The New Life at Cross Academy

Two months had passed since Zero had seen Yuuki the last. Many changes have followed that day.

The vampire council had been reformed now consisting of Kuran Kaname and Kuran Yuuki as presidents, Ichijou Takuma as vice-president, as well as Soren Ruka, Seiren and Kain Akatsuki as representatives.

Kaname was going to continue the peace between vampires and humans he had found at Cross Academy and to extend it over the whole country. Of course he wanted to keep the existence of his kind furthermore a secret. To achieve these two goals he had decided to cooperate closely with the Hunter Association who had welcomed his approach.

Cross Academy had been rebuilt after the Moon Dorm had been completely destroyed during the battle against Kuran Rido. Having the necessary money as council president Kaname donated it to Cross Academy for reconstruction. The memory of the human students about the incident and the existence of vampires had been erased and school had started again. The Night Class students including the members of the council had returned for studying same as Zero and Yuuki. Yuuki, now a vampire, had been transferred to Night Class leaving her friend Yori whose memory was the only one not having been erased and Zero behind. As she had adjusted to a vampire diary Zero didn't see her very often, never at daytime, only at dawn at class exchange and when he met her he would not once meet her gaze or listen to her voice. They were done with each other. Even if they reconciled after the fight against Rido they were living different lives now. Lives that would never intertwine as it seemed. They would never get a chance to, either as Kaname would do everything prevent this from happening. And so far Yuuki had not attempted to contact him.

Having company like Yori who had turned to him for explanation Zero pretended not care about the situation but when he was all alone he found himself in deep depression. He missed Yuuki. He couldn't deny that to himself. He missed her because he loved her. He had even told her about his feelings but it seemed like she didn't give a damn about him. Zero couldn't know if this was actually real and he didn't think it was. He had his own explanation why he wouldn't see Yuuki. The reason was her brother and fiancé Kaname who was keeping a close eye on her and would part their ways as soon they crossed. Zero deeply despised and hated Kaname. He always had done so and now in the end Kaname was the one who had won and got Yuuki. Yuuki... Zero sadly thought. Do you sometimes think of me?

Yes, she did actually right now. Yuuki was sitting in the room she shared with Kaname. She was alone. Kaname was off at the council but he had promised her to return early enough to pick her up for class. Yuuki didn't really care if he was there or not. The most time she spent on thinking about someone was saved for Zero. He couldn't know that she was missing him, too. She missed spending time with him, hearing his voice, feeling his touch, drinking her blood... That was crazy. She knew it. But she couldn't but admit to herself that she had enjoyed his embraces. She often thought back to the one he gave her after defeating Rido. It had been so intimate and tight. Now weeks later she wished they had never been parted by Kaname or she had never let go of Zero. She sighed deeply. She didn't know whether the situation was bothering him, too. How could she?

There was a knock on the door. Yuuki turned around on the bed to see Kaname enter. He was a wonderful man. Yuuki didn't deny that. He was good-looking and caring really well for her. She should be glad to be his fiancée yet she wasn't.

"Hey," Kaname said, closed the door behind him and turned around to face her, holding his hands behind his back with a smile on his face.

"Hey," Yuuki answered, knowing what was awaiting her behind his back.

"I've got you something," Kaname told her and revealed a bunch of flowers that he handed over to her.

Yuuki smiled slightly. She thanked him and smelled at the flowers. They were smelling good. Now it was Yuuki's turn to show Kaname her gratitude. They leaned in and kissed.

"Why are you still in your nightdress? Sun is already setting," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I've been really lazy. I'm gonna change now. I'll hurry," she said, grabbed her white Night Class uniform, entered their private en suite bathroom and locked the door. It was not new for them that Yuuki didn't show herself to Kaname. She had always dressed and undressed alone and invisibly in the bathroom. They were sharing everything. The room, even the bed but it never happened that they actually shared a body, metaphorically spoken. Yuuki was not ready, maybe not even open for this. Kaname surely did wonder and worry about that but he didn't intend to talk to Yuuki about it. He was sure that this matter would settle by itself soon. Yuuki had lived ten years as a human. Of course she needed some time to adjust to the life of a vampire including their relationship.

Ten minutes later Yuuki came out of the bathroom and they set off. Kaname offered her his arm and she accepted it. Yet again she had to pretend to be the happy girlfriend in front of their vampire mates. Now and then however she had a feeling that Ichijou and Aidou had seen through her when they were giving her compassionate looks. Yuuki hated it if they did that. If it really was that bad she could put an end to it. But was it? No, she wasn't living a bad life. Five people would do everything to make her feel fine. And could she really tell Kaname? No again. She couldn't hurt him that much.

They stepped outside together with the others who had waited for them and headed to the classrooms.

There was one thing that hadn't change. This was the Day Class girls who still admired the Night Class boys and were trying to get a closer look everytime they were on their way to class. Zero who had kept his position as guardian was still all busy with pushing the girls back behind the barrier. It was a piece of cake for him. He just had to get angry and the girls were so scared that they didn't dare to move. When they reached Zero Yuuki suddenly had the desperate desire to let go of Kaname's arm but for an unknown reason she didn't. She tried to meet Zero's gaze but he looked away the instant moment he noticed her approaching and he would never ever talk to her or even look at her. Sad about this Yuuki dropped her head and let Kaname lead her to the classroom. In all her melancholy she didn't even notice her friend Yori standing next to Zero.

"She didn't even look at me," Yori sadly remarked.

"Do you finally get it?" Zero gnarled. Yori had been keeping him company. To be honest she was really getting on his nerves. She kept talking about Yuuki the one he tried to forget without pause. "She's no longer with us. She belongs to them now. We're done with her. I'm done with her."

"How can you be? Weren't you actually close friends... or even more?" Yori thought aloud and startled at Zero's expression.

"Get lost!"

Yori ran away. Zero sighed. She's right, he thought. Everyone knew and everyone noticed the change. He even regretted it a little that he had been so rough to Yori. Why couldn't everybody just leave him alone so he could forget about it?