Chapter 2

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing

Amethyst- purple eyes rolled as the possessor of them, Zero Kiriyuu, held back the line of screaming fangirls. It was ridiculous, really, how they were able to scream at such a high pitch for so long without losing their intensity or voices.

Perhaps they should consider becoming opera singers..?

Zero almost flinched at the thought of hearing those high- pitched voices butchering foreign languages daily, and for money, too. He held back the flinch, however, not wanting any of the nearly- rabid girls to see anything that would signal weakness. They were like sharks- the first sign of weakening, and they would surge forward, much like they did to Yuuki every night.

Poor girl.

He glanced back at the gates where the Night Class students resided, gritting his teeth. The vampires had better hurry the hell up, or he was going to commit murder.

An "Oomph!" from the other side of the line made him sigh- it signaled that Yuuki had been knocked over. Again. He couldn't go over to help her up, though. His group, while staying away and back from the gates due to his threatening aura, would be on the gates and the Night Class students faster than one could say, "obsessed" if he were to leave.

Still, he turned around, the movement effectively halting Yuuki's released group. "All of you! Back in line!" Zero barked, jabbing his finger at them. They flinched as a group, but backed up, allowing Yuuki to stand up and again, start her attempts to keep them in check. She flashed Zero a grateful smile, before going back to hold back the crowd of girls.

He almost smiled at the one that Yuuki had given him. He didn't though, not wanting to ruin the scary demeanor that kept the fangirls in check.

A change in the tone of the girls' screams alerted him to the fact that the Night Class students were finally, finally showing themselves. Zero leveled a cold, piecing glare at the group of girls he was in charge of keeping back, making them shrink back.

He almost smirked. It was a sort of revenge for the torture they put his ears through daily. Besides, it was stupid of the girls.

What kind of guy would want a girl that could break glass with their scream as a girlfriend? Especially if their hearing was as sensitive as that of the Night Class's?

The wrought- iron gates creaked open, and a blonde student was the first out, his electric- blue eyes sparkling, and a charming grin upon his face. "Hello, ladies!" He exclaimed, prancing out. "It's wonderful to see you all!"

A few girls fainted as he winked at them, and the others simply screamed louder. "Idol-sempai!"

Zero glared at the charming vampire, and heard a little squeal as Yuuki was trampled, unable to keep her group of girls at bay.

Zero whirled around, pointing his finger at the group of escaped fangirls, stopping them in their tracks. "Get back, all of you!" He nearly growled, his patience at its end. He was tired of dealing with these stupid, hormonal idiots that screeched worse than banshees.

A few girls pouted, and others started to cry, but they backed up, and resumed their screaming as the other night class students came out the gates, led by their leader, Kaname Kuran. He stopped by Yuuki, as he did every night, and held out a hand, giving her a warm smile. "Here, Yuuki."

She blushed, but took his hand, brushing off her skirt as she stood up. "Thank you, Kaname-sempai."

He chuckled, the deep, warm sound like velvet. It nearly made Zero want to gag. "No, thank you for doing this, Yuuki." His brown eyes slid over to Zero, and a slight, mocking smile, unnoticed by anyone other than the other vampires and Zero, flashed across his face. "And thank you as well, Kiriyuu."

Zero rolled his eyes. The vampire was messing with him, as always. Kuran didn't care what he did to help keep the Day Class girls back.

His hand caressed the handle of his gun, Bloody Rose. Forcing his temper down, he released the handle, and instead, jerked his head down the pathway to the classes "You need to get to class, Kuran. Go."

Kaname shrugged, but left, not sparing a second glance at the silver- haired prefect. The only reason he tolerated him was because Yuuki seemed rather attached to him. If not for her, he would not spare the youth a second glance.

He glanced one more time at Yuuki, who was gazing dreamily after him. It relieved him, assured him of her affections towards him. Turning, he continued to the classes, ignoring the whispers of the enamored fangirls.

"Oooh, did you see his smile? It was so wonderful…"

"I only wished it was directed at anyone else other than her…"

"Idol-senpai was so dreamy…"

And so on and so forth. Kaname led the other vampires down the hallway, and they ducked into their first class, taking their seats just as the bell rang. Their teacher, Touga Yaguri entered, and Kaname settled down for a long, boring class.

When the bell finally rang for break, Kaname was going out of his mind with boredom, and had spent the last part of class staring out the window. He had been admiring the full, slivery moon, and the way it bathed everything in soft light.

The wind was blowing, just a breeze, and it made Kaname want nothing more than to be outside, letting it flow over his body.

Deciding to just do what he wanted to, Kaname silently slipped away from the other vampires, and walked towards the rustling trees.

The class had made him so bored, and he longed for some… excitement.

Walking out into the woods, he caught a flash of silver hair in the distance, and momentarily considered going to annoy Zero some; the prefect had a dislike of him, and he loved to get the silver- haired boy angry. It was amusing.

Still, if he revealed his presence to Zero, he'd simply be told to get back to class, and- he froze. His eyes widened, and he cocked his head, as if he were attempting to hear something. His brows furrowed, and then his eyes widened as he gazed up.

He stood there for a split second before turning and diving away, and just in time, too.

Something red came hurtling down with a hiss of wind, and landed on the grass hard enough to leave a slight dent, stirring up a cloud of dust.

There was silence for a moment, and then Kaname was up, dusting the dirt off of his pure- white uniform. It didn't really matter, though. Uniforms were replaceable. His life, if this thing, whatever it was, was dangerous, was not. Even if it was extremely hard to kill him, it was still possible.

He scooted closer to the red lump, blinking as he noticed that the red was a tattered, dirty piece of fabric. What the hell could it be? "What the hell is that?" Kaname muttered to himself.

Kaname stepped closer to the lump of fabric, bringing his nose up almost instinctively to sniff the air around it, getting its scent. What he smelled confused him. It was human, or at least… seemed to be.

There were underlying scents that were unfamiliar to him, one dark and alluring, and the other, almost bittersweet. This last smell was nearly masked by the other two, but it was still there. He stepped closer yet, and tried to probe at the thing's mind.

What he got was darkness, in the sense of emptiness. His brows furrowed at this, but he had gotten what he needed to know. It was unconscious.

What the hell survives a fall like that and ends up merely unconscious? The thought of an entity that powerful… It gave him chills down his back.

Kaname came closer, and knelt beside the thing, reaching out his hand and gently prodding at it. No need to injure it further, for it had to be hurt in some way. Even a pureblood vampire like himself would sustain injuries from a fall so far that it left a dent in the ground.

The sound of the night birds chirping and the rustle of the trees were the only noises, and the thing didn't stir. Reassured that the thing was good and unconscious Kaname grabbed ahold of the tattered red material, and pulled.

The thing rolled over, and Kaname leapt up and back, leaning forward to see just what had fallen out of the sky.

It was hard to see the thing's face; it was covered by black stuff that he immediately recognized as hair. Kaname reached forward, and pulled some of the extremely long black hair away from the face.

The face was uncovered, and he leaned back in shock. "It's… a boy?" He sounded uncertain.

Kaname shook his head, turning the almost unearthly white face towards him, turning it this way and that, then shook his head. "It's male, I'd say, although between the hair and androgyny of the features, it's hard to tell." He said thoughtfully to himself. Talking to himself had become a habit as of late, when he was all alone. It let him say what he wanted- no, needed- to say out loud, where no one would look down upon him for his more… un-pureblooded thoughts.

He leaned forward, better to closely examine the thing. "It's hard to tell anything else when he's unconscious, I need to-" His murmured words were cut off as the eyes beneath the lids started moving, the lashes fluttering as they opened.

Kaname was startled speechless by the crimson eyes that were slowly revealed. With a hiss, he threw himself back. Red eyes always, always meant a hungry, bloodlusting vampire. Always.

The crimson eyes blinked open, hazily focusing on Kaname, and a slight shiver went through the vampire at the feel of the eyes on him. It lasted but a second, though, as the eyes wavered, and the eyelids slid shut once more, the body making no notion to indicate it was alive.

Kaname let out the breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.

Kaname sighed, and leaned down once more. The eyes had shocked him, but now that he had a moment to think about it, his reaction had been stupid. Humans didn't go into bloodlust, only vampires did- and this boy may not have been wholly human, but- "It's not a vampire- I'd be able to smell it," He mused.

He gathered the thing up, surprised that the boy, thing, whatever it was, was so light, even under the fabric. "Whatever it is, it's alive, and I need to get it to Cross." The Chairman would know what to do with it, and hopefully be able to get some kind of idea what the boy was doing here.

He stood up, rearranging the boy in his arms so that his arms were under the shoulders and knees.

He left, walking away from the woods and to Cross's offices.

Kaname stole a look down at the boy, noting the almost death- like whiteness of his skin, and the way the long hair came to trail down into the air, waving with every step Kaname took. He sighed. What are you, and what, exactly, am I supposed to do about you?

The trip to the Chairman's office was relatively quiet, although when he snuck by the classrooms on their way, Kaname knew his fellow vampires had seen him.

They knew better than to tell the teacher the delinquent pureblood was slinking just outside their class. Well, not that the teachers could do anything about it. He outranked them in the vampire world, and whether he chose to attend class or not was his own business. Kaname usually did, though, out of respect for Kaien Cross and the academy he had founded and lack of anything else to do. He had felt the lingering stares of curiosity from his companions; however, he didn't bother to explain.

Kaname couldn't help stealing a glance now and then at the pale boy, wondering why he was swathed in the thick red material, and why he had fell from the sky.

As he walked, he mentally ran through all the things that the boy could be.

Maybe the red fabric was a parachute of some kind? No, it didn't seem like it, and if the youth had a parachute, he would have landed without creating that crater in the ground. He shook his head slightly, not wanting to admit the fact that he was stumped.

He looked up, the change of surroundings visible in the corner of his eyes alerting him that they were in front of the Chairman's office. He contemplated the door a moment, trying to figure out the best way to get in.

With a sigh, he shook his head. With a simple thought, the doorknob across from him turned, and the door swung open easily. A small smile tugged at his lips. Forgetting to use his powers like that… maybe he was getting senile in his old, ancient age.

He walked in silently, shutting the door behind him with another thought. It slid shut, not making a noise. Shifting the boy in his arms in order to get a better grip, he stole one more look at the boy, making sure who was still unconscious, relieved when he saw the long, coal black lashes still resting on his pale cheekbones.

What manner of creature hurtled down from the sky, was left merely unconscious? Well, something might be wrong internally, but until he was able to examine the youth better, he wouldn't know. It intrigued him, yet at the same time, for the first time in his life, Kaname Kuran was unnerved.

He glided forward to the Chairman's office, opening the door using the same technique he had before. The Chairman's blonde head was bent over some paperwork, and he was adjusting his glasses as he wrote.

"Chairman Cross."

Kaname's voice caused the Chairman to pause, then put down his pen, and lift his head up to meet Kaname's eyes. "Hello, Kaname." His eyes flicked down to the bundle in Kaname's arms. "What do you have?"

Although Kaien Cross was lighthearted, silly, and clingy around his adopted daughter, and Zero, whom he regarded as a son, the status of Kaname as a pureblood vampire, and his own as Chairman didn't allow this. Their relationship was of a formal nature, and they respected each other too much to have it any other way.

Of course, this decorum only applied when they were alone- when Kaname showed up when Yuuki and Zero were here, the Chairman continued as if the brunette hadn't suddenly shown up.

Kaname slid forward a bit more, holding the boy in his arms up. "It came falling out of the sky while I was in the woods on break."

What he didn't mention was that it wasn't so much a break as much as skipping class, but the Chairman didn't need to know that…

Kaien's eyebrows furrowed, and he stood up, removing his cumbersome cloak as he did so, readjusting his glasses. "It fell… out of the sky? I'm not sure I understand."

He reached out to take Kaname's burden, his eyes widening when he felt the shape of the bundle. "A person?" His eyes traveled up to meet Kaname's. "A person fell out of the sky? We need to get him to the infirmary." His tone was not the light, playful one of the normal Kaien Cross, ex- hunter, but had adopted his more commanding one, and he turned to stride out the door. "Come, Kaname. Tell me what happened on the way."

Kaname, respecting the authority in Kaien's voice, simply nodded, and followed him out the door.

Kaien Cross listened intently as Kaname quickly summed up what had happened to lead him to find this boy on the way to the infirmary.

It was unheard of, or at least, not anything Kaien Cross had heard of in his 200 years of life. A boy falling out of the sky? What had happened?

Kaname opened the door for Kaien as they reached the infirmary, the nurse on desk duty, a brunette with shoulder- length hair, and blue eyes, looking up from the book she was reading to see the Chairman and leader of the Moon Dorm, and Night Class students.

It wasn't something that was seen every day, and made her eyes widen in shock. "Chairman, and Dorm Leader!"

Kaien strode up to the desk. "Ms…Kenko, was it? I need a bed, closed off, please. And this minute; it's quite urgent."

Eyes still wide, she blinked, then shook her head, turning away to tap something rapidly onto her computer. "What's his name?"

Kaien shook his head. "It's not important; it's not a student, so don't make a record of it, please." His voice was kind, but there was a layer of steel underneath that made the nurse stop what she was doing, and glance at the bundle in Kaien's arms.

She wasn't supposed to just let the injured in without getting some kind of record entered first, but Chairman Cross had given her a direct order..

Pushing away from the desk, she stood up, straightening her black and white scrubs, and coming around the desk. "The doctor is out on lunch- follow me." Striding forth briskly, her tennis shoes tapped briskly on the floor as she led the two men to an open bed in the corner.

She drew the two side curtains as they stepped to the side of the bed, and then exited, drawing the third curtain at the end of the bed shut. "If there's anything you need, push the button on the wall. I'll be at the desk."

"Thank you, Ms. Kenko." Kaien replied, setting the red- swathed boy down on the bed.

He waited until the sound of footsteps faded away, and then turned to Kaname, who had been watching impassively. "Let's see who this is."

Kaname stepped forwards at the Chairman's words, to the boy's side. Reaching out, he tugged the cloth away fully, making the ends drape over the side of the hospital bed. The movement revealed the red cloth to be a cloak of some hind, with a high collar, and buckles coming down to about mid- chest.

His small body was covered head to toe in black, leather pants covering his legs, and a black shirt with straps that held it together running down the middle. The whole ensemble looked to be too big for him, as it was baggy and loose. Boots with savage looking, pointy golden tips on the end covered his feet, and a loose red headband was wrapped across his forehead, although it was starting to come loose.

Kaname frowned at the ridiculous amount of buckles and straps that the outfit consisted of, and then his eyes locked onto the holster strapped onto his right leg. Inside the holster was a large handgun, and Kaname reached out to tug it out, marveling at the weight.

He examined it for a moment, admiring the engraving of the three heads on the triple barrels, taking a moment to run his fingers over the name etched into the handle in elegant print: Cerberus. Fitting, with the three barrels and three dog heads.

The charm hanging from the handle clinked as he handed it off to Kaien, who took it, examining it with an ease that all but screamed that he knew his way around guns. Well, as a hunter, he had probably had to be proficient with a number of weapon, and guns were not excluded.

Turning back to the boy, he patted the lithe body all over, attempting to see if there were any more hidden weapons. All he came up with, though, was a bag full of large bullets, which he tossed to Kaien as well. The Chairman caught them easily, dropping them to the ground as he continued to examine the gun.

Kaname sighed, knowing he would be getting no help with the next part, as the Chairman was engrossed with the strange gun. He leaned down, and began undoing all the buckles and straps, starting with the voluminous cloak.

He pulled the cloak away from the boy's thin body, rolling him over to the side to be able to pull the red fabric away, and drop it to the side on the ground. Rolling the boy back over, he was able to see the white face for the first time. Intent more on seeing if there were any injuries, he didn't' pay attention to the features of the boy. Kaname judged him to be around 16, and would be very surprised if were over 17.

His lips were the only splash of color on his alabaster skin other than his black eyelashes, and a slight dusting of pink along his cheeks, coming into view now that he was in a warmer place than the cool night outside, and where there was better light.

Absentmindedly, Kaname ran a thumb along a cheek, marveling at the softness of the skin under his hand. He shook his head once he realized what he was doing, not entirely sure why he had done so in the first place. The boy's skin had been warm to the touch, and told Kaname that he was still alive, and was also indicated in the way the boy's chest moved, the action visible now that the cloak was out of the way.

He leaned down to being undoing the straps that held shirt together, but only got about halfway down when he felt the breathing change to a different pattern- from that of one unconscious to one who was awake. He froze mid- unbuckle, his eyes flicking up to see, for the second time, the eyelids raise, revealing crimson eyes.

Kaname drew back, never breaking eye contact with the boy. Kaien looked up from the gun at Kaname's movement, his eyes drawn to the figure that was just opening his eyes.

The boy blinked a few times, clearing his vision, and then his crimson eyes slid to Kaname and Kaien, standing in the corner. He coughed once, a ragged sound, then drew in a shaky breath as he lifted his torso slowly up, off the bed.

He heard Kaien's sharp inhale of breath at the sight of the boy's eyes, but for some reason, Kaname himself wasn't worried.

They lacked the glow of a bloodlusitng vampire, and a vampire in bloodlust would not be simply attempting to sit up- they would be ravenous, tempted by the smell of a pureblood in close proximity, and if they were a mindless level E, would be snarling and lunging off the bed.

This boy simply seemed… lost, confusion evident in his large crimson eyes, partially obscured by long, raven- colored bangs falling in front of them. Deciding to make the first move, Kaname stepped forward, noticing how the boy's eye locked warily onto his movements. "Hello; my name is Kaname Kuran, and you are presently in the infirmary of Cross Academy. What is your name?" He kept his voice low and soothing, trying not to startle the boy.

He woke up to the feel of something moving around on his chest, curiosity making him open his eyes to take a look. He was met with the sight of a man with shoulder- length, dark brown hair and russet colored eyes looking down at him.

He blinked as what he now realized were hands drawing away from his chest, and the man withdrew to the corner, where another man with straw- colored hair in a ponytail, and bespectacled, sat holding something in his hands- his eyesight was a bit blurry, and a throbbing in his head was made known.

He rapidly blinked his eyes, trying to get his vision to clear as he attempted to sit up. Black hair that he realized was his own fell across his vision, and he gazed through the spaces at the first man that was now approaching him.

Not knowing where he was, or who the man was made him wary, and he watched carefully as the man stepped closer, a gentle look on his flawless features. "Hello; my name is Kaname Kuran, and you are presently in the infirmary of Cross Academy. What is your name?" The man known as Kaname had a velvety, low voice, and it made him unconsciously relax.

He blinked, though, as he thought about the man's words. His name…? His eyebrows furrowed as he tried to recall it, and then furrowed deeper as he realized he couldn't remember anything at all. Concentrating, he tried to bring forth any memory, anything that might give him some sort of past.

He felt a wave of rising panic as he couldn't recall anything, and looked up to see Kaname leaning forward, a concerned look upon his face. "Please, don't strain yourself; it's alright if you cannot remember. You had a long fall."

Fall? He fell? Well, it certainly would explain the throbbing headache he had now. But, he couldn't remember anything else!

Yes, you can, silly. He heard a light, almost musical voice inside his head, and froze, thinking. He didn't know what the voice was, but instead of frightening him, it somehow calmed his frayed nerves.

And suddenly, he found he remembered something, and he looked up, a small smile of relief on his face. "My name is Vincent Valentine." He blinked as he heard his voice- it was odd not to know what one's own voice sounded like, and he hadn't realized that he didn't remember it until now.

"And I'm Kaien Cross, Chairman and founder of Cross Academy." Vincent glanced up at the sound of the voice, seeing it was the straw- haired man who spoke.

"Vincent, tell us, do you remember anything- anything at all?" The straw- haired man spoke again, and Vincent, as he now knew himself to be, shook his head.

"I can't- I don't remember anything else other than my name." His eyes dropped, ashamed. Why couldn't he remember anything? He strained, searching for anything, even a glimpse of a past memory, frustrated when he drew a blank. "I'm sorry."