Chapter 12

Disclaimer: The Maiden of Autumn owns nothing

As they were walking to class, Vincent suddenly remembered something that Kaien had said.

If you remember anything, come tell me, alright? I have resources- I can look and see if I can find anything relating to it.

And earlier, he had remembered someone calling him by a nickname… That probably didn't count for much, but it was a start, right? Vincent thought so.

"Takuma," he addressed the boy standing by his side.

He turned to Vincent, emerald eyes questioning. "Hm?"

He held out the few boxes he had gathered from his admirers. He would have asked Aido, but… the student was struggling enough under his own as it were. "Will you hold these for me? I need to tell Kaien something."

The blonde looked a bit confused, but took the boxes from Vincent, nodding. "Thank you, Takuma- kun. I won't be long!" With that, he took off, running down the bridge leading to the Sun Dorms, where the Headmaster's residence was located next to.

Takuma observed this with a keen eye, before turning to Kaname, who was also staring after Vincent. "He's very fast, isn't he?" Takuma murmured, ignoring the look Kaname shot him. "Faster than many humans, in fact." He inhaled deeply, Vincent's scent still lingering. "And his smell is…alluring, more so than humans, who always smell like prey. He does not, although his smell is, in fact human. Quite the conundrum."

Kaname turned his head to face forwards, tearing his gaze off of the lithe, black haired form almost out of sight. "Yes, he is." He sighed. "And I cannot figure out just what is so off about him."

"Ask Hanabusa," Takuma suggested. The resident genius might be able to dig something up for him.

Well, damn.

He hadn't thought of that. And Hanabusa was a literal genius, able to figure out anything. And yet…

He wanted to figure this out on his own. The challenge appealed to him, not having something like this to work on for centuries. And some primal part deep inside his brain didn't want Hanabusa interfering with something he reasoned was his. "I might."

Takuma knew Kaname well enough to know that that meant that Kaname would not do as he suggested. It proved his suspicions right, though- Kaname was fascinated with Vincent, something Takuma was happy about.

The pureblood needed something different to do, to occupy his time other than thinking about political matters or Yuuki.

She was a nice girl, but… Takuma knew Kaname. He would get bored with her sooner or later- she just wasn't enough to keep him interested. As soon as the thrill of winning her wore away, he would begin to be bored, restless.

This Vincent, though… he might be worthy of Kaname's time and efforts.

There was something in the way Kaname's eyes always lingered on Vincent for a second longer than they were on anyone else…. The simple way he stared after the boy…. And just the puzzled, yet fascinated look Kaname always had on his face when Vincent wasn't looking at the pureblood.

Simple, almost unnoticeable signs, yet, blindingly obvious to those who cared to look deeply enough, and knew the pureblood.

It was strange, Vincent thought, that he was able to run at a full out sprint all the way down the bridge and past the Sun Dorms, (well, he stopped to dart behind a few trees when he saw a girl or two coming) without becoming tired. He wasn't even breathing heavily when he reached Kaien's house.

He must have been in good shape before his accident. That was the only explanation he could come up with.

The door was slightly ajar, something that confused Vincent. Shouldn't it have been closed…?

Pushing the door open all the way, his red eyes swept the room, seeing nothing. The lights were off, but Kaien could have been in his office…

His head whipped to the direction of the hall leading to the office as a muffled thump reached his ears. A muffled voice that he recognized as Kaien's followed the sound, and Vincent chook his head, smiling a bit. The man must have dropped something…

His smile dropped, though, as the fact registered that the voice didn't sound upset, but more serious and quiet. Kaien's voice was followed by another one that was also familiar, but more angry- sounding.

Zero.

Earlier today...

He had known. He knew what happened, but Vincent didn't know how.

But right now, something serious was going on between Kaien and Zero, and while a part of him was curious and nosy, another part wanted to go make sure nothing was wrong.

So he walked quickly to the hall leading to the office, making his footsteps silent on the wooden floor. Peeking around the corner, his eyes caught sight of Zero huddled on the floor, back pressed tight against the wall, and arms wrapped around himself, shaking, with a clear film of sweat on his face. Kaien was talking, his serious words drifting down the hall to Vincent.

"You can try to ignore it, but it won't change anything. Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" What did Kaien mean? And what did Zero keep doing to himself that made him like this?

"Shut up…" Vincent could tell from Zero's tone that his teeth were grit together, and the words came out on an angry exhale. The prefect looked like he was in pain. But what could have caused this?

After Zero spoke, a shudder wracked the tall body, and Zero doubled over, breathing heavily and clutching his upper arms. "Ahh!"

His head bowed, and from a table down the hall, Kaien poured a glass of water, coming back and holding it out to Zero. "Zero. If you drink this, the pain will stop." Painkillers?

"What is it?" Zero spoke with hesitation in his tone, as if he already knew what it was, but didn't want to accept it.

"You know what it is." What else would it be besides painkillers?

With a harsh swipe of his hand, Zero smashed the glass and what Vincent could see were small white tablets to the ground, glaring angrily at the smashed glass. This bewildered Vincent; what did the prefect have against something that would help him? "Never," Zero growled, while Kaien simply looked away, a disappointed look on his face.

However, when he turned back to Zero, his expression morphed into a more serious one. "The fits are occurring much more frequently now. If you continue to refuse it, the pain will only get worse. Why won't you understand? Even though you've endured this far, you won't be able to keep it up much longer." Zero ignored Kaien's words, glaring steadfastly at the ground. At least his shudders had stopped, though. "But, you already know this, don't you?"

Zero continued to be silent, and Vincent knew it was time to withdraw. He had probably seen and heard more than he was supposed to. Still… He heard Kaien's footsteps drawing away from Zero, and heard the ragged breathing of the prefect, still sitting there.

He knew he should probably go to see Kaien and then leave; after all, the prefect hadn't been kind to him. But sit didn't sit well with him to just leave the prefect there…

Damn it. Breathing a heavy sigh, he stood up straight, and cautiously took a step around the corner, feigning ignorance. "Headmaster Cross?"

Zero's head whipped up, and surprised amethyst eyes locked onto him before narrowing into a glare. "He's in his office."

Vincent blinked, acting like he was surprised Zero was there. "Kiriyuu..." Well, addressing him by his first name was a bit far after what he had said earlier. "Don't you have prefect duties?"

"What does it matter to you?" Vincent hesitated a moment, simply taking in Zero. Now that he was closer… the prefect looked haggard. His face was pale, with bags under his eyes. His eyes were tired, exhaustion clearly able to be seen in them.

"You look tired."

"And you look out of class."

A small smile flicked across Vincent's face. Even after what Vincent assumed had to be some sort of pain- inducing fit, he still took his job as a prefect seriously. He examined Zero closely, before sighing. "I came to see Kaien, but… that can wait."

He walked closer to Zero, bending down to offer a hand out. "Here."

"I'm fine." The retort was sharp, and Vincent resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

Stubborn man. "No," Vincent replied evenly, "I don't think you are. And if you won't accept my help..." Kneeling and shifting around, he threw one arm over Zero's thin shoulders, using the other to draw the prefect's arm over his own.

"What are you-!" Vincent cut him off by abruptly wrapping an arm around Zero's trim waist, holding onto the limp arm that tried to draw itself off Vincent's shoulders.

Standing up and bringing Zero with him in the process, his crimson eyes grew wide as he staggered under the heavier weight of Zero, huffing as he did so. Surprisingly, he didn't feel heavy, but the unbalanced weight made him stagger. "I'm… helping you…" Vincent groaned, trying to regain his balance as he shifted, "since you look like… you couldn't even lift-oomph!... a pen, much less… yourself… and- Goddamn! Do you have to be so tall?!"

He glared up at the prefect's head, currently just an inch or two above his own. Finally getting Zero into a position to where he could walk, he took a step forward, pleased when Zero growled angrily, but also took a step. "Where to?" Vincent asked.

There was a pause, and then Zero grumbled, "The bathroom. I need a shower before I start patrol." He needed to get the sweat off of him before he went anywhere.

He felt Vincent nod, a few stray black strands of hair coming up to tickle his nose.

He didn't appreciate having to be lugged around by anyone, much less someone both shorter than him, and who he felt guilty towards for insulting, but he thanked his lucky stars that it wasn't anyone else from the Day or Night Classes.

That would be awkward.

But, even though there was a slight awkwardness to the situation, he found… he didn't really mind.

Actually, being this close to Vincent was… nice, in a way. Vincent was warm, his body heat soothing against his own sweat- chilled one. The hair that was under his hand and tickling his face smelled clean, and was soft and silky to the touch. And radiating from him was that smell, the one that made him itch to bury his head in that long neck and just stay there, smelling the alluring scent. It was like nothing he'd ever smelled before, something so foreign and dark that it was unnerving, yet at the same time wholly addictive.

It was something that was purely Vincent. And for some crazy reason, he found himself wanting more of the boy that was currently at his side.

Like his blood…

Zero stiffened at the insidious thought that slithered into his mind, and he pushed it down and away, knowing it was the beast talking. But, for some reason, unlike all the other times, it didn't just simply go away; it kept pulling, pulling him at Vincent, urging him to take his blood, and make sure no one else could claim it as their own.

He struggled in silence the whole way, feeling his strength returning to him little by little.

The last attack of bloodlust had been bad, worse than the others. And Zero knew, like Cross had said, that it was going to only get worse.

"The tattoo, on your neck. Does it have some sort of significance?" Vincent's quiet, low voice drew him out of his thoughts, and he was grateful for it, for drawing him away from thoughts of how delicious Vincent smelled. And how yummy his neck looked.

"Yes." He didn't want to lie, but he wasn't going to explain, either. The Night Class was managing to keep their vampiric natures concealed from Vincent; he would not be the one to slip up by revealing that his tattoo was to keep his own nature at bay.

"Hm. I guess that's another thing we have in common." Wait, another thing? Did that mean…?

"You have one?" He felt Vincent nod, the silky hair dragging along his exposed back of the hand.

"Yes; one between my shoulder blades. It's a red and black cross, with some Latin words weaving throughout it." Interesting. Red and black… like Vincent's eyes and hair.

The doorway to the bathroom was just ahead of them, seeable by the sign that Cross had posted there. Zero, when he had first seen the sign, had to shake his head in embarrassment of Cross's actions. What self- respecting man put a heart on the sign to a bathroom? A pink heart, nonetheless.

They walked slowly into the bathroom, and Zero stopped when they were in the middle of the room.

"You can let go now, Vincent. I can walk fine." The hand gripping his waist withdrew, along with the arm around his shoulder. Reclaiming his own arm, Zero suddenly felt bereft without the warmth of Vincent's body, and wanted to draw the slightly shorter boy back to him, have him by his side. Instead, he forced himself to look up to meet the calm crimson eyes of the boy in front of him. "Thank you."

Vincent hummed in reply and turned to leave. He was almost out the door before he stopped, hand resting on the doorframe. "You might want to take a hot shower; the heat might help with any muscle pain." The slight emphasis on the word 'pain' and the knowing look in the crimson eyes, visible due to Vincent's turned head, made Zero's own head snap up.

Dread settled in his stomach as he realized… "You know," Zero whispered. Vincent nodded. "But how?"

The ravenette sighed. "The same way you found out, no doubt, about my own… problem," Vincent replied, lightly tapping the side of his head with his free hand to indicate his memory loss. "I won't tell anyone, if you're worried."

So he had heard what Cross had said… That meant that the calling of Cross's name and his unassuming attitude had been a charade. How sneaky. And yet subtle and clever.

Zero was quiet for a moment. "Thank you." Vincent made no reply other than to take a step to leave. "Vincent…" the boy paused. "I guess that's another thing we have in common, huh?"

Confusion in comin eyes was evident as Vincent turned around, head cocked to the side in a silent question. A wry smile spread across Zero's lips as he clarified, "Problems that nobody but us two and Cross will ever know about." And Kuran. But that thought went unsaid.

A grateful smile spread across Vincent's face. "I suppose it is." He understood what Zero had stated; the secret of Vincent's amnesia was safe with him.

"By the way… Kiriyuu looked rather off- color tonight."

There was a hiss as Kaname plunked blood tablet into a glass of water, not really paying attention to Takuma's words. He was thinking of a certain ravenette that had skipped class gain tonight. Why had he been visiting Cross so much lately?

Did it have to do with what had happened the night of Vincent's fall? He knew Takuma was waiting for an answer to his question disguised as a statement, though. An answer to a question that he knew all about. "It was bound to happen."

The only question was, what was going to happen to those around the silver- haired prefect when it did?

~In the Lifestream~

"Hm… I wonder..." Aerith murmured absently to herself. She reached out, stirring the pool to show a brunette currently looking out to the window, towards a certain house where Aerith knew Vincent to be. "He does seem rather determined… if he knows, will he be able to prevent it?"

Zack lazily cracked open an eye, regarding her warily. After her last outburst, he had been attempting not to disturb her thought process as she tried to figure out how to prevent the foreign world from continuing along the devastating path it was currently on. "What do you mean?"

"This Kaname Kuran… he's the one who found Vincent, and seems rather determined to figure out what makes Vincent different from the other humans- namely Chaos. And I'm curious… if he knows about Chaos, will he be able to prevent what is going to happen?"

She abruptly stood up, walking away from the pool of water, and across the flower field. "I need to retrieve something."

Zack sighed before settling back down, listening to Aerith make her way away from him. The Ancient always did have her own plans; it was best if he just let her do as she wished, without any interference or questioning.