A/N: Please enjoy the second chapter of Bloody nurse.

"talking"

"thinking"

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Bloody nurse

Chapter 2

Yuuki always thought she was a decisive person. When she made a decision, she would follow it through, no matter what. But the real trouble began when she couldn't decide on something. That sort of a personal inner struggle always made her uneasy.

So when she was lying in bed in the middle of the night, kept awake with her own incapability of making the right decision, she was angry with herself.

Listening to Yori's quiet snores, Yuuki replayed over and over what happened that evening. It all seemed very far away to her. Like a dream. Was it just a dream?

Yuuki rolled her head around the pillow, testing. No, the pain was definitely gone. And the place where Kaname's lips made contact with her skin still tingled a bit, when she remembered it.

But what made her angry was the fact that she couldn't decide whether to be thankful to Zero, for interrupting their…encounter, or rather to be cross with him.

Yuuki smiled wryly: "Cross Yuuki is being cross with Kiryuu Zero at the Cross academy. Good headlines."

But seriously, what was wrong with her? She felt Kaname's fangs on her neck. FANGS. ON HER NECK. And here she was, filled with curiosity as to where that would've led them, what would've happened, what it would've felt like…IF Zero hadn't butted in? Was she crazy?

She pulled the pillow from underneath her head and placed it over her face instead.

She should be kissing the ground Zero walks on. Yet she couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

But Kaname didn't seem like he totally lost control, right? He talked normally, he laughed, he didn't lash out or anything… maybe he was just as disappointed as she was because their moment alone together ended too quickly…and rudely.

She should've thanked him at least…

"Oh my God, I didn't thank him!" screamed Yuuki inside of her head. "Now I look like an ungrateful moron!"

Yuuki ripped the pillow away from her face. She took a deep breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "Stupid Zero! I am so cross with you!"

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The next morning, Yuuki woke up to an empty room. "Yori must have already left." She checked the time and sighed. "Huh, I knew I'd be late for class today. Of all the nights as a guardian, this one was the worst. Usually I'm so tired I sprawl on my bed and fall asleep right away. But I just kept on thinking-"

Suddenly, someone banged on the door violently, twice. Yuuki visibly jumped.

"Yuuki! Get your lazy butt out of that bed! The class has already begun." It was Zero.

Zero. Yuuki blinked. It was Zero. And then she remembered that she was angry with him.

She grabbed the closest thing her hand reached and threw it against the door.

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Zero only flinched as something shattered against the door. His eyebrows rose in surprise a little. He knew Yuuki hated mornings, but violence?

"Go away! I don't need you! I know what time it is!" shouted Yuuki but it sounded muffled through the door.

"You know, you really shouldn't skip any more classes, your grades aren't really top of the class," said Zero, leaning against the frame of the door.

"No, they're not! You're at the top of the class, so go and be the know-it-all and leave me alone!"

Zero sighed. It was another one of those days… "I'm coming in. Be decent," and he grabbed the door handle and pushed the door open. Something went flying across the room aiming for his head but he caught it easily. "If you're trying to endanger my life, try hitting me with something harder than a pillow next time."

"I would, but my alarm clock is scattered on the floor," said Yuuki, waving at Zero's feet.

"Well, what a waste," said Zero, closing the door behind him, looking it over quickly. "Not even a dent in the wood."

Yuuki crossed her arms over her light-yellow-clad chest and frowned. "What do you want?"

Zero mirrored her posture. "I want to get you to class." He watched her frowning face for a few seconds and then he added: "And I wanted to make sure you're ok."

That knocked Yuuki off balance. Her frown morphed into a look of confusion. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Zero, seeing he might be able to talk to her after all, leaned against the door with his back and braced one foot against it. "You seemed sort of…distant, yesterday…after… Well, I wanted to make sure HE didn't do anything to you…since you didn't come to class…" and he trailed off.

Yuuki blinked a few times and then she recovered. "Um, no, I just slept in. That's pretty common for me, right?"

Zero watched her innocent expression for just a moment. "Right." He pushed himself from the door and opened it.

"Wait, Zero." He paused. "I um, thank you for yesterday. I appreciate it, I do. It's just that Kaname-sempai would never do anything that would hurt me. You know that as well as I do," said Yuuki, staring at the ground.

"I know. He's not like me. But he seemed somehow…different, yesterday…" thought Zero. "Get dressed and hurry." And with that, he left.

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Yuuki was feeling anxious. She had no real reason to, really, but still she couldn't help it but feel on edge. Nervous. She pushed away the urge to bite her nails. So she bit her lip instead. And tapped her foot.

She was spacing out. Some part of her brain told her that much. But she just couldn't bring herself back to reality. She knew she had duties. Her ears partly registered the awful shrieks of her fellow classmates, which she was supposed to…pacify.

But the thought of meeting Kaname-sama again after yesterday's event seemed scary to her. Or more like – embarrassing. She knew she had to thank him but what could she say? Thanks for the lip work? Honestly. She was at a loss of words even without his mind-stopping, tongue-tying presence.

Yuuki sighed. She was doomed.

All of a sudden the screaming around her got louder, successfully waking her up from her reverie. The gate of the Moon dorms opened.

She quickly jerked away from the beautiful faces of the Night class and began her duty. With all the girls trying to push by her, she kept on repeating "don't fall down, don't fall down" in her head, like a mantra. She really didn't want to repeat yesterday's incident.

But all too soon, curiosity got the better of her and she turned her head around to see if Kaname-sama was going to pass anywhere near her. Only to be met with a few death glares from the Night-class students, Aidou-sempai included. Yuuki quickly turned her head back around, wondering what was that all about.

Few seconds passed and she realized that nearly all the Moon dorms' inhabitants were already halfway to the school building. Kaname-sama hadn't stopped to greet her like usual. That was very uncharacteristic of him. Yuuki craned her neck after them, in order to catch at least a glimpse of him, but she couldn't locate him in the mass of people…well, vampires actually.

She couldn't suppress the disappointment that crept onto her. After all, he was free to do as he pleased. But then dread caught up with her. What if he never wanted to speak to her again? What if she made a bad impression? What if he was repulsed by her? Her heart started to beat faster. She knew what she had to do.

She needed to speak to him alone. To thank him properly, without interruptions.

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Yuuki tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. She pretended to look around the grounds from the first floor balcony, which was situated right next to the classroom, which was currently occupied by the Night class.

After a while she braced herself on the wall, right next to a high window. She took a deep breath and took a quick peek through the glass, to see if there was anyone in close proximity to the window, who could possibly catch her sneaking around. Luckily for her, there wasn't.

The second time, she peeked a bit longer. She got a good look around the class. Her eyes roamed over every single vampire in the classroom. But the most important one was missing.

"Spying on the bloodsuckers?"

Yuuki squeaked and spun around. Zero was leaning against the stone railing, watching her with amusement.

"Zero! You scared me! Don't creep up on me like that," said Yuuki, holding a hand over her heart.

"He's not there tonight, your hero," said Zero in a bored voice, looking away from her to the side.

"How do you know that?"

"He wasn't in the parade today, either."

"And do you, um, know where he is?"

"Nope."

Yuuki walked over next to Zero and put her hands on the railing. "I wonder what happened. The Night classes are usually canceled if Kaname-sempai cannot join them."

"I have a hunch," said Zero still in that bored voice.

Yuuki turned her face to him quickly with expectations in her eyes.

"But I'm not telling you."

Yuuki frowned. "Why not?"

Zero smiled crookedly at her. "Cause it's all vampire stuff."

"I can handle vampires, you know I can."

"True," said Zero in a somewhat sad voice. "But I don't want you to handle it this time. It might be more than you bargained for."

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For the next 3 days, Yuuki didn't see Kaname at all. And the Night classes never ceased to continue. It was very strange. She had this nagging feeling that something wasn't right.

And the hostile stares of the Moon dorms' inhabitants never stopped either. It just felt wrong.

On the fourth day of Kaname's disappearance, Yuuki decided to get some answers. She waited until the Night class parade neared the school building and she caught up with those who were last to enter, Aidou and Kain.

"Aidou-sempai! Please, wait!"

Aidou stopped in the door, holding it opened. He turned around to face her, his electric blue eyes especially cold at that moment. He didn't say anything, only stared down at her. That made Yuuki nervous.

"Um, sorry to bother you, I don't mean to steal time from you…"

"What do you want?" said Aidou icily. Yuuki could almost feel the air around her getting colder.

"Well, I've noticed that Kaname-sempai has been away for some days," began Yuuki, noticing that Aidou's eyes went even colder at the mentioning of his leaders name. "And I wanted to ask you if everything's ok. Or if I could help in any way."

Aidou narrowed his eyes at her. "We don't need any more of YOUR help." And with that, he shut the door closed in Yuuki's face.

Yuuki only stared at the door in disbelieve, her mouth hanging slightly opened. There. She had it. Whatever it was that was wrong, definitely was her fault. She didn't imagine the angry looks at all.

She turned around and began to walk back. In her mind, she ran over everything that happened that day and every day after that. But she ended up empty handed, just like every other time she tried to find the missing piece of the puzzle.

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After thinking everything through, for about 24 hours, Yuuki decided to ask the Chairman. He was the only person she didn't talk about it with. Well, not that she asked everyone in the Night class. Aidou's reaction was enough to tell her she won't be getting any answers there.

So the next day after dinner, when Zero left the kitchen and Yuuki stayed behind to help cleaning up after the meal, she suddenly asked: "Um, dad, can I ask you something?" She instantly had his attention, for which she was hoping for.

Her calling the Chairman dad, well, that would probably get her anywhere she wanted…

"Well of course Yuuki-chan! Anything, anything! Let's hear it!

Yuuki sweat-dropped. "It's nothing big, really. I was just wondering, do you know where Kaname-sempai has gone to? I haven't seen him in like…5 days or so…" No need to let the Chairman know the exact number of hours, right?

The Chairman passed her a washed plate for her to dry. "But he's never left, Yuuki. He called me a few days ago and said that he's not feeling well and he asked me if I had any objections to the night classes continuing without his attendance. I've asked him if it was anything serious and he assured me not to worry."

"So he's ill? I didn't know that vampires can be sick…"

"I told him the same thing. And he only laughed and made a joke not to worry, that it's not contagious," said the Chairman, chuckling as he handed Yuuki another plate.

Yuuki only bit her lip and absentmindedly rubbed the plate with a pink dishcloth that had kittens on it.

"Don't worry, Yuuki. I'm sure he'll be alright soon. He hasn't left his chambers since he called."

"Really? But how do you know that?"

"I had some papers that needed to be signed by Kaname and we used Ichijou as our messenger," he smiled. "So, naturally, I asked about Kaname a little and that's what I was told."

Yuuki nodded her head in understanding. But she felt like something really wasn't right. If Kaname-sama was simply ill, why would they all blame her for it?

She wasn't having any of that. Kaname-sama said it wasn't contagious, right? So there's no reason why she shouldn't go see him herself.

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A/N: edited on 27.1.2012

Take care,

Matylda