Wow, I'm so glad you guys liked it. I read all of your reviews and turned super happy! I'll do my best to reply to the reviews for this chapter, I promise!
"Zero? Aren't the waffles good? Zero?"
"That's enough Aido, Zero will talk when he's ready. Pressuring him will do more harm than help." Kaname admonished.
"Of course Lord Kaname," Aido apologized. After Zero had spoken for the first time since the night of his parent's deaths, news had got around quickly. Now everyone was trying to be around to hear the sound of the child's voice for the first time. Zero had clamped up from all the extra attention, much to everyone's disappointment.
However, he was talking a little bit to Kaname whenever they were alone together. For instance, earlier when he was being tucked into bed, he'd whispered 'good morning'. Now it was mealtime before heading to classes. Often Kaname used to eat up in his room, but ever since getting Zero he found both of them eating in the dining hall with the rest of the night class.
Zero was eating his waffles, one hand holding a fork and the other hand gripping Kaname's sleeve. Despite trying to be careful, he'd managed to get syrup all over his hands and face. They were going with a breakfast theme despite it not being early light.
"Would you like to visit Yuki and Headmaster Cross after class Zero?" Kaname asked, already knowing the answer. As expected, Zero nodded his head happily. But then he opened his mouth.
"Yes please!"
The whole table grew silent. Zero blushed madly, gripping Kaname's sleeve even tighter until his knuckles shone white. Ruka stood from her chair and wrapped him into a hug, which seemed to settle him down.
Once Zero was finally becoming comfortable to start talking, as he realized that it made the others happy when he did, his chatter became constant at times. There were days when they could hardly get him to stop talking and just breath. Other days he wouldn't utter a single word. However, none of his talking at all seemed to answer any questions that Kaname had.
"Aren't you scared of vampires Zero? After what happened….I just don't understand."
"Vampires are very scary," The silvery haired boy agreed, snuggling closer to the purebloods side as he settled down for bed. Kaname shifted uncomfortably, a little bit confused.
"But Zero...I'm a vampire. So are Ruka, Takuma, Kain, Senri, and all the rest of us."
"Yeah," Zero agreed, lavender eyes gazing up to meet dark brown. "So what?"
Kaname chuckled. "You confuse me, young one. I suppose I'll find out within time though."
"Lord Kaname?"
"What is it Takuma?"
"Well…" The blonde vampire looked a bit hesitant. "I was only wondering...has Zero been showing any signs of vampirism? I mean, it's been over a month since he was attacked."
Kaname was a silent for a moment as he thought. To he honest, the same question was in his mind too. Zero hadn't been showing any signs at all though. The only thing was that now he was nocturnal like the rest of the night class, but that was because he'd trained himself to operate on their time basis.
"No, he hasn't shown any signs yet. We will all have to watch him carefully though...not that we don't do that anyway. If you ever think you see a change in him, please tell me immediately." He replied.
However, as the days passed, nothing changed. Zero continued to follow Kaname around like a little shadow, often holding his hand whenever they left the dorms. The pureblood had soon found out that Zero's attachment was very strong...and maybe not entirely healthy. Only a week ago he needed to go on a business trip. Since Zero could not come along, he left the child in the trusted care of his night class friends.
Those few days, according to Takuma, had been utter hell. Zero had threw a fit. There was lots of screaming, tears, and fist pounding. Even Ruka wasn't able to reason with him. He had screamed two words over and over. "My Kaname, my Kaname, MY KANAME!"
Eventually they'd had to call resort to calling Kaname. The pureblood had come right home. Even before entering the Moon dorms he could hear the screaming. When he entered, Zero, who was being held by Kain to prevent him from harming himself, had instantly stopped screaming.
"Zero, this cannot happen every time I leave," Kaname later tried reasoning with the boy.
"I-I'm sorry…" He had whispered, looking down in pure shame. The older vampire sighed, grazing the child's cheek with his fingertips.
"Don't be sorry...but we must figure out why you acted like you did. I need you to talk to me Zero."
"I wanted you." Was the only answer he got.
One of the first things Kaname learned about Zero was that he was a very intelligent boy. He was keeping up with the Night students in their classes, and even surpassing some. Aido, who had a deep love for science and math, would make it his duty to teach Zero everything he knew. Some of it was a bit advanced for Zero, but he typically understood most of it.
Tonight he sat on front of the fireplace reading through a thick textbook that Aido had lent him. Class had just ended, and now everyone was relaxing with the rest of the time they had before morning would come.
Kaname was upstairs, but Zero was fine for the most part since he knew he had access to the pureblood at all times. Ever since his 'episode' during Kaname's absence, he'd felt terrible. Obviously he'd scared everyone a lot, and tried his best to make up for it. For instance, as he read he allowed Ruka to comb his hair, which was a bit tangled form his shower. His hair was actually growing quite long. As if sensing his thoughts, the female vampire laughed.
"Look Zero, your hair is covering your eyes. You need a haircut soon. I can do it tomorrow if you'd life."
"Hmm," Zero only hummed, leaning his head against Ruka's shoulder as he closed his book. Ruka had become a mother figure to him of sorts. Everyone, especially Kain, enjoyed seeing her being all mothering towards the precious boy.
"Kaname! Come quickly and see what Zero is doing!" Takuma shouted excitedly.
"What is it? is something wrong?" The pureblood panicked. Takuma only laughed and dragged him towards the kitchen. He stopped panicked, and instead was confused as he sniffed the air. Something smelled wonderful!
"I made it. I made vegetable soup!" Zero announced proudly. "And bread!"
Indeed he had. And once Kaname tried it, he realized that Zero had another talent...he was an excellent cook. Messy though...as he was covered with flour and other ingredients from his meal.
"You're quite the exceptional chef Zero, but I think a bath is in order now."
Winter had passed, and finally signs of spring were showing. Zero had grown braver, and now sometimes made trips around Cross Academy. The first time he had left, it had nearly given Kaname a heart attack. The new rules were that he had to always tell Kaname where he was going, and never stay out too long. He was also not to leave school school property unless he had a escort from the night class.
There were three places he often went. To the Cross household to see Yuki, to his favorite tree to nap under, and to the stables to see his new friend Lily. White Lily was the most beautiful horse Zero had ever known. Apparently the other students were afraid of her...not Zero though. She made him feel safe and happy...sort of like how Kaname did.
Today he was sort of breaking the rules. He told Kaname he was going to see Lily. It was still day, although evening would approach soon, so most of the night class was asleep anyway. But yes, he was breaking the rules because really he was going to town instead of seeing Lily. He had only been a few times, and that had been with Kaname. He certainly wasn't supposed to be here alone. He had also lied. Those were two serious things.
There was a valid reason for his rule breaking. He wanted to try and buy his Kaname a present. He'd overheard some day class students discussing that they were going to give Kaname presents. That made him a little upset. Kaname was his...so he needed to get him a present instead of those silly girls. So here he was, scared out of his wits as he walked through the streets of the bustling town.
It was interesting to watch people just go about their lives. There was an old man playing some sort of weird instrument, and people were clapping and cheering for him. A teenage couple were holding hands and eating pudding outside a restaurant. Two little girls were playing hopscotch. He then noticed a woman who was holding the hands of two boys who were obviously her children. They were laughing and she had a look of pure love in her eyes as she laughed with them.
Zero suddenly thought of his own mother, and his brother. Bad thoughts...bad thoughts. He decided to get as far away from them as possible to avoid feeling sad. When Zero turned onto another street, he realized that everything had suddenly got dark and eerie. He felt like someone was watching him and shivered. He wanted Kaname...he wanted Kaname...he needed Kaname.
A hand suddenly flew down and grasped his shoulder.
"Zero Kiryu! I cannot believe you defied me and went all alone into town without telling anyone. Do you even know what sort of danger is out there? You could have gotten lost, kidnapped, hurt...what were you thinking?"
They were back in the Moon dorms. Much to Zero's humiliation, he was being scolded by Kaname in front of everyone. The worst part was that they all looked angry too. He hung his head down in shame and submission, biting his lip very hard.
"I asked you a question."
Zero swallowed. Use his words, use his words...he couldn't seem to find them. His throat was frozen up. Besides, he knew he had done wrong, and the reason for it was embarrassing to speak of. Instead of being verbal, he gave a low whine in the back of his throat.
"Use your words Zero..." Ruka spoke softly. He suddenly wished that she was closer, so that he might hide by burying his face in her neck and forget about everything. The closest one was his Kaname though, who was expecting an answer. He put on his attempted brave face and stared the pureblood in the eyes. He chewed his lip even harder, and could suddenly feel the skin break. All of the vampires stiffened at the sudden smell of his blood. Kaname took his chin in his hand and inspected the cause of it, sighing.
"Takuma, go clean Zero up and put him to bed. Zero, you may not go to class tonight. You will stay in your room until I come back. Then we will be having this talk again. Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes," Zero nodded, refusing to look anyone in the eye. Takuma laid a hand on his back and gently guided him upstairs. The usually friendly vampire was silent as he cleaned the blood from Zero's lips. He helped him get changed and then left him to sit on his bed before leaving. Then things got silent...and Zero realized that everyone was gone. He was all alone!
His anxiety began to settle in. He needed Kaname...his Kaname...no, no, no! The walls were blurry and his head rang. Then...something very different happened. He felt something that he never had before. His throat felt like it was tightening and burning at the same time. He felt so parched...but not for water. Oh god, what was happening to him? A loud whimper escaped from his mouth. And then another...and finally a cry of desperation as he curled up on the end of his bed.
His door suddenly opened. Kaname? Was it Kaname? Zero eagerly looked towards the doorway, but was quite surprised to see none other than Senri Shiki standing there. Why wasn't he in class? Why hadn't Kaname come?
"Hey, are you alright?" The model vampire asked. His voice was the same usual monotone, but his eyes looked worried. As the vampire came closer, Zero suddenly stiffened. He could hear the blood rushing through Senri's veins. It smelled so good. Why was he thinking like this? He needed to stop before something bad happened! He needed to control...
"Zero?" Shiki rested a hand on his shoulder.
He bit him. Zero bit Shiki.
It all seemed to happen in slow motion. One moment he was staring at the vampire's wrist, and the next moment he found his teeth sinking into it. He took around three strong gulps before he realized what was happening. Senri was staring at him in surprise, but didn't move his arm away. Zero finally grasped onto control and shoved it away as hard as he could.
Then, he ran.
"Zero? Come out from under my bed."
Yes, one of his biggest places for comfort was under Kaname's bed. He used to stay under there a lot when he had first came here, whenever he was sad or scared. Like right now. He was absolutely terrified and there was no way he was leaving! No matter what Kaname said.
"Please Zero?"
...The lavender eyed child cautiously crawled out of the bed, only to be swooped into two strong arms. He was cradled against Kaname's chest, and the pureblood buried his nose into the child's neck.
"Shh, it's alright." He soothed him. "I'm here now Zero. You aren't in trouble. You did nothing wrong, it's alright."
"I hurt...h-hurt Shiki!" Zero whimpered, a cascade of tears rolling down his pale cheeks.
"Shiki is fine, you didn't hurt him. He was staying home from class tonight and I asked him to keep an eye on you. Zero, we've talked about your bite before. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened...I just wish I had seen the signs before hand so that I could prepare you."
"No no no," Zero was panicking. "No vampire. I'm not! No!"
Kaname held him tightly. He figured it was best to let Zero wear himself out, and that was exactly what happened. At first he struggled, and then eventually burst into fresh tears and cried for a long time. At least an hour had to have passed before Zero finally quieted, staring into space and gripping Kaname's uniform shirt tightly. When he sensed that Zero was done, he leaned down and whispered to him.
"It's okay to be thirsty...but now whenever you feel so, I want you to come to me."
"I'm going to loose you..." Zero whispered. "I remember what my master taught me...I'll go insane. No..."
"No Zero," Kaname said firmly. "You wont fall to a level E. My blood will keep you subdued." For now...
But Kaname just wasn't going to allow his precious Zero to ever become a level E. There had to be something...some way to prevent it. He needn't worry for awhile, but still. For now, the pureblood's only concern was to soothe the ex-human child who he had grown to love so much. He wasn't ever going to lose Zero, because he needed him now just as much as Zero needed him.
It was a powerful attachment.
a/n: Now I know that originally Zero didn't lust for blood until like four years after being bitten, but please hear me out. I'm just thinking that it would happen sooner since he's living with vampires full time in this fic. I just figured living with Kaname and the others would have a rather big impact on his vampire side, yes?
So what do you think? Want another chapter? I'd appreciate some reviews so I can know if I did okay with this chapter!