Chapter 4

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing

-She would like to thank her single reviwer, Shi-koi, for her kind words. They were most appreciated, and the Maiden of Autumn hopes that she, along with the other readers, continue to enjoy the story.

"A new student?" The old security guard's eyes narrowed as he peered at the papers for Vincent's measurements that Kaname had handed off to him. "The Chairman did not inform me of this."

Kaname crossed his arms. He was admittedly tired and hungry, as he had missed his midnight lunch. "He just came in tonight. Now, I'd like to go to my room to sleep. If you have a problem, contact the Chairman, who is currently with the new student. Of course, his uniform is to be ready by tomorrow night, and if there are any delays due to your disbelief, you will be the one to blame." He glared at the now-flinching security guard. "And I'm sure you don't want that."

The guard hurriedly shook his head. "No, no," he said quickly, as he got up to take the papers to the tailor. "It won't be a problem."

"Good," Kaname said curtly, and continued walking to the dorms, ignoring the guard hurrying away to the on- grounds tailor, who dealt with any new uniforms, tears, or alterations needing to be done.

Opening up the door to the dorms, he took a quick look back at the horizon, seeing the sun was just starting to peek over the line between land and sky. Dealing with the unexpected and odd arrival of Vincent had taken all night, and suddenly, the thought of having to deal with the other vampires made him grimace, although only two of them would give him much trouble.

Ruka, he knew, would be the first to ask where he had gone, and demand to know why he had skipped classes. Rima wouldn't say anything, and neither would Senri. Hanabusa would grin, and simply assume he had been with Yuuki, while Takuma would simply continue reading his mangas. Seiren would remain silent, as she always did, not questioning his actions or motives, and knew that Akatsuki just didn't care, in the end.

He stepped inside, walking to the main living room of the dorms. As he suspected, his main group of followers were there, sitting around or leaning against the wall. Ruka was the first to speak, getting up as soon as she spotted him, and practically flying across the room to his side, an action that didn't go unnoticed by Akatsuki. "Kaname- sama! Where were you?" she demanded. "We were worried when you suddenly disappeared!"

Hanabusa looked up from where he had been idly flicking through a book, grinning wickedly. "I'd say he was with Yuuki- haven't you noticed he has a soft spot for her, Ruka?" He was intentionally trying to get her riled up- it was amusing when she was.

Inwardly, Kaname wished that Hanabusa's words had some truth to them. As fascinating, he had to admit, as Vincent was, he still wished that he could have been with Yuuki. He could feel Seiren behind him, but he was used to her silent shadowing, and ignored her. "Ruka," he began, "I don't think it's any business where I've been."

She stepped back, a hurt look in her eyes. "I simply-"

He cut her off. "No, Ruka." He shook his head. "I'm going upstairs. None of you," he eyed every one of them, "had better think of disturbing me until the evening, unless it's one of the security guards or Chairman himself."

He started to the stairs, and was just staring to climb up them when he heard his name. "Kaname, what if it's Yuuki that comes here?" That was Hanabusa, with a smirk on his face.

Kaname considered this for a heartbeat, closing his eyes as he thought about warm, gentle brown eyes, and a friendly, smiling face. Yuuki… "She, of course, is always welcome."

And with that, he finished climbing up the stairs, going to his room, locking the door and falling onto bed fully clothed, too tired to get undressed.

For some reason that he couldn't fathom, his last thoughts before finally going to sleep weren't of kind brown eyes, but crimson ones, hazy with sleep as they opened for the first time.

Kaien stopped fiddling with his glasses, and fixed Vincent with a warm smile. "While Kaname was measuring you, I came up with a background story for you being here."

"Sir-" Vincent started, but Kaien waved him off.

"Call me Chairman, or Kaien, anything but sir. It's too formal, and makes me feel old. Now, what did you want to say?"

Vincent crossed his arms, staring down at the ground, thinking of the questions he wanted to ask. "This is all very… confusing for me." He sighed, lifting his head, and sat back more comfortably into the chair. He suspected he'd be here for a while. "First of all, if I'm not a student, what was I doing here?" That was the question that had been nagging him since Kaien first offered to let him stay. Why was he here, on the Academy's grounds, if he didn't go here?

Kaien shrugged, shuffling some papers around. "I'm not sure; you'll have to ask Kaname for more details of exactly where and how he found you. I think he could answer your questions better than I," the Chairman answered evasively.

Vincent's crimson eyes narrowed; the Chairman was keeping something from him, he was sure of it. Still, he let it drop for the moment, deciding to go onto his next question. "What's this background you've concocted for me?"

A paper was handed to him by a smiling Kaien. "The basics are there; feel free to fill in anything else for yourself if anyone asks." Vincent raised his eyebrows at this, but bent his head to examine the papers, absentmindedly flicking his hair out of the way as he did so.

Scanning through the papers, his eyebrows continued to inch upwards as he read. Finally finishing, he looked incredulously at the Chairman. "I'll never remember all of this."

Kaien, who had been standing in front of Vincent, leaned forward to tap the ravenette's temple. "If you can't remember, just tell them that due to the accident listed on here, you have amnesia, and can't remember your past perfectly. The students and teacher will be so sympathetic towards you, they won't care!" he finished with a smile, beaming at Vincent.

There was something seriously off about the man. Who the hell switched from serious to happy and back and forth so fast and easily? "Besides," Kaien continued, "I'll have a copy of this sent over to Kaname, who will be helping you get around the academy. He'll fill in any blanks if you can't remember something."

"Alright." Vincent handed the paper back to Kaien, unable to hold in a yawn. Kaien locked in on this, and started looking around the office. "What are you doing, Chairman?"

Kaien didn't pause in what he was doing, reaching under his desk to pull out a box. Vincent regarded it warily, making Kaien laugh. "I keep this here in case I get too tired to return to my own room." He opened it, pulling out a couple of pillows and a blanket. "You're tired, and I don't have a room ready for you." He gave the pillows to Vincent, along with the blanket. "There's plenty of room here; just stretch out on the floor."

Vincent stood up, looking around, and finally deciding on one of the corners, where he would be out of the way. First, though, he handed the blanket back to Kaien. "I can use the cloak I had with me when I was found," he explained, tucking the bundle along with his boots under his arm, and going over to the corner. "I'll be fine."

He set the boots down, out of the way, laying the pillows down, along with his cloak. Unrolling the red fabric, Vincent removed the clothing- wrapped sharp tips, setting them on the boots, and shaking out the cloak, wrapped it around himself.

Kaien went back to his desk, and sat down, looking at the boy in concern. "Will the light bother you?"

Vincent shook his head as he lied down, pulling the pillow over to him, settling his head down on it, his black hair splaying out across the pillow and falling into his face. Scowling at it, he spit some out of his mouth and brushed the rest out of the way, tucking it into the cloak. Stupid hair- it was getting annoying to deal with.

He glanced up at the Chairman, his crimson eyes softening. "Thank you, Kaien," he said, using the man's first name, "for taking me in."

Kaien's heart melted a bit at the sight of Vincent wrapped up in his cloak, only the face with his large crimson eyes peeking out. He made a cute picture like that, and Kaien turned to mush inside when confronted with adorable things. "You're welcome, Vincent. Sleep well."

Vincent only hummed in reply, his tired brain, which he had not realized as such until his head hit the softness of his pillow, already fading into sleep. He sighed once, his eyes sliding shut, and then it was quiet in the room as Vincent went to sleep.

Kaien simply smiled fondly at the sleeping boy before returning his attention back to his paperwork, humming a soft tune as he did so.

Vincent felt something poking him, reminding him of the way the nurse had poked at his ribs earlier. There was whispering, and his name quietly being called. "Hm?" He hummed. "Wha's it?"

"Aw, you're cute…" He heard. It was a girl's voice, and sounded… gushing- like. He almost shuddered at the thought. He felt his shoulder being shook ,and he attempted to bring his hand up to half- heartedly swat at whatever was touching him, not really managing to care when he couldn't. He rolled over onto his other side in an effort to ward away the annoying person.

"Vincent? Come on, you need to wake up." His shoulder was shook again, more harshly this time. The more jerky movement startled him, and he shot up, some unknown instinct making him reach for something on his right leg that wasn't there anymore. Looking around wildly, he saw wide brown eyes looking down on him.

"Hey, there! Wow, you sure shock easily!" A hand was held out to him, and he peered at it through a curtain of black hair. "Come on, I don't bite!" The voice was warm, and Vincent was immediately put at ease. He automatically lifted his hand to reach out for it, confused when he found his hand was restrained.

Looking down, he saw he was tangled in the cloak. He huffed, scowling at it, before wriggling his shoulders out, and reaching down to untangle his legs. He blinked, then looked over to the left, seeing the hand was still held out to him.

He took ahold of it, feeling the owner of the hand- a girl- pulling on him, trying to help him up. He lifted himself up using his free hand, finally standing to his full height. Stretching his arms up, he yawned, trying to get his head to clear, and get rid of the stiffness in his limbs.

Running a hand through his hair to get it under control at least somewhat, and get it out of his eyes, he finally opened his eyes fully to examine who had woken him up. Large brown eyes met his eyes and blinked once before opening wide, and she leaned a bit closer to look closer at his eyes. "Whoa…" she breathed. "They're so red…"

He shifted, uncomfortable under the close scrutiny.

She blinked, suddenly realizing how close she was, and staring as well. It was rather rude, and she blushed, looking away. "Sorry…" She looked back up at Vincent, who was staring at her sleepily. "I'm Yuuki, by the way!" Yuuki gave him a warm smile, tucking her hands behind her back. "I brought you your uniform, and I'm here to escort you to the Moon Dorms!"

She smiled brightly, and Vincent had to fight hard to stifle a yawn. He was still so tired, and he glanced around for any type of clock that might tell him what time it was. Yuuki noticed him looking, and she cocked her head, confused. "What are you looking for?"

"A clock," Vincent answered, and as he was looking around, he saw a plastic clothing bag draped over the back of a chair. The clothing within it was white, making him remember Kaname's clothing from yesterday. So that was the uniform…

Yuuki tilted her head to the side. "The Chairman doesn't have a clock in here; he has a watch," she told him. "But when I last checked, it was about 5 in the afternoon."

Drawing his attention back to her, he frowned. 5 in the afternoon? He had been sleeping for a long time, then. Shaking his head to ward off any last impressions of sleep, he saw that Yuuki was staring at him with unbridled curiosity. Feeling a bit self- conscious, he ran his hand through his hair-man, that was becoming a habit really fast- and shrugged. "What?"

She seemed to snap out of her daze, realizing she had been staring- again. "Nothing," she said brightly. "It's just your eyes; they're very unique. Anyway," she started, switching subjects, "I need to tell you about Cross Academy while you get dressed, and then I can take you over to the Moon Dorms to get your room assigned. I have the papers right here," she held up the papers, brandishing them with a smile, "so it won't take too long. I have prefect duty in two hours, and I don't think Zero will be too happy if I skip out on duty."

He nodded, although Vincent really didn't understand some of what she was talking about. Still, he grabbed the plastic bag, and headed into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. "Vincent, since I only have two hours, I'll just talk to you through the door."

He shrugged, before he remembered that she couldn't' see it. He started unbuttoning his wrinkled shirt as she talked, drawing it over his head and onto the floor along with the undershirt.

"The Academy is divided into two classes; the Night Class and the Day Class. They're told apart by the uniforms they wear; Nigh Class, like yourself, wears white uniforms with black trimming, and Day Class wears the reverse: black with white trimming. Disciplinary Committee, which is what Zero and I are, along with being prefects as well, wear this white band on our arms so that people know who we are- not that it's hard to remember," she chuckled. "Well, at least in Zero's case. He's infamous."

"Our duties as Disciplinary Committee are, well, I'll explain it to you after you go to your first class tomorrow night. It's hard to explain right now." While she was talking, he had drawn off his pants, and unzipped the plastic bag, making sure not to wrinkle the uniform, which was neatly pressed and wrinkle free.

He unbuttoned the white jacket, along with the black shirt that went under it, drawing out the tie, and setting jacket and it off to the side. He slipped the pants on and then the black socks that were stuffed into the shoes. Turning back to the rest of the uniform, he donned the black undershirt, not bothering to tuck it in as the jacket was plenty long enough to cover it up, and slid on the white vest, buttoning it up. Vincent slid the tie through the collar, tying it instinctively, knowing how to do it, before he paused, realizing what he was doing. How do I know how to do this…? The tie was in a perfect knot, and smoothed down, as if he did it every day. He shook his head, figuring it was some forgotten memory surfacing.

Reaching down, he slipped into the black shoes, not having to lace them up, as they were more loafers than anything else. He picked up the jacket, shrugging into it, and buttoning up the cuffs as well as the ones in front, leaving the first few undone, as buttoning it up fully felt like he was slowly being suffocated. He adjusted the collar and cuffs, making sure they were neat, and then with a sigh, turned to face himself in the mirror.

He blinked at his reflection. It was the same as he had seen last night, but the crimson eyes still caught him off guard. He leaned forward, looking more closely at them, to see if there were any broken blood vessels that were making them that color. He saw nothing out of the ordinary, they were simply… red. A very dark red.

He stood back, sighing in frustration and glaring at his eyes. They were going to attract a lot of unwanted attention, he knew it. Shaking his head, he shifted his focus away from his eyes, and to the uniform, making a few minor adjustments to straighten everything out.

Once he figured everything was as good as it was going to get, his attention shifted to his hair, and he scowled at it, flicking his bangs away from his eyes. He was tempted to cut it, but something inside of him recoiled at the thought. He had woken up with it like this, and lopping it off… it just didn't agree with him.

Figuring there was nothing else to do, he shrugged, picking up his clothes and folding them into a neat bundle, grabbed the bag and unlocked the door, stepping out.

Yuuki looked up from her nails that she had been examining, her eyes going wide as she took in the sight of Vincent, neatly dressed in the white uniform. The two contrasting, monochrome colors of his uniform drew attention to his red eyes, making them stand out in such a way that it was hard to ignore them. His long black hair was messy, but not tangled, giving him a look that all but screamed that he had just rolled out of bed. All in all, Vincent in the Night Class uniform made a very sexy picture, and it left her gaping.

Vincent frowned slightly at the speechless Yuuki, depositing the bag and clothes onto his cloak on the floor, and going over to her, kneeling in front of her. "Something wrong?"

She closed her mouth, shaking her head. Her chooks took on a red tint, and she shot up, waving her hands. "No, no, it's just…" her cheeks got a bit redder, and Vincent tilted his head to the side, confused at her behavior. She turned away, embarrassed at her reaction. "The uniform suits you." Whirling back around to face Vincent, she gave him a smile. "We should get you to the dorms, so you can get settled in."

Vincent stared at her a minute longer, wondering at her reaction, then shrugged. It didn't really matter, anyways. He went back to the corner, picking up his discarded clothes and rolling them back into the cloak, and grabbing his boots, leaving the plastic clothing bag where it was. He had no use for it, and thought that maybe the Chairman could re- use it. Yuuki was waiting by the door, and she opened the door for him, following him out.

The sun was just starting to set, giving everything a soft yellow tint. Vincent glanced around with interest, being able to examine his surroundings fully for the first time. It had been dark the last time he was here, although the thought hit him that he had been able to see very well in the dark.

"You remind me of Zero, you know." Yuuki's voice broke him from his thoughts, and he glanced over at her, who was studying him with an amused look. "Very quiet, although you lack the death- glare he gives to nearly everyone." She chuckled, kicking a stone out of the path. "You'll meet him tomorrow night; that is, if he isn't late, like he always is." Her face took on a murderous look at the thought, and Vincent raised an eyebrow. She seriously looked like she was ready to commit murder at the thought.

Her eyes flicked up from where they had been glaring at the ground, and her expression brightened. "Hey, we're here!"

They were where? Vincent tilted his head up, wondering what Yuuki was talking about. Ahead of them was the large building that was the Moon Dorm, and Yuuki stepped ahead of him to unlock the gates, pushing them open. "Go on ahead!"

He went through, stopping to turn to her with a raised eyebrow when she failed to follow him. "Are you coming?"

She shook her head ruefully. "No, I... don't really go into the Moon Dorms, and I need to see if I can find Zero." She started to close the gates, before her eyes grew wide, and she ran to him, rummaging in the pocket of her jacket. "Oh, I almost forgot! You'll need these papers from the Chairman in order to get in. Just give them to the security guard," she pointed at a little stone booth-like thing at the building's doors in the distance, "and they'll show you to your rooms."

She backed away, her brows furrowing as she tried to remember if there was anything she forgot to tell him. There must not have been, since she shook her head, closing the gates. She gave him a wave before she turned away. "See you tomorrow night, Vincent!"

He watched her go, waiting until she was nothing but a small figure before turning back to the building with a sigh, readjusting his bundle. He rubbed his temples with his free fingers, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

It sacred him, coming here, and being thrown in with people he knew nothing of. He desperately wished for a memory, any little familiar thing at all. You remember me, silly.

He froze, hearing the same voice he had heard before, the last night. Musical and light, it calmed him slightly, making him feel better. He looked up at the sky; it was starting to get dark, and he needed to get inside.

Deciding to think over the voice and its words later, he started walking again, the shoes making little noise as he made his way to the building near the doors. From a distance, he saw an old man there, and he felt relief at the fact that he wouldn't have to wait there.

The old man looked up as Vincent approached, narrowing his eyes. "Who are you?" he barked, eyeing Vincent.

Vincent was taken aback at the unfriendly greeting, not expecting it. Still, the man's hostile demeanor awakened something inside of him, and he leveled an icy glare at the man while handing over his papers. "I'm the new student that Chairman Kaien took in; Kaname should have come by here earlier yesterday and told you that I would be coming," he said coldly.

The guard averted his eyes away from Vincent's, unable to hold the crimson gaze. "Kaname- sama might have mentioned something about that…" The guard flipped through the papers, and then got up, unlocking the door, and holding to open for Vincent. "You're in room 19," the guard said grudgingly. "I'll show you up."

Vincent nodded, and stepped through the doorway, taking a glance to look around the room as he did so. It was a very nice entryway, with marble floors and a large, sweeping staircase leading to what Vincent assumed would be the dorms. "Come along," the man called.

Returning his attention to the waiting security guard, Vincent started climbing the stairs, following the man up them. The rooms Vincent passed were empty, and the doors on others were closed tightly. "Where is everyone?" Vincent asked, curious as to why the dorms were so dead, when, according to what Yuuki had said, the night classes were going to be starting soon.

The man ahead of him shrugged. "They're most likely getting dressed; they sleep during the day."

Unseen, Vincent rolled his eyes. Did the security guard think he was stupid, or something? When else would they sleep other than the day? He scowled at the man's back, but as the guard halted right in front of him, his eyes opened wide in surprise, and he reeled backwards, the sudden halt unexpected.

Gaining his footing, he shot a nasty glare at the guard that was just reaching around his neck to a bundle of keys, sifting through them until he found the one he was looking for, and bending down to unlock the door.

"Room 19; you don't have a roommate, so it's all yours." The security guard turned, and pressed another key into Vincent's palm as he did so, before striding away without another word.

Vincent glared at the retreating form, barely repressing the strange urge to growl at the man. He stopped and blinked as he realized what, exactly, he so strongly wanted to do. Growl? Where the hell had that come from?

The sound of a door opening on the other side of the staircase spurred him into action, and he shot into the room and closed the door as quietly as possible, not wanting to draw attention to himself. He dropped his bundle of clothes near the door, shoving them into a corner with his foot.

He then allowed himself to fully examine the room, taking the table against one wall, the four- postered, canopied bed, and the flowers in vases resting on numerous surfaces among the room. They were a mixture of nightshade and night lilies, the appropriateness of them making Vincent chuckle.

Footsteps passed his closed door, the sound of male and female voices making him pause. They were muffled by what he thought had to be thick walls, so he couldn't make out any words.

Idly, he wondered if Kaname would be in the dorm, and weighed the risks of venturing out to see against the thought of having to introduce himself to the rest of the students. Insecurity made his decision for him, and he waited until he was sure all the students in the Night Class were gone, before opening his door, and peeking out.

Sure enough, the dorm was empty, and it made Vincent gather his courage, and step out into the hall, glancing around to make sure no one was coming. He smile da bit to himself at the quietness of the building, and decided that as long as he was alone, he'd do some exploring.

Wandering along the halls, he noticed an open doorway near the stairs, with shelves of books seen within. Assuming it was a library, Vincent pushed aside the door and stepped in, his crimson eyes taking in every aspect of the room. There were shelves of books, some looking old and dusty, while others looked quite new.

A fire was going in the fireplace, which Vincent thought was weird, since it was summer. He chalked it up to adding to the atmosphere of the darkened room, which Vincent could see perfectly in. He didn't' really pay attention to that fact, however, more interested in skimming his hands along the spines of the books, smiling to himself as he saw a few books that he thought he recognized.

Wait, recognized?

A full- blown grin bloomed on his face as he realized that he recognized something, even if it were as insignificant as book titles. It was a start, and lightened Vincent's heart as he pulled out a classic, Moby Dick. It was the old, unabridged, unedited version, meaning that it wasn't changed from its original Old English way of speaking into more modern words.

Smiling happily to himself, he decided to waste away part of the night reading, going over to a chair by the fireplace, and curling up comfortably into it, resting his elbow and book on the arm of the chair, and his head into his hand.

With eager eyes, he opened the page, eyes flicking over the old illustrations on the first few pages. Wriggling his body around a bit to rest more onto the chair, he flipped the page to the beginning, and started reading.