave it in two seperate chunks? And about the quotes I initially started chapters with? I haven't really been able to find any that I like. There are a few, but they're for way later and using them at the inopportune moment would be terrible. Also, as I was writing this chapter, I came across bits of canon that I'd accidentally quoted with Zero in scenes that I hadn't quoted. Which was really funny to see because- Wow, my characterization was so good I accidentally quoted Zero? Cool!
There's going to be at least one filler chapter between this one and the start of the official plot. I can tell you that it's probably going to focus on Zero and Yuuki (because she tends to stick her oar in things regardless of anyone elses thoughts on the matter).
Valen Goncalvez, I see your reviews? I just absolutely do not understand them?
To everyone who's been complimenting my story, I'm not ignoring you! I just... Don't really know how to respond? And responding to each individual review that say similar things seems a little dumb. But I see you, and I really appreciate your well wishes and compliments! Thanks for the reviews and support!
It's a year before the vampires begin to move into the faculty building, which would be their temporary dorm until their official dorm would be finished. Yuuki hadn't actually known that they'd moved in until she spotted lights on inside the previously empty building as she and Zero made their way home after classes.
"That's… I thought nobody was using that building?" She calls for Zero's attention, pausing in her walk.
"That's being used as a temporary dormitory. The vampires are there, either taking an entrance exam or making some type of oath," Zero explains. He makes his way in Yuuki's direction, grabbing onto the back of her collar. "Stay away from their lair, Yuuki."
She doesn't bother lifting her feet as he begins to drag her off, her heels dragging over the ground.
"Nii-sama is…" The familiar whisper trails into longing silence, and Yuuki can't lift her eyes from the building.
Making her way to the doors of the temporary dormitory, Yuuki keeps one hand on her upper left bicep, where an injury from an earlier spar lurks, only now beginning to scab over. Artemis is tucked against her hip beneath her turtleneck, and her legs are covered by a pair of slacks. Her feet are bare, but she doesn't really bother about that. She barely rests a hand on the door before it is suddenly pulled out of her hands, resulting in a strangled squeak wrenching itself out of her mouth.
There's a boy on the other side, with blond hair in a similar style to Kaname and friendly green eyes. He's dressed casually, holding dozens of paper clipped files in one arm and smiling in a somewhat bemused way.
"Oh, it's Yuuki-chan. You've come to see Kaname?" He asks as soon as his eyes meet her own. "I'm sorry, Kaname's out right now," he apologizes before continuing, "He probably won't be out late, and he doesn't disappear often, if you were worried-"
"Um, you know my name?" Yuuki interrupts in a calculated risk. "Who are you?" She's fairly sure that she's never seen this boy before, and him knowing her face well enough to recognize her instantly, on sight and by name, is a little unsettling.
"Uh-huh. I'm Ichijou Takuma! I've lived with Kaname for awhile, and usually was dragged along when he went to your house. I was always spying from the car, and usually saw you clinging onto Kaname."
She kind of wants to be annoyed at how easily he admits to spying on her and Kaname, but she's also still reeling from the sheer level of friendliness he's exuding. Suddenly, his face becomes exaggeratedly stern.
"Okay, Yuuki-chan. Kaname isn't here, so you go back home and go to bed! Even though this is technically school grounds, you can't just walk around at night!" He reprimands before closing the door in her face. Yuuki stares for a minute before glancing back in the direction of home, then steeling herself. Entering the building, she's immediately struck by how cold the building is.
Don't they have heating? There's lights on, so why is it so cold? There's nowhere to sit, as the bottom floor is a small area mostly for the bottom of the staircase, the stairs leading up into a more open common area. Not really feeling up to risking the upper floor and it's open area, Yuuki sits down sideways on a step near the bottom of the stairs. Her back presses against the wall, and she tucks one knee close to her chest, the other leg stretched out straight ahead of her.
It's less that a minute later that a door opens somewhere nearby upstairs, and several pairs of feet make their way in the direction of the stairs. Shortly after, an abnormally attractive group enters her field of vision, comprised of three girls and two boys. The second tallest, blond with bright blue eyes, is complaining loudly.
"What the heck is this?! A one-thousand question test?! Chairman Cross must be really evil, telling us we have to do all of this tonight!"
"You're taking it too seriously. I'm just taking it easy," the taller boy groans, one hand bracing against the back of his head. He has brownish-orange hair that's in a short, wild style. "Calm down." Yuuki can't help the small snicker that slips out as she watches the group pass the stairs. The blond boy really does seem to be taking the test too seriously, his voice irritatedly panicked.
As soon as the noise escapes her, she regrets not being able to stop it, as four of the five freeze in place, eyes locking onto her with intense focus. The girl in the lead continues walking without the others. Yuuki shifts a little, unsure on what you're supposed to do when someone catches you laughing at them. The boy who had been complaining earlier pinks a little before looking away, and the tallest girl, with pale brown hair and brown eyes. mumbles something before addressing her as she begins to walk with the rest of the group.
"Hey, don't cause any trouble for us before we even start school, okay? I don't want you ruining my school life with Kaname-sama."
And then they're out of sight, and their voices fade as they begin to talk amongst themselves again. Yuuki shifts slightly, tucking both of her legs close to herself and thinking over what the girl had said. She's not entirely sure why Kaname had been mentioned, but she figures it might be because the girl likes him. She reaches up to twist some of her hair in her fingers as her arm throbs slightly.
She feels vaguely smug that her admittedly stupid plan has worked out so well. A fresh-ish wound, some vampires, and no Kaname present to stare them into submission. She had not been attacked or confronted about it, and she'd seen no open signs of vampirism as she knows them.
It's about time she should head back home, as her task has been accomplished, but she wants to wait for either Kaname or Zero. Zero usually wakes up at some point through the night and checks on her, and Takuma had mentioned that Kaname wouldn't be out too late.
If Zero collected her, then it would be proof enough that the vampires in the Night Class, at the very least, were not purely beasts. If Kaname collected her, then… Well, she'd see Kaname. She'd been wanting to see Kaname for the past few days with increasing intensity, after all. Idly braiding the hair in her grasp, she glances up to the clock across the small room.
10:03 at night.
She's unsure when she'd fallen asleep, but Yuuki is instantly awake and aware when someone she doesn't know approaches her prone form. She very carefully doesn't show that she's woken up, but her heart rate jumps a little with her sharp spike of panic before it settles back down as a voice enters her ears.
"Maybe you don't know the rules of the Night Class just yet, but…" Kaname's voice carries a note of warning as it trails off.
"Sorry, I just remembered… My test is still unfinished. I'll go back to my room." The unfamiliar vampire climbs over her, then makes his way up the stairs. She can hear Kaname approaching her laying form, and as the footsteps fade, there's a rustle of cloth. Kaname sighs a little in tired worry as he kneels down.
"You're being careless, Yuuki," he murmurs as he drops his coat over her. He rests a hand on her shoulder and Yuuki wants to shift as a bolt of nervous confusion strikes along her spine with icy fingers. His hand brushes against her chin and jaw, sliding aside the small braids she'd done in her hair. A moment after, her neck feels warm and damp.
In an instant, Yuuki's focus is pinpointed there. She feels a mix of emotions she can't even begin to decipher, at least half of them animalistic instincts she hadn't known she'd had, and her thoughts grind to a halt. But then the sensation vanishes, and Kaname lifts her into a princess carry. It's an unfamiliar hold, and her emotions and senses are still on overdrive, so it's a struggle, but she manages to remain limp in his grasp, limbs dangling uselessly.
"What a cruel girl you are," is Kaname's quiet whisper, almost too low for her to hear, as he makes his way up the stairs. But she's in his arms, near his mouth, and she hears them just fine. As her hyper awareness lessens and her mind begins to work effectively again, she finds her thoughts drifting into a muzzy, sleepy haze once more. Despite the animalistic unease that had welled up in her when he'd gotten close to her neck, she still feels safe with Kaname.
She wakes for the second time of her own accord, in a plush bed set in the center of an elaborate bedroom. It smells overwhelmingly like Kaname, so she knows whose bedroom she is in, at the very least. Kaname's bedroom. As she sits up, the coat that had been covering her falls, and she blinks at it blearily for a time, trying to get her thoughts into proper order. The coat is almost longer than she is tall, and thus had made a good blanket for her unconscious form, but now that she's awake, she isn't sure what to do with it.
Deciding to simply leave it at the end of the bed, she pushes it there and then stands.
Once she's free of the bed and it's curtains, the bubble of Kaname's scent vanishes and she's hit with the overpowering scent of blood coming from a partially opened door on the right side of the room.
"He's…" A soft, hesitant voice trails into silence as Yuuki cautiously approaches the door, her unease and curiosity driving her forward, despite instinctually not wanting to go anywhere near it. It might be because of the smell of the blood she can smell, or it might be because of the terrible feeling in her chest, but she's moved by a morbid curiosity unlike anything she can remember feeling in recent memory.
She's a few steps away from the door when she hears a feminine voice moaning out something that sounds like the beginnings of Kaname's name, and the feeling in her chest blooms into something vicious, locking her in place. An unfamiliar voice in her head speaks with final certainty.
"Don't go there. Leave." Yuuki almost wants to ignore the words from the figure of glass in her dreams, almost wants to fight past the brambles of emotions locking her in place a foot or so from her goal. But then there's a second, choked off sound, and the scent of blood increases, and she can hear a masculine voice speak.
She slips out of the room as quickly and quietly as she is able. In the hallway outside of Kaname's room, just a little to the right, there's the tallest boy from before. He's leaning against the wall, his eyes trained on the wall where she is sure that those sounds and that scent had been coming from. She gives him a small bow of her head in acknowledgement as she passes him, feeling incredibly shaky from the onslaught of emotion in the room, and makes her way down the hall quickly.
Unseen to her, the boy's orange-amber eyes remain on her back until she turns out of the hallway sightline to make her way across the open area toward the stairs.
Zero is just approaching the dormitory doors when she slips out of them. He looks concerned and slightly confused at finding her already leaving, but not altogether unsurprised.
"Ah, Zero." Yuuki casts her eyes to the sky, which is pitch dark by now, and then looks down at her hands, which shake ever so slightly.
"I came to find you… Did something happen?" He asks, his gaze intent on her face. She quietly shakes her head, because nothing had really happened, she's just… Unsteady after that sudden onslaught of emotions from before, which had been the more intense and long-lasting emotions she can ever remember feeling.
"Hey, what's the big deal?" A masculine voice calls down from a window two floors up, making both children jerk their heads to see them. There's a boy and a girl sitting in the open window, looking down at them with looks of mixed irritation and curiosity. "Aren't you humans supposed to be asleep right now?"
"Vampires," Zero glares before switching his gaze onto her, then grabbing onto her hand. "Come on, lets get home quickly. You're going to explain this whole mess to Cross, because he knows you were gone. I'd want to tell Kuran about this, as well, but I have the feeling he already knows." He grumbles, pulling her along.
"Ah…" She isn't completely sure what she'd intended to say, but all that comes out is that small, acknowledging noise.
"You're alright," Zero tells her eventually, pausing in his walk and looking at her over his shoulder. "Stop shaking, you're fine."
"I know…" She inhales deeply and looks down to her hands, one in Zero's grasp, and tries to calm down. "Sorry… I can't seem to stop."
"...Stupid," Zero scoffs and starts walking again. His hand squeezes hers, though, so she takes comfort in his grasp on her rather than feel cowed by his attitude. Beyond her control, she turns and looks back at the dorms. There are several vampire watching their retreat, but her focus drifts to the window she suspects is connected to Kaname's room. She can't see anything from her current distance, but there's a pervading sense of being watched settling over her skin.