Zero paced the gym, wondering what Seiren's mother could have wanted. He knew that it probably had nothing to do with him, but he hated to think that he had somehow gotten her in trouble. He also had no idea what they were going to do to occupy an hour. He supposed that they could come up with lesion plans; they probably needed to do that. He sighed in frustration and turned to make another pass. He didn't know how to teach. Why on earth had he agreed to this in the first place?
He didn't know how long he had been pacing when he heard her voice. "You're going to wear a hole in the mats if you don't quit that," she said.
"Or I could just change patterns," Zero said looking up at her with a smile. She nodded, conceding his point before she walked towards him with a determined expression on her face. He tensed, bracing himself for her anger, which he could feel radiating from her in waves. But he was prepared to let her do whatever she wanted, he deserved after what he had said to her.
But what he didn't expect was the nature of her attack. She grabbed the back of his head and forcefully kissed him. He was shocked, but was more than happy to oblige her wishes. He kissed her back.
"Well, that wasn't what I expected," he gasped out when they finally came up for air.
"What were you expecting?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, you seemed kinda pissed off," he said hoping he wasn't about to piss her further off. "I was half-way expecting you to hit me."
"If I was going to hit you," Seiren said with a laugh, "you would never see it coming."
"I'll keep that in mind," he replied. "So what did your mom want?" He regretted asking the second the words left his mouth. Her mood, which had begun to improve, immediately took a turn for the worst.
"I don't want to talk about it," she said between clenched teeth. She still couldn't believe that her mother would stoop to threatening people . . . actually she could but she was still surprised that her mother had been so open about her threats.
"That bad, huh?" he asked. She just snorted in response so he decided that a change in topic was in order before she lost it entirely. "Maybe I'm a bad influence," he joked.
"What!?" she demanded, wondering if he had heard what her mother had said.
"It's just that you always seemed so in control before you started spending time with me, and here you are about to lose your temper like I tend to," he explained.
"Oh," she said, relieved that he hadn't heard what had been said. It wasn't that she wanted to keep a real threat secret from him, more that the threat had been neutralized so there was no need for him to hear the hurtful things her mother had said. "Well, Mother did say that I have changed. Maybe it is your fault," she teased.
"In that case," he replied catching her mood change, "I'll just leave." He turned to walk away but was stopped by her hand on his arm. He looked over his shoulder at her and was surprised at the tenderness he saw in her eyes.
"Don't even think about it," her tone was serious. "I like the changes, so you'll just have to stay." She looked at him, all hint of teasing gone. "Promise me that you'll stay, no matter what anyone says about us." He looked at her and nodded. She sighed and pulled him into a hug.
He was confused as to what sparked her odd behavior, but could tell that she needed this right now so he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair. "I'm happy," he promised. "I don't intend to go anywhere." He heard her sigh of contentment and decided that this might be a good way to spend an hour. Lesson plans could wait.
ooOO88OOoo
Kaname knew it was about time to head back to the nobles, but when he glanced down at Yuuki, who was still curled up against him with her head on his shoulder, he couldn't bear to tell her that they needed to return to reality. She looked so peaceful and happy that he hated to ruin her moment. He sighed.
Feeling Kaname sigh, Yuuki pulled back to look at his face. While it was still more peaceful than she had seen him be in a long time, stress was beginning to re-enter it. "It's time to go back, isn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer.
"I'm afraid it is," he replied with a wry smile. "Unless you want to play hooky with me."
She laughed, a light sound. The time they had spent away from everyone else had done wonders for her mood. "I think that might cause a panic," she said.
"Maybe," he said in a conspiratorial tone, "or they might not notice we're gone."
"Two purebloods suddenly disappear in the middle of a war," she said sarcastically. "Yeah, I see that going over real well. The headmaster would lead the search parties himself. No, we have to go back."
"If you insist," Kaname said standing to help her to her feet. "So, do you think you're ready to help me teach others magic?"
"Maybe," she replied. "I might even be able to teach you a thing or two." He saw the light of mirth in her eyes as she said the last bit and realized that she was teasing him.
"Is that so?" he asked mimicking her joking tone. "Do you think you could defeat me then?"
"I think I might stand a chance," she replied. "It's easier to beat people when they won't attack you."
He laughed again at her statement. "I suppose that would give you the advantage," he conceded. This was the version of Yuuki he loved. She was smart and quick-witted, unafraid of offending him and happy. He wished she could always be like this.
Yuuki was thinking similar things about him. She wished that he could always be like this, so light-hearted and carefree, but she knew that he couldn't. And she understood why he had to be more reserved around others, but she wished he wouldn't do it around her.
"I had a good time today," she said. "Thank you for bringing me here, Kaname."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he replied his politer persona slipping into place as they neared the edge of the forest. "I enjoyed our time together as well. We should do this more often."
"We will," she promised standing on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek before taking his hand and walking back to the auditorium where they had left the nobles.
ooOO88OOoo
As Zero and Seiren approached the auditorium, Zero sped up slightly with the intent of getting the door for her but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. He looked at her and she shook her head.
"Are Kaname-sama and Yuuki-sama in there yet?" she asked. He peaked through the glass in the door and shook his head. "Then let's wait out here for them," she suggested. Even though she knew that she had defeated her mother, she wasn't looking forward to seeing the other woman before she had to.
Hearing the almost desperate hint to her voice, he nodded sliding down to sit at the base of the wall and patting the spot next to him. She smiled as she sat next to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. She let out a sigh that was a mix of contentment, frustration and sadness. She still couldn't believe that her mother would say those things to her. She had always known that her mother cared about appearances, but nothing her mother had ever tried to do had directly lead to her unhappiness. It hurt that she cared more about what other people would think that she cared about the happiness of her only daughter.
Feeling her sigh, and recognizing the sadness in it, Zero placed his arm around her waist and leaned his head against hers. He hated to see her upset, but he knew that she was too much like him in that area. She would tell him when she was ready to and no amount of goading on his part would get the answer any quicker. All he could do was be there when she was ready to talk . . . or when it got blown up into the light, just like Yuuki always was for him.
"You two look cozy," a voice said. Seiren expected Zero to tense up, but was surprised as he just rolled his head lazily to look at the newest addition.
"Are you jealous?" he asked sarcastically. "Because I'm afraid that I'm not going to give you a hug. You might ask the headmaster though."
The older man reached down to ruffle Zero's sliver hair. "That was a good reply," Yagari laughed. "And you controlled your temper this time. Maybe she is a good influence on you." Seiren felt herself blushing even though she wasn't sure why.
"I don't think it was a good reply," Kaien wailed. "I would never give Yagari a hug! I reserve those for my loving family."
"Then why were you always trying to hug me," Zero demanded good-naturedly. "I'm not a member of your 'loving family."
"So cruel!" the headmaster cried. "Yuuki will provide me with comfort," he said catching sight of her and Kaname and running to her for a hug. She stopped him gently but firmly with a hand on his shoulder.
"Zero," she said looking around the headmaster, "are you being mean?" Zero just shrugged in reply. "So that's a 'yes'?" Yuuki asked while the headmaster nodded emphatically. Yuuki leveled a look of disappointment at Zero who squirmed.
"He started it," Zero spat, nudging his head at Yagari.
"I started nothing," he denied. "Zero was the one getting comfortable in a public space."
Zero's retort was drowned out by Seiren's laughter. Her mirth this time received similar reactions as it had the last time she had let it escape in public: it was met with joy and confusion. Yagari hadn't been aware that she was capable of laughing; he had never even seen her smile. The rest were curious about what could have triggered this reaction in her, though they knew that she was capable of it.
"What's so funny?" Zero asked.
"You," she replied around her laughter. "All of you. Here we are on the cusp of a war of epic proportions and you are bickering like, I assume, you always have. It's refreshing after all the death and destruction that had occurred lately."
"I agree," Kaname said thinking about how much better Yuuki looked when she smiled, or playfully glared. He much preferred that version of her to the sad angry version he had been introduced to lately. He still though she was beautiful even in despair, but all he wanted was for her to be happy. Recent events had made him question his ability to make her happy. But he would worry about that later, for now he was more concerned with his ability to keep her alive.
"Well, let's get this taken care of," Kaname said when no one seemed to have anything else to say. "The easiest way to do this will be to have them come to us. Kaien, if you will head to the back of the room I will have Takuma join you," Kaname said. "Seiren, Kyriuu, if you will stay by this door on this inside so that the vampires can see you. Yuuki and I will go to the front of the room and we'll see how they decide to sort themselves."
As before, when the pureblood couple made their entrance the talking in the room ground to a halt. Even though this time it took longer since there were many more vampires in the room than Yuuki had ever seen. She even saw knots of people that were dressed less finely than the others—which made more sense to her since they were about to engage in combat practice—and she assumed that they were non-nobles.
Kaname surveyed the crowd while he waited for silence to fall. He had to admit that he hadn't expected this much of a turn out. The presence of so many non-nobles surprised him, but he guessed that war was an extenuating enough circumstance that the nobles felt they should share the information with lesser vampires—he felt sick at the thought. We were never meant to be stratified like this, he thought. True the level E's are a different matter, but the vampires that were born vampires were not treated like this in my time. Pushing away his dark thoughts he cleared his throat to begin speaking, but was beat to it by Yuuki. He felt a moment's irritation at her, but pressed it down as he remembered that the nobles, at least, were not exactly in his fan club at the moment but that they were in hers. Also they needed to see her as a leader as well.
"Thank you all for waiting," Yuuki said clearly. "I hope that we gave you enough time to consider where you can be the most helpful and to gather your loved ones. We have decided that the easiest way to sort you is for you to sort yourselves. I only ask that you stay where you are until I finish so that everyone can know where they're supposed to go.
" If you want to learn hand-to-hand, make your way towards Zero and Seiren. If you feel more comfortable with swordplay, kindly move towards my adoptive father, and Takuma in the back. And if you want to learn how to wield magic, move towards Kaname and me on the stage."
She stopped speaking and for a moment people seemed reluctant to move. "I promise, none of us will bite," she said with a warm smile. There was a bit of nervous laughter at her words and then people began migrating to their destinations.
Zero and Seiren had, by far, the largest group. Yuuki felt worry go through her as to how Zero would handle teaching that many people. She hoped he could keep his temper under control. Perhaps I should take his gun from him, she thought. It's not like he will need it in the war anyway and it is better to be safe than sorry.
Kaname, too, saw the size of that particular group and felt a wash of satisfaction that Kyriuu would be useful for something. He still wasn't sure why he left the hunter alive all those times, but he was a little glad that he had since it seemed to please Seiren and Yuuki. This would be a way for the silver-haired man to pay him back. I really should attempt to get over my dislike of him¸ Kaname though. Yuuki truly cares for him, and he doesn't hate her so he won't be going away any time soon. Besides, he is no longer my rival for Yuuki's affection. . .
Eventually everyone was grouped into one of the three groups, except for a small cluster of vampires in the middle, mostly women and children. Noticing them, Kaname made to go over to them and see why they were still in the middle but Yuuki stopped him with a hand on his arm and hopped off the stage.
The group of vampires assembled there parted to let her through. She noticed the look of anxiety on the oldest of the women in the group as she approached. She smiled and tried to look reassuring, apparently she failed.
"Did none of the groups appeal to you?" Yuuki asked gently.
"N-no Yuuki-s-sama," the woman stuttered. "I-I-I just can't bring myself to kill."
She flinched as Yuuki reached a hand towards her, but was surprised as she felt the young pureblood place her hand gently on her shoulder. "I understand," Yuuki replied. "I don't want to kill either. I have to though." The other woman felt her hopes fall. She knew that Yuuki's caring attitude only went so far.
"But," Yuuki continued, "You don't."
"I know I do, Yuuki-sama," the woman began. "Wait, did you just say I don't have to fight?"
Yuuki nodded and gestured around her, "Someone has to watch and take care of all these children while their parents are busy, right?" the other woman nodded enthusiastically. "Would you like to do it?" Yuuki asked.
"Would I?!" the other woman said. "Of course I would! Thank you, Yuuki-sama! Thank you so much!" Lost in her happiness, she gave into the impulse to hug the younger woman. As soon as she realized what she had done, she pulled back, her face pale. The rest of the room held their breath waiting for the consequences that were sure to follow her uninvited contact with a pureblood. What they didn't expect was Yuuki's laughter.
"There are no thanks necessary," the young queen replied. "I was trying to figure out what to do with them and this works out well for all of us." She noticed the silence and looked around confused. "What happened?" she asked seeing all the shocked faces surrounding her.
She looked at Kaname who had left the stage and was now at her side. "Did I do something wrong?" she whispered in his ear.
He shook his head and looked into her bewildered eyes. "No, my dear girl," he said. "You did nothing wrong." Then he turned to address the rest of the vampires. "We have much to do and little time to do it in," he said. "If you will follow your instructors they will show you to the practice areas. Ruka, if you will lead this group to the moon dorms, I think you will be able to find a suitable area for a daycare." Ruka bowed and joined the group of children as everyone else filed out of the room.
Once they were gone, the other vampire woman seemed to lose her ability to stay standing and Ruka caught her before she could fall. "I though I was dead for sure," the woman breathed. "That Yuuki-sama is something else isn't she?"
"You haven't seen anything yet," Ruka said. "Assuming she survives this war, the world will never be the same again."
"I think I might like that new world," the woman said, standing on her own and giving Ruka a smile and a nod of thanks.