Despite the fact that I had told Zero he was welcome to come to me in his time of need, the vampire was too stubborn to ask me for blood, in fact he was so stubborn he wouldn't even talk to me after I'd offered my blood to him.
I knew I shouldn't feel rejected but somehow, I did. Throughout our duties as guardians, Zero wouldn't even look at me. I was beginning to resent my actions. I caught him looking at Yuuki's neck with that predatory stare and I knew he was suffering, yet he still wouldn't take my blood.
At this rate, Yuuki was going to discover his true identity.
We had split up our patrol this evening, Yuuki was watching the main building, I was watching the grounds and yet again, Zero was nowhere to be found.
"Hey, have you got any good shots yet?"
I spun in the direction of the voices, which were coming from the forest on the outskirts of the main building. I sighed. I had learnt that the day class students took their admiration for the night class to extremes at times, so I was not surprised that some girls had snuck out of their dorm to take pictures of the night class.
I flit through the trees soundlessly. Windrunner strapped to my back in case of a night class student turning rabid, they must be testy from all the blood substitute tablets. Eventually, I came into a clearing where two girls sat snapping photographs of the night class through the windows of their classroom.
"You two shouldn't be out here, get back to your dorms." I called, towering over the crouching teens. They looked up at me questioningly.
"Who's that?" One mumbled. I felt my eye twitch.
"It doesn't matter who I am. Just get back to your dorm." I growled, growing increasingly impatient and that something terrible was about to happen if they didn't leave.
I heard rustling from above, and turned to see Yuuki jump down from the trees.
"What are they doing here?" She asked, straightening from her jump.
"Just heading back to bed, weren't you?" I glared at them, watching them shrink uncomfortably, before they shot up eyes wide and excited.
"Idol-senpai!" They cried joyously. I stiffened before swinging Windrunner from my back and arming myself against the blonde vampire aristocrat, Aidou Hanabusa.
"I knew I smelt something delicious," He sang in velvety smooth tones, his fangs glinting in the moonlight that was filtering through the blanket of trees. I watched in horror as he took Yuuki's hand in his and brought it to his mouth to lick at her grazed hands.
"Get off of her." I glowered, aiming my crystal tipped arrow directly at his chest.
"Oh, little kitten has claws." He mocked, sizing me up with his eyes. Yuuki looked panicked as his once icy blue eyes turned as red as the blood seeping through her wounds. "You know, Akatsuki, I love it when a woman has fight."
My gaze flitted over to another vampire that was lazily leaning against a tree with his arms folded. "I wouldn't get her too fired up, Hanabusa, she's armed." His words were drawling and bored, like he wasn't at all threatened by the fact that I could easily kill both of them.
"She's nothing to worry about." Replied Aidou, crimson eyes glinting mischievously as his fangs dipped to Yuuki's palm.
"Don't underestimate me." I breathed as I let my arrow fly and it lodged itself just above Kain's head deep into the tree he had been leaning on with a flash of blue light.
"Oi! Watch it!" He called in disbelief. I quickly reloaded Windrunner with another crystal tipped arrow.
"As I said, Night Class, do not underestimate me."
Aidou hesitated, releasing Yuuki's wrist and turning to glare hotly at me.
"You know, I don't think I like this new one." The blonde vampire said, mainly to Akatsuki Kain and with a flourish of his fingers ice began forming across the ground paving its way towards me. I sprang away, but was caught in the frozen grasp as I leapt and was bound to the ground by my ankle.
I grit my teeth as my ankle twisted painfully and I looked up through narrowed eyes into the fanged student, who was smiling proudly. He began to prowl towards me, his ice crawling up my limbs to prevent me from moving. My fingers were frozen onto the grip of my bow. Suddenly completely vulnerable, I pinched my eyes shut expecting at any moment to feel his fangs pierce my neck.
"Darcy!" Shouted Yuuki, her high pitched shriek came before chaos erupted and the metal clink of chains along with gunfire erupted in the silence of the night. My eyes shot open, to see Zero, bloody rose in his large hand, and a blue hunter's seal glowing against the trunk of a tree behind Aidou who was cowering with wide eyes.
"You should watch where you point that, you could hurt someone." He barked at Zero, who continued to point his gun at the vampire.
"Go back to class, before I shoot to kill, Aidou." He glowered, finger curling around the trigger suggestively.
"That's enough, Zero Kiryu." Everyone turned to the baritone voice of Kaname Kuran, whose chocolate brown locks fell into his copper eyes. He was flanked by the rest of the night class who had apparently smelt Yuuki's blood in the air as their eyes glowed scarlet in the dark.
Zero lowered his weapon, lilac eyes hard as he watched Kuran bind Yuuki's bloody hands with a handkerchief.
"Aidou, apologise for your actions."
Kaname had this authority to his voice that was so subtle yet undeniable that I could tell he had even more power in this school than Headmaster Cross.
Aidou grit his teeth and fisted his hands as the ice that had me caged shattered. I stood, ignoring the pain in my ankle to glare at the gathered vampires. The aristocrat growled an apology before stalking off to stand by his class president. Kaname raised his hand before sharply slapping Aidou, his face turning with the force of the blow.
"Lord Kaname…" He mumbled.
The Night Class then departed, leaving Yuuki, Zero and I to try clean up the damage they had created. Starting with the students that had now discovered the Night Class were vampires.
I managed to walk on my ankle, which had swollen from what I assumed was a mild sprain. I would recover quickly enough.
"Darcy, did Aidou hurt you at all?" Asked Yuuki, on the way back to my dorm, having brought the two Day Class girls to the Headmaster to erase their memory and dropping them back to their rooms.
"No, I'm fine. I'm glad he didn't bite you, Yuuki." I smiled, glancing over at Zero who was absently rubbing his tattoo. "Well, you should be going Yuuki, Zero and I will be fine getting to our rooms."
Yuuki looked up at me with curious doe eyes. "Are you sure?"
"Of course, sleep well." I smiled brightly, before she wished us a good night and ran off to the chairman's residence.
Zero turned to walk off but I grabbed hold of his sleeve.
"How long are you going to make yourself suffer, Zero?" I asked, concern lingering in my words. He didn't reply.
"You're craving it." I released the sleeve of his blazer to push aside the long inky locks that trailed down my shoulders, showing him the smooth, creamy skin of my neck.
"You don't know what you're asking me to do, Darcy." Zero's eyes flashed red as he inhaled a shaky breath. We were just outside my room, and I swiftly pulled out my key, pushing open the door before pulling Zero inside behind me. The room was dark with only the moon illuminating the furniture in a silvery pearlescent glow. It made Zero look almost ethereal and so wonderfully breath -taking.
"Of course I know what I'm doing. Zero, I'd rather you are drinking my blood than suffering every day." I smiled sadly, before moving to close the door and lock it.
I began untying the tie and unbuttoning the collar of my now crumpled white shirt. Zero stood watching me with a strangely heated look in his eyes. I threw the red ribbon to the floor, my blazer following after, leaving me in just my shirt and skirt with my long hair curled across one shoulder to give Zero access to my bare neck.
I stood in front of him, looking up into his glowing red eyes that sent heat flooding to my core. I wondered if he could sense that. I felt disgusted with the fact that I enjoyed him drinking from me; one of the monsters I had grown to hate was going to touch me intimately.
"Darcy," Zero groaned, his long fingers trailed up my arms to grip my shoulders leaving a tingling sensation in their wake. Zero towered over me. I could feel his breath hot and heavy on my skin as he dipped down. Lilac strands of hair licked across the sensitive expanse of skin that I had exposed to him. I watched as his fangs lengthened to graze the artery that pulsed, anticipating the press of his teeth as he bit down into my neck, but he was making me wait.
Zero's hands smoothly wandered across my skin, feather light touches that set me ablaze and made me gasp as they began travelling up my sock clad legs towards my bare shapely thighs so tantalizingly slow that he had me panting.
"Zero!" I begged as he finally touched the naked skin past my over the socks, still just his fingertips that touched my heated skin as he pushed up my skirt and then with one sharp movement bit down onto my neck with a snarl. His other hand tangled into my hair as he sucked and lapped at my flesh. Blood trailing down my neck and into the valley of my breasts while Zero moaned against me.
The hand that was under my skirt had now began pulling at the band of my underwear. Zero was making me lose all sense of right and wrong as his fingers dipped teasingly close to my core still licking at my crimson stained neck.
Zero slid his fangs from me, and it felt evocative of something much more intimate. My breathing was heavy as I watched him lick the blood from his lips sensually. His hands moving back up my body to rest on my shoulders as he regained some semblance of his human self, eyes still a shocking shade of red that mirrored the blood smeared across his chin and down my chest.
His eyes followed the trails of blood that dipped down past my shirt. He looked back up into my face and it took a second before I began unbuttoning my shirt further to reveal my blush pink satin and lace bra that had now been coated in my own blood.
Zero growled like a predator that had found his prey before bowing back down to follow the rivers of blood down my neck into the feminine curve of my breast. I moaned loudly as his hands moved to cup me over the lingerie.
He teasingly rubbed at my nipples through the fabric and had me gasping musically. Zero was playing me like an instrument of desire, he knew exactly where and how to touch to drive me insane with want and it was startling.
"Zero," I gasped and his tongue traced the lace that provocatively showcased the top of my ample breasts. The blood had been cleaned from my skin with his mouth and I was left with the heat of his touch. Zero looked up at me as he continued lapping down the dip in between my breasts and I tensed as I noticed that his eyes were no longer red but a shade of purple that was dark and passionate.
Zero was completely aware of what he was doing. He noticed the sudden tension in my once pliable body and pulled away, the absence of his touch left me bereft.
"I'm sorry, Darcy." He muttered, standing at his full stature to tower over me his eyes hidden by silver hair that was highlighted by the moon. The contours of his angular face and straight nose contrasted in the light.
"Why are you apologising?" I smiled, somehow feeling comfortable in my blood encrusted bra with my shirt hanging off my shoulders. I was a hot mess.
"I went too far." He replied, his tone harsh and punishing.
"We went too far, Zero. I don't think you heard me complain." I added, feeling ashamed for my lack of self-discipline.
"Maybe so, but I should have had more control." I sighed, giving Zero a once over before deciding he needed to clean himself up if he was going to head back to his room. I turned away to pull a packet of wet wipes from my drawer. I walked up to Zero, feeling him tense as I began wiping away the dried blood from his face.
"I'm sorry, Zero, for not stopping you." I mumbled as I erased the last of my blood and stepping back to admire my handy work. He watched me curiously, before turning away as if he'd caught me in a compromising position.
"So you're uncomfortable with me being in my underwear now? I didn't think you'd be the type to get nervous, Zero." I teased, with a grin. I wondered how far I could take this.
I turned away from him with a smirk plastered firmly on my face as I began to undress. First slipping my shirt from my arms and letting it fall to the floor with a soft rustle, then I stepped out of my skirt. Now left in my long socks, dusky pink satin panties and matching bra with blood stains across the centre of the band which was accented with a bow.
"Zero," I sang huskily and he turned to me half expecting me to be in my bed clothes, but I watched his eyes widen as he took in my scantily clad form. "Would you help me get ready for bed?"
The silence dragged, until he came to stand next to me apparently not able to stand my state of undress any longer as he rummaged through my drawers to find some pyjamas, long pale fingers delving into silk, lace and satin. I didn't have many items in that drawer that were conservative in the least.
Zero paused to hold up a pair of satin shorts with a matching camisole, along with some clean underwear.
"Oh Zero, you want me to wear this?" I teased, and nearly jumped triumphantly when I saw him blush, which was totally out of character for this normally calm and collected vampire hunter. "Would you like to watch?" I added, mischievously.
Zero's shoulders squared before he finally gave up, and gracefully stepped around me and to the door in three long strides. He scooped up my key from the bed and unlocked it, groaning a 'Good night' before closing the door behind him.
Leaving me half naked and giggling like a school girl. Oh wait, I was a school girl.